Shell Marine, the shipping-oriented arm of oil giant and lubricant manufacturer Royal Dutch Shell, has launched its new next-generation digital platform for used oil analysis.
The service has been planned and developed for years and represents an initial step in Shell Marine’s move toward digital services. Shell Marine General Manager Joris van Brussel said about the new service:
“Drawing on Shell Marine’s 30-year knowledge base of sampling, analysis and diagnostics, Shell LubeAnalyst feeds directly into maintenance programmes. It provides vital insights when operating profiles or other circumstances change, such as fuel sulphur content restrictions. Enhanced lubricant analytics and reporting are driving the digitalised technical services that optimise productivity.”
The new platform promises to streamline the process for collecting and submitting samples and viewing reports by allowing samples to be registered online. To reduce the possibility of error when completing sample labels manually, they can now be printed. Ship managers can then get a clear picture of their fleets’ lubrication performance through an easy-to-use portal featuring informative charts and a dashboard. They will also be able to obtain intuitive reports for oil analysis as well as recommendations from Shell engineers.
Shell LubeAnalyst, which succeeds the Shell Rapid Lubricant Analysis service, is also available to industrial customers, enabling operators to monitor oil quality and make informed decisions about the optimal time to renew the lubricant for a piece of equipment. ExxonMobil also offers a similar internet-based analysis service called Mobil Serv, whereby pre-printed sample and equipment labels are scanned using a smartphone app to simplify the process.
