Platline

From GT New Horizons
Revision as of 03:16, 4 July 2022 by DragonStorm25 (talk | contribs) (Added information about processing Sheldonite by smelting instead of centrifuging, which is the significantly better method)
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

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.

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.

  1. Nickel Ore. Once crushed, the crushed Nickel Ore can be washed with mercury in a Chemical Bath to yield 2 Platinum Metallic Powder Dust at a 70% chance.
  2. Chalcopyrite/Tetrahedrite/Pentlandite Ore. Once purified, their purified ores can be directly used as starting material in the platline. These will be referred to as platinum-bearing purified ores from now on.

The pre-processing of these 4 ores to yield usable purified ores or PtMPD 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. With regards to the specific part of the platline they are used in (and not including chlorine or water), they are:

  1. Basic Platinum Extraction
    1. Aqua Regia. This can be recycled with some effort and cycled with 100% recovery.
    2. Ammonium Chloride. This cannot be recovered meaningfully, and is made from ammonia and hydrochloric acid.
    3. Calcium Dust. This can be recovered to an extent via electrolysis of Calcium Chloride to recover both calcium and chlorine. Critical to minimize losses.
  2. Palladium Extraction
    1. Formic Acid. This is non-recoverable and requires 2 LCRs if starting from Carbon Monoxide (3 LCRs if starting from carbon)
    2. Ammonia. Optional, but if used it is only partially recoverable.
  3. Platinum Residue Processing
    1. Molten Potassium Disulfate. The elemental components of this compound are partially recoverable. Synthesis of this is a 2 step process, where Potassium Disulfate Dust is first made, and then fluid-extracted into its molten form for use.
    2. Saltpeter. This is non-recoverable, and can either be purified from its ore or synthesized in LCRs.
    3. Salt Water. This is technically fully recoverable, as there is more salt produced by the platline then is consumed. This discrepancy is due to other sodium-bearing and chlorine-bearing chemicals used in the platline
    4. Hydrochloric Acid. While the chlorine component can be recovered to an extent, the prospective platline builder should take care to ensure an ample supply of chlorine for use.
  4. Rhodium Extraction
    1. Zinc Dust. This can be recovered from Zinc Sulfate dusts generated by the process.
    2. Salt. Same as with salt water.
    3. Sodium Nitrate. Must be synthesized on-site.
    4. Hydrochloric Acid
  5. Ruthenium Extraction
    1. Steam. It is recommended that you use a central Fluid Heater PA to provide steam on demand for all applications. I offer you my sincerest condolences if you still use steam for power generation at this point (with a single exception).
    2. Hydrochloric Acid
  6. Iridium Extraction
    1. Hydrochloric Acid
    2. Ammonium Chloride
    3. Calcium Dust
  7. Osmium Extraction
    1. Hydrochloric Acid

Basic Platinum Extraction

With our starting material acquired, we can begin the initial phase of platinum purification. These can be thought of as discrete steps:

  1. LCR Dissolution of Platinum Metallic Powder Dust and/or platinum-bearing purified ores with Aqua Regia. This step yields Platinum Concentrate in varying amounts depending on the starting materials, and yields Platinum Residue only when Platinum Metallic Powder Dust is used.
  2. LCR Precipitation of Platinum Concentrate with Ammonium Chloride. This step yields Platinum Salt Dust, Reprecipitated Platinum Dust, Nitrogen Dioxide, Diluted Sulfuric Acid, and Palladium-enriched Ammonia.
  3. Sifting of Platinum Salt Dust. This step yields an average of 0.95 Refined Platinum Salt Dust for every 1 Platinum Salt Dust sifted.
  4. EBF Baking of Refined Platinum Salt Dust. This step yields Platinum Metallic Powder Dust, and a small amount of chlorine. The recovered Platinum Metallic Powder Dust can be channeled back into Step 1.

This forms the main cycle of platinum processing. However, the astute reader may note that several outputs are not cycled, and will enter the following processes.

  1. LCR Purification of Reprecipitated Platinum Dust with Calcium. This step yields pure Platinum Dust and Calcium Chloride, which can be electrolyzed to recover Calcium Dust and Chlorine for reuse.
  2. LCR Reacidification of Nitrogen Dioxide with Oxygen and Water. This yields Nitric Acid.
  3. Mixer Regeneration of Aqua Regia from diluted Sulfuric Acid and Nitric Acid. This step enables the 100% recovery of the Aqua Regia used in the system.

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 will need to be aware of two things.

Firstly, we will need to convert some Palladium-enriched Ammonia into Palladium Metallic Powder Dust through these 2 steps:

  1. LCR Precipitation of Palladium-enriched Ammonia. This yields Palladium Salt Dust.
  2. Sifting of Palladium Salt Dust. This yields an average of 0.95 Palladium Metallic Powder Dust per 1 Palladium Salt Dust used.

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

Secondly, we are able to convert excess Palladium Metallic Powder Dust back into Palladium-enriched Ammonia with the following step:

  1. LCR Dissolution of Palladium Metallic Powder Dust with Ammonia. This yields Palladium-enriched Ammonia.

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 above step will come into play.

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.

  1. LCR Seeded Co-Precipitation of Palladium-enriched Ammonia with Palladium Metallic Powder Dust. This yields Palladium Salt Dust and Reprecipitated Palladium Dust. The Palladium Salt Dust is processed as above to recover Palladium Metallic Powder Dust for recirculation, while the Reprecipitated Palladium Dust goes on to step 2.
  2. LCR Acidic Purification of Reprecipitated Palladium Dust with Formic Acid. This yields pure Palladium Dust, Ammonia, Ethylene and Water. For the really-desperate, the Ethylene can be recovered for use elsewhere, but otherwise a well-supplied platline can afford to void the recovered Ammonia and Water.

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.

  1. EBF Dissolution of Platinum Residue with Molten Potassium Disulfate. This yields Rhodium Sulfate, the starting input for rhodium purification, and Leach Residue Dust.
  2. EBF Reprecipitation of Leach Residue with Saltpeter and Salt Water. This yields Sodium Ruthenate, the starting input for ruthenium purification, Rarest Metal Residue, and Steam (which can be voided).
  3. EBF Acid Dissolution of Rarest Metal Residue with Hydrochloric Acid. This yields Iridium Metal Residue Dust, the starting input for iridium purification, and Acidic Osmium Solution, the starting input for osmium purification.

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.

  1. LCR Dilution of Rhodium Sulfate with Water. This yields Leach Residue, Molten Potassium and Rhodium Sulfate Solution.
  2. LCR Precipitation of Rhodium Sulfate Solution with Zinc. This yields Zinc Sulfate and Crude Rhodium Metal Dust.
  3. EBF Baking of Crude Rhodium Metal Dust with Salt and Chlorine. This yields Rhodium Salt Dust.
  4. Mixer Dissolution of Rhodium Salt Dust with Water. This yields Rhodium Salt Solution.
  5. LCR Nitration of Rhodium Salt Solution with Sodium Nitrate. This yields Rhodium Nitrate Dust and Salt.
  6. Sifting of Rhodium Nitrate Dust. This yields an average of 0.95 Rhodium Filter Cake Dust for every 1 Rhodium Nitrate Dust used.
  7. Mixer Dissolution of Rhodium Filter Cake Dust with Water. This yields Rhodium Filter Cake Solution.
  8. LCR Precipitation of Rhodium Filter Cake Solution. This yields Reprecipitated Rhodium Dust.
  9. LCR Acid Purification of Reprecipitated Rhodium Dust with Hydrochloric Acid. This yields pure Rhodium Dust, Ammonia and Chlorine.

Aside from our main desired output of pure Rhodium Dust, there are several other outputs that we can manage to reduce material loss and maximise efficiency.

Firstly, the Leach Residue generated in Step 1 is channeled out into Step 2 of the Platinum Residue Processes.

Secondly, the Molten Potassium generated in Step 1 is fluid-solidified and macerated to perfectly recover Potassium Dust for recycling into more Potassium Disulfate.

Thirdly, the Zinc Sulfate generated in Step 2 can be electrolyzed to recover Zinc, Sulfur and Oxygen.

Lastly, the Salt generated in Step 5 can be mixed with water to feed Step 2 of the Platinum Residue Processes. Excess salt can then be sent for electrolysis.

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.

  1. LCR Chlorination of Sodium Ruthenate with Chlorine. This yields Ruthenium Tetroxide Solution.
  2. Oil Cracker Steaming of Ruthenium Tetroxide Solution with Steam. This yields Hot Ruthenium Tetroxide Solution.
  3. DT Distillation of Hot Ruthenium Tetroxide Solution. This yields Salt, Water and Ruthenium Tetroxide (liquid).
  4. Fluid Solidification of Ruthenium Tetroxide (liquid). This yields Ruthenium Tetroxide Dust.
  5. LCR Acid Purification of Ruthenium Tetroxide Dust. This yields pure Ruthenium Dust, Chlorine, and Water.

While Step 2 can be done in a Fluid Heater, you get double the output if you use an Oil Cracker plus other associated efficiency bonuses from using higher-tier coils all for the low price of needing to provide Steam for the step.

Iridium Extraction

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

Iridium Extraction involves the following steps:

  1. EBF Baking of Iridium Metal Residue Dust. This yields Sludge Dust Residue Dust and Iridium Dioxide Dust.
  2. LCR Acid Dissolution of Iridium Dioxide Dust with Hydrochloric Acid. This yields Acidic Iridium Solution.
  3. LCR Precipitation of Acidic Iridium Solution with Ammonium Chloride. This yields Iridium Chloride Dust and Ammonia.
  4. LCR Purification of Iridium Chloride Dust with Calcium Dust. This yields Metallic Sludge Dust Residue Dust, pure Iridium Dust, and liquid Calcium Chloride.

Whilst the Ammonia produced in Step 3 can be voided, as you should be producing enough ammonia to cope with the loss, there are 3 other notable outputs to manage besides our desired pure Iridium Dust.

Firstly, Sludge Dust Residue Dust can be centrifuged to recover Silicon Dioxide Dust and Gold Dust.

Secondly, Metallic Sludge Dust Residue Dust can also be centrifuged to recover Nickel and Copper.

Lastly, liquid Calcium Chloride can be fluid-solidified into Calcium Chloride dust, and then electrolyzed to recover Calcium Dust and Chlorine.

Osmium Extraction

Lastly, we arrive at the Osmium Extraction Processes. Quite possibly the simplest part of the platline, the steps are:

  1. DT Distillation of Acidic Osmium Solution. This yields Osmium Solution and Water.
  2. LCR Acid Purification of Osmium Solution with Hydrochloric Acid. This yields pure Osmium Dust, Chlorine and Water.

Step 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.

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.

Retrieved from "https://wiki.gtnewhorizons.com/wiki/Platline?oldid=4117"