Global petroleum company Shell’s latest heavy-duty diesel engine oil, Rimula R4L, coupled with its customer value proposition (CVP), aims to improve cost efficiency at mining operations amid the current tough economic climate.

Shell South Africa commercial lubricants sales GM Anton Niemann asserts that the company’s CVP becomes more relevant in the tough economic climate.

“We go to great lengths to understand the needs of our customers. We engage with the engineering and technical staff at a mine and, based on their understanding . . . we will consider which opportunities exist for cost savings,” he says.

Niemann explains that Shell offers customers a full oil-use audit to determine a base line assessment and cost-saving opportunities. “We have a very good technical team that works on site to understand the various applications for oil-based products and subsequently provide product recommendations. We would also use various assessment tools to identify what value improvement we could add based on the customer needs.”

He adds that, while Shell offers this service to companies in a number of industries, its CVP is “more pertinent in the mining industry, given the pressure the industry is under”.

Shell South Africa technical manager Hentie Spangenberg tells Mining Weekly that Shell conducted a CVP in 2014 at a major platinum mine in Limpopo using the older Rimula R3MV.

Rimula R3MV was applied to 40 dump trucks and improved oil drain intervals from 750 hours to 1 000 hours, resulting in a yearly saving of about R3.5-million.

Before being launched into the market, Shell compared the performance of Rimula R4L with Rimula R3MV.

Niemann notes that, globally, Shell spends about $1.1-billion on research and development a year. “Being in a very competitive industry, we need to ensure that the product we take to market is keeping up with the latest technology developments and original-equipment manufacturer requirements.”

Spangenberg points out that Shell’s research found that Rimula R4L significantly outperformed Rimula R3MV on several key performance indicators, such as oxidation stability, deposit control and wear resistance. It also outperformed Rimula R3MV on lead corrosion by 95% and on oxidation control by 56%.

“We, therefore, expect drain intervals to be even higher than 1 000 hrs when using Rimula R4L,” Spangenberg avers.