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Static Headspace GC/MS Method for Determination of Methanol and Ethanol Contents, as the Degradation Markers of Solid Insulation Systems of Power Transformers

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Abstract

Methanol in insulating oil has been proposed as a new marker for condition assessment of the solid insulation system of power transformers. In the current work, as a first step of using the new marker, an analytical static headspace gas chromatography/mass spectrometry method has been developed, optimized, and validated to measure methanol and ethanol contents in the insulating mineral oil. The analyzing setup consists of a 6890 N gas chromatograph equipped with a 5973 network mass spectrometer (MS) in the absence of a costly headspace autosampler, and the chromatography separation was performed on a 60 m × 320 µm × 0.5 µm VF-WAXms GC column. Calibration curves have been provided using several concentrations of the alcohols, and also limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), and relative standard deviation percentage (RSD%) have been determined.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Niroo Research Institute, Tehran, Iran

    Hoda Molavi, Abbas Yousefpour, Milad Narimani & Nazanin Abdi

  2. Zangan Industrial Oil Refining Company, Zanjan, Iran

    Akbar Mirmostafa

  3. Oil and Fuel Laboratory, Niroo Research Institute, Tehran, Iran

    Ali Sabzi

  4. Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

    Sepideh Hamedi

Authors
  1. Hoda Molavi
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  2. Abbas Yousefpour
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  3. Akbar Mirmostafa
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  4. Ali Sabzi
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  5. Sepideh Hamedi
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  6. Milad Narimani
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  7. Nazanin Abdi
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Correspondence to Hoda Molavi.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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This study was funded by Niroo Research Institute (NRI).

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Molavi, H., Yousefpour, A., Mirmostafa, A. et al. Static Headspace GC/MS Method for Determination of Methanol and Ethanol Contents, as the Degradation Markers of Solid Insulation Systems of Power Transformers. Chromatographia 80, 1129–1135 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10337-017-3315-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10337-017-3315-1

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