Patent ID: 7783407
Filing Date: 2010-08-24
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. A system for monitoring a rate of dilution of a lubricating oil by fuel of an internal combustion engine, the internal combustion engine being lubricated by a lubricating oil and supplied with an air/fuel mixture, with either the lubricating oil or the fuel containing a radioactive tracer, the system comprising: means for temporarily sampling and then re-injecting, continuously or discontinuously, an oil sample from an oil system of the internal combustion engine, a detector, sensitive to radioactive radiation emitted by the radioactive tracer present in the oil sample and operable to measure the emitted radioactive radiation, is provided adjacent to the means for temporary sampling and re-injection of the oil sample, and a computer, connected to the detector, is programmed to calculate, from measurement results provided by the detector, the rate of dilution of the lubricating oil by the fuel.