Keywords

Lubricating Oil, Aeration Measurement, Particle Imaging

Track

Engine and Drivetrain V (Session 8G)

Effective Oil Aeration Measurement With an Online Imaging Method

The adverse effects of air in lubricating oil during operation of mechanical components is the reason for many studies. The available methods for measuring air content in oil cannot measure in real time for sudden changes in the air content during a dynamic operation of the equipment. This presentation proposes method to calculate in real time the air contained in oil. This is achieved by sampling at line a small volume of oil and circulating it through an instrument. The dispersed air separates in bubbles and it is recorded by an optical method and measured. Algorithms have been developed to analyze the measured air in seconds and report it in real time to the monitor. Using the air bubble count and size distribution, a value for the dispersed gas concentration is calculated, and it shows good correlation with dynamic machine behavior.

Authors and Company/Institution

Ricardo Hein, Conexo Inc., Atlanta, GA
Dr. Peter Martin and Nils Roebken, Innosiris GmbH, Hamburg, Germany