The development history of oil-immersed transformers can be traced back to the end of the 19th century. Its main development process has the following stages:
1. The end of the nineteenth century: the world's first oil-immersed transformer came out. At that time, the windings of the transformer were directly exposed to the air and were easily oxidized and corroded. In order to ensure the safety performance of the winding and improve the insulation performance, people began to try to immerse the winding in insulating oil.
2. Early 20th century: With the rapid development of the power industry, the demand for transformers is also increasing. In order to improve the withstand voltage and heat dissipation performance of the transformer, people continue to use higher quality insulating oil.
3. In the 1920s: Mineral oil was used as insulating oil because of its good insulation and heat dissipation properties. The use of mineral oil significantly improves the performance of oil-immersed transformers.
4. The 1950s: With the continuous development of high-voltage power systems, transformers with better quality were required. In order to meet the needs of high voltage and large capacity, people began to develop new insulating materials, such as insulating paper and insulating tape, to improve the insulating performance of transformers.
5. In the 1960s: In order to improve the electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance of transformers, oxygen-free copper was used as the conductor material of transformers. At the same time, in order to meet the needs of various occasions, people are also working hard to research and develop new oil-immersed transformer structures, such as box-type transformers and dry-type transformers.
6. From the 1980s to the present: With the digital and intelligent development of power systems, oil-immersed transformers are gradually combined with emerging technologies such as intelligent monitoring systems and remote adjustment systems to improve their operating efficiency and reliability.
Generally speaking, from the initial insulating oil protection to modern intelligent application, the performance and reliability of oil-immersed transformers have been significantly improved, which plays a pivotal role in the development of power systems.