Cellulose insulating paper is widely used in the power industry for its good electrical insulating properties. Moisture sharply increases its conductivity, which directly leads to the weakening of insulation performance and greatly increases the risk of subsequent electric field distortion and insulation breakdown. This paper focuses on the microscopic mechanism of moisture changing the characteristics of charge transport in cellulose insulation and attempts to reveal the related conductivity mechanism. To achieve this purpose, microscopic and macroscopic perspectives are integrated and several simulation and experimental methods are utilized comprehensively. The molecular dynamics simulation results showed that most water molecules in damped cellulose were individually and uniformly adsorbed on the hydroxyl groups by hydrogen bond, and the quantum chemistry computation results showed that the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital more appeared on the water molecule and the corresponding density of state increased. Then, experimentally, it was confirmed that the trap energy level decreased by the thermally stimulated current method. On this basis, the promotion effect of moisture on charge transport is predicted and verified by polarization and depolarization current methods. As the moisture content increased, more charge carriers escaped from the trap by hopping and participated in long-range continuous charge motion. Therefore, after dampness, the current of cellulose insulating paper increased exponentially with the increase in electric field strength, which was consistent with the hopping conductivity mechanism.

The mechanical and dielectric properties of transformer insulating paper are key factors that require close attention to ensure optimal operation. In this study, a novel approach of enhancing properties by nanocellulose modification was proposed. To investigate the effect of doping, insulating paper with different doping mass fractions of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) was prepared, and multiple properties of the sample were characterized. By applying a doping concentration gradient, the non-monotonic trend in performance with doping levels was revealed, and the impact of doping concentration on the data variability was investigated. The effects of CNC doping on the surface pore size of the samples were analyzed by SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and a mercury intrusion method, and the regularity of CNC dispersion uniformity with doping concentration was investigated. The Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller model was employed to fit the water vapor adsorption isotherm data, providing an analysis of the impact of doping on hydrogen bond connections and the moisture adsorption properties. Tensile strength and Young's modulus were measured and analyzed using the Page model and the Halpin–Kardos model. The tensile strength of the 6 wt. % CNC-modified paper was increased by 6.91%. 10 wt. % CNC-modified paper had a Young's modulus increase of 11.98%. 3 wt. % CNC-modified paper has a 28.53% increase in the AC breakdown field strength and an 8.72% increase in the DC breakdown field strength. The influence of CNC on the dielectric properties of the insulating paper was discussed using the Havriliak–Negami (H–N) model. The results indicate that the introduction of CNC can effectively enhance the comprehensive performance of oil-immersed insulating paper.

The insulating paper in oil-paper insulated transformers was subjected to significant mechanical vibration and mechanical shock, putting considerable demands on the insulating paper’s strength and resistance to deformation. Therefore, effective enhancement and accurate prediction of mechanical properties are crucial in the application of cellulose insulating paper. In this paper, modified insulating paper with different mass fractions of cellulose nanowhiskers, nanofibrillated cellulose and microfibrillated cellulose were prepared. The microscopic morphology, stress-strain curves and Young’s modulus of the modified insulating paper were measured. The modification effects of micro/nano cellulose with different aspect ratios on the mechanical properties of the insulating paper were compared. 10 wt% mass fraction of cellulose nanowhisker modified paper exhibited the highest Young’s modulus with an enhancement of 11.99%. The mechanism of micro/nano cellulose modification on insulating paper was analyzed in terms of its strength, morphology, interface, and agglomeration. The prediction of Young’s modulus of modified insulating paper under different doping concentrations was realized based on the Halpin-Tsai model for filler modification under ideal conditions, considering the effects of agglomerated and interfacial phases, on the basis of detailed experimental results and comprehensive analysis. Experimental validation showed that the error of the proposed prediction model was less than 1.57%. This study was very beneficial for nano-modification and mechanical property enhancement of cellulose paper.

This paper proposes a fast frequency domain dielectric spectroscopy (FDS) test scheme for diagnosing oil-paper insulation. The high-voltage output section introduces dynamic power supply tracking (DPST) and cascading techniques to generate high-voltage excitation signals. The DPST can increase the amplifier's voltage slew rate (SR) from 13 V per microsecond to 36.3 V per microsecond without crossover distortion. In the micro-current measurement section, the error active suppression structure of bias current and bias current under time-varying temperature conditions is proposed to improve the temperature stability of the measurement circuit. The fast testing technology shortens the test period by 65% in the low-frequency band by using the method of multi-frequency signal synthesis and partial cycle waveform fitting. The experimental results show that the total harmonic distortion and noise (THD+N) of the output voltage of the instrument are less than or equal to 0.078%. The voltage range is 780 Vpp. The standard deviation of current is less than 1.5%, and the standard deviation of tan δ is less than 1.7%, which verifies the stability of the designed instrument.