Polymer Press

The Polymer Press is a refinement building that converts Petroleum into Plastic. It takes liquid input through a Liquid Pipe, processes the Petroleum, and outputs Plastic as a solid product while releasing Steam and Carbon Dioxide as byproducts. The Plastic is dropped on the floor in 30 kg stacks, so the space beneath the machine must be kept clear.

In normal operation, one Polymer Press fed with Petroleum produces 300 kg/cycle of Plastic. The machine also emits a significant amount of heat: the Plastic is produced at a minimum of 75 °C, the Steam at 200 °C, and the Carbon Dioxide at 150 °C. If the incoming Petroleum is already hotter than those minimums, the outputs can be hotter as well. This makes the building a major heat source and a common candidate for dedicated cooling.

The Polymer Press is useful because Plastic unlocks a wide range of advanced structures and goods, including the Comfy Bed, Transit Tube, and Steam Turbine. It is one of the main industrial routes to Plastic for mid- to late-game colonies, especially when a steady Petroleum supply is available.

Practical considerations for using it well:

• Keep the building cooled if it will run for any length of time. Its heat output is high enough that unmanaged operation can damage nearby infrastructure or overheat the machine itself.
• A thin layer of chilled Water around the building is an effective cooling approach, and gases with better thermal conductivity, such as Hydrogen, can also help move heat away.
• Steel is a strong material choice for construction because of its high overheat resistance, heat capacity, and thermal conductivity. Gold Amalgam or Wolframite are also useful depending on the temperature of the cooling solution.
• If the input Petroleum may become very cold, use an Insulated Liquid Pipe to avoid pipe damage.
• Cycle Sensors and Timer Sensors can be used to run the press in short bursts, giving the machine time to cool between production cycles.

The Polymer Press can also be run in a way that partially offsets its heat output if the incoming Petroleum is hot enough. At around 80 °C or higher, it can become net heat negative, and at 150 °C it destroys a noticeable amount of heat. Even so, this is usually a specialist optimization rather than the default setup.

For colonies that want Plastic without managing industrial heat and Petroleum refining, Glossy Drecko farming is an alternative. It produces Plastic much more slowly and requires more setup, but it creates no waste gas and very little heat, making it attractive for some mid-game colonies.