CANADA — MIDEL has provided a fire-safe, biodegradable transformer insulating fluid for NorSask Forest Products in the province of Saskatchewan.

 NorSask Forest Products in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan is the country’s largest First Nations-owned sawmill that produces lumber for markets in Canada, the US, and overseas.

The sawmill needed to install a new transformer and retrofill an existing transformer, both units rated 72 kV.  The fire and blast mitigation strategies in the sawmill transformer substation dictated a need for a fire-safe transformer insulating fluid.

NorSask chose MIDEL’s renewable, canola-based natural ester as the optimal insulating fluid. Dynamo Electric, a MIDEL Service Partner, performed the retrofill operation.

With its low pour point of -31˚C, the fluid could operate at the cold temperatures typical of the Saskatchewan province. As a K class fluid, its high fire point (greater than 350˚C) increased fire safety for the NorSask transformers and reduced the need for fire protection equipment, MIDEL said in a press release.

NorSask was able to complete the retrofilling project within 3 business days, resulting in greatly increased fire safety and a more environmentally friendly footprint by using MIDEL’s insulating solution.

Source: MIDEL