The international organization responsible for producing standards for electrical material is International Electro Commission (IEC) and member countries have their own national committee. Liaison is maintained with International Standards Organization (ISO) to prevent duplication in borderline area of mutual interest. Within IEC, Technical committee 10 (TC10) is responsible for fluid for electrical application, which covers over 46 standards. Among these standards and specifications there are three very important standards namely:
- IEC60296 “Unused mineral insulating oils for transformers and switchgear
- IEC60422 “Guide for the supervision and maintenance of mineral insulating oils in electrical equipment
- IEC60599 “Mineral oil-impregnated equipment in service- Interpretation of dissolved and free gases analysis
International standard IEC60296 is used in electrical industry for purchasing and supply of unused mineral insulating liquid. The previous issue was revised and published in 1982 and since then quality of the oil and expectation for performance of the oil in service has improved tremendously. It is one of the most widely used standards for supply of oil in the electrical industry. Although it is well established, the limits and expectations are very low, therefore many low quality oils may pass the requirements of this standard. Both users and producers realized this shortcoming, there for during IEC TC10 general meeting in 1998, it was decided to revise this standard. This standard was revised and published November 2003.
