• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.139-143
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• 2004

This paper presents a method that the engine oil condition is detected using a natural convection heat transfer in a engine oil. A sensor circuit maintains a constant temperature difference between a heat plate and engine oil for detecting a natural convection heat transfer rate on the constant temperature. The natural convection heat transfer rate is measured by a current through the heat plate of the sensor circuit. The sensor is tested by a fresh oil. 6,000 km and 10,000 km driven oil in the oil temperature range from $20^{\circ}C$ to $100^{\circ}C$. In the experimental result, when the current through the heat plate is altered by variation of a engine oil temperature and flows driven oil more than fresh oil, the sensor could inform a engine oil deterioration to a car driver.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.77-84
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• 2013

A small engine-oil-deterioration detection sensor was developed and installed at the tip of a dipstick gage. The sensor part was manufactured using printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing technology. A set of sensor covers was installed in order to protect the sensor and realize good signal stability. The small engine-oil-deterioration detection sensor system comprised a dual sensor having etched copper electrodes coated with gold and ceramic, a flexible PCB (FPCB) acting as electric wire, and a dummy PCB with only a lock connector. The sensor can easily be installed by insertion through the guide tube of a dipstick gage. Thus, a driver can easily handle it without further installation equipment. The sensor can determine the level of deterioration in the engine oil by estimating the corresponding dielectric constant of the engine oil.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.203-207
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• 2021

This study presents the development of dielectric constant sensors to measure lubricant properties. The lubricant oil sensor is used to measure oil properties and machine conditions. Various condition monitoring methods are applied to diagnose machine conditions. Machine condition monitoring using oil sensors has advantage over other machine condition monitoring methods. The fault conditions can be noticed at the early stages by the detection of wear particles using oil sensors. Therefore, it provides an early warning in the failure procedure. A variety of oil sensors are applied to check the machine condition. Among all oil sensors, only one sensor can measure the tendency of several properties such as acidity and water content. A dielectric constant sensor is also used to measure various oil properties; therefore, it is very useful. The dielectric constant is the ratio of the capacitance of a capacitor using that material as a dielectric to that of a similar capacitor using vacuum as its dielectric. The dielectric constant has an effect on water content, contaminants, base oil, additive, and so forth. In this study, the dielectric constant sensor is fabricated using MEMS process. In the fabrication process, the shape, gap of the electrode array, and thickness of the insulation material are considered to improve the sensitivity of the sensor.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.541-546
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• 2012

This study investigates the detection system of oil pollution level using single optical fiber sensor. This study focus on sensing of oil pollution by moisture and iron powder which are representatives of oil pollution factor. In addition, It is placed that the water and iron powder as an oil pollution factor in the oil tank which is the oil circulation in. The oil pollution detection system was measured by the changing of intensity of light and sensing gap. The result of this experimentation not only confirmed the contamination by moisture volume in the oil tank from the section 190ppm to 540ppm, but also monitored the contamination by iron volume from the section 1200ppm to 3500ppm. This study confirmed effectiveness of this detection system using optical fiber sensor. There is expectations of measuring another section by various optical fiber sensor.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.82-89
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to develop the proto type sensor installed inside an oil filter in order to detect oil deterioration level. The sensor is made up with two concentric cylinders with constant gap in between and a filter element inside the central area. The size will be designed as similar as real oil filters. The sensor will be tested on a test rig, which is circulating engine oil, with the same size of an oil filter adapting housing as real engines'. It will be measured the capacitance of a sample engine oil, then be able to be gotten the dielectric constant. The changes in the dielectric constant could be correlated with the engine oil deterioration level if the sensor development would be completed. In this paper, it will be shown the test results carrying out under variable temperature conditions at atmosphere pressure.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.243-248
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to develop a sensing system to measure the capacitance of a pre-developed engine oil deterioration detection sensor integrated with an oil filter. To measure the capacitance of engine oil in the sensor, it is used the way measuring the electric charging time in a capacitor by impressing DC volt. This method has merits on cost and signal stability. The measured capacitance is compensated by comparison with the one measured by an impedance analyzer. Also, using the dielectric constant gained by an impedance analyzer, the calculating equation of the dielectric constant of engine oil related with the currently developed sensor is decided. Finally, the degradation degree of engine oil is estimated according to the change rate of dielectric constant between green oil and used oil. The newly developed personal controller is to control a series of the processes.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2008

In this work, a simple and low cost sensor technique is proposed to test oil color in real time using in-line sensor. It is presented to use a ratio of intensity in red wavelength range to intensities of green and blue wavelength ranges (defined as a 'chromatic ratio') in order to estimate the oil color change. The proposed sensor technique is realized by irradiating a white LED as light source and a RGB color sensor as photoreceiver, and the chromatic ratio of various types of used oils are measured. The results show that chromatic ratio generally reflects chemical deterioration of oil, including oil oxidation and thermal degradation. It is concluded that the proposed sensor could be used for an effective oil monitoring technology.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.73-77
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• 2010

One of the important trends for condition monitoring in the 21st century is the development of smart sensors that will permit the cost-effective continuous monitoring of key machine equipments. In this study, an integrated in-line oil monitoring sensor assigned for continuous in situ monitoring multiple parameters of oil performance is presented. The sensor estimates oil deterioration based on the information about chemical degradation, total contamination, water content of oil and oil temperature. The oil oxidation is estimated by "chromatic ratio", total contamination is measured by the changes in optical density of oil in three optical wave-bands ('Red', 'Green' and 'Blue') and water content is evaluated as relative saturation of oil by water. In order to evaluate the sensor's effectiveness, the sensor was applied to several used oil samples in steel making industry and the results were compared with those measured by standard test methods.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.24 no.3 s.192
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• pp.61-66
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• 2007

This work is aimed to measure the deterioration in oil sensor. For the study, the circuit of a coil-type oil sensor packaged was developed and applied to the automobile engine for monitoring the deterioration of engine oil in driving conditions. From the principle which the deterioration of automobile engine oil can be expressed to the dielectric constant, the capacitance bridge circuit and the integrator circuit were designed. As results, the range of operating temperature of engine oil was experimentally recommended within $55^{\circ}C$ for the stability of a sensor designed. It was also concluded that the characteristics of output voltage converted from the dielectric constant were linearly distributed and predicted the optimized time for the exchange of engine oil.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.434-439
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• 2012

In this study, the oil degradation measuring for integrated sensor of drain valve was fabricated. A sensor used in the experiments was integrated with drain valves and installed in oil pan without requiring additional space. As a result of the experiments, the capacitances changed with two inflection points in accordance with an after in mileage. The first inflection point indicated the exhaustion of oil additives, and after the second inflection point, the oil degradation was completed, which increased the viscosity and disabled the functions of oil. Thus, this section was determined as the time of oil exchange.