JP2000074773A - Method and apparatus for detecting leakage of fluid - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a method and an apparatus for detecting leakage of fluid in which the reliability of the detection results of leakage of fluid or quantity of leakage is enhanced. SOLUTION: At the time of detecting a leakage of fluid 17 from a fluid tank by receiving the fluid 17 leaking from the fluid tank in a storage tank 21 of collecting fluid 22 and measuring the components of the collected fluid 22, the collected fluid 22 is composed of the fluid 17 and an ester-based solvent excellent in dissolving power of fluorescent. Since the fluid 17 is mixed well with the collected fluid 22 of ester-based solvent, the fluid 17 can be prevented from precipitating on the bottom of the storage tank 21.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method and a device for detecting a fluid leak.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in an environment in which lubricating oil is used as a fluid, a seal is used to prevent leakage of the lubricating oil. However, oil leakage from the seal becomes a problem.

[0003] In the detection of such oil leakage and the amount of oil leakage, conventionally, oil leaking from the seal is wiped off with paper such as so-called tissue paper or a suitable cloth, and the presence or absence of the leakage is visually recognized. Although the amount of leakage is recognized by measuring the change, such a primitive method lacks accuracy such as difficulty in measuring when the amount of leakage is small and the weight change is minute, It can be said.

On the other hand, the applicant of the present application has disclosed in
No. 3,874,743 proposes a fluid leakage detection method and a fluid leakage detection device. This is because instead of directly detecting the leakage of the fluid from the fluid tank at the leak site as in the conventional case, the leakage of the fluid in the fluid tank is received by the storage tank filled with the recovered fluid, and the recovery in the storage tank is performed. The mixing of the fluid leaking from the fluid tank is detected by measuring the components of the fluid.

[0005] In particular, in the above-mentioned prior art, in the embodiment, the fluid in the fluid tank is mineral lubricating oil, and the recovered fluid in the storage tank is silicon oil.

[0006]

However, if the fluid in the fluid tank is a mineral lubricating oil and the recovered fluid in the storage tank is a silicone oil, as in the prior art described above, the mineral lubricating oil can be used. It was found that the oil was relatively difficult to mix with the silicone oil.

[0007] Therefore, the inside of the storage tank and the fluorescence spectrometer are connected to each other by a circulation path, and a circulation pump is provided in the middle of the circulation pump. Although the fluid is circulated, the fluid leaked from the fluid tank into the storage tank, that is, mineral lubricating oil may precipitate toward the bottom of the storage tank, and the collected fluid in the storage tank, that is, silicon oil Leakage fluid from the fluid tank, that is, uneven distribution of the mixture of mineral lubricating oil, etc.
In some cases, fluid leakage and the amount of leakage cannot be accurately detected, and there is room for improvement here.

In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to improve the reliability of a result of detecting a fluid leak or a leak amount in a fluid leak detecting method and a fluid leak detecting device.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for detecting a fluid leak, wherein a recovered fluid containing no fluorescent substance is sealed in the vicinity of a fluid tank filled with a fluid containing a fluorescent substance by a seal. A storage tank for receiving a fluid leaking from a seal of the fluid tank, and measuring a component of the recovered fluid in the storage tank, and recognizing the presence or absence of fluid leakage from the fluid tank based on the measurement result. Thus, the recovered fluid is an ester solvent.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fluid leak detecting device which is disposed near a fluid tank in which a fluid containing a fluorescent substance is sealed by a seal, and in which a recovered fluid made of an ester solvent containing no fluorescent substance is filled. A reservoir for receiving fluid leaking from the seal of the fluid tank, measuring means for measuring a component of the recovered fluid in the reservoir, and recognizing the presence or absence of fluid leakage from the fluid tank based on the measurement result of the measuring means. Management means.

A third aspect of the present invention is directed to the fluid leak detecting device according to the second aspect, further comprising a circulating means for circulating the collected fluid in the storage tank with the measuring means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fluid leak detecting device according to the second or third aspect, further comprising a stirring means for stirring the collected fluid in the storage tank.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fluid leak detecting apparatus according to any one of the second to fourth aspects, wherein the measuring means comprises: a fluorescence spectrometer for measuring a concentration of a fluorescent substance contained in the recovered fluid in the storage tank. Assuming that the analyzer is an analyzer, in short, in the present invention, the recovered fluid that receives the leaked fluid is an ester-based solvent that is excellent in solubility of the leaked fluid and the fluorescent substance contained therein. When the fluid is mixed, the degree of mixing of the fluid with the collected fluid is improved, and the fluid mixed into the storage tank is prevented from settling toward the bottom of the storage tank.
Thus, by measuring the components of the recovered fluid composed of the ester-based solvent in the storage tank, it is possible to accurately detect the presence / absence and the amount of leakage of the fluid from the fluid tank.

In particular, if the recovered fluid in the storage tank is positively agitated as in claim 4, the leaked fluid can be more uniformly mixed with the recovered fluid composed of the ester solvent. .

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

1 to 3 relate to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an oil leak detection device, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a graph showing a fluorescent substance contained in a first mineral lubricating oil as a fluid, and FIG. 3 is a graph showing a fluorescent substance contained in a second mineral lubricating oil as a fluid. In the figure, 10 is an oil use target device, and 20 is an oil leak detection device.

The oil use target device 10 is provided with an annular space 13 as a fluid tank between the case 11 and the rotating shaft 12, and has both ends in the axial direction of the annular space 13 radially inward at both ends in the axial direction of the case 11. Are sealed by seals 16, 16 attached to the flanges 14, 15. A fluid 17 such as lubricating oil is sealed in the annular space 13 described above.

The oil leak detecting device 20 is a device 1 for oil use.
A storage tank 21 disposed on one side in the axial direction of the annular space 0 for receiving a fluid 17 leaking from one seal 16 of the annular space 13 and a component of the recovered fluid 22 in the storage tank 21. A fluorescence spectrometer 23 as a measuring means for measuring the temperature, a circulation pump 24 and a circulation path 25 for circulating the collected fluid 22 in the storage tank 21 between the storage tank 21 and the fluorescence spectrometer 23, A microcomputer 26 that controls the operation of the meter 23 and the circulating pump 24 and that executes at least a process of obtaining the leakage amount of the fluid 17 based on the measurement result given from the fluorescence spectrometer 23, that is, the concentration of the fluorescent substance. I have.

The fluid 17 is, for example, 7.5W-30SE of Castle Clean Royal 2 (trade name, manufactured by Toyota Co., Ltd.) or Castle Auto Fluid D-2 (GM type), trade name. Mineral lubricating oils are mentioned, which originally contain a fluorescent substance in their original components. Specifically, in the former example, as shown in FIG. 2, five types of fluorescent substances having different peak wavelengths are contained at required concentrations, and in the latter example, as shown in FIG. The substance is contained at the required concentration. Therefore, a fluorescent substance having a characteristic peak value can be used for detecting the presence / absence of leakage and the amount of leakage described below.

The above-mentioned recovered fluid 22 is, for example, an ester-based solvent represented by dioctyl phthalate or the like.
And the solubility of the fluorescent substance contained therein is excellent.

Further, as processing of the microcomputer 26, calculation may be performed using a required conversion formula using the concentration of the fluorescent substance as a variable, or data correlating the concentration of the fluorescent substance with the amount of the fluid 17 may be used. And collation can be performed using

[0022] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
The difference from Japanese Patent No. 38743 is that the recovery fluid 22 sealed in the storage tank 21 is specified as an ester solvent.

Next, the operation will be described. Equipment for oil use 1
With the start of an operation such as rotating the rotation shaft 12 of 0, the circulating pump 24 of the oil leak detection device 20 is driven to supply the collected fluid 22 in the storage tank 21 to the fluorescence spectrometer 23.

Here, as the rotating shaft 12 rotates, the seal 1
If the fluid 17 in the annular space 13 is leaking from 6, the leaked fluid 17 will mix with the collected fluid 22 in the storage tank 21. Here, since the recovered fluid 22 in the storage tank 21 is an ester solvent, the fluid 1
7 easily dissolves in the entire recovery fluid 22.
Therefore, the precipitation of the fluid 17 toward the bottom of the storage tank 21 is avoided, and as a result, the fluid 17 is almost uniformly mixed in the ester solvent as the recovery fluid 22.

The recovered fluid 22 obtained by mixing the leaked fluid 17 almost uniformly is supplied to the fluorescence spectrometer 23. The fluorescence spectrometer 23 sequentially measures the components of the recovered fluid 22 supplied from the storage tank 21 (identification of the contained substance, concentration of the contained substance, etc.) at required time intervals, and sends the measurement results to the microcomputer 26. Enter sequentially.
The microcomputer 26 performs the required processing based on the sequentially input measurement results, thereby recognizing the presence / absence and amount of leakage of the fluid 17 in the annular space 13 of the oil use target device 10.

As described above, the equipment 10 for which oil is to be used.
The recovered fluid 22 for receiving the fluid 17 leaked from the annular space 13 is formed by using an ester solvent in which the fluid 17 and the fluorescent substance contained therein are easily dissolved.
When the fluid 17 in the annular space 13 is mixed with the collected fluid 22, the fluid 17 is almost uniformly mixed with the collected fluid 22. Can be detected.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to only the above embodiment, and various applications and modifications are conceivable.

(1) In the embodiment described above, as shown in FIG.
Of the collected fluid 2 in the storage tank 21 with the rotation of the rotating shaft 12.
2 is agitated by its viscous resistance.
In this case, the recovered fluid 22 in the storage tank 21 is agitated with the rotation of the rotating shaft 12, so that when the fluid 17 is mixed into the recovered fluid 22, the fluid 17 is stored in the recovered fluid 22 as compared with the case of the above embodiment. Are mixed more uniformly, so that the fluid 17 can be prevented from settling toward the bottom of the storage tank 21. Note that fins may be provided on the end surface or the outer peripheral surface of one shaft end of the rotating shaft 12 protruding into the storage tank 21, and in that case, the stirring action can be increased.

(2) In the embodiment (1), the rotating shaft 1
2 is protruded into the storage tank 21 so that the storage tank 21
The agitation of the collection fluid 22 inside is performed,
Alternatively, a stirring blade may be provided in the storage tank 21.

(3) In the above embodiment, as the fluid 17 to be detected for leakage, a mineral lubricating oil or the like which originally contains a fluorescent substance in the components is used. Good. However, in this case, it is necessary to separately add a fluorescent substance to the oil to be detected.

[0031]

According to the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, the recovered fluid for receiving the leaked fluid is formed of an ester solvent having excellent solubility with respect to the leaked fluid and the fluorescent substance contained therein. Since the degree of mixing of the fluid with the collected fluid is improved when the fluid is mixed, it is possible to prevent the fluid leaking into the storage tank from settling toward the bottom of the storage tank as in the related art. Thus, by measuring the components of the recovered fluid composed of the ester-based solvent in the storage tank, it is possible to accurately detect the presence / absence and the amount of leakage of the fluid from the fluid tank.

In particular, if the collected fluid in the storage tank is circulated between the storage means and the measuring means as in the third aspect of the present invention,
When the fluid is mixed into the recovered fluid by the circulating flow, the degree of mixing of the fluid with the recovered fluid is better than the first and second aspects.

Further, if the collected fluid in the storage tank is positively agitated as in the invention of claim 4, the degree of mixing of the fluid with the collected fluid when the fluid is mixed into the collected fluid is defined in the claim. It is even better than 1 to 3.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to contribute to the improvement of the reliability of the presence / absence of leakage of the fluid from the fluid tank and the detection result of the leakage amount.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an oil leak detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing a fluorescent substance contained in a first mineral lubricating oil.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a fluorescent substance contained in a second mineral lubricating oil.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of an oil leak detection device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Applicable oil device 13 Annular space (fluid tank) 16 Seal 17 Fluid 20 Oil leak detection device 21 Storage tank 22 Recovered fluid 23 Fluorescence spectrometer 26 Microcomputer (management means)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A storage tank in which a recovery fluid not containing a fluorescent substance is sealed and a fluid leaking from a seal of the fluid tank is received near a fluid tank in which a fluid containing a fluorescent substance is sealed by a seal. Then, the component of the collected fluid in the storage tank is measured, and the presence or absence of fluid leakage from the fluid tank is recognized based on the measurement result, wherein the collected fluid is an ester solvent. Fluid leak detection method. 2. A recovery fluid, which is disposed in the vicinity of a fluid tank in which a fluid containing a fluorescent substance is sealed by a seal and is made of an ester solvent not containing a fluorescent substance, is sealed and leaks from the seal of the fluid tank. A storage tank for receiving the fluid, a measuring means for measuring a component of the recovered fluid in the storage tank, and a management means for recognizing the presence or absence of fluid leakage from the fluid tank based on the measurement result of the measuring means. Fluid leak detection device. 3. The fluid leak detecting device according to claim 2, further comprising a circulating means for circulating the collected fluid in the storage tank with the measuring means. . 4. A fluid leak detecting device according to claim 2, further comprising a stirring means for stirring the recovered fluid in said storage tank. 5. A fluid leak detecting device according to claim 2, wherein said measuring means is a fluorescence spectrometer for measuring a concentration of a fluorescent substance contained in a collected fluid in a storage tank. And a fluid leak detection device.