Page 36: of Marine News Magazine (August 2012)

Shell Launches Breakthrough Engine Oil In July, Shell launched Shell Alexia S4, something it characterizes as its ?most innovative marine engine oil in a generation.? Unlike conventional cylinder oils, says Shell, it can be used across a wide range of vessel and engine types, fuel speci cations, loads and climates? from the Antarctic to the Amazon to the Suez Canal. Also according to Shell, vessels would no longer need to carry multiple oils because Shell Alexia S4 works at any vessel speed, including slow and ultra slow? especially important to modern ships that have to vary speeds to reduce fuel consumption and meet strict timetables.The new formulation, featuring a combination of additives, went through testing at Shell?s Marine and Power Innovation Center. Shell reports that testing with laboratory engines under simulated slow steaming conditions demonstrated up to a 20% improvement in overall engine wear, compared to Shell?s existing cylinder oil and out-performed all other oils tested. It was also extensively tested during more than 25,000 hours of  eld trials, by customers and the original engine manufacturers MAN and Wärtsilä. It proved its ability to protect engines running on distillates and residual fuels containing 0.2% to 3.75% sulfur content in a range of locations and climates. With technical support and a switch to Alexia S4, one trial showed a 33% reduction in oil feedrate. Exhaust Treatment Removes Soot & Particulate MatterNorthern Lights, Inc. recently announced a solution for the removal of soot and particulate matter often associated with diesel powered equipment. Its DECS, or Diesel Exhaust Cleaning System, removes particulates as they are emitted. Exhaust gas is routed through a catalytically coated ceramic  lter. Soot is trapped and the  lter is kept free of restrictions. DECS uses a passive regeneration process. Unlike ?active? systems that require additional equipment and regeneration time, the Northern Lights generator set functions as normal while particulate matter is Making Way: Smoothly and Cleanly There are today few certainties in the world of maritime commerce. One of these involves knowing that the advent of ECA?s and emission standards means that you need to manage fuel and lube oils better. While sourcing Low Sulfur IFO may not, for the time being, be a particularly big problem, deciding which cylinder oil to use - especially in view of new sulfur restrictions and the lower lubricity inherent in low sulfur fuels ? is another thing altogether. So is the issue of reducing your environ- mental footprint and at the same time, protecting your equipment investment from sub-standard fuels. New solutions abound for all of these sticky problems. The DECS mounting kit ensures ease of installation and maintenance. Maritime Fuels & LubricantsAugust 201236 MN