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Hardware
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Air-X equipment includes 2 subsystems :
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The sampling unit (see picture), a rectangular box to be installed in the vicinity of the running hydraulic system. It contains the measuring chamber with its X-ray transmission system, an hydraulic pump with its controller, and the temperature and pressure measuring probes;
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Software
A software package is supplied with Air-X, that offers the following functions :
Calibration:
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As the operating principle of Air-X is based on a density measurement it is necessary to identify the law that describes density variations according to temperature. This is easily done using a calibration routine included in the software package. Such calibration must be done once for each type of oil to be used during the tests.
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Then, before starting a new measurement, a single calibration point is done by launching the acquisition while the air content is ~0% (engine stopped).
On-line measurement:
The oil is sampled continuously in the measuring chamber but the dwell time for data acquisition can be selected between 1s up to several mins. Short dwell times allow visualizing aeration during transient operating phases of the engine while long dwell times provide a high accuracy on the absolute air content.
All measurement data (oil temperature, oil pressure and aeration level), as well as external signals, are recorded and can be visualized on a graphic during operation of Air-X. A dedicated routine is also provided, which allows converting the results to a .csv format.
Not a “Black Box” !
During measurements the flow of oil circulating in the measuring chamber can be directly visualized on the PC screen through compressed video signal. This allows the operator to get a better feeling and understanding of the aeration process (quantity & size of bubbles), which is also an appreciable information. Pictures can be taken at any moment during acquisition, and saved on hard disk.
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