Apparatus and method for fluid analysis
First Claim
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1. A machine fluid analysis system comprising:
- a plurality of different sensors contacting a fluid under pressure of a machine for detecting different properties of the fluid;
a controller operable to initiate acquisition cycles of and to collect data from the plurality of sensors; and
a two-way wireless communicator coupled to the controller for receiving interrogation signals and for transmitting the collected data to a remote location.
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Abstract
The present invention is an apparatus and method for analyzing a fluid used in a machine or in an industrial process line. The apparatus has at least one meter placed proximate the machine or process line and in contact with the machine or process fluid for measuring at least one parameter related to the fluid. The at least one parameter is a standard laboratory analysis parameter. The at least one meter includes but is not limited to viscometer, element meter, optical meter, particulate meter, and combinations thereof.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A machine fluid analysis system comprising:
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a plurality of different sensors contacting a fluid under pressure of a machine for detecting different properties of the fluid;
a controller operable to initiate acquisition cycles of and to collect data from the plurality of sensors; and
a two-way wireless communicator coupled to the controller for receiving interrogation signals and for transmitting the collected data to a remote location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for determining trends and predicting maintenance schedules of a machine comprising:
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determining a plurality of properties of a machine fluid with sensors in contact with the machine fluid under pressure of the machine;
collecting data for use in determining trends and predicting maintenance schedules of the machine from the sensors with a controller;
receiving interrogation signals with a two-way wireless communicator coupled to the controller; and
transmitting the collected data to a remote location with the two-way wireless communicator. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for machine fluid analysis comprising:
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initiating acquisition cycles of a plurality of sensors in contact with a machine fluid with a controller to determine a plurality of properties of the machine fluid;
collecting data from the sensors with the controller for determining trends and predicting maintenance schedules of the machine; and
in response to a download request, transmitting the collected data to a remote location with a two-way wireless communicator operably coupled to the controller. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. An X-ray fluorescence meter for measuring the concentration of elements in a fluid comprising:
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an X-ray source providing source X-rays in an energy range from about 5 KeV to about 30 KeV;
a thin walled polymeric tube of low element weight composition and substantially transparent to the source X-rays, the tube providing a flow path past the X-ray source for flowing a fluid there through whereby the fluid can intercept the source X-rays and produce an X-ray fluorescence signal;
an X-ray detector for receiving an X-ray fluorescence signal from the fluid in the tube;
a multi-channel analyzer for counting the number of X-rays photons in specific energy ranges; and
software for quantitative determination of the relative and absolute concentrations of elements in the fluid. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
at least one second sensor for detecting at least one additional property of the fluid; a controller operable to initiate acquisition cycles of and to collect data from the X-ray fluorescence meter and the second sensor; and
a two-way wireless communicator coupled to the controller for receiving interrogation signals and for transmitting the collected data to a remote location.
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32. The system of claim 7 wherein the X-ray fluorescence meter is an X-ray fluorescence meter according to claim 25.
Specification