Marcus Schaerer: GM Technical & Services, Shell Marine
Dr Luis Garcia: Technology Manager - Large Engine Lubricants
Response contributed by: Marcus Schaerer, GM Technical & Services, Shell Marine and Dr Luis Garcia, Technology Manager - Large Engine Lubricants
Q1. Xinde Marine News: Firstly, can you introduce yourself and then tell us a bit about your recent experience at SMM Hamburg 2022?
Marcus Schaerer
I'm Marcus Schaerer, the General Manager for Technical Services and Digital Solutions at Shell Marine. I'm from Switzerland and have worked in the shipping industry for 27 years now. Originally a marine supplier, I joined Shell in 2001 and have held various roles at Shell Marine since then.
As for SMM 2022, the last event was four years ago and, clearly, the landscape has changed a lot in that time. There are now so many more questions around the decarbonisation of shipping, future fuels and the digital revolution. This change was underlined for me when speaking with industry friends during the show. We're seeing a younger, trendier generation of people coming into shipping with fresh perspectives and disruptive start-ups.
Dr Luis Garcia
I'm Dr Luis Garcia, the Technology Manager for Large Engine Lubricants at Shell. I've been with the company for the past 16 years, contributing to projects and technical work in the development of marine lubricants. We provide lubricant solutions for marine power, mainly for large diesel and gas engines.
It's a pleasure to be part of the team and participate in the activities at SMM 2022. As Marcus explained, compared to the last event, the problems of the people we've spoken to have fundamentally changed. Industry considerations have changed significantly as well. Previously, the industry was concerned about what the implementation of the IMO 2020 sulphur cap would bring, including issues with low-sulphur fuel oil. Now, there's much more talk about the future, how the shipping industry must decarbonise to reduce emissions and what we should do to meet the challenges posed by ambitious climate change goals.
We're also now seeing start-ups like the ones Marcus mentioned showcasing their innovative concepts and routes to future fuel development. And they're asking different questions about how we match different combustion concepts and oils to certain engine types. The conversation is completely different. It's becoming more strategic and future-focused. For someone like me who works in tech, that's pretty dynamic. However, there are still many challenges to overcome, so we must continue to cooperate and communicate effectively.
Q2. Xinde Marine News: When thinking of marine lubricants, there's a popular saying: If the engine is the heart of the ship, then the lubricating oil is its blood. Do you think this reflects the reality of modern shipping?
Dr Luis Garcia
We all know that, without its main and auxiliary engines, a ship cannot run at all. At the same time, we should appreciate that lubricating oils – as a component of the ship's engine – also play a key role in a vessel's operation. Not only do they provide lubrication but, with the addition of more high-tech ingredients, they can deliver on other functions – including heat transfer, engine cleaning and the neutralisation of acid and alkaline.
Marcus Schaerer
I think both aspects are correct. An engine can't run without lubricating oil, so nor can a ship. In addition, lubricants play an important role in predicting and judging whether a marine engine is running well. For example, if you go to the hospital to see a doctor, your doctor will usually give you a blood test. Our approach is similar. Almost all engine failures can be detected by monitoring the lubricating oil.
Q3. Xinde Marine News: Shell Alexia 40 XC is Shell's new flagship product. Can you tell us a bit about the product? What are its features and what applications does it have?
(Background info: Since the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 0.5% sulphur limit came into effect on 1 January 2020, MAN ES has defined two performance categories for the lubricants used in its two-stroke engines: Category I, covering existing lubricants available for the MAN ES Mk 8 and earlier engines; and Category II, a higher standard for the Mk 9 and later engines.)
Dr Luis Garcia
The previous generation (Category I) of low-base-number products didn't perform well in keeping the engine clean. Customers found this made the operation of their equipment more challenging. in contrast, they've seen good results with high-base-number products like 100BN. But the base number levels of these products are too high and the ash content is high as well, which may lead to other problems over time.
So, MAN ES asked us to work with them to develop the new Shell Alexia 40 XC range of products that resolves both issues. Although it was difficult to test products for quite some time due to the COVID-19 crisis, we did ultimately overcome this challenge and successfully received a No Objection Letter (NOL) from MAN ES.
Overall, Shell Alexia 40 XC can achieve the same cleanliness as a 100BN product, but with a much lower base number and much lower ash. Also, Shell Alexia 40 XC is part of an integrated package of solutions. It sits alongside a suite of digital solutions and technical services designed to help customers optimise operational efficiency to lower their total cost of ownership.
Marcus Schaerer
Shell Alexia 40 XC is definitely part of an effort to address some of the challenges we face with the 2020 IMO sulphur cap. We've solved the problem of cleanliness and you no longer need to switch back and forth between 40BN and 100BN lubricating products. I'm also confident that this new oil product is future-proof, as the sector can use it in dual-fuel engines.
At the same time, we have products ready to support a decarbonised future for shipping, including biofuels, methanol, LNG and other fuels that may become commercially viable in the next 5-10 years.
Q4. Xinde Marine News: Can you tell us more about your collaboration with MAN ES?
Marcus Schaerer
MAN ES came to us early on to explain their requirements, why they were switching to Category II products and how important it was to their business.
We quickly embraced the idea and began a fruitful partnership. There's no doubt that COVID-19 posed a major challenge, and we had difficulty finding ships suitable for testing, which meant excellent cooperation throughout the value chain was vital if we were to receive NOL approval. In general though, the results of the collaboration have been amazing. The strong partnership between Shell and MAN ES is based on a good strategic alliance between the two companies.
Q5. Xinde Marine News: Looking at alternative fuels (LNG, methanol, ammonia, etc.), what challenges will these create for marine lubricants?
Dr Luis Garcia
The type of fuel you use will dictate the challenges that your marine lubricant will face. For instance, gas engines have been on the market for decades, and we certainly have lubrication products for gas engines – and have accumulated a lot of experience and knowledge in this area.
The LNG-powered engine doesn't require an excessively high base number because natural gas has almost no sulphur content. But a more important issue is that we need to approach the problem of lubricant degradation differently. Because lean burn technology is used to allow more oxygen to enter the combustion process in new LNG engines, it's the lubricating oil that's exposed to higher thermal stress to accelerate the oxidation process. We need to avoid the self-oxidation and degradation of lubricants, which can also create deposits.
Lubrication products made for dual-fuel engines must be able to deal with gas or lean gas combustion, which requires significant oxidation resistance. So, Shell Alexia 40 XC solves that problem. It's a very strong product in terms of oxidative stability. I think for future fuels, whether it's a liquid fuel like methanol or a gaseous fuel like ammonia, this product can perform well.
Q6. Xinde Marine News: With multiple alternative fuels available, what advice do you have for ship owners choosing alternative fuels from the perspective of a lubricant supplier?
Marcus Schaerer
We think each fuel has its pros and cons and, if you discuss it with the owner, each fuel has its reasons to be used or not. So, no one can have a clear view. Therefore, we expect different ship types or shipping sectors to transition from today's fuel oil to different zero-emission fuels and use different fuels in the transition – this is what we call the fuel mosaic.
Importantly, we've been working with ship owners to adapt to this future and meet their specific decarbonisation needs. So, if you ask me ‘what's the fuel of the future?’, the answer is I don't know. But we can guarantee that we'll collaborate with and support our customers to help them find the best solutions for their business.
From a lubricant perspective, we'll measure the parameters of various marine engines and the condition of the cylinders. From this, we'll identify how the fuel and engine type determines which oil to use – and how to use it. At the same time, we'll monitor the cylinder status, draw trend line charts and quickly identify any potential problems with the ship's engine during the fuel switching process.
Q7. Xinde Marine News: Can you tell us what advantages Shell Alexia 40 XC has in comparison to its nearest competitors?
Dr Luis Garcia
I think it's early days, and we're yet to conduct comparison tests to see how Shell Alexia 40 XC performs against its competitors. But I believe that, as these products enter the market, they may all have one or a few different performance factors. Shell Alexia 40 XC will be unique in many ways due to its development. We talked to a variety of additive suppliers in the field and looked at many formula options, but ultimately decided to create our own formula.
We have strict judging criteria for this product. For example, it has strong oxidising properties, very good stability and excellent acid neutralization. But how does it measure up to other manufacturers’ products? I think that's a question for the future.
Marcus Schaerer
I think the key to all of this is that this is our formulation. While many other companies may rely on the research of additive suppliers and use their off-the-shelf additive packages, I am very proud of our team's R&D – along with the way we collaborated with MAN ES and the wider industry to develop our formulation.
Q8. Xinde Marine News: How do you see the maritime industry working together in the future, and how will Shell Marine work with other players in the industry to address emerging challenges?
Marcus Schaerer
We're heading into a more complex world for shipping – a wide variety of fuels, challenging fuel/engine/lubricant combinations and digital transformation. The needs of crews are changing as well, with many crews needing extra support and training to help them adapt to the growing complexity of operating a vessel.
The answer to this complexity is collaboration, which is why Shell works so closely with other companies across the industry. A prominent example, bringing it back to SMM 2022, is the announcement of our partnership with Kongsberg. Building on their experience and amazing capabilities in ship digitalisation, we're working with them to deepen the research on marine engines with our products, digital solutions, and technical services. We want to combine our experience and expertise in fuels, lubricants and technical services with Kongsberg’s digital technology and data to see how we can better help our customers and give them more impactful insights.
This isn't about making day-to-day operations more complex for the crew by sending them hugely detailed dashboards. For example, we want to introduce a traffic light system. If it's green, you don't have to pay attention to anything; if it turns red, you need to deal with it. This allows staff to focus their attention and spend the rest of their time on tasks that add value, reducing complexity and giving them as much peace of mind as possible. This is why collaboration is key to managing the complexities of the future of shipping.
Q9. Xinde Marine News: Can you give us a brief overview of Shell’s technical and digital services for shipping?
Marcus Schaerer
We found that our products are only useful to our customers if they're on the ship, not when they're on land. Also, due to supply chain disruption, businesses are facing significant procurement challenges.
To address this, we created Shell Accuport, a digital solution that calculates ship engine requirements, analyses what supplies are left on board and helps customers to purchase new products more efficiently – while enabling them to better manage their inventory.
Once we successfully deliver the product to the ship, we can then monitor the performance and condition of the ship's engine through the ship's lubricating oil, for which we have a few tools:
One is called Shell LubeAnalyst, an oil condition monitoring service, which helps to make sure ship engines and lubricants are in peak working condition by identifying potential oil or equipment failures before they become serious.
For our two-stroke engine customers, we've developed Shell LubeMonitor, a digital tool that lets users better understand their ship's two-stroke engine performance – helping them to reduce maintenance costs.
Finally, we've collaborated with Bently Nevada to launch a product called VitalyX, which provides remote support and real-time monitoring via a combination of digital technologies, including the industrial internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI).
Q10. Xinde Marine News: With the marine industry adapting to digital transformation, what more can Shell do to support shipping businesses with the services they need?
Marcus Schaerer
I've spent a lot of time talking to start-ups at SMM 2022 to see what they're doing and what's on the minds of these bright young people who have a completely new perspective on the industry.
I think the options and opportunities are endless. And I repeat, collaboration is key to managing the complexity of the shipping industry. If there's one thing we'd like to do, it's to continue working with other leading companies to identify and develop great ideas that can help our customers deliver simpler, smarter and more sustainable shipping operations.
The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Xinde Marine News.
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