A system for determining an origin of a fluid from a machine may include a spectral measurement device configured to generate spectral data for a fluid, and a transmitter in communication with the spectral measurement device and configured to transmit the spectral data. The system may also include a receiver in communication with the transmitter and configured to receive a transmission indicative of the spectral data from the transmitter. The system may further include a processor in communication with the receiver and configured to cause execution of an analytical model configured to determine, based at least in part on the spectral data, fluidic information related to the fluid, the fluidic information including an indication of an origin of the fluid. The system may also include an output device in communication with the processor and configured to output the indication of the origin of the fluid.

The invention generally provides a system and method for detecting, measuring, and/or classifying particulate and/or water contaminants in a fluid supply line, storage tank, or sump. Embodiments of the invention provide a contaminant detection apparatus with a detection chamber and a detection module. The detection chamber includes a housing with an internal fluid conduit and one or more acoustic transducers disposed in the housing. Alarms and/or automatic signaling may be included to shut off valves or pumps when contaminants are detected.

A method of detecting the extent of degradation of an oil is provided. The method may comprise the steps of analyzing samples of the oil when fresh and when used; calculating electrochemical property data of the fresh and used engine oil; determining whether the electrochemical property data correlates with the degradation marker data; and using the electrochemical property to detect the extent of degradation of the oil of a used sample of the oil. The method may be used for any suitable oil, including mineral oil, synthetic oil and blends (a.k.a. semi-synthetic). The method can be used to maximize oil usage by monitoring used oil quality over time so that the oil is replaced when necessary and not before. The method can also identify trends in oil degradation.

A sensor system (1) for inspecting oil, which comprises a micromechanical cell (10) defining a cavity (12), the micromechanical cell (10) being configured for allowing the entrance of oil (5) within said cavity (12) and the outcome of oil (5) from said cavity (12) through respective inlet (11a) and outlet (11b). The sensor system (1) comprises inside said micromechanical cell (10): a first transparent protective means (13a) configured to isolate the inner part of said first member (101) from said oil (5); a second transparent protective means (13b) configured to isolate the inner part of said second member (102) from said oil (5); a light source (14) disposed in said first member (101) and configured to emit incoherent light towards said oil (5) disposed within said cavity (12); an opaque plate (16) disposed between said light source (14) and said first transparent protective means (13a), said plate (16) having a pin-hole (165) configured to permit the passage of illumination towards said oil (5), said pin-hole (165) being located at a first distance (z1) from a focussing plane (F) defined by said oil (5) in cavity (12); and an image sensor (17) disposed in said second member (102) situated on the opposite side of the space (12) with respect to said first member (102) and configured to capture a sequence of images of the oil disposed within said cavity (12), said image sensor (17) being located at a second distance (z2) from said focussing plane (F) defined by said oil (5) in cavity (12).

Methods, systems, and apparatus to diagnose lubrication oil deterioration. In one aspect, a method includes irradiating a lubrication oil sample with a light beam to emit a light-induced fluorescence, detecting and processing the light-induced fluorescence signal to determine a temporal variation of a fluorescence intensity, identifying a steady state of the light-induced fluorescence signal, processing the temporal variation of the fluorescence intensity to determine a lubrication oil parameter, and correlating the oil parameter to a calibration curve to diagnose the lubrication oil deterioration.

An apparatus for detecting wear particles in a fluid includes an inlet channel and an outlet channel. An ultrasonic transducer creating an acoustic wave that defines an acoustic focal zone is located between the inlet and outlet channels. A flow path located between the inlet and outlet channel is shaped to restrict the flow of the fluid to be within the acoustic focal zone. An inductive pulse sensor includes a plurality of flow channels receiving the fluid and a plurality of planar coils wound around the flow channels. The inductive pulse sensor includes a detection system for the detection of wear particles passing through the flow channels based on a change in an electrical property of the planar coils. A single combined excitation signal is sent to all the planar coils at once and the detection system measures one single output measurement for the plurality of flow channels.

The present application discloses a sensor provided with a detection portion that detects a foreign substance of a predetermined size or larger generated in a lubricant in a gear device and an output portion that, upon the detection portion detecting the foreign substance, outputs information indicating that the foreign substance has been detected.

The method can include analyzing the composition of the particulate polymer debris, including ascertaining a presence of at least one main polymer element and a presence or absence of at least one signature polymer element in the particulate debris; establishing a correlation between the particulate polymer debris and a set of components, including matching the ascertained presence of the at least one main polymer element to a family of polymers from which the components of the set, including the source component, are made; and determining the source component amongst the components of the set, including matching the ascertained presence or absence of the at least one signature polymer element to a polymer composition of the source component.

A maintenance system for a machine is disclosed. The maintenance system may have a test apparatus configured to test a fluid sample extracted from the machine. The maintenance system may also have a database configured to store a test result generated by the test apparatus. In addition, the maintenance system may have a controller. The controller may be configured to access a rule-set from the database. The controller may also be configured to determine whether the test result satisfies the rule-set. Further, the controller may be configured to label the test result as normal when the test result satisfies the rule-set. Additionally, the controller may be configured to label the test result as abnormal when the test result does not satisfy the rule-set.

The present invention relates to a system and method for monitoring lubricant of an engine. The system for monitoring lubricant of an engine comprises: a lubricant sensor, which measures lubricant quantity of the engine; a data acquisition unit, which collects the lubricant quantity of the engine from the lubricant sensor at a fixed time interval; and a message generation unit, which generates lubricant quantity monitoring messages according to the lubricant quantity of the engine collected by the data acquisition unit.