On-site oil analyzer
AssigneeOn-Site Analysis, Inc.
InventorCarlton S. Joyce
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The on-site analyzer (10) includes a housing (14). The housing (14) contains an infrared spectrometer (18) and an optical emission spectrometer (24) for testing a sample (12) of oil. A conduit (32) by operation of a pump (40) draws the sample (12) into the conduit (32), and controllably moves the sample (12) to an infrared spectrometer (18) for testing, and subsequently to an optical emission spectrometer (24) for testing. The pump (40) and spectrometers (18, 24) are controlled by a computer (50) for complete automation of testing. The computer (50) performs analysis and diagnosis of the test results from the spectrometers (18, 24) based on sets of known and standard information.
Claims25
A self-contained test assembly for testing a sample of oil to determine contents thereof, the test assembly comprising:
- a liquid conduit (32) for transferring a sample of oil (12) therethrough and having a first end (34) for receiving said sample of oil and a second end (36) for disposing of said sample of oil;
- a pump (40) operatively connected to said liquid conduit (32) for drawing said sample of oil (12) into said first end (34) and transferring said sample of oil through said liquid conduit;
- an infrared spectrometer (18) operatively connected to said liquid conduit (32) intermediate said first end (34) and said second end (36) for optically testing said sample of oil (12) transferred through said liquid conduit and generating first test results data;
- an optical emission spectrometer (24) operatively connected to said liquid conduit (32) for receiving said sample of oil (12) from said second end (36) and for testing said sample of oil and generating second test results data;
- and
- a computer controller (50) connected to said pump (40), said infrared spectrometer (18) and said optical emission spectrometer (24) for automatically controlling the transfer of said sample of oil (12) from said first end (34) to said infrared spectrometer for non-destructive testing of said sample of oil and a subsequent transfer of said sample of oil to said optical emission spectrometer for destructive testing of said sample of oil and for receiving said first and second test results data for evaluation of contents of said sample of oil.
A self-contained, portable test assembly for testing a sample of oil to determine contents thereof, the test assembly comprising:
- a housing (14);
- a liquid conduit (32) for transferring a sample of oil (12), said liquid conduit being mounted in said housing (14) and having a first end (34) for receiving said sample of oil (12) and a second end (36) for disposing of said sample of oil;
- a pump (40) mounted in said housing (14) and operatively connected to said liquid conduit (32) for drawing said sample of oil (12) into said first end (34) and for transferring said sample of oil through said liquid conduit;
- an infrared spectrometer (18) mounted in said housing (12) and operatively connected to said liquid conduit (32) intermediate said first end (34) and said second end (36) for optically testing said sample of oil (12) transferred through said liquid conduit (32) and generating first test results data;
- an optical emission spectrometer (24) mounted in said housing (14) and operatively connected to said liquid conduit (32) for receiving said sample of oil (12) from said second end (36) and for testing said sample of oil and generating second test results dam;
- and
- a computer controller (50) mounted in said housing (14) and connected to said pump (40), said infrared spectrometer (18) and said optical emission spectrometer (24) for automatically controlling the transfer of said sample of oil (12) from said first end (34) to said infrared spectrometer for non-destructive testing of said sample of oil and a subsequent transfer to said optical emission spectrometer for destructive testing of said sample of oil and for receiving said first and second test results data for evaluation of contents of said sample of oil.
A test assembly for automatically testing a sample of oil to determine contents thereof, said assembly comprising:
- a liquid conduit transfer assembly (32, 40) for receiving a sample of oil (12) at a first end (34) and transferring said sample of oil therethrough to a second end (36);
- a test assembly (18, 24) operatively connected to said transfer assembly (32, 40) for non-destructive testing of said sample of oil (12) intermediate said first and second ends and for destructive testing of said sample of oil at said second end and for generating test results data indicative of contents within said sample of oil;
- and
- a computer controller (50) connected to and controlling said transfer assembly (32, 40) and said test assembly (18, 24) for initiating testing of said sample of oil (12) by said test assembly and for receiving said test results data to evaluate said sample of oil, said computer controller including a rules memory (84) for storing a plurality of rule bases (90) for different types of samples of oil and a plurality of predetermined rules (92) for each said rule base to evaluate said sample of oil.
A method of testing a sample of oil to determine content thereof, the method including the steps of:
- moving a sample of oil (12) into a first end (34) of a liquid conduit (32);
- automatically moving the sample of oil (12) through the liquid conduit (32) to an infrared spectrometer (18);
- automatically testing the sample of oil (12) by the infrared spectrometer (18) producing first test results data;
- automatically moving the sample of oil (12) through the liquid conduit (32) from the infrared spectrometer (18) to an optical emission spectrometer (24);
- automatically testing the sample of oil (12) by the optical emission spectrometer (24) producing second test results data;
- communicating the first test results data from the infrared spectrometer (18) and the second test results data from the optical emission spectrometer (24) to a computer controller (50);
- and
- comparing the first and second test results data to predefined conditions to provide an analysis report of contents of the sample of oil.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.