OPEC and the Price of Oil – March 15, 2009

OPEC and the Price of Oil – March 15, 2009

OPEC, at its meeting Sunday (March 15, 2009) in Vienna decided not to ask members to cut output any further. This decision will hold off any official changes until the next meeting in May.

As is normal for this group of market manipulators, they cannot agree on what to do or how to do it, so they create a press release that tries to convince the not too bright, that they are maintaining production levels to “help” with the worlds current economic problems.

Nothing could be further from reality or the truth. They did not cut production for a host of reasons, first and foremost is that many of their members are ignoring the previous reduction of 2.2 million barrels per day that supposedly took effect in December. Even by their numbers (which are far too generous) they are only getting 80% compliance from their members on those production limits.

Why you may ask are they unable to control production and force up prices? Well the biggest issue is that many of these OPEC Countries (Note: OPEC Countries theoretically control about 40% of the world’s oil) spend their petro-dollars as fast or even faster than they take them in. Venezuela needs oil to be about US$80.00 per barrel just to pay the bills.

Many of the Middle Eastern countries have gone on staggering spending sprees basically acting as socialist entities.

These countries temporarily import workers to do their dirty work, while their own citizens do less and less but keep getting ever growing government handouts to live on (this sounds vaguely like some western country I may have heard of).

They have spent hundreds of billions on infrastructure projects and other enticements to try and bring foreign businesses to their countries before the oil runs out (yes, it will run out).

However all of this has been based on cheap capital and the idea that oil would keep going up in price forever.

Well fast forward to today, There is more crude oil sitting in storage than at any time in history, the demand is off by more than 1 million barrels per day (Note: this is another manipulated number and the reality is that demand is off by two or even three times this number), the economy in the US and now the rest of the industrialized world is contracting and will likely do so for a year or more, before starting a slow, painful, and just plain ugly recovery, and it appears that there is at least a glimmer of hope that the world including the US will finally wake up and recognize that the way we have been using energy for the last 100 years is unsustainable and that we need to do things now, not is 20 years to fix the problems.

All of this leads me to some oversimplified conclusions on oil pricing over the next year or two. If there is reduced economic activity worldwide there will be less demand for oil. The oil inventories will likely continue to grow as OPEC and Russia will need to pump more and more to make up for the lower per barrel prices.

Right now there is a concerted effort to hold and try to push crude prices up. However to keep oil in storage costs a lot of money every day. At some point traders and speculators will decide that they cannot afford to pay $100,000.00 a day to park crude in a tanker because the price is not going up enough make it profitable. When this happens, we could see oil flood the markets at levels not seen since the 1970’s. This will then further exacerbate the problems of the oil producing countries who will try to pump even more.

Short of a war (not out of the question) or a cataclysmic natural disaster, it is hard to see crude oil going up significantly anytime soon.

Refiners and some marketers are likely to benefit as crude prices decline and more finished product becomes available. In some areas where there is tightly controlled distribution there may months or even years of high profitability due to reduction in cost followed more slowly by reduction in retail prices.

I have regrettably spent my life creating a carbon footprint of embarrassing proportions. I am now working on reducing not only my negative impact on the world, but on creating new and better ways for everyone to do the same without destroying their livelihoods or lifestyles.

Please join us in our efforts.

To read this and other articles on fuels, alternative fuels, oils, lubricants, and coolants, please go to: http://www.lcbamarketing.com/ and click on technical articles.

Please post your comments, thoughts, ideas, and suggestions here.

Diesel Doctor

Copyright 2009© - William Richards

Clean Coal – An Oxymoron or a Real Possibility?

Clean Coal – An Oxymoron or a Real Possibility?

Can coal be clean? We have all heard the condescending advertising, listened to the biased politicians, and been overwhelmed with huge amounts of conflicting “expert” opinion and research data from each side.

Let’s start with the basics, “What is coal?” Coal is a sedimentary rock made up mostly of carbon, with varying amounts of sulfur, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and lesser amounts of many contaminants including mercury and other poisonous compounds.

We believe coal is primarily made up of plant material that has partially degraded, compressed and through this pressure and with time and other geologic forces been transformed into the many forms of what we refer to as coal. Some of these forms are Peat, Lignite, Bituminous, Anthracite, and Graphite.

The process of photosynthesis converts carbon dioxide into carbon, the conversion of the dead plant matter into coal sequesters the carbon in the ground. If we look at this in a very big picture sense, coal is the energy of the sun converted and stored. When the coal is burned, that carbon is released in the form of carbon dioxide. This could be a manageable cycle, however what is happening today, is that millions of years worth of this stored sunlight bound up in the form of carbon is being released in a relatively short period of time. This rapid release has overloaded the systems (the worldwide environments) ability to convert the carbon dioxide back into some stored form.

What can we do about this problem? First we must burn (or otherwise convert) this coal as cleanly and efficiently as possible. Large scale coal gasification and burning to create electricity will create fewer more easily managed source of pollution. These very large sources can be more easily forced to the use technology needed to clean the exhaust stream coming from such a facility.

Next we need to develop ways to reuse or store the Carbon Dioxide (CO2). There are ideas that would pump this material back into the earth either as part of oil pumping operations or into decommissioned mines.

I believe that we need to consider alternatives that would use some significant part of this CO2 to grow Algae as part of a closed loop energy system (See previous article on the Richards Cycle) or some other photosynthetic process that would convert the CO2 back into a safe storable (or reusable) form.

Coal can also be converted into high quality liquid fuel s (gasoline and diesel) through several processes. If we can create a more earth-friendly method of doing this, we could significantly reduce our dependence on and need for imported oil.

While this is not a permanent solution, it would definitely give us a cushion while we develop alternative energy forms and strategies.

Whether or not Coal can ever be Clean, I don’t know. What I am certain of is that we can develop much cleaner, safer, and eco-friendly methods to mine and use this high quality domestic energy source.

Please post your comments, thoughts, ideas, and suggestions.

For more information, please visit: http://www.lcbamarketing.com and click on Technical Articles.

Diesel Doctor

Copyright 2009© - William Richards

Biodiesel Cold Soak Filterability - ASTM D6751 Annex A1

New ASTM Biodiesel Test Specification for Cold Weather Operability

The American Society for Testing of Materials has recently added a new test requirement to the D6751 Biodiesel Specification.

This new requirement is referred to as ASTM 6217 or as Annex A1 of ASTM D6751– Cold Soak Filterability.

Cold Soak Filtration Analysis is defined as: The time in seconds that it takes for cold soaked biodiesel to pass through two 0.8 micron filters and the amount of particulate matter expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/l) collected on the filter.

What does this mean? When biodiesel is stored in temperatures below 40°F for extended periods of time, certain components will precipitate (fall) out of solution and fall to the bottom of the storage tank. This precipitate will build in a thickening layer at or near the tank bottom. In general the colder the temperature and the longer the biodiesel stays at a given temperature, the more material will fall out.

This material can very quickly plug filters and shut down engines, usually at the worst time.

What is this material? It can have to do with the feedstock from which the biodiesel is created. Certain feedstocks, particularly Used Cooking Oils (UCO), Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO), and Animal Fats (Tallow) will produce high levels of precipitate. The material can also be due to incomplete removal of glycerin during the transestrification process.

This new test is a positive step in making biodiesel a more consistent user friendly product.

Diesel Doctor

Copyright 2009© - William Richards

US EIA – Information on Gas and Diesel Pricing from the US EIA

US EIA – Energy Information Administration

The US Energy Information Administration provides daily information on regional, national, and worldwide inventories, pricing, and availability. You can view this information at: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/gdu/gasdiesel.asp

You can also view a copy of this webpage and other related information at: http://http://www.lcbamarketing.com/

We will be exploring what goes into the price of fuel at the pump over the next several weeks.

Check back every day.

Please post your comments, suggestions, and ideas here.

Diesel Doctor

Copyright 2009© - William Richards

Synthetic Oils - Are they Worth the Cost?

Synthetic Oils - Are they Worth the Cost?

Image courtesy of outboardmotoroilblog.com

Today we hear a lot of terms thrown around when discussing motor oils. Much of the time, they are being used incorrectly.

So let’s start with mineral oil, this is the oil most of us have used in one form or another since the internal combustion engine was created. Mineral oils are distilled from crude oil as part of the refining process.

There are three categories of mineral oils; Paraffinic, Naphthenic, and Aromatic. Mineral oil can be as simple as baby oil, or as complex as today’s heavy duty motor oils. The chemistry used to create multi-grade oils and pickup and hold contaminants in solution is extremely complex.

Synthetic – Synthetic Oils can be created from many different sources and can offer many helpful characteristics such as lower friction, better high temperature performance, better stability, better sheer stability, better cold start lubrication, reduced oxidation, improved protection against thermal breakdown, less tendency to form sludge, reduces evaporative loss, potentially extends drain intervals.

There are two main categories for synthetic oils the first is:

Polyalphaolefin (PAO) an American Petroleum Institute (API) Group IV Oil Base Oil

The second is:

Synthetic esters an API Group V Base Oils ((non-PAO) synthetics, including alkylated naphthalene’s, alkylated benzenes, diesters, polyolesters, polyglycols etc.)

There is also a category called Semi-Synthetics – a mixture of petroleum and up to 30% synthetic base oils. The name Semi-Synthetic is a misnomer, oils are either Synthetic or not. If they are a mixture then if you subscribe to the theory that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link applies and the mixture will only be as good as worst performing part of the mineral oil.

The primary reasons to change motor oil are because the oil gets dirty and or because the additive package in the oil gets used up. Dirty can mean physical dirt from the environment, soot from combustion, left over combustion products and a nearly endless list of contaminants.

The additive package provides friction reduction, neutralizes acids, holds contaminants in solution, prevents oxidation, prevents corrosion, and many other vital functions. The additives are consumed or used up over time and they need to be replenished or failure will result. The method most often used is to replace the oil. This method has the advantage of taking many or hopefully most of the contaminants out of the engine with it.

Synthetic Oils may or may not have super additive packages, but eventually the oil becomes dirty to the point that it needs to be filtered or replaced and the additive package replenished or again replaced. The problem is that synthetic oil becomes contaminated long before it is “worn out” and has to be replaced to prevent damage from the contaminants. This means that often you are unable to take full advantage of the superior chemistry and characteristics of synthetic oils.

When this happens the cost disadvantage of the synthetics outweigh its other advantages.

In situations of extreme cold, high heat, high loads, extended operation at high rpm, and other related situations synthetic oils offer many superior characteristics that may improve operability, increase engine life, provide better fuel economy, and potentially improve emissions.

However for the average grocery getter or most vehicles in normal operation the added cost of synthetic motor oil is probably not justified.

View all of the Fuel School articles at: www.lcbamarketing.com and click on Technical Articles

Please post your comments, thoughts, ideas, and suggestions.

Diesel Doctor

Copyright 2009© - William Richards

Today's Economy - Lemons versus Lemonade

Today’s Economy - Lemons versus Lemonade

Today I want to take just a minute to address the current problems in our economy. While this is outside the normal scope of this blog, I feel that there is much to be considered and discussed.

In the real world where the 99.999% of us who are not politicians live, it doesn’t really matter what party or group you belong to, what matters is who you are and what you do.

Imagine you are in a small boat in the middle of a big ocean, in this boat is one person from every country in the world, for arguments sake let’s say there are 195 of us and let’s also assume that there are nearly equal numbers of men and women.

Now let’s say that we are in the middle of a storm, not just any storm, but a once in a lifetime or a “Hundred Years” storm. Our boat that before the storm was comfortable and appeared to be safe is now damaged and leaking from every seam with more water is coming in over the gunnel's. To make matters worse, our resident meteorologists say that this storm may last weeks, months, or maybe even years.

We have 195 opinions on what to do, some want to just wait for someone else to rescue them (note: not necessarily everyone, just them), others want to use this as an opportunity to take control of the boat and everyone in it, some want to do nothing, arguing that since we were stupid enough to get in this position, we are not worth saving and should just sink and drown.

However a few just quietly start bailing, they work night and day, sleeping little and working as hard as they can. Eventually when the boat stops sinking it is these same people who start fixing the leaks, taking care of the supplies, making sure that everyone gets their fair share. Some in the boat disparage these efforts; some even try to make things more difficult.

As time goes on some slip over the side and drift away, some refusing to help with business of living migrate to one section in the boat, where they grumble among themselves.

However most people begin to realize that by working together, they can make their own if not everyone’s life a little easier.

Over time the leaks get fixed, so we don’t have to spend all of our time bailing. We begin to pull things drifting by out of the ocean and make them into useful things. The boat is eventually repaired, improved, and even enlarged.

People realize that in spite of differences, working together in a common cause allows us to see other points of view and even to reach accommodations and compromises.

There are still a few in the “I disagree with everything” section, but the group seems to get smaller and smaller as time goes by.

As time goes on, the disaster fades into memory and life actually becomes better than it was before the storm.

Right now, individuals have little control over how big the storm gets or how long it will last. Individuals can however bail, they can help their friends and neighbors, they can band together to fix leaks, but more importantly, they can work together with like-minded people to find solutions and implement them to address the bigger problems.

Recessions can last a few months, a few years, or they can spiral downwards into depression. A ship’s captain (President) can head the ship into the wind and try to prevent the boat from being swamped, he can direct the crew to batten down the hatches, and start the pumps, but he (or she) is but one person and in the end the efforts and determination of the crew and passengers will decide how the voyage will end.

In today’s real world economy, things are pretty scary, with even well run businesses in trouble. So what does a good manager do to protect and grow his company’s business?

Well, in the midst of all these lemons, let’s try making some lemonade. There are more highly talented and highly motivated people available than ever before (remember a year ago everyone was panicking over a lack of qualified job seekers), there are more opportunities than ever before (think in terms of all the businesses cutting back or closing, where will their customers go?), there are more possibilities for consolidation and growth (again things that were considered unnecessary or even unthinkable when things were booming, suddenly make a lot of sense) and there are many more examples to be considered.

With careful thought and planning you can make your business grow and become even more profitable even in the toughest of times.

Consider that many of the strongest companies in the world today are ones that survived or grew out of the depression.

We will get through this difficult time, some will merely survive, some will grow stronger and prosper, which group will you be in?

Post your comments, thoughts, ideas, and suggestions here.

Diesel Doctor

Copyright 2009© - William Richards

Natural Gas as a Transportation Fuel – A Cautionary Note

Natural Gas as a Transportation Fuel – A Cautionary Note

Natural Gas is currently being promoted as a domestic clean, safe, and cheaper alternative to petroleum fuels.


Some thoughts for your consideration.


Natural Gas as domestic source of energy. The US currently imports approximately 16% of its natural gas. Some comes to us by pipeline and some in the form of LNG via ship. Increasing the use of natural gas to replace petroleum fuels simply shifts our imports from one product to another.


Currently the US uses approximately 22% of our natural gas to create electricity. This is a poor use of a valuable resource for a need that has many other fuel sources available. If this was replaced by wind, solar, nuclear, and a future renewable bio-source (see previous article: The Richards Cycle) you could eliminate our imports.


Natural Gas as a clean motor fuel. Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) both reduce certain emissions however they are not as clean as some would have us believe. If you look the whole basket of emissions that come out of the exhaust on an internal combustion engine, a 2010 Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) Diesel engine actually is less polluting than an equivalent CNG or LNG engine.


While I believe you can safely use CNG and LNG, it requires more training and much greater diligence on the part of drivers and operators vehicles and fueling stations. It is important to remember that it can take far longer to fuel LNG and particularly CNG fueled equipment. This long fueling cycle can lead to lack of attention and added expense in fueling equipment.


Natural Gas as cheaper alternative. Many people incorrectly try to compare a gallon of diesel to a gallon of LNG or a gallon of CNG. While the price per gallon of the LNG and CNG may appear to be cheaper, you need to consider the energy in the gallon. For example a gallon of diesel contains approximately 139,000 Btu’s of energy, while a gallon of LNG contains about 73,500 Btu’s, and CNG works to about 34,750. In short it takes about 4 times the space to store an equivalent amount of CNG as compared to diesel.


The other concerns with vehicles powered by CNG or LNG are that they are far more expensive to purchase, for example a school bus built to run on CNG can be $30,000.00 to $40,000.00 more than its diesel counterpart.



Also when you purchase a vehicle powered by CNG or LNG you locked into one supplier for all fuel system and some engine components for ever. There is virtually no secondary supplier compatibility. You limit the range and usefulness of the vehicle due to limited ability to refuel that vehicle away from its domicile. Lastly, you have to be concerned about the value of those vehicles when it comes time to trade or sell them. In many cases this limited resale market can make a used vehicle worthless.


There is an important and growing place for alternative fuel vehicles and equipment. It takes visionary leaders with long term commitment and very deep pockets to make a change to this type of equipment successful.

You can get more information on this and other fuel related subjects at: http://www.lcbamarketing.com and click on Fuel School Articles.

Please comment here and share your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions.


Diesel Doctor



Copyright 2009© - William Richards

Cetane Number – What it is and Why it’s so Important

Cetane Number – What it is and Why it’s so Important

Cooperative Fuel Research Engine (CFR)

Cetane is a measurement of a diesel fuel ignition and or combustion quality. This Cetane Number or CN is one of several components that determine the quality of diesel and biodiesel fuels. This number is used for light and middle distillate fuels. For heavy (residual) fuels Calculated Ignition Index (CII) and Calculated Carbon Aromaticity Index (CCAI) are used.

In some ways this measurement is similar to the Octane Ratings given to gasoline. In its simplest terms Cetane Number measures the delay between the start of fuel injection into the combustion chamber and the beginning of compression ignition (Auto-ignition).

In medium and high speed diesel engines (this all automotive and truck engines) fuel needs to have a CN between 38 and 55 to operate. In general the higher the CN number, the better for the engine and for emissions. However raising CN above 55 currently offers little if any benefit.

In the US the group setting the standards for CN is the American Society for Testing of Materials (ASTM) and currently the minimum is 40. While diesel engines will start and run with 40 CN fuel, they do not run as efficiently as they will at a higher number.

In Europe the European Union (EU) has systematically over several years raised the minimum from 38 to the current 51. This has allowed engine manufacturers to produce more efficient engines with lower emissions and better economy. Most fuel in the EU has a CN of 55 or even better.

Cetane Number is measured using a very expensive and arcane Cooperative Fuel Research (CFR) engine and a process that very complex.

You can also measure CN using an Ignition Quality Tester (IQT) which is somewhat less complex, but still quite costly.

There is a third measurement called Cetane Index (CI) that measures density and distillation range of the fuel and through a calculation provides a measurement. This method will calculate a reasonably accurate number for the refined diesel.

The problem is that today most diesel fuel uses additives to reach the desired Cetane Number and additives do not affect the density, thus the CI of a fuel containing additives is not accurate.

Some of you may have seen a device that looks like a battery fluid tester (a hydrometer). These devices are not capable of determining CN or CI with any accuracy.

You can raise CN by altering the refining process or through the use of Alkyl nitrates or di-tert-butyl peroxide additives. NOTE: Remember that additives do not raise CI.

Also, biodiesel, depending on the base oil from which it is derived has a natural Cetane Rating of 46 to as high as 60.

With the advent of Pilot or Multiple Pulse fuel injection, Cetane Number becomes more important than ever. The delay in auto-ignition (CN) affects the combustion timing, which has a significant effect on power output, fuel economy, and emissions.

Raising Cetane Number together with Improving Fuel Atomization is the fastest way to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions through the use of correctly formulated additives.

Please post your comments, ideas, and suggestions

More information at: http://www.lcbamarketing.com/ - Click on Fuel School Articles.

Diesel Doctor

Copyright 2009© - William Richards

Gasohol – Ethanol Blended Gasoline – How to Prevent Storage Problems

Gasohol – Ethanol Blended Gasoline – How to Prevent Storage Problems

Image Courtesy of JME Sales

One of the biggest problems with gasohol (Ethanol blended Gasoline) is that it is extremely hygroscopic (the ability to attract water molecules from the surrounding environment and to hold them either through absorption or adsorption.

E-10 Gasohol (Gasoline containing 10% Ethanol) can hold up to 3.8 teaspoons of water in solution in the fuel. This water can lead to corrosion, poor economy, drivability problems, and to phase separation leading to other much more serious problems.

To combat this hygroscopic problem it is vital that storage tanks be purged of all water before any fuel containing Ethanol is added. The use of dispersant additives to deal with any residual water is also beneficial.

Storage tanks will pick up water from condensation of moisture in the air due to the daily changes in temperature. A large storage tank can actually generate anywhere from several ounces to as much as a gallon of water per day. Normally this water would settle to the bottom of the tank; however the Ethanol will pick it up, blend with it, and hold it in suspension.

The addition of a Desiccant type filter in the vent system will dramatically reduce or eliminate this condensation. While this idea is relatively new in the US many other countries mandate the use of these filters to prevent water problems.

It is also vital to regularly check the storage tank with water finding paste to be certain that there is no separated water on the tank bottom. Another advantage to water finding paste is that it will begin to slightly change color or in some cases small colored dots will begin to appear on the paste. This indicates that the fuel mixture is approaching the saturation point where phase separation will happen.

Note: Many of the electronic monitoring systems used for tank water detection may not register properly with Ethanol blended fuels. Also we have seen many instances where the fuel tank sending unit becomes saturated with water and stops functioning properly. When this happens the device will show the last good reading indefinitely.

It should be expected that tanks containing Ethanol will require a significantly higher level of maintenance than those holding regular gasoline or diesel.

For more information on this and other fuel related issues visit: http://www.lcbamarketing.com

Diesel Doctor

Copyright 2009© - William Richards

Relying on Reliance – Rather than Relying on Ourselves

Relying on Reliance – Rather than Relying on Ourselves

Reliance Industries Ltd. an Indian company is preparing to startup its second huge refinery in Jamnagar in Western India. Reliance is already operating a 660,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery there that together with the new 580,000 bpd unit creates the world’s largest refining complex, a 1.24 million barrel per day monster that is going to have a major effect on refined fuel prices around the world.

The new unit has been built strictly for exporting finished product, primarily gasoline, diesel and Jet A. This unit has been built specifically to produce fuel for the US market. It can meet all of the current and proposed fuel standards that the EPA has created.
Reliance has leased 935,000 barrels of storage space at Hess’s Port Reading terminal and has opened a trading office in Houston.

They will very quickly become a major force in the US marketplace. While in the short term this will likely drive prices at the pump down, the long term effect while be negative.
Over the last few years we have heard time and time again how much the major oil companies have been earning in profits, billions every quarter. However they have invested precious little of this windfall in infrastructure here or abroad.

The US cannot refine all the fuel we use, so others are doing it for us. In every way this is a bad idea and we will suffer for it later. The irresponsibility of not investing in refinery capacity, storage, pipelines, and other required projects is leading us into a mess our children and grandchildren will suffer for.

In eastern Canada, Irving Oil is making a 300,000 bpd expansion to its Saint John’s New Brunswick refinery to provide finished product for the northeastern US markets and now India will add 580,000 bpd to this amount. Again while this may temporarily lower pump prices, it is a strategic mistake to outsource the refining of our fuels.

We are sending more money overseas for no other reason than it is easier than dealing with our problems here.

Another part of the problem is the whole NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) theory. We don’t build refineries because we don’t want to see or smell them.

Well it is time that we grow up, and either put new refineries where they won’t bother anyone or we need to figure out how to clean them up enough that we can live with them.

It is not bad enough that we have to import 2/3’s of our crude oil to support our addiction, and then we import another 10% of our total usage in the form of finished product. Apparently we don’t even want to make the money and have the jobs that we should get from refining it.

The idea that we in the US have so much money that we can afford to simply let someone else deal with our problems while sending them boatloads of money is shortsighted and frankly, stupid!

For more on this and other fuel related subjects go to: http://www.lcbamarketing.com and click on Fuel School Articles

Diesel Doctor

Copyright 2009© - William Richards

Parking Crude Oil

Parking Crude Oil

Here is a bit of information that is hard to digest.


Speculators are leasing Super Tankers called Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC’s) (tankers holding 2 million barrels or 84,000,000 gallons each.) to store crude oil. There are currently between 35 and 45 of these behemoths sitting, many in the Gulf of Mexico and Persian Gulf holding approximately 80,000,000 (80 million) barrels or 3,360,000,000 (3.36 billion) gallons of crude.


This is almost one day’s worldwide consumption. The speculators are and have been paying $60,000.00 to $75,000.00 dollars per day to lease each of these tankers to sit holding this oil.


Factoid: If you lined 35 VLCC tankers end to end, the total length would be about 7 miles.


Why would someone pay this huge amount of money to park oil in the ocean? Well look at it this way, using the $60,000.00 per day figure to store 2,000,000 gallons of crude works out to approximately $.03 (three cents) per barrel per day. If it sits there 100 days that’s only $3.00 per barrel.


Now let’s say that you purchased crude that was $35.00 per barrel and today (02/26/2009) it is $45.00 per barrel. Even if you have stored it for 100 days at $3.00 per barrel or $6,000,000.00 ($60,000 X 100 days) you will still profit $7.00 per barrel or $14,000,000.00.


So this might us to conclude that the current rise in crude oil prices is a manipulation of the market rather than the result of supply and demand.
Right now the market is off by about 1,000,000 barrels per day, there are at least 80,000,000 barrels floating around, every land storage tank in the world is full, all waiting for the price to go up.


OPEC would have us believe they are reducing production to stabilize (this means “drive up”) the price of crude oil. In reality they are reducing production only because they have no where left to put it.


In a true supply and demand world, prices should be going down, not up.

One thought is that our government should be filling the national Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) as fast as they can get it in the ground. If all of these speculators believe crude will go up in the future then this a worthwhile investment to make.


In spite of the fact the current price is based on market manipulation, I doubt that the government will ever be able to police it. The ability to move staggering amounts of oil around the world with little or no regulation or accountability makes tracing it virtually impossible.The best things we can do are to reduce consumption through more efficient vehicles, equipment and practices and to work on alternative fuels to reach a point where we are able to produce most if not all of our fuel domestically.



Diesel Doctor



Copyright 2009© - William Richards

What Happens when Gasoline is Burned in an Engine

What happens when gasoline or other petroleum fuel is burned in an Engine?

Gasoline (or any petroleum fuel) is mostly carbon that when burned releases energy in the form of heat. This heat energy makes the engine run and allows it to do work.

The bad part of this process is that the carbon when burned is converted into Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Imagine that a gallon of gasoline weighs between 5.93 to 6.42 lbs (depending on type, temperature, blend and other factors) and as it is burned most of it is converted into CO2 weighing between 5 and 6 lbs per gallon.

If this CO2 was a visible solid, you would have to constantly plow the roads as it would build up like snow in a blizzard. But as it is an invisible gas that floats away, nobody pays any attention to it.

Now imagine that worldwide we burn 80,000,000+ barrels (3,486,000,000+ gallons) (Note: The US uses approximately 25,000,000+ barrels or 1,050,000,000+ gallons) of oil per day and 90% - 95% of that becomes CO2.

That’s 20,916,000,000+ lbs. (Twenty Billion, Nine Hundred Sixteen Million Pounds per Day) of CO2 per day, an incredible amount of carbon that we expect the atmosphere to magically absorb. Again if this was a visible solid, we would be buried in a matter of weeks.

Now, I am a proponent of diesel engines, if for no other reason that they are far more efficient than gasoline engines (30+%). If the portion of this fuel that is refined into gasoline was instead refined into diesel you would reduce that consumption by 30+%.

If you capture CO2 from the atmosphere or better yet from the source and use it to grow algae or other plants, you are using photosynthesis to sequester this carbon. If that biomass is then converted into a biofuel and burned in efficient manner you have formed a closed loop where you can nearly stop the increase of carbon released into the environment.

I believe that short of someone developing cold fusion, the development of algae oil biofuels is our best choice for continued use of liquid fuels. This technology could be made commercially viable in just a few years and produce a high quality oil that could be converted into diesel and other fuels for about $20.00 per barrel. Even if I am wrong by 100%, the cost would still be where the cost of crude is today (02/25/2009).

These are things we need to be thinking about. What’s your opinion?

Diesel Doctor

Copyright 2009©- William Richards

The Richards Cycle

The Richards Cycle™

The Richards Cycle™ is a renewable energy concept that combines existing and developing technologies to produce a high quality biodiesel fuel and electricity through a carbon neutral process. Additionally this process can absorb huge amounts of CO2 from other fossil fuel burning processes and plants.

In the Richards Cycle™ land not suitable for farming such a desert and high desert areas can be used for producing oil from Algae. Algae grown in high density greenhouses can produce as much as 100,000 gallons per acre per year. In this process tons of CO2 together with sunlight are converted through photosynthesis into Algae Oil.

You could theoretically place a coal burning power plant next to the greenhouses and pipe the CO2 emissions from the plant right into them where it would be absorbed immediately.
You can then transesterify and or refine the Algae Oil into high quality diesel or heating fuels. You can then use this fuel to generate power or pipe to markets all over the US as motor or heating fuel.

This fuel when burned in a state of the art power plant would be carbon neutral and would produce low cost power. Biodiesel derived from the Algae Oil can be made to burn cleaner than petroleum fuel and would be considered carbon neutral.

You can see this image at: http://www.lcbamarketing.com/richards_cycle.htm

This method could produce a significant portion of the nation’s motor fuel, heating oil, industrial fuel oil, and can provide a way to produce an important amount of electrical energy through coal or oil fired power plants without a negative impact on CO2 emissions.


Because this method can be used in most climates, over most of the earth it provides a way to obtain reasonably priced biofuels for motor fuel, heating fuel, industrial fuel oil, and marine fuel oil without the need petroleum fuels.


For areas of the world that currently derive large percentages of their electrical energy from oil fired power plants and diesel powered generators, this provides a way for them to break their dependence on imported or low grade domestic oil.


This is the first viable sustainable renewable energy project that does not use up materials and land diverted from producing foodstuffs.


We encourage your comments, thoughts, and ideas.


Doctor Diesel



Copyright 2009© William R. Richards

Asphaltene's and Plugged Fuel Filters

Asphaltenes and Plugged Fuel Filters

Asphaltenes in diesel fuels are becoming a much larger problem since the introduction of Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD - S-15) fuels.

There are actually several problems that have come together to cause the filter plugging black slime we so often see today.

Asphaltenes are highly polarized long chain components in crude and the heavier refined oils. Under certain circumstances these compounds associate themselves to form complex colloidal structures.

In Low Sulfur Diesel (LSD – S-500), High Sulfur Diesel (HSD – S-5000) and heating and bunker fuels the higher aromatic content of the fuel tends to discourage the formation of the complex colloidal structures limiting the problem.

However the EPA mandated reduction in aromatic content in ULSD has allowed this problem to happen sooner, more often, and in cooler temperatures than had been seen previously.

Asphaltenes agglomerate into an oily sludge. This problem is made worse when water is added to mix.

Petroleum and bio-derived fuels all hold water suspended in them, ULSD unfortunately holds approximately twice as much as the LSD and HSD fuels we had seen prior to June of 2006. Biodiesel (B100) can hold ten (10) times as much water as LSD and HSD, so even small amounts of biodiesel blended with diesel fuels dramatically increases the amount of dissolved water present.

Blending of fuels refined from different crude stocks further exacerbates this problem. Also, warmer temperatures in storage or due to the recirculation of fuel by the engine fuel system speeds the process and thickens the sludge.

Fuel that looks perfect going into a clean tank can develop tiny asphaltene droplets in a matter of hours when recirculation temperatures exceed 140°F (note: some newer engine fuel temperature as it exits the head exceeds 210°F). These pin-prick sized droplets can plug a 10 micron fuel filter in 3ooo to 4000 miles or less 50 hours of operation.

Many people mistakenly see this as a biological (bacteria and fungi) problem, however in the majority of cases the accelerated biological growth is the result of near perfect growing conditions that allows this rapid growth after the filter plugging asphaltene material has blocked the filter(s).

Keeping the water out helps, but the real solution is a thermal stability additive, a oxidative stability additive, together with a water dispersant.

Please comment with your experiences, suggestions, and or questions.

Diesel Doctor

Copyright 2009©

Biodiesel from Algae - The future of Biofuels

Biodiesel from Algae - The future of Biofuels

Biodiesel From Algae is likely a long term solution to the problems related to declining crude oil production and ever increasing prices.

Biofuels derived from Algae produce an Algae Oil are considered high quality and can be converted to an excellent biofuel. While all the technology is not yet in place to produce fuel on a mass scale, we are able to see that this is the direction we need to heading.

If you look at yield as a measure of viability, an acre of corn can produce approximately 20-30 gallons of Ethanol or 1,680,000 to 2,520,000 Btu's (84,000 Btu's per gallon) of energy; biodiesel derived from Soybean Oil produces approximately 70 gallons per acre or about 9,100,000 Btu's (130,000 Btu's per gallon), whereas biodiesel derived from Algae can produce up to 100,000 gallons or 13,000,000,000 (yes that's 13 Billion) Btu's (130,000 Btu's per gallon) from a single acre of non-arable desert.

As an oversimplified example if you converted 7,786,000 acres to the production of Algae Oil and converted that to biodiesel you could meet all of the fuel needs for transportation in the US. Note: This is about 10% of the size of New Mexico.

While this is likely a long way off, I believe our government and others in private industry should be investing in developing this technology as quickly as possible.

This technology can also be used to soak up huge amounts of CO2 and it leaves behind a biomass suitable for animal feed and many other possibilities.

Below, is a YouTube CNN video that shows some of this technology and how it can work.



We would appreciate your comments, questions, and ideas.

Diesel Doctor