D5.3 - Inline Oil Performance Monitor LUBRICON for Engines and Machines
- Event
- SENSOR+TEST Conferences 2011
2011-06-07 - 2011-06-09
Nürnberg - Band
- Proceedings SENSOR 2011
- Chapter
- D5 - Media Properties Sensors
- Author(s)
- B. Bode - flucon fluid control GmbH, Clausthal-Zellerfeld (Germany)
- Pages
- 607 - 611
- DOI
- 10.5162/sensor11/d5.3
- ISBN
- 978-3-9810993-9-3
- Price
- free
Abstract
The optimization of the intervals in which lubricating liquids have to be exchanged is of growing importance for the continued technical development of automobiles, utility vehicles, gear construction and energy producing plants. And this is so both from an ecological and from an economical point of view.
The unit specific optimization of the intervals in which the lubricating liquid is exchanged contributes significantly to a decrease of pollution while it increases operational stability and thus reduces the cost of operation at the same time, as it means a controlled prolongation of the time in which the lubricant can be used, and therefore an increase in the time in which the machinery is available.
The necessary permanent control of the quality of the lubricating oil is now made possible by LUBRICON, which is the result of long years of research and experience with the aging process of lubricants, which is largely determined by the appearance of particles in the lubricant, thermal oxidation, chemical conversion and mechanical destruction of additives of high molecular weight.
Aging of liquid lubricants is essentially characterised by such quantifiable phenomena as the change of flowability, an increase of insoluble impurities (including metallic particles), and a change in the capacity for neutralisation (Total Base Number „TBN“ or Total Acid Number „TAN“).
In most applications, the change of viscosity in the lubricant is of major importance, while the obtaining of such operational data as the change of the relative permittivity and the specific electric conductivity permits conclusions concerning the chemical changes in the lubricant. The combination of these measurement data by use of the LUBRICON system consequently provides information about the remaining performance of the lubricant.
The measuring device LUBRICON consists of two components: The screw inserted sensor and a small compartment with the electronic control and evaluation devices inside.
The installation of the measuring device in the lubrication system is very simple as the sensor is independent of the type of flow (laminar / turbulent) in the lubricant. LUBRICON requires no maintenance, works without parts that are subject to mechanical wear and because of its compact modular construction it can be adapted to practically any type of machinery.
Its most important component is the cylinder-shaped quartz sensor; it permits the simultaneous measuring of viscosity, relative dielectric constant and the specific electric conductivity of the lubricating oil. As a temperature sensor is also included, a complete control of the quality of the lubricating liquid is made possible by means of a single sensor.