Continuing its series of sector-specific forums and platforms, Shell Lubricants, the global market share leader in finished lubricants, hosted the 1st Transformer Technology Seminar for power sector stakeholders on Friday. The seminar deliberated on challenges faced by OEMs due to the erratic power supply. Insights were also shared on how Shell Lubricants’ innovative Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) technology and holistic solutions help customers keep pace with rapid developments and changing needs of the sector.
The event witnessed about 40 participants from different OEMs, utility companies and approving bodies of the power sector including Power Grid Corp India Limited, Central Power Research Institute (CPRI), Central Board of Irrigation and Power (CBIP), Siemens, Crompton Greaves, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), EMCO, Reliance Energy, Toshiba, TBEA, NTPC and ABB, amongst others. The seminar provided the participants an opportunity to discuss recent innovations in transformer fluids; need for enhancing reliability of transformers; and environmental concerns pertaining to impact of PCBs.
The sessions at the seminar were led by Dr. VV Pattanshetti, Director, Central Power Research Institute & Chairman BIS ET03 Electro technical Fluids, Mr. Siva Kasturi, OEM Manager – India and South-East Asia, Shell Lubricants India; and Dr. Sushil Chaudhari, Sr. Manager, CG Global R&D Centre, along with other industry experts.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Akhil Jha, Vice President Technical, Shell Lubricants India said, “At Shell, collaboration and knowledge-sharing have always been our focus areas. By organizing such seminars, we aim to reach out to our customers, strengthen our partnerships and understand the needs of different stakeholders. This seminar was held specifically for the OEMs and utility companies that require quality transformer applications and solutions. It acted as an ideal platform for Shell Lubricants to showcase its technology solution offerings, especially the Shell Diala S4 ZX-I – the first transformer oil based on our proprietary GTL Technology.”
Commenting on the seminar, Dr. VV Pattanshetti, Director, CPRI & Chairman, BIS ET03 Electro technical Fluids said, “It is an excellent knowledge sharing interactive platform for the betterment of the power sector. It is encouraging to see how the sector is faring; with new upcoming products and their advantages. We accept the technology leadership in the GTL technology. We hope Shell will continue to uphold our expectations with latest industry standards and we look forward to more of such knowledge sharing and networking sessions in the near future.”
The forum received positive feedback and Dr. Sushil Chaudhari, Senior Manager – Technology R&D Centre, Crompton Greaves said, “This forum by Shell Lubricants touched upon important aspects of transformer insulation and its behaviour during service life. Exclusive presentations at the seminar by Shell experts gave us a glimpse of the incredible research the company undertakes, contributing significantly towards next generation insulating fluids. Such platforms indeed help in knowledge- building and sharing through interactions with experts from across industry stakeholders including OEMs, utilities and research institutes amongst others.”
”The content presented during deliberation was really exciting, especially with respect to the new GTL technology. We are sure that the confidence for using Shell oils will only grow stronger with its exceptional performance in the power sector, said Mr. Rakesh Gupta, Energy Advisor, Central Board of Irrigation & Power.”
Shell Lubricants understands that in order to ensure higher system reliability and efficiency levels, customers from the power industry demand a more stringent performance requirement from transformer oils. The company meets these requirements by designing a wide range of lubricants that make a real difference to the entire operation. The Shell Diala S4 ZX-I transformer oil is one of the many products by Shell; is designed to cater the needs of this sector. It is Shell Lubricants’ first transformer oil based on the GTL technology. It is known to provide superior additive response, exceptional resistance to degradation and excellent thermal performance. With the property of having essentially zero sulphur and very low aromatic and unsaturated content, Shell Diala S4 ZX-I lessens the risk of transformer failure due to oil related corrosive sulphur.
Some of the other prominent products offered by Shell Lubricants for the power sector are power engine oils such as the Shell Mysella S5 N; turbine oils like the Shell Turbo S4X; gear oils like the Shell Omala S4 GX; and hydraulic fluids such as the Shell Tellus S4 ME.
Shell Lubricants conducts similar technology and industry forums in other parts of the world with the objective of understanding the next generation requirements of the various target industry groups. Basis the feedback received for this platform, the company will plan to continue with this initiative in more cities across India in the coming years.
