Platline

From GT New Horizons
This is a stylized diagram showing the relation of the different sections of the overall Platinum Processing Line

The Platinum Processing Line (henceforth just Platline) is the series of interwoven machines that turn Platinum Metallic Powder Dust into the six Platinum-group metals which are critical to your progress from EV onwards. In this article, we aim to decompose the overwhelming entirety of the platline into a digestible form for the new player, as well as provide tips and recommendations for the experienced GTNH connoisseur.

Introduction

Total platline inputs and outputs, broken into simple chemicals (click for full size):

File:2.2.0.0 Platline gtnh-flow diagram.png

The platinum-group metals consist of these six elements:

  1. Platinum (Pt)
  2. Palladium (Pd)
  3. Rhodium (Rh)
  4. Ruthenium (Ru)
  5. Iridium (Ir)
  6. Osmium (Os)

In GTNH, these six elements are used in various crafting recipes.

Platinum is notably used extensively in circuit components, and late-game crafting will easily use it in the thousands. Palladium and Rhodium are used to make Rhodium-plated Palladium, the LuV-tier hull material. Ruthenium and Iridium are used together to make Ruridit, used extensively in LuV-tier machinery. Iridium is used on its own as the ZPM-tier hull material. Iridium and Osmium are used together to make Osmiridium, which finds niche uses in certain ZPM-tier applications. Osmium is used on its own as the UV-tier hull material.

All of these metals are used extensively, and thus the engineering of a dedicated processing line for the sole purpose of purifying these dusts non-stop is critical. Some players see a complete and functional platline as the turning point marking a player's ascension from EV-tier into IV-tier, partially due to the final step requiring overclocking from EV into IV to complete, and partially because of a shift in mentality from simple batch-crafting towards a continuous-process mindset.

Starting Out

We will assume the reader's familiarity with multiblock machines like the Large Chemical Reactor (LCR) and the Electric Blast Furnace (EBF), amongst others. These machines are used extensively throughout the platline. Platinum Metallic Powder Dust (PMP) can be acquired directly in multiple ways,

Before any purification can begin, we first must acquire some starting material. At EV, before easy access to Platinum Ore, there are several ores that we can target. These will be referred to as platinum-bearing purified ores from now on.

  1. Nickel Ore. Crush and wash with Mercury in a Chemical Bath to yield 2x PMP at a 70% chance.
  2. Chalcopyrite/Tetrahedrite/Pentlandite Ore. Once purified, can be directly used as starting material in the platline.
  3. Platinum Combs from Platinum Bees. Makes nuggets and Platinum Concentrate for Main Cycle 2 of Basic Platinum Extraction.
  4. Centrifuging Endstone Dust. 25% chance for 2x PMP. Can be grown with Yellow Stonelilly (IC2 Crops).
  5. Centrifuging Moon Stone Dust. 5% chance for 8x PMP.

The pre-processing of materials to yield usable purified ores or PMP are not commonly thought of as part of the platline. There are also many chemicals that we will need for a seamless platline to function, listed in the table below. Chlorine and Water are not listed below, though they are also needed.

Process Chemicals Recyclable? Remarks
Basic Platinum Extraction Aqua Regia Fully The Nitric Acid component can be regenerated from Nitrogen Dioxide, and then mixed with Diluted Sulfuric Acid to fully recover all Aqua Regia used
Ammonium Chloride Partially Made with Ammonia and Hydrochloric Acid
Calcium Dust Partially Electrolysis of Calcium Chloride enables recovery of Calcium and partial recovery of Chlorine
Palladium Extraction Formic Acid No Requires 2 LCRs to make if starting from Carbon Monoxide (3 LCRs if starting from Carbon Dust). Sodium Formate and Formic Acid can be done in one LCR with some input shuttering, fluid detectors, and machine controllers as it is not needed in large enough amounts to need separate multis.
Ammonia (optional) Partially Main use is to dissolve excess Palladium Metallic Powder Dust into Palladium-Enriched Ammonia
Platinum Residue Processing Molten Potassium Disulfate Partially The Potassium component can be fully recovered. Synthesis is a 2-step process, requiring an LCR to make the dust, and then fluid-extraction into the molten form
Saltpeter No Obtained either from its ore or synthesis in LCRs
Salt Water Fully More salt is produced by the platline then is consumed, and salt water can be mixed on site, with excess salt siphoned off for electrolysis
Hydrochloric Acid Partially Chlorine is recovered at various stages of the platline, but platline is an overall chlorine sink
Rhodium Extraction Zinc Dust Fully Electrolysis of Zinc Sulfate Dust will allow for recovery of all Zinc used
Salt Fully See Salt Water above
Sodium Nitrate No Synthesis on-site is highly recommended
Hydrochloric Acid Partially See above
Ruthenium Extraction Steam No Don't try and recycle this. Use a central Fluid Heater PA to provide steam on demand for all applications.
Hydrochloric Acid Partially See above
Iridium Extraction Hydrochloric Acid Partially See above
Ammonium Chloride Partially See above
Calcium Dust Partially See above
Osmium Extraction Hydrochloric Acid Partially See above

Basic Platinum Extraction

With our starting material acquired, we can begin the Main Cycle of platinum purification. These can be thought of as 4 discrete steps.

Steps Machine Inputs Outputs Remarks
Main Cycle 1 LCR Platinum Metallic Powder Dust and/or Platinum-bearing purified ores + Aqua Regia Platinum Concentrate

Platinum Residue (only if Platinum Metallic Powder Dust is used)

Has two variants, 1 for tiny dusts and 1 for full dusts
Main Cycle 2 LCR / Centrifuge Platinum Concentrate

Ammonium Chloride

Platinum Salt Dust

Reprecipitated Platinum Dust

Nitrogen Dioxide

Diluted Sulfuric Acid

Palladium-enriched Ammonia

Has two variants, 1 for tiny dusts and 1 for full dusts
Main Cycle 3 Sifting Machine / Large Sifter Platinum Salt Dust Refined Platinum Salt Dust Input-Output ratio is 1:0.95 on average
Main Cycle 4 EBF Refined Platinum Salt Dust Platinum Metallic Powder Dust

Chlorine

Platinum Metallic Powder Dust is then channeled back into Step 1

The astute reader may note that several outputs are not cycled, and will enter the following processes.

Steps Machine Inputs Outputs Remarks
Platinum Purification LCR Reprecipitated Platinum Dust

Calcium Dust

Platinum Dust

Calcium Chloride

Calcium Chloride can be electrolyzed to fully recover Calcium and partially recover Chlorine
Aqua Regia Recovery 1 LCR Nitrogen Dioxide

Oxygen

Water

Nitric Acid Step 1 of the 2-step process to fully recycle Aqua Regia
Aqua Regia Recovery 2 Mixer Nitric Acid

Diluted Sulfuric Acid

Aqua Regia Step 2 of the 2-step process to fully recycle Aqua Regia

Again, the reader will note that Palladium-enriched Ammonia and Platinum Residue are not yet used. This is because Palladium-enriched Ammonia is the starting material for Palladium Extraction, and Platinum Residue must be further processed before it can be useful to us.

Palladium Extraction

Before we can start turning our Palladium-enriched Ammonia into pure Palladium Dust, we first do these steps.

Processes Machines Inputs Outputs Remarks
Direct Precipitation LCR Palladium-enriched Ammonia Palladium Salt Dust Only a small amount needed at the start
Palladium Cycle 2 Sifting Machine / Large Sifter Palladium Salt Dust Palladium Metallic Powder Dust Input-Output ratio is 1:0.95

This is because we need Palladium Metallic Powder Dust for a subsequent step, but a starting platline engineer will not have Palladium Metallic Powder Dust available. Don't worry, the machines used in this initial phase are used in the subsequent palladium processes.

After running your palladium extraction for a while, you might notice that you end up being restricted by the amount of Palladium-enriched Ammonia produced, and not by the amount of Palladium Metallic Powder Dust available to you. This is where the following step will come into play.

Processes Machines Inputs Outputs Remarks
Direct Dissolution LCR Palladium Metallic Powder Dust

Ammonia

Palladium-enriched Ammonia Used to convert excess Palladium Metallic Powder Dust back to Palladium-enriched Ammonia

Now that we are aware of these two methods of cross-conversion between Palladium-enriched Ammonia and Palladium Metallic Powder Dust, we can look at the Palladium Extraction Processes.

Processes Machines Inputs Outputs Remarks
Palladium Cycle 1 LCR Palladium-enriched Ammonia

Palladium Metallic Powder Dust

Palladium Salt Dust

Reprecipitated Palladium Dust

Has a tiny-dust and full-dust variant
Palladium Cycle 2 Sifting Machine / Large Sifter Palladium Salt Dust Palladium Metallic Powder Dust Input-Output ratio is 1:0.95.

The output can be fed back into Palladium Cycle 1 or sent for Direct Dissolution to create new Palladium-enriched Ammonia

Palladium Purification LCR Reprecipitated Palladium Dust

Formic Acid

Palladium Dust

Ammonia Ethylene Water

The truly-desperate can recover the Ethylene, but voiding all 3 is more recommended

Platinum Residue Processing

With palladium addressed, we now turn to the Platinum Residue gathered earlier. Processing of this valuable material in these 3 steps will yield the starting inputs to purifying the remaining 4 platinum-group elements.

Processes Machines Inputs Outputs Remarks
Platinum Residue Processing 1 EBF Platinum Residue

Molten-Potassium Disulfate

Rhodium Sulfate

Leach Residue Dust

Rhodium Sulfate continues on to Rhodium Extraction
Platinum Residue Processing 2 EBF Leach Residue Dust

Saltpeter

Salt Water

Sodium Ruthenate

Rarest Metal Residue

Steam

Sodium Ruthenate continues on to Ruthenium Extraction
Platinum Residue Processing 3 EBF Rarest Metal Residue

Hydrochloric Acid

Iridium Metal Residue Dust

Acidic Osmium Solution

Iridium Metal Residue Dust continues on to Iridium Extraction

Acidic Osmium Solution continues on to Osmium Extraction

Rhodium Extraction

Quite possibly the longest chain of processes in the entire platline, the Rhodium Extraction Processes consist of the following steps, using Rhodium Sulfate as the starting material.

Processes Machines Inputs Outputs Remarks
Rhodium Extraction 1 LCR Rhodium Sulfate

Water

Leach Residue

Molten-Potassium

Rhodium Sulfate Solution

Leach Residue channeled to Platinum Residue Processing 2

Molten-Potassium can be fluid-solidified and macerated to recover Potassium Dust to make Potassium Disulfate

Rhodium Extraction 2 LCR Rhodium Sulfate Solution

Zinc Dust

Zinc Sulfate Dust

Crude Rhodium Metal Dust

Zinc Sulfate Dust can be electrolyzed to fully recover Zinc, some Sulfur and Oxygen
Rhodium Extraction 3 EBF Crude Rhodium Metal Dust

Salt

Chlorine

Rhodium Salt Dust
Rhodium Extraction 4 Mixer Rhodium Salt Dust

Water

Rhodium Salt Solution
Rhodium Extraction 5 LCR Rhodium Salt Solution

Sodium Nitrate

Rhodium Nitrate Dust

Salt

Salt recovered here can be sent to Rhodium Extraction 3, Platinum Residue Processing 2 (to mix Salt Water on-site), or electrolyzed
Rhodium Extraction 6 Sifting Machine / Large Sifter Rhodium Nitrate Dust Rhodium Filter Cake Dust Input-Output ratio of 1:0.95
Rhodium Extraction 7 Mixer Rhodium Filter Cake Dust

Water

Rhodium Filter Cake Solution
Rhodium Extraction 8 LCR Rhodium Filter Cake Solution Reprecipitated Rhodium Dust
Rhodium Extraction 9 LCR Reprecipitate Rhodium Dust

Hydrochloric Acid

Rhodium Dust

Ammonia Chlorine

The output from this step is extremely low (lower than the rest of the platline processes) so you can void the chem outputs here if you're lazy instead of recycling it.

Ruthenium Extraction

Less of a pain than Rhodium Extraction, the Ruthenium Extraction Processes make use of a more diverse set of multiblock machines than the other processes so far.

Processes Machines Inputs Outputs Remarks
Ruthenium Extraction 1 LCR Sodium Ruthenate

Chlorine

Ruthenium Tetroxide Solution
Ruthenium Extraction 2 Fluid Heater / Oil Cracker Ruthenium Tetroxide Solution

Steam (Oil Cracker only)

Hot Ruthenium Tetroxide Solution Using the Oil Cracker is recommended as it doubles the output vs using a Fluid Heater (alongside coil-associated efficiency bonuses)
Ruthenium Extraction 3 DT Hot Ruthenium Tetroxide Solution Salt

Water

Ruthenium Tetroxide (liquid)

Order of outputs is from bottom to top
Ruthenium Extraction 4 Fluid Solidifier Ruthenium Tetroxide (liquid) Ruthenium Tetroxide Dust
Ruthenium Extraction 5 LCR Ruthenium Tetroxide Dust

Hydrochloric Acid

Ruthenium Dust

Chlorine Water

Iridium Extraction

We're almost at the end of the Platline, with just two more metals to tear out!

Processes Machines Inputs Outputs Remarks
Iridium Extraction 1 EBF Iridium Metal Residue Dust Sludge Dust Residue Dust

Iridium Dioxide Dust

Sludge Dust Residue Dust can be centrifuged to recover Silicon Dioxide Dust and Gold Dust
Iridium Extraction 2 LCR Iridium Dioxide Dust

Hydrochloric Acid

Acidic Iridium Solution
Iridium Extraction 3 LCR Acidic Iridium Solution

Ammonium Chloride

Iridium Chloride Dust

Ammonia

Recommended to just void the Ammonia
Iridium Extraction 4 LCR Iridium Chloride Dust

Calcium Dust

Metallic Sludge Dust Residue Dust

Iridium Dust

Calcium Chloride (liquid)

Metallic Sludge Dust Residue Dust can be centrifuged to recover Nickel Dust and Copper Dust

Liquid Calcium Chloride can be fluid-solidified directly to Calcium Chloride (dust) and electrolyzed

Osmium Extraction

Lastly, we arrive at the Osmium Extraction Processes, quite possibly the simplest part of the platline.

Processes Machines Inputs Outputs Remarks
Osmium Extraction 1 DT Acidic Osmium Solution Osmium Solution

Water

Order of outputs is from bottom to top.

This step is painfully slow and thus, using a MDT or a Dangote Distillus is recommended for the advanced platline engineer

Osmium Extraction 2 LCR Osmium Solution

Hydrochloric Acid

Osmium Dust

Chlorine Water

Note that Osmium Extraction 1 requires use of IV-tier voltage, so the EV player who is making their first platline will either need to overclock theirs with 2 EV Energy Hatches, or use the Iridium so diligently extracted previously to make an IV Energy Hatch to power Step 1.

Tips and Recommendations

Chemicals which can be perfectly recycled, with some effort, are Aqua Regia and Potassium for Potassium Disulfate. All other chemicals used are not perfectly recycled and will require an external source of replenishment.

All sifting steps should be performed using the GT++ Large Sifter multiblock for maximum speed. Sifting is a known bottlenecking point for the various process sections.

For fluid extraction and fluid solidification, the GT++ Large Processing Factory is far too expensive to just dedicate for use in a platline (until ZPM+), so use of a Processing Array (PA) with at least 32 MV/HV-tier single-block machines inside will facilitate your platline smoothly chugging along.

If your budget allows for it, you can use the GT++ Industrial Mixing Machine for the mixing steps, though a HV-tier single-block mixer will suffice for a while.

While it may be tempting to use singleblocks or do multiple recipes in one multi to save on materials, the demands of the platline only grow as you progress. It is recommended to use individual multis for everything (with some exceptions, e.g. aqua regia mixer as noted above). Using primarily multiblocks allows for easy scaling by swapping out energy hatches as necessary.

For players with access to Platinum Ore & Sheldonite Ore (T3 Rocket or Far End Asteroids), processing of these ores to yield Platinum Metallic Powder Dust is the superior starting input for the platline, even over the purified platinum-bearing ores. Sheldonite obtained in this fashion can be processed in two ways: it can be centrifuged to yield both Platinum Metallic Powder Dust as well as Palladium Metallic Powder Dust, alongside nickel and sulfur, or it can be directly smelted for twice as much Platinum Metallic Powder Dust. The suggested way is smelting as the ratio between Sheldonite Dust and Platinum Metallic Powder Dust is 1:2, rather than the 1:1 offered by centrifuging it.

The platline is a perfect candidate for using a subnet for abstraction, simplification, and reducing the overall necessary size of your main AE network. A network with minimal storage that all platline related dusts are routed to by high-priority storage bus, and all platline outputs are routed away from back to the main network in the same way is common. Additionally, the various fluids can be easily handled with fluid p2p as it is many-to-many.

Sample Platlines

Due to the complexity of the platline and the 3D nature of Minecraft, it is easy for different players to engineer different setups that all fulfil the function of being a "Platline". These designs below serve as samples for how you too can engineer your own platline. Use and/or abuse these to your heart's content.

Two-Chunk Platline 1 (top view). Auxiliary single-block machinery are hidden in the basement.

Two-Chunk Platline 1

This design makes use extensively of wallsharing for both LCRs and EBFs to save on materials. Several LCRs also perform multitasking, exploiting several features of the platline. In this manner, the entirety of the Platline can be performed with in a total volume of 32x16x10 blocks (2 chunks surface area x 10 blocks vertical space).


Two-Chunk Platline 2 (top view). Again, auxiliary single-block machines are hidden in the basement.

Two-Chunk Platline 2

This successor design also makes extensive use of wallsharing, as well as Processing Arrays to perform parallelized single-block processes. With the advent of full-dust recipes, the use of packagers for platline designs are no longer necessary. Again, non-annotated steps are done by single-block machines buried in the basement.


A platline built across 7 chunk-sized vertical slices in a tower format.

Platline Tower

This abomination of a design has several measures taken in order to maximize throughput.

Firstly, each process has a dedicated multiblock machine in order to eliminate recipe shifting delays (5s between recipe shifts).

Secondly, all machines utilize fluid/item detectors and machine controller covers to intelligently throttle activity based on presence of outputs, to minimize voiding losses.

Thirdly, all machines have been optimized to utilize overclocking to the fullest, and some have achieved 1t/recipe, which is a fundamental limit on recipe speed.

Lastly, AE is used to intelligently deliver required inputs and manage outputs, including Fluid P2P for fluid logistics and GTEU P2P for energy delivery.

Due to the intensive material requirements for such a design, designs of this scope are recommended only for late-game players (ZPM+) who desperately need the throughput that this setup can provide.


Labeled Platline

This design sacrifices a majority of its in-world process grouping to allow the player to place machines largely where they see fit.

It relies on two things: a sufficiently large AE network or subnet to allow liberal use of P2P and other AE multiparts, and a combination of signs and an accompanying flowchart. The flowchart can be photo edited to add identifying codes which can then be put on signs attached to each machine. These codes allow the player to easily figure out what each machine does and where it's located on the flowchart.

The main draw of this type of design is twofold: modularity and documentation. In terms of modularity, the design allows the player to easily add, modify, or upgrade machines in any part of the process. Sections of connected machines can be segmented without losing information on what each machine does, since all of them have a label correlating to the flowchart. In terms of documentation, the design allows players unfamiliar with either your implementation of platline or platline as a whole to more easily understand where everything fits together so long as they have the corresponding edited flowchart, even if the machines themselves are all over the place.

platline with labels on each machine
A partially-completed, low throughput platline built with flowchart labels on each machine. Each sign also contains a short descriptor of the machine's function.