Ethanol Distiller

The Ethanol Distiller is a refinement building that converts Wood into Ethanol fuel. It consumes 1 kg/s of Lumber while active and outputs Ethanol that can be piped to a Petroleum Generator for power production. It also produces Polluted Dirt, dropping it in 20 kg chunks from its lower output as it runs.

Because the building consumes a steady stream of Lumber, it is commonly paired with Arbor Tree farms and automated with Auto-Sweepers. One Ethanol Distiller can be supported by about 1.8 domesticated Arbor Trees, and a single constantly running distiller produces almost 200 kg/cycle of Polluted Dirt, which is enough to keep several Compost piles occupied if processed immediately. That Polluted Dirt can then be composted into Dirt for more tree farming, or used as food for critters such as Pokeshells and Sage Hatches.

Ethanol is especially useful as a bridge fuel for generators and critters. Four Ethanol Distillers are needed to support one constantly running Petroleum Generator, and that arrangement yields a net power gain of +260 W per distiller. If the generator is boosted, the net gain rises further. Ethanol production can also be integrated with Molten Slicksters: if the carbon dioxide from the distillers and generator is converted to Petroleum through Slicksters, fewer distillers are needed per generator, though the ranching requirements become much larger.

The building has a useful thermal trait: Ethanol Distillers do not overheat. They can also be run as a net heat-negative process if the incoming Lumber is hot enough. With Lumber alone, the threshold is 38.6 °C; if the produced Ethanol is fed into a Petroleum Generator, the threshold drops to 34 °C. Even so, the distiller does not fully offset the heat created by Arbor Tree mass growth, so it is most effective when trees are kept in a colder environment and the harvested Wood is preheated before refining.

• Ethanol Distillers require a continuous Lumber supply, so automation and stable tree production are important.
• Their Polluted Dirt output is significant and should be planned for, whether for composting, critter feeding, or dirt production loops.
• They pair naturally with Petroleum Generators for power, but the combined system also creates substantial carbon dioxide and dirt management demands.
• There are no especially clean small-scale ratios once a larger ethanol economy is built; scaling tree farms, distillers, generators, and exhaust handling together is usually the practical approach.