PROMOTIONAL POST In association with Shell V-Power
The Spirit of Shell – Over a Century in the Making
In 1907 Shell introduced Shell Spirit, its first branded automotive petrol and over a century later it continues to push the boundaries of fuel development. Shell established its first dedicated fuels research and development facility in 1940, and this science-led approach to engineer and deliver the best fuel for our cars is now spearheaded by a global team of 150 fuel scientists.
Katrin Venus has been a key member of Shell’s scientific team for the last 12 years. Based in Hamburg, Venus plays a lead role in the development of fuel technologies, and her team are continuously working on advancing and developing the next generation of Shell V-Power fuels. “The advancement in fuel technology is astonishing,” says Venus. “It may look the same but the fuel we put in our cars today is very different to the fuels we used in the past.” “This progress is driven by the fast-paced evolution of the engines in our cars – this is what determines the qualities our fuels must achieve. For example, the 1.0-litre Kent engine in the 1962 Ford Anglia generated 39bhp, while the 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine in the Ford Fiesta develops up to 153bhp, while still being more economical, cleaner and more compact. That’s the rapid rate of progress Shell V-Power fuels are capable of matching.”
The Steps to Success
Venus and her team follow an intensive multi-stage development process that takes them from their pristine laboratories in Houston, Shanghai and Hamburg and out onto the world’s roads and highways. “The first, and arguably the most important stage, is gathering information and feedback from our customers – discovering what their evolving requirements and demands are. This is combined with the work we do with our technology and engineering partners to give us the accurate insights we need to start our development work.”
This testing then scales up from the laboratory to the bench-testing of engines, and then putting vehicles on sophisticated rolling roads that can replicate a wide range of driving scenarios. “Throughout these three development and demonstration stages, our teams are working within highly controlled environments, and were constantly sharing huge amounts of data in real time” says Venus. “We’re also in regular contact with our motorsport partners at Scuderia Ferrari HP and Ducati Corse, and benefiting from their insights.”
The last stage before development is signed off and the deployment of the new fuel formulations begins, is on-road testing. As well as adhering to tough industry standards in the previous steps, these tests are carried out using passenger cars, buses and commercial vehicles to ensure all drivers benefit from Shell’s research and development.
Venus says, “Our fuels have to deliver the best possible performance whether you’re doing the stop-start school run, the long motorway commute, or the short drive to the train station.”
Futureproofing Engines of All Ages
Together with her partners, Venus jointly undertook more research work over the five-year development cycle for the development of Shell V-Power fuels, resulting in enhanced responsiveness and greater economy. One of the greatest challenges they face in this programme is to develop fuels that excel within modern engines. The trend to downsizing, the introduction of tighter tolerances in the engine parts, and the widespread use of turbocharging and high-pressure direct injection means modern engines create very harsh environments for fuels.
“Our Shell V-Power fuels are engineered to keep the fuel intake valves in port fuel injection engines and injectors in direct injection engines cleaner by up to 100%[i],” explains Venus, “with Shell V-Power diesel having 60% more cleaning molecules compared to Shell’s standard diesel[ii], and Shell V-Power petrol containing three times the cleaning molecules compared to Shell’s standard petrol[iii].” The diameter of the holes in a modern diesel injector can measure just 300 microns – less than the width of a human hair – while managing up to 2000 bar of injection pressure in a modern diesel engine and up to 200 bar on the latest petrol-powered engines.
Keeping these critical components clean and free from performance-sapping deposits ensures the engines operate at their peak and deliver the ideal combination of performance, efficiency and responsiveness over a longer part of their operational life. “As we continue to develop our Shell V-Power fuels we’re confident the 33 million customers visiting a Shell site each day will benefit from the work we are undertaking at this very moment,” says Venus.
[i] Removes and protects from the build up of performance robbing deposits on key fuel system components such as intake valves and/or fuel injectors. Cleanliness and engine performance recovery demonstrated using industry standard and Shell proprietary tests. Actual effects and benefits may vary according to vehicle type, vehicle age, vehicle condition and driving style. No guarantees provided.
[ii] Compared to Shell’s FuelSave Diesel.
[iii] Compared to Shell’s FuelSave Unleaded fuel. Actual effects and benefits may vary according to vehicle type, vehicle condition and driving style. Helps to protect key fuel system components such as intake valves and fuel injectors from the build up of performance robbing deposits. Friction reducing molecules help critical parts of your engine. No guarantees provided.