IT'S MORE THAN JUST OIL. IT'S LIQUID ENGINEERING.
Castrol’s range of oils for medium-speed engines, including Castrol TLX Xtra, helps to prevent soot and asphaltene contaminants impacting engine reliability and performance.
New fuel and engine combinations are placing increased stress on lubricants due to contaminants from soot, sludge and asphaltenes. Castrol’s range of four-stroke engine lubricants delivers enhanced protection against contamination and lowers oil consumption.
We understand that you want to protect your medium-speed engine, meet your operational goals, and remain compliant with environmental legislation. However, lubricants in four-stroke engines are constantly exposed to combustion products, which place great demands on them.
Castrol MHP and TLX Xtra ranges are specially formulated, high-quality, high-performance solutions for diesel engines. They provide exceptional viscosity control and BN retention – helping extend oil life, reduce operating costs, and keep engines clean.
Castrol TLX Xtra is developed with an enhanced detergency system (EDS) that helps fight the build-up of soot, sludge and asphaltene. It is proven to deliver results even under extreme conditions, and is OEM approved. Castrol TLX Xtra is designed to withstand high oil stress conditions seen in the latest engine designs, which have reduced oil capacity and consumption. It is suitable for operating with a wide range of fuel types, including HSFO, VLSFO, ULSFO and dual fuel LNG applications.
Labcheck is Castrol’s world-renowned Used Oil Analysis (UOA) condition monitoring programme. Expert data analysis and consultancy by Castrol’s Technical team delivers personalized advice, combining deep knowledge of each of your individual vessels with baseline trending helping you build further insights and protect your fleet efficiency.
Evidence shows that deploying UOA to monitor the condition of your lubricants, and the assets they protect, provides the critical early warnings to prevent damage and costly failures. This helps to reduce unplanned maintenance costs, lower oil usage, and provide all-important peace of mind.
Castrol partnered with Dockendale Ship Management to monitor the performance of Castrol TLX Xtra compared with a lubricant without EDS Technology. Over a six-month period, our technical services teams worked closely with the vessel superintendent, conducting regular UOA sampling analysis and inspections of the main engines.
There are four major contributors to oil consumption: Combustion/burning; evaporation/volatility; waste oil through filtration/purification; and leaks. TLX Xtra can influence the first three of these mechanisms by improving engine cleanliness, and therefore lowering oil consumption.
For example, cleaner ring grooves and piston rings enable a better oil film and tighter gas seal. A cleaner piston reduces contamination through poor combustion, resulting in less overall contamination. From a waste perspective, EDS solubilizes more of the contamination, which means there is less sludge blocking filters and collecting in purifiers. Fewer filter and purifier discharges can reduce oil waste.
VN Reddy, Fleet Manager at Dockendale Ship Management, said: A clean engine is important for me and my crew. It’s reassuring to see our most expensive asset is healthy. Practically, Castrol TLX Xtra is a time saver. Some of the routine maintenance is now quicker. This gives us time to focus on other areas that help us operate our vessel to schedule and budget.”
As the concentration of Castrol TLX Xtra increased we saw a demonstrable reduction in oil consumption and a cleaner engine. The Chief Engineer said: “Our engine components are noticeably cleaner after using Castrol TLX Xtra for 3 months. What’s most impressive is the soot and carbon deposits are hardly visible even though Castrol TLX Xtra was only used as top up during the first few months. I’m looking forward to seeing the results after using TLX Xtra for a prolonged period.”