Project

A smart lubrication unit for controlled oil supply and monitoring the oil quality in lubrication testing for future sustainable drivetrains.

Acronym
SmartConOil
Code
F2023/IOF-Equip/090
Duration
20 December 2023 → 19 December 2025
Funding
Regional and community funding: Industrial Research Fund
Research disciplines
  • Engineering and technology
    • Tribology
Keywords
Sustainable lubrication Machine Elements Lubricant condition monitoring
 
Project description

The requested equipment is a mobile smart lubrication unit to control and condition the supply of liquid lubricants. This equipment will allow to finalize the large-scale bearing test rig currently under development at Soete Laboratory as well as upgrading of existing bearing and gear test rigs. The lubrication unit will allow to: 1. Accurate and reliable control of lubricant supply conditions to the test component, i.e. control of lubricant temperature, mass flow rate, pressure, and oil cleanliness, for different lubricant types with different ISO-VG grades. 2. Smart online monitoring of the condition of the lubricant returning from the test component. This involves monitoring of wear debris within the lubricant as well as the online measurement of thermomechanical, electrical, and potentially chemical properties of the lubricant itself. Different types of liquid lubricants are in scope, for example, mineral oils, synthetic oils, and bio-sustainable oils.