DIESEL ENGINE PORTABLE FLUID ANALYZER A SHIPBOARD CBM ENABLING TECHNOLOGY

摘要

Oil sample analysis often suffers in a shipboard environment due to the long time it takes to deliver a sample to an analysis lab, and to get the results back to the ship. Many times, when the results arrive back to the ship, a piece of equipment has failed and an opportunity was lost to identify it prior to the failure. Having the capability to perform an on-site evaluation of machinery health through a comprehensive machinery fluid monitor significantly improves the effectiveness of equipment inspections. The Naval Research Laboratory with Lockheed-Martin and Foster-Miller under an ONR Tech Solutions program, have combined several advanced diagnostics in a single instrument package to provide an on-site comprehensive oil monitor for use by diesel engine inspectors. This instrument combines the LaserNet Fines wear debris monitor, the FluidScan oil condition monitor and a compact viscometer and is designed to be used onsite, away from a laboratory environment. The LaserNet Fines instrument determines the type, severity and rate of progression of mechanical faults by measuring the size distributions, rate of production and the morphological characteristics of debris particles in fluids. It has been used to monitor a wide range of equipment including diesel engines, cranes and hydraulic systems. The FluidScan instrument monitors fluid properties through the infrared transmission of the fluid and has been installed inline on several US Navy ships. It monitors fluid properties such as water, soot, oxidation, nitration, sulfation, glycol, anti-oxidation depletion and TBN in diesel lubricating oil. Software was developed to control each instrument and to combine their results in a unified report assessing machinery health. We present results obtained during an evaluation period of shipboard oil samples.