Thermo-Electrical Properties of Chicken-Fried Waste Cooking Oil Blends as Dielectric Fluids for Sustainable Electrical Infrastructure

This study explores, for the first time, the thermo-electrical potential of raw chicken-fried waste cooking oil (WCO) as a sustainable alternative to conventional transformer mineral oil (TMO), which is non-biodegradable and carbon-intensive. Unlike previous studies that used trans-esterified or chemically modified oils, this study evaluated unprocessed WCO, collected after frying chicken, to assess its direct applicability in electrical insulation systems. WCO was blended with TMO in three volume ratios—70:30, 40:60, and 10:90 (v/v)—and tested for zeta potential, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, flash/fire points, and breakdown voltage (BDV). The TMO10%–WCO90% mix exhibited the best results, with a 17.26% rise in thermal conductivity, a 45.10% boost in electrical resistance, a 29.65% increase in flash point, a 23.68% rise in fire point, and a 3.87% improvement in breakdown voltage compared to pure TMO. These findings confirm that high concentrations of raw chicken-fried WCO can serve as effective, fire-safe, and environmentally friendly dielectric fluids for sustainable electrical infrastructure in the future.