Importance

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Abstract

The invention relates to a method and device for the continuous determination of the lubricating oil consumption of an internal combustion engine. The inventive method consists in: placing a determined quantity of at least one radioactive tracer in the lubricating oil of which the consumption is to be measured; and measuring the quantity of radioactive tracer(s) present in the gases released from the engine (2), said measurement being taken downstream of the engine. According to the invention, the quantity of radioactive tracer(s) of the lubricating oil present in the gases released from the engine (2) is measured as follows: the gases are brought into contact with a trap (7) which can physically trap the radioactive tracer particles, the radiation from the trap is measured using a detector (10) which is sensitive to radiation emitted by the trapped radioactive tracer(s) and the measurements taken by the detector (10) are sent to a programmed computer which can convert said measurements into the lubricating oil consumption rate of the engine.

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First Claim