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Oil Processing (BuildCraft)

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From version 7.99 of BuildCraft on, the oil processing process has changed and has became way more complex. This page tries to build a synthesis of the oil-refining process.

Various oil-related fluids[edit]

The various oil-related fluids include Oil, Residue, Heavy oil, Dense oil, Distilled oil, Mixed heavy fuels, Mixed light fuels, Fuel, Dense fuel and Gaseous fuel.

These products can be categorized into raw resources (i.e. Oil itself), intermediate products (Heavy oil, Dense oil, Distilled oil, Mixed heavy fuels, Mixed light fuels) and end products (Fuel, Dense fuel, Residue and Gaseous fuel).

End products cannot be distilled further. Intermediate products have some mix of end products in them, which can be distilled out (sometimes in many steps). For example, Heavy oil can be thought as a mix of Residue, Dense fuel and Fuel. Distilling it hot will separate out into Fuel and Dense oil (Residue + Dense fuel). Distilling it while searing will yield Residue and Mixed heavy fuels (Fuel + Dense fuel).

Oil distillation[edit]

A kind of oil can be converted into another kind by distilling it. See the table below for the valid conversions.

Refinement diagram

Fluid State Bottom Output Quantity (mB) Top Output Quantity (mB)
Oil Cool Heavy oil 375 Gaseous fuel 2,000
Hot Dense oil 250 Mixed light fuels 1,250
Searing Residue 125 Distilled oil 1,000
Heavy oil Hot Dense oil 666 Fuel 1,332
Searing Residue 333 Mixed heavy fuels 1,665
Dense oil Searing Residue 500 Dense fuel 1,000
Distilled oil Cool Mixed heavy fuels 625 Gaseous fuel 2,000
Hot Dense fuel 250 Mixed light fuels 1,250
Mixed heavy fuels Hot Dense fuel 400 Fuel 800
Mixed light fuels Cool Fuel 400 Gaseous fuel 1,600

Any row omitted in this table means that the distillation is not possible (as of now).

Refinement tree with energy costs and output This means that a bucket of Oil, when distilled into end products, will create:

Heat exchanging[edit]

Each kind of oil-related fluid has three states: cold, hot and searing. A fluid that is not searing can be heated by passing it through a heat exchanger in cross-current with a hot fluid (if you have none, Lava does a good job), while any fluid that is not cold can be cooled in the same way against a cool fluid (usually water).

Distilling cold fluid will separate out Gaseous fuel from the mix. In hot state, the Dense oil's components separate from the light fuels. Distillation in searing temperature separates out the Residue. Therefore, to fully refine raw Oil, a total of 3 distillations is necessary: one in each temperature range. However, one may omit the searing fluid distillation, as Dense oil's properties are similar to Dense fuel's (see below); but in this case, the un-distilled Residue will build up in the Combustion Engine instead.

Using as fuel[edit]

Only the cold version of any oil-related fluid can be used as a fuel. The Residue, however, is the only thing that cannot be used as fuel.

The table below lists the various oil forms and their stats as of 7.99.18:

Fluid MJ/t Dirty? Energy / bucket Combustion time / bucket
Crude oil 3 Yes 30 000 10 000
Heavy oil 2 Yes 80 000 40 000
Dense oil 4 Yes 120 000 30 000
Distilled oil 1 37 500 37 500
Mixed light fuel 3 30 000 10 000
Mixed heavy fuel 5 96 000 19 200
Dense fuel 4 360 000 90 000
Fuel (light) 6 90 000 15 000
Gaseous fuel 8 15 000 1 875

A dirty fuel will leave combustion residues in the Combustion Engine