Lubricant health and service determination
First Claim
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1. A method, comprising:
- categorizing each of a plurality of lubricant parameters into one of a first priority group, a second priority group or a third priority group, wherein each of the priority groups are defined by a priority level determined by a criticality of the lubricant parameters based on at least one of a lubricant performance and a component life, and wherein at least one of the priority groups include a plurality of lubricant parameters having the same priority level;
analyzing a sample of lubricant after the categorizing of the lubricant parameters;
assigning an indicator value to each of the lubricant parameters in response to the analyzing;
comparing each indicator value to a respective predetermined threshold value;
determining a health status in response to the comparing of each indicator value to the respective predetermined threshold value for parameters in each of the priority groups;
determining at least one of a maintenance service, a maintenance schedule, and a remaining useful lubricant life in response to the health status; and
performing a maintenance service in response to the health status.
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Abstract
A method is disclosed that includes determining a current level of a plurality of lubricant parameters present in a portion of lubricant, comparing the current level of each of the plurality of lubricant parameters to a threshold value corresponding to each of the plurality of lubricant parameters, analyzing a priority of each of the lubricant parameters, and determining a health status of the lubricant in response to the comparing and the analyzing.
14 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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categorizing each of a plurality of lubricant parameters into one of a first priority group, a second priority group or a third priority group, wherein each of the priority groups are defined by a priority level determined by a criticality of the lubricant parameters based on at least one of a lubricant performance and a component life, and wherein at least one of the priority groups include a plurality of lubricant parameters having the same priority level; analyzing a sample of lubricant after the categorizing of the lubricant parameters; assigning an indicator value to each of the lubricant parameters in response to the analyzing; comparing each indicator value to a respective predetermined threshold value; determining a health status in response to the comparing of each indicator value to the respective predetermined threshold value for parameters in each of the priority groups; determining at least one of a maintenance service, a maintenance schedule, and a remaining useful lubricant life in response to the health status; and performing a maintenance service in response to the health status. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method, comprising:
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determining a level of a plurality of lubricant parameters present in a portion of lubricant; comparing the level of each of the plurality of lubricant parameters to a respective threshold value corresponding to each of the plurality of lubricant parameters; assigning each of the lubricant parameters to one of a first priority group, a second priority group and a third priority group, each of the priority groups defined by a priority, wherein at least one of the priority groups includes a plurality of parameters having the same defined priority; analyzing the priority and the level of each of the lubricant parameters after assigning each of the lubricant parameters to a priority group; determining a health status of the lubricant in response to the comparing and the analyzing of each of the lubricant parameters from at least two of the priority groups, wherein the health status of the lubricant is defined at different levels of severity depending on which of the priority groups that include a parameter value that falls outside of a corresponding respective threshold value; determining at least one of a lubricant remaining useful life, a maintenance schedule, a maintenance service interval, and a maintenance service to be performed in response to the health status of the lubricant; and performing a maintenance service when a parameter in one of the priority groups falls outside of the respective threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method, comprising:
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receiving a sample of lubricant from an air compression system, wherein the lubricant is of a type suitable for use within the air compression system; determining a current level of a plurality of lubricant parameters present in the sample of lubricant; assigning each of the lubricant parameters to one of a first priority group, a second priority group and a third priority group, each group having a different defined priority, wherein at least one of the priority groups includes a plurality of parameters; comparing the current level of each of the plurality of lubricant parameters to a respective threshold value corresponding to each of the plurality of lubricant parameters after the assigning of each of the lubricant parameters to a priority group; assigning a different criticality to each of the plurality of priority groups, wherein the criticality of each of the plurality of priority groups is determined in response to an effect each of the lubricant parameters has on at least one of a lubricant performance and a component wear; determining a health status of the lubricant in response to the comparing and the assigning, wherein the health status is defined as one of a first severity, a second severity or a third severity depending on which of the plurality of priority groups includes a parameter with a current level falling outside of the corresponding respective threshold value; generating a health status report, wherein the health status report indicates the health status of the lubricant as at least one of the first severity, the second severity, and the third severity, wherein the first severity is less than the second severity and the second severity is less than the third severity; and performing a maintenance service based on the health status of the lubricant. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A method comprising:
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determining a plurality of lubricant parameters that at least partially define a lubricant; separating the plurality of lubricant parameters into one of a first priority group and a second priority group, wherein the first priority group includes a plurality of parameters that are more critical to lubricant performance than the parameters in the second priority group, wherein each of the plurality of lubricant parameters in their respective first and second priority groups have the same priority level; determining a threshold value for each of the plurality of lubricant parameters, wherein the threshold value is one of a minimum level or maximum level of a lubricant constituent that defines a minimum level of lubricant performance, wherein each of the plurality of lubricant parameters have a different threshold value; analyzing a sample of lubricant to determine a measured value for each of the plurality of lubricant parameters after the separating of each of the lubricant parameters into one of the first and second priority groups; comparing the measured value to the respective threshold value for each of the plurality of lubricant parameters; and indicating a health status of the lubricant in response to the comparing; wherein the health status indicates a first severity level if the measured value does not exceed the threshold value for any of the lubricant parameters in the first and second priority groups; and wherein the health status indicates a second severity level if the measured value does not exceed the threshold value for any of the lubricant parameters in the first priority group and the measured value exceeds the threshold value for at least one parameter in the second priority group; wherein the health status indicates a third severity level if the measured value exceeds the threshold value for at least one of the lubricant parameters in the first priority group; determining a maintenance procedure in response to the health status indication of a first, second or third severity level; and performing a maintenance service in response to the health status indication. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification