Oil Cracking Unit

The Oil Cracking Unit (OCU) is an HV tier multiblock that specializes in cracking hydrocarbons into lighter fractions. The OCU is more efficient than the Large Chemical Reactor (LCR) at cracking fluids and gains a 10% energy discount per coil tier (max 50%). HSS-G coils are the earliest available coil for the minimum energy consumption. The two cracking fluids, steam and hydrogen, are nearly interchangeable but offer slightly different benefits: steam-cracked recipes output 50% more cracked fluid than the LCR while hydro-cracked recipes consume 20% less hydrogen and output 25% more cracked fluid than the LCR. They also have slightly different outputs in the Distillation Tower and at different ratios. The OCU is superseded by the Mega Oil Cracker.

The OCU is very particular about the location of its buses/hatches. The input hatch for the hydrocarbon replaces a casing on one end of the structure, the input hatch for the cracking fluid (steam or hydrogen) replaces a casing at the center of the structure, and the output hatch replaces a casing on the other end of the structure. The heating coils provide a 10% energy discount per tier (max 50%) and must all be the same tier for the structure to form. Upgrading the coils beyond HSS-G has no further effect on the operation of the machine. The programmed circuit for recipes can go in the controller or an input bus at the center of the structure. Multi-amp and laser energy hatches are not supported, but there can be multiple regular energy hatches for overclocking. Use the Multiblock Structure Hologram Projector to visualize/build the structure with subchannel "coil" to specify the tier of the heating coils.

Structure

• Controller: Front center, 2nd layer
• 18-20 Clean Stainless Steel Machine Casing
• 16 Heating Coil (Tiered)
• 1+ Energy Hatch: Any casing
• 1 Maintenance Hatch: Any casing
• 0+ Input Bus: Any middle casing
• 2 Input Hatch: Any middle casing (cracking fluid), any side casing (hydrocarbon)
• 1 Output Hatch: Any side casing opposite the hydrocarbon
• Mandatory Air: Interior of the structure

Wallsharing

OCUs may wallshare each of their sides to save on casings, coils, and buses/hatches. Sharing coils is particularly valuable because they are the most expensive part of the structure.

The Oil Cracking Unit can crack fluids with either steam or hydrogen, but also at different levels depending on the programmed circuit in the controller or input bus (1=light, 2=moderate, 3=severe). The only difference is the fractions that are produced from distilling the cracked fluid in a Distillation Tower, Dangote Distillus, or Mega Distillation Tower; one cracking method might produce more of a particular compound than another cracking method. To help the player decide, the following tables list all the outputs for each hydrocarbon with the highest ones highlighted yellow.

The cracking method/level has NO effect on the power consumption of the hydrocarbons; all recipes are the same length and voltage tier. The only exceptions are the naquadah fuels which take longer for higher cracking levels.

The following list summarizes the top sources for the most important resources.

• Best Naphtha - Lightly hydro-cracked light fuel (800L) and moderately hydro-cracked heavy fuel (400L).
• Best Toluene - Severely steam-cracked heavy fuel (80L) and moderately steam-cracked light fuel (50L).
• Best Butadiene - Lightly steam-cracked naphtha (150L) and moderately steam-cracked light fuel (75L).
• Best Butene - Lightly hydro-cracked butadiene (667L) and moderately steam-cracked light fuel (90L).
• Best Propane - Moderately hydro-cracked naphtha (1,100L) and moderately hydro-cracked light fuel (1,100L).
• Best Propene - Lightly steam-cracked butene (750L), lightly steam-cracked butadiene (750L), and moderately steam-cracked naphtha (400L).
• Best Ethylene - Moderately steam-cracked butene (1,300L), moderately steam-cracked butadiene (1,125L), and severely steam-cracked naphtha (500L).
• Best Methane - Severely hydro-cracked propane (3,000L) and severely hydro-cracked propene (3,000L).