Low Cost, Integrated Viscosity Measurement System for the Portable Fluid Analyzer and Total Oil Monitoring System

Foster-Miller, Inc. proposes to develop and deliver a viscosity sensing capability for the Portable Fluid Analyzer (PFA) and Total Oil Monitoring System (TOMS) which utilizes both existing infrared spectra gathered by these instruments and flow hardware to report an accurate measurement of viscosity in diesel and other lubes. The proposed system will have the capability of measuring viscosity over a wide range of values (1-500 cSt at 40oC) in a variety of lubes at very low flow rates. As the developer of the infrared spectrometer used by the TOMS and PFA systems and derived oil condition algorithms, Foster-Miller is uniquely poised to deliver an infrared-based viscosity prediction system to the US Navy for these and related applications. The Phase I program will evaluate the infrared spectra and viscosity of a set of calibrated and field-degraded MIL-L-9000 lubes from which viscosity prediction based on the infrared spectra will be produced and verified through blind testing. In addition, a direct microfluidic-based viscosity measurement which utilizes existing flow sensing hardware contained within the infrared spectrometer will be developed and evaluated. Phase II will incorporate the system optimized during the initial effort into the existing PFA and TOMS systems for US Navy validation. (P-040121)