Tribology in Industry (Sep 2010)
Development of Mobile Device for Oil Analysis
Abstract
This paper presents the results of project focused on development and practical application of mobile instrument for on-site analysis of industrial oils. For years, the implementation of the oil analysis was limited to a specialized laboratories, but the emergence of proactive maintenance concept, cause intensive development of devices and sensors that strive in direction of miniaturization, automation, performance enhancement and creation of multi-functional diagnostic systems. Proactive maintenance strategy involves continuous monitoring and control of the basic failure causes, among which oil contamination stands out as the most common, serious and generally widely accepted cause of failures in the industry. Using the sensor elements to determine the concentration of wear particles and water in oil, the prototype of mobile device for contamination control of mineral oil is developed. It meets the general and specific set of technical and technological requirements, has a favourable price and upgrade option.