Correlation between UV-Vis spectral response and furan measurement of transformer oil

Furans concentration presence in aged-transformer oil has been one of the key indicators of the solid dielectric deterioration. They are the by-products from the cellulose degradation of insulation paper caused by heat, oxidation and electrical stress. Nowadays, furans concentration is measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) or gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) based on the standard of ASTM D 5837. Both analysis methods provide accurate and reliable results in detecting the concentration of furan derivatives (2-acetyl furan, 2-furfural, 5-methyl-2-furfural, 5-hydroxymethyl 2-furfural, and 2-furfurylalcohol). However, these two methods need very expensive equipments and take long time to get the results in addition an expert person is required to perform the analysis. This paper presents a novel approach of the correlation between the ultraviolet-to-visible (UV-Vis) spectral response that can be measured in a instantly with a relatively cheap equipment and does not need an expert person and furan measurement of transformer oil. Results show that there is a good correlation between UV-Vis spectral response and Furans concentration of transformer oil and an accurate method that can determine the furan concentration by measuring the UV-Vis spectral response can be developed.