Pilipinas Shell to introduce new line of transport lubricants

REQUERO

Pilipinas Shell last week unveiled the latest in its commercial transport lubricant range, the Rimula R4X, a higher quality version of its best-selling R3X which will be available starting this month.

R4X is a high-performance heavy-duty diesel engine oil which  offers up to 30 percent better wear protection,  50 percent better engine cleanliness, and 50 percent better acid corrosion protection, minimizing maintenance and operating costs by providing a versatile one-oil solution for vehicles.

In an interview at the Shell House in Makati last May 23, John Paul Requero, cluster technical manager for lubricants in the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand, said  R4X  was formally presented  during the recently held Shell-sponsored “Energy Innovations for Transport Operations” forum.

The Shell executive  added that it is a response to Asia’s lag behind European standard and in anticipation of more proenvironment legislation. “The push for more environment-friendly engines made us work harder to go for new and better lubricants and fuels.”

In particular, most modern engines, especially those that came from Europe, now require exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), a technique used to reduce nitrogen oxide  emissions  wherein it recirculates a portion of an engine’s exhaust gas back to the engine cylinders to replace some of the excess oxygen in the precombustion mixture, to meet emissions standards.

Requero said that the R4X is especially suited for EGR. “It addresses the problem [in the recycling process] of reintroducing byproducts like soot and oil, which can make the combustion process less efficient and compromise economy and power, he said, adding that its acid control is better than others.

Aside from that, Requero said that R4X facilitates longer oil-drain interval because of its acid control, deposit control and wear control.

For example, coupled with the proper maintenance and use instead of having to change oil every 12,000 kilometers, buses can extend that to 20,000. “Instead of being serviced every now and then, they can spend more on the road.”

For Requero, the heart of a trucking or bus business is the engine, so it should maintain it properly. “By using a better-quality product like R4X, our customers can utilize their vehicles longer,” he said, adding that his applies true especially for city buses, with the stop-and-go traffic which is very taxing for the engine.

Aside from bus companies, R4X users include mining contractors, shuttle services, heavy-duty pickups and truckers.

Shell’s R4X is designed for modern diesel engines with turbochargers, intercooling and exhaust gas recirculation in high-pressure contacts in the valve train to the extreme temperatures of the pistons and rings.

In tests, R4X outperforms the minimum requirements for Acea and API specifications by up to 75 percent and demonstrates improvements, compared to a typical API CH-4 technology.