Could anybody recommend a soluction to the following.

I need equipment that will allow for the multi site testing of engine oil to determine potential problems in the engine. It has to be quick 2/3 minutes and give at least a general indication as to the condition of said engine. At this stage it is envisaged that we will be conducting @230,000 tests pa.

Thanks any help would be appriciated.

2-3 minutes per sample to find out the condition of an engine? Are you serious? Find a psychic. He or she might do it in this time frame.

DCK,

I will try to be more proactive with your question than Mr. Micetic.
SKF makes a product that you can do a quick test (2 min) to see if further analysis is required. It detects mechanical wear and any loss of lubricating properties in the oil with a repeat accuracy less than 5%.
This is a simple unit to operate but it will not perform a complete analysis.
[URL=http://www.reliabilitydirect.com/oilanalysisproducts/SKF-TMEH1.htm]
It sounds as if you are trying to implement oil analysis at your work place. You have to start somewhere and this may be your ticket to expand your program. This can be a cumbersome task, if you do not document your findings for project justification.

Hope this helps,

Jim

Hello DCK,
If you split your sample in 2 you could perform FTIR and AE/AA spectroscopy in 2-3 minutes have them hooked up to a computer running a program like Lube-Analyst it interprets the results and provides a report.

You can get a lot of meaningful information from those 2 tests.

How many sites are you talking about?

regards.....

The instrument that Jim mentioned measures the dielectric strength of the oil. Place a couple drops of new oil on it, let it calibrate itself and then place a couple of drops of the used oil in its place. Useful in the field as a simple go/no go test.