Low Cost Photonic Sensor for in-Line Oil Quality Monitoring: Methodological Development Process towards Uncertainty Mitigation.

Autor: Lopez P; IK4-Tekniker, 20600 Eibar, Spain. patricia.lopez@tekniker.es., Mabe J; IK4-Tekniker, 20600 Eibar, Spain. jon.mabe@tekniker.es., Miró G; atten2 Advanced Monitoring Technologies, 20600 Eibar, Spain. gmiro@atten2.com., Etxeberria L; Mondragon Unibertsitatea, 20600 Eibar, Spain. letxeberria@mondragon.edu.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) [Sensors (Basel)] 2018 Jun 22; Vol. 18 (7). Date of Electronic Publication: 2018 Jun 22.
DOI: 10.3390/s18072015
Abstrakt: Lubricant and hydraulic fluid ageing impacts the performance of the machines, gears, transmissions or automatisms where they are being used. This manuscript describes the work accomplished for bringing an innovative measurement concept for analysing the physical- chemical properties of these fluids, to a real industrial product ready to be integrated into different industrial equipment. The steps taken to deal with uncertainties and evolving requirements while progressing in the sensor development are described, covering the stages of theoretical formulation of the problem, optical and fluidic simulations, sensor prototype development and tests. The sensor working principle is based on a combination of transmittance and diffuse reflectance photonic inspection of the fluid sample that is collected in a microcavity through a standard hydraulic fitting. Photonics, electronics, micro-mechanics, fluidics, data processing and analysis has been merged with a deep knowledge in the lubricant degradation process to develop a sensor solution that is able to measure the Oil Degradation Index, Oil Oxidation, Acid Number, Ruler and Membrane Patch Colorimetry data from an inservice lubricating oil sample. The photonic micro sensor presented here offers a powerful tool that operates directly immersed in the fluid, at an economic cost and compacted size for inline oil degradation monitoring.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Databáze: MEDLINE