Method and apparatus for determining lubricant contamination or deterioration in an engine
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsRavindra Shankar Ganiger, Anand Madihalli Srinivasan, Uma Maheshwar Domala, Thomas DeWitt Woodrow
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for determining lubrication contamination or deterioration in an engine or a lubricant system of an engine can include at least one sensor provided in the lubricant system. The sensor can sense an aroma of a lubricant or the air around the lubricant to measure a chemical composition or an aromatic. The sensed chemical composition or aromatic can be compared to a baseline or threshold to determine a particular contamination type or deterioration level of the lubricant.
Claims18
A method for determining contamination in a vehicle lubrication system, the method comprising:
- sensing an aroma of a lubricant in the vehicle lubrication system with at least one sensor;
- generating a signal, from the at least one sensor, representative of the aroma;
- and
- determining, with a controller, a contamination of the lubricant based on the signal representative of the aroma;
- wherein the contamination is one of oil coke, oil varnish, oil slag, free-on-board oil, water, dust, dirt, ice, or sand.
A method for determining oil degradation and a type of oil degradation in a vehicle lubrication system, the method comprising:
- sensing an aroma of a lubricant in the vehicle lubrication system with at least one sensor;
- generating a signal, from the at least one sensor, representative of the aroma;
- and
- determining, with a controller, an oil degradation and a type of oil degradation of the lubricant based on the signal representative of the aroma;
- wherein the type of oil degradation is one of oil slag, oil coke, or oil varnish.
A method for determining contamination in a vehicle lubrication system, the method comprising:
- sensing an aroma of a lubricant in the vehicle lubrication system with at least one sensor;
- generating a signal, from the at least one sensor, representative of the aroma;
- and
- determining, with a controller, a contamination of the lubricant based on the signal representative of the aroma;
- wherein the contamination is one or more of fuel, water, dirt, dust, sand, ice, organic material, metals, or ceramics.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.