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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 27, NO. 2, APRIL 2012
A Novel Fuzzy-Logic Approach for
Furan Estimation in Transformer Oil
A. Abu-Siada, Member, IEEE, Sin P. Lai, Member, IEEE, and Syed M. Islam, Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract—An ultraviolet-to-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopic
analysis based on the fuzzy-logic approach has been developed
for furan content measurement in transformer oil. Following the
successful identification and quantification of furan derivatives in
transformer oil by the ASTM D 5837 standard, the new approach
is able to approximate the furan content with a more convenient
and economical method. Since the furan concentration level would
determine the absorption intensity in the UV-Vis spectral range,
the fuzzy-logic software model developed would exploit this char-
acteristic to aggregate the furans content level in transformer oil.
The UV-Vis spectral response sensitivity to ambient temperature
was also studied. The proposed technique provide a convenient
alternative to conventional techniques, namely: high-performance
liquid chromatography (HPLC) or gas chromatography-mass
spectrometry (GC/MS) methods.
Index Terms—Furfurals, fuzzy logic, transformer insulation oil,
ultraviolet to visible spectroscopy.
I. INTRODUCTION
F URFURAL content analysis is gaining popularity in the
recent transformer insulation strength assessment, trans-
former remnant life estimation, or related research field. Fu-
rans are the byproducts from the aging transformer paper that
dissolves in the transformer oil. By measuring the furans con-
centration, the paper condition can be estimated. The accurate
method to measure the tensile strength in the paper, which is
closely related to the solid insulation strength of the transformer,
is by finding the degree of polymerization (DP) of the paper.
However, it is impractical to acquire paper samples from a ser-
vicing transformer especially papers from the hot-spot areas
that are usually located in the center of the transformer. There
has been a lot of research that concludes a strong correlation
between DP and furan derivatives concentrations [1]–[4]. The
advantage of furan measurement compared to DP is that oil
samples can be conveniently collected from an operating trans-
former without causing any damage to the transformer.
ASTM D 5837 is a commonly used guideline by the indus-
tries to determine the furan derivatives concentration in the
Manuscript received August 27, 2008; revised August 06, 2009; accepted De-
cember 17, 2011. Date of publication March 13, 2012; date of current version
March 28, 2012. This work was supported by the Cooperative Research Centre
for Integrated Engineering Asset Management (CIEAM).Paper no. TPWRD-
00650-2008.
A. Abu-Siada and S.M. Islam are with the Department of Electrical and Com-
puter Engineering, Curtin University, Perth WA 6845, Australia (e-mail: a.abu-
siada@curtin.edu.au).
S. P. Lai is with Western Power, Perth WA 6000, Australia (e-mail: sinpin.
lai@postgrad.curtin.edu.au).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPWRD.2012.2186986
0885-8977/$31.00 © 2012 IEEE
469
transformer oil. Since this method requires specific skills and
expensive equipment to conduct, most utility companies out-
source the furan test to the relevant service companies. The use
of new and improved technology, such as spectroscopy, is also
increasingly important in recent power transformer condition
monitoring [5]. This research paper proposes a very convenient
alternative to estimate furan concentration in transformer oil
using ultraviolet-to-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy using the
fuzzy-logic approach. The UV-Vis spectral response of the
oil sample gives sufficient information to predict its furan
contents based on the fuzzy-logic approach. A series of tests
was conducted on laboratory aged, onsite collected, and diluted
transformer oil samples. A fuzzy-logic model is developed
based on the input parameters taken from the UV-Vis spectral
response to estimate the furan concentration with up to 95%
accuracy compared with conventional measurement methods.
II. FURAN FORMATION MECHANISM
The furanic compounds in transformer oil that are detectable
with the current technology available are 2-furfural (2-FAL),
2-Furfurol (2-FOL), 5-Hyroxy methyl-2-furfural (5-HMF),
5-Methyl-2-furfural (5-MEF), and 2-Acetylfuran (2-ACF)
shown in Fig. 1. It is widely accepted that furans arise from
insulating paper degradation but the actual mechanism of
formation has not been fully understood yet. However, it is
proposed that furans are produced from pyrolysis mechanism
of levoglucosane (LG) and hydrolytic degradation of cellulose
in the paper [6]. LG, the precursor of furanic compounds, is
the byproduct due to thermal degradation of cellulosic paper
at temperatures higher than 130 C [6]. It is well investigated
by Scheirs et al. [6] that LG leads to the production of all five
types of furan derivatives. This paper implies that furans are
generated in the case of an abnormal hot spot inside the trans-
former. On the other hand, hydrolytic thermal degradation that
contributes to the chain scission of cellulose is also an impor-
tant factor of furanic derivatives generation at the transformer
normal operating temperature of 80 C–120 C [7]. In other
words, furans are also generated in transformer oil during the
normal operating temperature due to the existence of moisture
in the paper and air that leads to oxidative hydrolysis of the
cellulose. Hohlein had proven that the hydrolysis degradation
mechanism is the major contributor for 2-FAL in transformer
insulating oil at the normal service temperature [2]. Therefore,
regular monitoring of the furans concentration available in the
transformer oil would avoid an incipient fault.
III. EXPERIMENTAL WORK
A series of tests was conducted on short-term laboratory ac-
celerated aged and in-service collected transformer oil by using
470
Fig. 1. Furanic compounds detectable in transformer oil that have been in con-
tact with degraded cellulosic insulation [6].
GC/MS and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The objective is to study
the correlation between the conventional furan measurement
method and the proposed alternative. In keeping with the con-
cepts of accelerated aging, the laboratory works were planned
and performed in reference to the standard of IEC 61125 [8],
ASTM D 923 [9], ASTM D 5837 [10], and ASTM E 275 [11].
A. IEC 61125 Unused Hydrocarbon-Based Insulating
Liquids-Test Methods for Evaluating the Oxidation Stability
Laboratory aged insulating oil samples are prepared by fol-
lowing the procedure in IEC 61125. Each sample consists of
new transformer paper (20 280 mm) wrapped around a copper
strip (3 10 mm) that is impregnated in 25 ml of new trans-
former oil (Shell Diala B). All samples were heated up to 100
C in a thermostatically controlled aluminum alloy block heater
for seven days. To further accelerate the aging process, oxygen
flow at 1 l/h is supplied into each sample.
B. ASTM D 5837 (Modified) Standard Test Method for
Furanic Compounds in Electrical Insulating Liquids by Gas
Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
All oil samples, including in-service transformer oil collected
from utility companies, were tested for furans concentration by
using GC/MS in accordance with ASTM D 5837 (B). Each test
sample was pretreated with acetonitrile prior to extraction for
test specimen that was then arranged into GC/MS for furanic
derivatives identification and quantification.
C. ASTM E 275 Standard Practice for Describing and
Measuring Performance of Ultraviolet, Visible, and
Near-Infrared Spectrometers
The same oil samples that were tested for furan derivatives by
GC/MS were also scanned for UV-Vis spectral-response anal-
ysis. The UV-Vis spectroscopy test procedure was developed
in reference to ASTM E 275. Furan derivatives are expected to
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 27, NO. 2, APRIL 2012
Fig. 2. Lab setup of the UV-Vis spectroscopic measurement system.
contribute in UV-Vis spectra absorbance in linear relation with
their concentration. It is calculated based on
(1)
where is the sample intensity, is the dark intensity, and
is the reference intensity at wavelength .
The experimental setup for UV-Vis spectroscopy analysis is
illustrated in Fig. 2. The light source sends light via an input
fiber into a cuvette located in a cuvette holder. The light inter-
acts with the sample, and the output fiber carries light from the
sample to the spectrometer which is connected to the PC.
The wavelength of spectral response to be investigated was
between 200 to 1100 nm. Each oil sample was handled and
stored in accordance with ASTM D 923 Standard Practices for
Sampling Electrical Insulating Liquids which is essential from
the standpoint of preserving its oil originality.
IV. RESULTS
A number of test specimens had shown a significant amount
of furan concentration by the GC/MS. It was found that oil sam-
ples from South East Asian countries consist of higher furan
concentration compared to the samples collected in Australia.
For the sake of succinctness, only these samples were selected
for further analysis and illustrated in this section.
Table I shows each furanic derivatives concentration in the se-
lected oil samples expressed in parts per million (ppm) or mg/l
measured by following the ASTM D 5837 standard. The table
of results also includes the furan analysis for laboratory aged
oil. The test results had indicated that furan content is domi-
nated by 2-FAL and it is consistent with findings by many other
researchers around the globe [3], [12], [15]. Therefore, it is pos-
sible to use 2-FAL alone as a cellulosic insulation degradation
indicator for the rest of the experiment.
Oil samples at the other 2-FAL concentration were conve-
niently produced by diluting the collection of oil samples avail-
able. New oil samples at other furan content were prepared in a
10-ml volumetric flask that was placed on a weighting scale at
an ambient temperature of 20 C. The 2-FAL concentration is
calculated based on transformer oil density of 0.889 g/ml at 20
C as shown in
(2)
(3)
ABU-SIADA et al.: A NOVEL FUZZY-LOGIC APPROACH FOR FURAN ESTIMATION IN TRANSFORMER OIL 471

TABLE I
SELECTED OIL SAMPLES’ TEST RESULT BY GC/MS

Fig. 4. Linearity between bandwidth and absorption peak in relation to the

2-FAL concentration level.

TABLE II
BANDWIDTH LENGTH AND ABSORPTION PEAK
AT DIFFERENT FURAN CONTENTS

Fig. 3. UV-Vis absorption spectra at various furans content levels.

where is the weight of original furan content in grams,

is the weight of the new oil in grams, is the desired 2-FAL
concentration in parts per million (ppm) to be produced, and
is the original 2-FAL concentration in ppm.
Seven diluted samples along with oil samples from the
GC/MS test were included in the absorption test. By using
the experimental setup shown in Fig. 2, the UV-Vis spectral
response shows a significant difference at each furan concen-
tration as illustrated in Fig. 3. Fig. 3 shows the absorbance
spectrum for different oil samples that was previously tested
by GC/MS to determine its furan concentration. The encircled
number on each plot in Fig. 3 represents the 2-FAL compound
concentration in ppm. The test was conducted at an ambient
temperature of 20 C. It can be shown in Fig. 3 that the new
oil with 2-FAL of 0 ppm has the shortest and lowest spectral
response compared to the other samples. As the 2-FAL concen-
tration increases, the spectral response bandwidth is becoming
wider and the maximum absorbance peak is becoming higher.
The spectral response also has a displayed spikes characteristic Fig. 5. Spectral bandwidth variation at an ambient temperature of 20 C and
at a wavelength of 350 nm when the furans content level 25 C for different furans concentration.
increases in transformer oil.
The parameters that have been identified to have significant
changes with respect to furans concentration are the spectral re- other parameter, which is the maximum absorption peak of the
sponse bandwidth length (zero crossing wavelength value where UV-Vis spectral response, is also providing noticeable changes
the spectral response ends) and the maximum absorption peak with respect to the 2-FAL concentration available and is plotted
height. The end bandwidth wavelength value for each furan con- in Fig. 4. The strong correlation of these parameters with re-
centration was recorded and plotted in Fig. 4. spect to furan content prevails at other diluted furan concentra-
As can be shown in Fig. 4, there is a clear relationship be- tion. Because of this strong correlation, the absorption spectral
tween bandwidth and furan concentration. Moreover, the width response of transformer oil at the UV-Vis range proves to be
between zero crossing points is large as shown in Fig. 3. The an alternative way to estimate furan concentration. Fig. 4 shows
472
Fig. 6. Maximum absorption peak variation at an ambient temperature of 20 C
and 25 C for different furans concentration.
Fig. 7. Fuzzy inference flowchart for model development.
Fig. 8. Gaussian membership functions for bandwidth wavelength.
the almost parallel relationship between the bandwidth wave-
length and maximum peak in estimating the furans concentra-
tion. Therefore, these two parameters would be reliable indica-
tors for furans measurement by UV-Vis spectroscopy.
Higher furan contents contribute to wider absorption band-
width and higher maximum peak. The bandwidth length
increases linearly according to the furans level in the range of
348 to 470 nm whereas the absorption peaks range is relatively
small, and some of them were intersecting with each other.
Therefore, the peak is described up to four decimal places to
increase the accuracy of reading. All of the maximum peaks
occur in the range of 220 to 230 nm. The details of the zero
crossing point at the end of each spectra bandwidth and its
maximum absorption peak for each furan concentration are
available in Table II.
Due to the fact that changes in spectral wavelength preci-
sion can occur because of the variation of ambient temperature
[9], [11], all oil samples were rescanned for UV-Vis spectral re-
sponse at a room temperature of 25 C. The waveform shapes
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 27, NO. 2, APRIL 2012
Fig. 9. Gaussian membership functions for maximum absorption peak.
Fig. 10. Triangular membership functions for furan output.
found were almost identical to Fig. 3, but there were slight vari-
ations in the bandwidth and absorption peaks. Changes were
recorded and plotted in Figs. 5 and 6. As shown in Fig. 5, for
the same 2-FAL concentration, the ambient temperature incre-
ment from 20 C to 25 C expands the bandwidth by generally
10 nm whereas absorption peaks for the same increment in am-
bient temperature overlap at different furans concentration as
shown in Fig. 6.
V. FUZZY-LOGIC MODELING
Fuzzy logic is “soft-computing” methodology that has vari-
ables whose values are generally words that are based on the
fuzzy IF-THEN rule. Even though words are inherently less pre-
cise than numbers, their use is closer to human intuition because
it is built on rules from human experience and not based on for-
mulas. It exploits the tolerance of imprecision and uncertainty
to achieve tractable and lower solution cost. It is proposed in
this paper to use fuzzy-logic theory in furans content estimation
because it was found exceptionally useful in estimating furan
contents based on the input parameters of the bandwidth and
absorption peak.
The model was developed in accordance with the fuzzy in-
ference flowchart shown in Fig. 7, which is a process of formu-
lating the mapping from a given input to the designated output.
Inputs variable for the model are the values of bandwidth wave-
length and the maximum absorption peak collected from test
results in Table II. A variation in these parameters at different
ambient temperatures as found in Figs. 5 and 6 is included in the
design of the model. The output from the model is the estimated
furans content.
The model was built using the graphical user interface tools
provided by MATLAB. Each input was fuzzified into 10 sets of
the Gaussian combination membership function (MF) governed
by
(4)
ABU-SIADA et al.: A NOVEL FUZZY-LOGIC APPROACH FOR FURAN ESTIMATION IN TRANSFORMER OIL
Fig. 11. Furans estimation fuzzy-logic model.
Fig. 12. Furans concentration level estimation display based on the bandwidth
and absorption peak inputs.
Fig. 13. Three-dimensional mapping from the bandwidth and absorption peak
to furan concentration.
The function set developed for each input is a combination
of and parameters, where the first function 1, specified
by and , determines the shape of the leftmost curve, and
the second function 2, specified by and , determines
the shape of the rightmost curve. The corresponding Gaussian
function curve for each input variable is shown in Figs. 8 and 9.
The result of fuzzification from each input was then applied
with the fuzzy operator in the antecedent and related to the con-
sequence, which is the output, by the application method. In
contrast with the input variable, the triangular-shaped member-
ship function is selected to describe the output function. Each
473
TABLE III
COMPARISON BETWEEN ASTM D 5837 AND
UV-VIS SPECTROSCOPY WITH FUZZY LOGIC
furan concentration is fuzzified into a triangular function based
on
(5)
where the function depends on and that are located at
the “feet” of the triangle, and locates the peak. The triangular
membership function for the output is shown in Fig. 10. Outputs
from consequents were all aggregated with the fuzzy rules that
were previously set before it and can be defuzzified to generate
the estimated furans output. The variation range in wavelength
and maximum absorbance at different room temperatures shown
in Figs. 5 and 6, respectively, and the corresponding furan con-
centration are used to develop the fuzzy-logic rules in the form
of (IF-AND-THEN) statements.
Center-of-gravity, which is widely used in fuzzy models, was
used for the defuzzification method where the desired output
is calculated as [16]
(6)
where is the membership function of the output.
Fig. 11 shows the fuzzy model to estimate furan concentra-
tion where variables BW and Ab represent the spectral-response
bandwidth and peak absorbance, respectively, as input data to
the fuzzy model and t is the step time for the fuzzy model
simulation.
The model developed is able to estimate the furan concentra-
tion with more than 95% accuracy compared to measurement
results from Table II. Fig. 12 shows the developed set of fuzzy
rules relating the input variables to the output. The mapping
474
from the inputs of bandwidth and absorption peak to the furan
concentration can be illustrated in a 3-D graph shown in Fig. 13.
VI. COMPARISON BETWEEN ASTM D 5837 AND UV-VIS
SPECTROSCOPY WITH FUZZY LOGIC
ASTM D 5837 is widely adopted for accurate identification
and quantification of furan derivatives available in transformer
oil. However, testing with HPLC or GC/MS requires trained
personnel, tedious pretreating of test samples, and very expen-
sive equipment. By proposing UV-Vis spectroscopy and the
fuzzy-logic model, utility companies could use this alternative
to estimate the overall furans condition in the oil before it is
found necessary to be sent for a standard test. The comparison
of both methods is summarized in Table III.
VII. CONCLUSION
This paper has demonstrated the use of UV-Vis spectroscopy
and the fuzzy-logic approach in estimating furfural concen-
tration in unprocessed transformer oil. The effect of ambient
temperature on the UV-Vis spectral response is also analyzed
and included in the development of the fuzzy-logic model. This
method would provide utility companies with an alternative in
estimating insulation strength of the paper in a transformer.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank G. Lenco (TACS) and
M. Zaw (SGS) for their supervision and facilities provided in
this research.
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A. Abu-Siada (M’07) received the B.Sc. and M.Sc.
degrees in electrical engineering from Ain Shams
University, Cairo, Egypt, and the Ph.D. degree in
electrical engineering from Curtin University of
Technology, Perth, Australia.
Currently, he is a Lecturer in the Department
of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Curtin
University. His research interests include power
system stability, condition monitoring, power
electronics, power quality, energy technology, and
system simulation. He is a regular reviewer for the
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON
DIELECTRICS AND ELECTRICAL INSULATION, and the Qatar National Research
Fund (QNRF). He is the Vice Chair of the IEEE Computational Intelligence
Society, WA Chapter.
Sin P. Lai (M’09) was born in Sarawak, Malaysia,
in 1983. He received the B.Sc. and M.Phi. degrees
in electrical engineering from Curtin University of
Technology, Perth, Australia, in 2006 and 2009,
respectively.
Currently, he is with Western Power, Perth, Aus-
tralia. His research interests are power systems with
a particular emphasis on power transformer insula-
tion degradation analysis.
Syed M. Islam (S’81–M’83–SM’93) received
the B.Sc. degree in electrical power engineering
from Bangladesh University of Engineering and
Technology, Bangladesh, in 1979, and the M.Sc. and
Ph.D. degrees in electrical power engineering from
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals,
Saudi Arabia, in 1983 and 1988, respectively.
Currently, he is the Chair Professor in Electrical
Power Engineering and Head of the Department
of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Curtin
University of Technology, Perth, Australia. He is a
regular reviewer for the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, IEEE
TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, and IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER
DELIVERY. He is an editor of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY. He has published many technical papers in his area of expertise.
His research interests are condition monitoring of transformers, wind energy
conversion, and power systems.
Prof. Islam is a chartered engineer in the U.K. He received the IEEE T Burke
Haye’s Faculty Recognition award in 2000. He has been a keynote speaker and
invited speaker at many international workshops and conferences. He is the cur-
rent Vice-Chair of the Australasian Committee for Power Engineering (ACPE)
and a member of the steering committee of the Australian Power Institute. He is a
Fellow of the Engineers Australia; a Senior member of the IEEE Industry Appli-
cations Society, Power and Energy Society, and the Dielectrics and Electrical In-
sulation Society; and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.