| 摘要 |
Lubricating oil is marked with a radioactive tracer; the radioactivity of a sample of the oil is measured using a detector sensitive to radioactivity and the results are transmitted to a computer which uses them to calculate the rate of dilution of the lubricating oil by the fuel. - Lubricating oil or the fuel can contain the radioactive tracer. The sample of oil is brought to the detector and then reinjected into the oil circuit of the engine using a bypass which takes the sample from an area of the oil circuit which is not under pressure or is under a low oil pressure. The radioactive tracer is a mineral or organic compound of a radioactive element with a half-life less than 3 years, preferably less than 1 year and best less than 30 days. The radioactive element is selected from 22Na, 65Zn, 45Ca, 35S, 32P, 47Ca, 99Mo, 64Cu, 99mTc, 28Mg, 68Ge, 77Ge, 85Sr and 56Co. In particular the tracer is selected from the tetra-alkylgermaniums containing 69Ge, preferably tetrahexylgermanium, tetraheptylgermanium or tetraoctylgermanium or mixture thereof. The detector is an ion ray detector. - An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is included for a device to carry out the above process, with an internal combustion engine lubricated by oil and fed with an air/fuel mixture, where either the oil or the fuel is marked with a radioactive tracer; means of temporarily removing and re-injecting, either continuously or intermittently, a sample of the oil from the oil circuit; next to the removing and re-injecting point there is a detector sensitive to radioactivity in the sample and the data from this detector is sent to a computer which then calculates the dilution of the oil by the fuel.
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