The right Shell Cylinder Oil

1 October
st

2015

The recent information from MAN and Wartsila on what is the right BN for Cylinder
oil for the different type of engines and the different sulphur content in the fuel
have changed the Cylinder Oil offer in the Shell Marine Portfolio.
Shell Marine offered until 30 September the following Shell Cylinder Oil:
th

Shell
Shell
Shell
Shell
Shell

Alexia
Alexia
Alexia
Alexia
Alexia

S3
S4
50
S5
S6

Since the 1 October 2015 the following products are available:

st

Shell Alexia S3 with a BN of

Shell Alexia S4 with a BN of
replaced by Shell Alexia 50
Shell Alexia 50 with a BN of
Shell Alexia S6 with a BN of

25
60, but only on special request. Otherwise
70
100

The Shell Alexia S5 with a BN of 80 has been removed because this product can be
replaced by either Shell Alexia 50 or Shell Alexia S6
It is probably impossible to establish one golden rule for all engines and any type
of fuel. But the below chart gives us some guidance on which Cylinder Oil can be
used for which engine and fuel.
The key thing is the type of main engines whether it is Mark 8 and above and the
sulphur content of the fuel being used.
For older engines (Mark 7 & earlier), with no retrofits for part load operations.
Sulphur content
less than 0.5%
0.5-1.5%
1.5% and above

Shell Grades
Shell Alexia S3
Shell Alexia S4/Shell Alexia 50
Shell Alexia 50

For new engines (Mark 8 and above) and older engines (Mark 7 & earlier), with
retrofits for part load operations.
Sulphur content
less than 0.5%
0.5-1.5%
1.5% and above

Shell Grades
Shell Alexia S3
Shell Alexia S4/Shell Alexia S6
Shell Alexia S6

In these days it is important that your supplier has the necessary knowledge and
technical support from the Oil Majors and the OEMs.
Only then you can be sure that you are purchasing and consuming the right cylinder
oil.
In addition it would also be possible with the support of your supplier to optimize
the cylinder oil consumption. Not all engines are the same. There are so many
variations even within the same engine family that it would be advisable to look for
the right cylinder oil case by case.
Worldwide we estimate an annual consumption of approx.. 300 Million T of fuel oil.
The average sulphur content is 2.5 %.
Some 92 % of the fuel oil has a sulphur content between 1.5 and 3.5 %.
Some 3 % has a sulphur content between 0.5 and 1.5 %.
And 5 % but growing has a sulphur content up to 0.1 %
The fuel sulphur content is very important on the decision making process for the
right cylinder oil. Since the sulphur content is varying (depending where your vessel
is bunkering) you may also adjust the feed rate of your cylinder oil.
One example :
You may use Shell Alexia S6 with a BN of 100 and a feed rate of xxx. With the
support of your supplier you should be able to reduce the feed rate to xxx. The
Shell Oil Condition Monitoring / Sweep Test will support you to optimize the feed rate

and to reach the Safe Operating Are (which would be a remaining BN between 1545 vs. the iron content). The moment the Iron goes up and the BN down, you would
have reached the point where the feed rate is fine or even needs a little increase.
All this again may change with the sulphur content of your fuel. And this again is
depending on the area of operation of the vessel. (Different fuels in different
regions)
So there is no golden rule for all the different vessels with different engines and
different fuels.
That is why it is even more important to have a competent partner as your supplier
who can help you to achieve the optimum on the cylinder oil consumption and wear.
Shell for instance has more than 6,000 Cylinder Liner in their RLA System. ( Rapid
Lubricants Analysis )
More than 200,000 samples per annum are feeding this huge data base with
information from any type of vessel, fuel and engine. This is helping the Team of
experts to give real life advice to our customers.
Keywords: Shell Alexia S3,Shell Alexia S4,Shell Alexia 50,Shell Alexia
S6,Shell Cylinder Oil

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