Patent ID: 6931352

Claim:
A system for monitoring the condition of a heat exchange unit used in the operation of a vehicle, with the vehicle and the heat exchange unit being from a population of like vehicles and heat exchange units having passage for flow of a first fluid through said unit from an inlet to an outlet thereof, and passage for the flow of a second fluid through said unit from an inlet to an outlet thereof for cooling said first fluid, said system comprising: (a) at least one sensor, positioned proximal to said heat exchange unit, for taking a plurality of temperature readings representative of a first temperature associated with either the first fluid or the second fluid toward a respective inlet of said unit and a second temperature associated with a respective fluid toward a respective outlet of said unit; (b) a processor, in communication with the sensor, to which data representative of the temperatures is transmitted; (c) a database, in communication with the processor, comprising data representative of at least one predetermined condemning limit for measures of effectiveness of a population of like heat exchange units and data representative of at least one operating parameter associated with the operation of the vehicle; (d) said processor calculating a measure of effectiveness of said heat exchange unit based on said data representative of the first temperature and second temperature; (e) a monitor for detecting a level of the operating parameter of the vehicle; (f) said processor comparing the measure of effectiveness of said heat exchange unit at said level of the operating parameter with said predetermined condemning limit associated with the operating parameter for the vehicle, and generating a signal indicative of the condition of said heat exchange unit relative to a condition of the population of like heat exchange units.