Steam Separator

The Steam Separator is a Steam tier multiblock for centrifuging dusts and other items into their sub components or constituent elements. The Steam Separator runs at 125% speed, only uses 62.5% of the steam normally required, and offers 8 parallels. There are two tiers of the machine: basic (T1) and high-pressure (T2). The high-pressure version consumes twice the amount of steam to run twice as fast. The Steam Separator is superseded by the Industrial Centrifuge in EV.

The only structural difference between the basic and high-pressure Steam Separator is the material of the casings. Steam is only accepted through a steam hatch (NOT an input hatch), much like other steam tier multiblocks. The steam input and output bus do not auto-push or auto-pull from adjacent inventories and therefore require hoppers, EnderIO item conduits, or conveyor modules for automation. Use the Multiblock Structure Hologram Projector to visualize/build the structure where the projector stack size determines the structure tier (1=Basic, 2=High Pressure).

Assuming plates are made in a forge hammer and rods are made with a file, a basic Steam Separator (with the necessary hatches) requires 1,125 bronze ingots and 69 brick blocks to build. Similarly, a high-pressure Steam Separator requires 1,559 steel ingots, 86 bronze ingots, and 4 brick blocks to build.

Wallsharing

Steam Separators may wallshare each of their sides to save on casings and buses/hatches. Overlapping the top few layers with another one directly overhead and upside down is the most effective and highly recommended because it saves a significant amount of bronze/steel. Do not forget to rotate the controller of the top one with a wrench. Sharing also works with other steam tier multiblocks that use the same type of casing.

The Steam Separator runs at 125% speed, only uses 62.5% of the steam normally required, and offers 8 parallels. Upgrading to high-pressure (T2) doubles both the processing speed and steam consumption. The only downside to the Steam Separator is that it does not support input hatches; a singleblock centrifuge or the Industrial Centrifuge is required for recipes with fluid inputs. Regardless, expect to use the Steam Separator up to HV because of its large bonuses over singleblock machines.

The Steam Separator processes recipes up to LV tier which includes ALL impure dust recipes, extracting refined glue from slime, and extracting methane from logs. It can also centrifuge compressed air for oxygen and nitrogen.

The following table lists some of the rare/unique byproducts that the Steam Separator can produce and the ores which they come from. The Steam Purifier is the only other way to obtain byproducts this early in the game. The second table lists some of the more important fluids that the Steam Separator can produce and the items which they come from.