Shell recently introduced its Shell Risella X next generation process oils based on GTL base stocks from Shell and Qatar Petroleums joint-venture GTL refinery in Qatar. The base oil plant at the Pearl facility, located in Ras Laffan, Qatar, is the worlds first large-scale GTL base oil plant, which has a capacity of 260,000 barrels oil equivalent a day. Shell has 100 percent responsibility for marketing the base oils.
Shell Risella X oils are high-quality technical white oils that offer excellent performance in selected applications because, in contrast to other process oils that are derived from crude oil, they are made from pure synthesis gas; therefore, they are mineral-oil free. This leads to final products with a distinct molecular structure, which can provide valuable features and benefits: extra purity and excellent performance in selected applications. Few other process oils can offer the same combination of properties.
Shell announced an agreement earlier this month to supply new Risella X process oils to Kraiburg TPE, a German company that will use them to make premium thermoplastic elastomers.
Oliver Zintner, Director Europe KRAIBURG TPE, said: It is an on-going challenge for companies to improve the efficiency of their operations and continue to improve product quality. For us, part of the work to meet this challenge is being done via a new TPE product, developed in close cooperation with Shell, modified with a completely new raw material. The new raw material is the cutting edge synthetic process oil: Shell Risella X.
GTL is the product of almost 40 years of research and technology driven by Shell. The technology enables large scale production of base oils for the manufacture of premium finished lubricants and process oils from clean-burning natural gas. The basic technology behind the GTL process, known as Fischer-Tropsch, was developed by German scientists in the 1920s and refined by Shells proprietary technology.
