Abstract

Power transformers are critical assets within utilities characterized by high capital and material intensity and long operational lifetimes. Traditionally, end-of-life management strategies for these transformers are very linear, limited to recovery or basic recycling and disposal. Although circular strategies can be integrated into the end-of-life management of these transformers, a key challenge to implementation is the absence of a structured, multi-criteria framework that can support decision-making in this context. This study addresses this gap by developing a decision model using a hybrid Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach combining the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). Criteria weights are derived through structured pairwise comparison surveys administered to twelve experts from industry spanning six functional areas. The model ranks four end-of-life strategies which are reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing, and recycling against carefully selected economic, technical, environmental, and circular criteria which are Implementation Cost, Remaining Useful Life, CO₂ Emissions, and Material Recovery Rate respectively. The framework is applied across four representative transformer condition scenarios defined by Health Index bands. Results indicate that Remanufacturing is the recommended strategy across all four condition scenarios under the survey-derived weights. An excel-based decision-support tool was developed to support the decision-making process in utilities. Additionally, an exploratory AI readiness assessment was conducted with the same expert panel, revealing high perceived usefulness and behavioral intention to adopt AI decision support as well as structural barriers related to integration effort, regulatory enablement, and a near-unanimous requirement for explainability before practitioners would act on AI-generated recommendations.

Publication Date

7-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Engineering Management (ME)

Advisor

Dua Weraikat

Advisor/Committee Member

Fuat Kosanoglu

Advisor/Committee Member

Karam Al-Assaf

Comments

This thesis has been embargoed. The full-text will be available on or around 8/4/2027.

Campus

RIT Dubai

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