New Delhi, Oct 1 (KNN)  The Central Power Research Institute is organising a two-day national conference on Environmental Friendly Insulating Liquids to be held here on November-29 and 29.

The Conference will focus on issues regarding the environmental aspects and development of alternative fluids in place of mineral oil and PCBs and latest trends.  It will cater to decision makers and key operational level personnel across the power supply chain.

Key policy makers from the power sector, distribution utilities/ state electricity boards, power generating stations, state pollution control boards, transformer and transformer oil manufacturers, engineering consultancy organizations, global suppliers, scientists and engineers working in electrical industries and R&D/ academic institutions are expected to participate in the conference.
 
Topics that will be covered during the conference are - New fluids for electrical applications; Biodegradable insulating oils; Esters dielectrics; Vegetable based insulating oils; Alternative liquids for transformer applications; and Environmental friendly liquids for transformers and capacitors.

Mineral oil is commonly used as liquid dielectric for transformer application. However the environmental and flammability aspects were not looked into. Even though, poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have excellent chemical stability and high fire resistance, it has been concluded that they are not environmentally compatible. Environmental concerns have been raised by electrical utilities regarding the use of mineral oil and poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Any oil spill is considered as hazardous by regulatory agencies and a major spill could mean expensive clean up. Hence, there is an urgent need globally to find alternative solutions for fossil based dielectrics which have good dielectric characteristics, are biodegradable, environmentally friendly and at the same time cost effective.

Central Power Research Institute, popularly known as CPRI was set up in 1960 by the Government of India to function as a National organization for applied research in electrical power engineering assisting the electrical industry in product development and quality assurance. In 1978, it was reorganised as an autonomous society under the Ministry of Power, Government of India. CPRI serves as an independent authority for testing and certification of power equipment. With its state of the art infrastructure and expertise, it has made significant contributions to the power sector. 
 
Among the speakers of the conference are Director, Ministry of Railways, Sujeet Mishra.  Further, papers will be presented by experts in the field, both national and international.  They include - Russell Martin, M &I Materials and Member IEEE, CIGRE & IEC (on Synthetic esters and fire properties; and Retrofilling with synthetic esters); François Gautier - Industrial & Automotive Technical and Sales Manager, NYCO, France (on Synthetic esters as dielectric fluids); Sabine Bowers, Business Development Leader, Cargill (on 'Experience across the globe with environment friendly Ester fluids); Speaker from CPRI (on Ageing characteristics of Synthetic esters); Chintamani Chitnis, Tata Power, Mumbai (on Utility experience w.r.t the use of esters); Speaker from Shell Lubricants (on Gas to Liquid technology– environmental friendly inhibited oils; and Inhibited Electrical oil based on GTL);  V K Mathew, Chief Operating Officer, Avi-Oil India (on Ecological and high performing solutions – Nycodiel).   (KNN/ES)