Solid fuel from heavy oil

Solid fuel from Heavy oil is a recipe that converts Heavy oil into Solid fuel as one of several ways to produce Solid fuel in-game. Solid fuel can be produced from Heavy oil, Light oil, or Petroleum gas; among those, Light oil provides the best direct conversion rate. The Heavy oil route is commonly used when Heavy oil is abundant or when players set up oil cracking chains that include multiple conversion steps.

Direct conversions and relative yields are important when choosing which oil product to use for Solid fuel. Light oil has the best direct generation rate (10:1), meaning Light oil converts into Solid fuel more efficiently than the other petroleum products. Heavy oil's direct generation rate is less favorable; if Heavy oil is first cracked into Light oil, the effective generation rate for Solid fuel using that Heavy oil changes—in practice, a Heavy oil pool that would otherwise convert at about 20:1 can, after partial cracking into Light oil, produce Solid fuel with an effective ratio nearer 13:1. These relative numbers guide whether it is worth routing Heavy oil into Solid fuel production or into cracking and further refining.

Solid fuel has significantly higher energy density than coal. Each Solid fuel item provides more than three times the heat value of a single coal, making Solid fuel an attractive alternative as a fuel source in scenarios with ample petroleum resources. However, producing Solid fuel requires an industrial supply chain: at minimum a refinery to produce oil products and a Chemical plant to craft Solid fuel, and often additional infrastructure for cracking (converting Heavy oil to Light oil) if aiming for better overall yield.

Practical notes:

• Use Light oil for direct Solid fuel production when efficiency is the priority, because Light oil converts at the best rate (10:1).
• Crack Heavy oil into Light oil when you can afford the infrastructure; cracking improves the effective Solid fuel yield from Heavy oil (roughly from 20:1 toward 13:1 after cracking).
• Consider map resources before committing: if coal is abundant and oil is scarce, running Solid fuel as a primary fuel is usually inefficient despite its higher heat output, because coal is trivial to mine with minimal infrastructure.
• Plan refinery and Chemical plant placement to handle the throughput and byproducts of producing Solid fuel, and balance whether oil products are better used as feedstock for petroleum processing or as fuel depending on overall factory needs.