Shell launches Tellus S2 MX and S2 VX hydraulic fluids at the National Fluid Power Centre
On Tuesday 27th September 2016, I was fortunate enough to attend the UK press launch event of Shell’s latest hydraulic fluids; Shell Tellus S2 MX and Shell Tellus S2 VX; at the National Fluid Power Centre (NFPC). Located in Worksop in Nottinghamshire (UK), the NFPC is a training facility for working with integrated fluid power systems. Over a dozen lubricants companies – Shell Lubricants among them – send staff to be trained at the NFPC. As such, the two institutions have developed a closely involved, longstanding partnership over the course of the last ten years.
Shell’s Tellus line of hydraulic fluids has been a staple of their lubricants business since 1947, and they have made regular developments and modifications to their products, making them more durable and capable of coping with a wider range of stresses with every refinement. Indeed, LUBE previously reported on one of their previous products, Shell Tellus EE, winning the prestigious JPI Award for Technical Progress in August 2010.
The spokespeople at the launch of Tellus S2 MX and S2 VX were John Savage, Director of the NFPC; Andrew Gibson, B2B Marketing Manager for Shell Lubricants UK; and Dr Mark Draper, Product Developer at Shell and the lead developer on the two new Tellus products, each of whom gave comprehensive and accessible presentations, providing a thorough overview of the background and development of the S2 MX and S2 VX oils.
John Savage opened the event with an introduction to the NFPC and explained that oils are, in his words, “the life blood of hydraulic systems”. This was followed by an illuminating presentation by Andrew Gibson, which provided background for Shell’s latest product; offering insight into the hydraulic fluids
market from the numerous applications for hydraulic fluids to the significant proportion of the overall lubricants market that hydraulic fluids make up, with over 50% of all global industrial lubes being hydraulic oils.
With the background on the hydraulic fluids market established, Mark Draper then launched into his highly detailed and engaging presentation on the development of the new oils; expounding that new specifications for hydraulic fluids from OEMs (such as the ‘Bosch Rexroth RDE 90245 approval’ test) had stipulated that newer machine components needed oils that could protect components from, and themselves withstand, far more extreme operating conditions. These new operating conditions include but are not limited to: higher speeds, greater pressures and longer, yet less regular, operating durations. These specifications, Mark stated, were “More demanding than any that oil blenders have had before, and have provided us with an opportunity to develop an entirely new generation of Shell Tellus”.
Mark outlined how Tellus S2 MX and S2 VX had been developed to outperform industry standard oils; providing far greater wear protection for components operating at high speeds and in harsh environments, a smooth performance with good frictional control and themselves having a Turbine Oil Stability Test (or TOST; the number of hours an oil can remain effective in operation and under pressure) life of double the preceding Shell product and triple that of the industry standard.
The presentation given likened a good hydraulic oil to a decathlete; needing to provide the best overall performance in a number of areas as opposed to being extremely effective in one, but compromised in others. In speaking to Mark about the products a few days after the event, the analogy very much seems apt: “There are individual parameters that go into making a fluid with a good TOST life and one that will provide the best protection for equipment. They are linked but altogether separate disciplines and creating the best hydraulic oil is very much a case of balancing all the different attributes of a fluid”.
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LUBE MAGAZINE NO.136 DECEMBER 2016
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