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Arch666Angel
Metal Catalysts
The number of recipes that take each type of metal catalyst is very skewed.
Red metal catalyst (4)
- Ammonia
- Syngas > Naphtha
- Naphtha > Propene
- Coal cracking Bergius process
Green metal catalyst (15)
- Acetic acid
- Propionic acid
- Sodium cyanide
- Acid gass cracking
- Nitrogen monoxide
- Hydrazine
- Syngas > Methanol
- Naphtha > Butadine
- Methane > Benzene
- Methanol
- Ethylene > Ethylene oxide (hidden in most configurations)
- Naphtha > Toluene
- Benzene > Toluene
- Methanol > Formaldehyde
- Ethylbenzene > Styrene
Blue metal catalyst (5)
- Sodium perchlorate
- Melamine
- Syngas methanation
- Ethylene > Polyethylene
- Cumene process
Yellow metal catalyst (1)
- Benzene > Phenol
Suggested Changes
- Bio plastic 1 and Bio plastic 2 both take red metal catalysts. Change Acetic acid (Bio plastic 1) green > red.
- Hydrazine: Swap green > blue. No tech tree change required.
- Dinotrogen tetroxide gas: Add yellow metal catalyst. No tech tree change required. Was a boring recipe.
Lets break this down using real catalyst chemistry (which i think is the actual intended mechanic/leaning experience) I think a few simple rules should be kept...
- If a multi-step reaction is combined, a catalyst should be used (based on unlocked tech level)
- If an IRL catalyst is used of a material relatively close to one of the metals used in a catalyst, that should be used.
- Fake recipes (introduced to make gameplay better {syngas systems etc} should have catalysts of the syngas is not in place of a CO/H2 mixture.
The number of recipes that take each type of metal catalyst is very skewed.
Red metal catalyst (4)
- Ammonia --IRL: Iron based catalyst [red is good]
- Syngas > Naphtha --IRL: zeolite/Alumina (zeolite is kind of a sandy clay so Aluminium/Silicon based) {catalytic reforming} [move to green?]
- Naphtha > Propene --IRL: zeolite/Alumina/Acidic-Oxides {catalytic cracking} [move to green]
- Coal cracking Bergius process --IRL: Nickel/Tin/Tungsten/Moly or Iron-Sulfides [red is fine here, but yellow is also an option]
Green metal catalyst (15)
- Acetic acid --IRL: rhodium or iridium (both water catalysed with Methyl iodide (CH3I)) [move to yellow]
- Propionic acid --IRL: nickel carbonyl [yellow?]
- Sodium cyanide --IRL: this is the "older" method and both don't seem to be catalytic [tech level]
- Acid gas cracking --IRL: amine stripping, steam stripping, TP-flash tank. [tech level]
- Nitrogen monoxide --IRL: platinum metal catalyst (alternative lab methods with different chemistry use a variety of metals including copper and iron sulfate) [move down to red or whatever cat uses platinum if active?]
- Hydrazine --IRL: copper allows further reaction... {not really catalyzed} but since a few steps are combined [tech level]
- Syngas > Methanol --IRL copper/zinc/alumina (active is copper) [move to red]
- Naphtha > Butadine --IRL copper or alumina/magnesia-silica [keep green]
- Methane > Benzene --IRL: does not exist explicitly, but multiple Wurtz reactions (3 reaction steps each starting with convert to monochloride {using HCl}, then react with sodium metal to produce salt and higher HC) * 5 {can also use silver, zinc, iron, copper indium or manganese and copper}, then conversion to a ring via catalytic reforming {H2+C6H10 over platinum} [think im going to have to actually change this recipe somewhat to match the 1/6 ratio a bit better, and increase the cat use to 7]
- Methanol --IRL: using CO/H2 {called syngas} uses copper/zinc on alumina [could be red or green] (CO+H2-->CH3OH)
- Methanol --IRL: using CO2/H2 {multi-step reaction including water gas shift... no catalyst} (CO2+3H3-->CH3OH+H2O,CO+H2O-->CO2+H2) (overall reaction is same as other one, but has some interesting differences internally)[Up to higher tier] THESE 2 Reactions are actually paired IRL due to the ratio of H2/CO in syngas production from methane... (CH4+H2O--> CO+3H2)
- Ethylene > Ethylene oxide (hidden in most configurations) --IRL: silver [Green is good]
- Naphtha > Toluene --IRL: cat reforming from ethylene or coke from coal byproduct... same with the other cracking recipes, zeolite [green is good here]
- Benzene > Toluene --IRL: this reaction is quite wrong... but is based on the Wurtz reactions mentioned above... Benzene/methanol over solid acid (Al2O3/SiO2 zeolite) is the IRL method, so id keep this where it is [Green is good]
- Methanol > Formaldehyde --IRL: silver [Green is good]
- Ethylbenzene > Styrene --IRL: steam over iron(III) oxide [move to red]
Blue metal catalyst (5)
- Sodium perchlorate --IRL: anodic oxidation (kind of the reverse of electrode purification such as those used in smelting) [tech level]
- Melamine --IRL: this is actually a fun reaction system that integrates quite well with urea production with tonnes of recycling going on... (really a 2 step reaction), can use aluminium oxide for a bit more speed... [tech or green]
- Syngas methanation --IRL: another fanciful recipe like the methane-->benzene reaction [tech]
- Ethylene > Polyethylene --IRL: titanium(III) chloride or chromium(IV) oxide {scary shit} [blue is correct]
- Cumene process --IRL: sulfuric acid catalyst, or solid phosphoric acid on alumina, or zeolite/aluminium chloride. [green]
Yellow metal catalyst (1)
- Benzene > Phenol --IRL: theoretically possible, but not commercialised. Other options are an electrosynthesis(AC method)... yellow is fine.
Suggested Changes
- Bio plastic 1 and Bio plastic 2 both take red metal catalysts. Change Acetic acid (Bio plastic 1) green > red. may need a look at
- Hydrazine: Swap green > blue. No tech tree change required. discussed above
- Dinotrogen tetroxide gas: Add yellow metal catalyst. No tech tree change required. Was a boring recipe. as it is IRL except for the whole recycle and excess ingredient stuff which gets glossed over in angels for good reason.
I just want to say that would be better not to make Bio Plastics harder/less efficient - because IMO they are now already less efficient that some other ways to make plastic. Maybe Bio Plastic needs a buff instead? :)
keeping this open as the more advanced parts will be a key part of the 2022 release set
Possibly look at moving the catalyst unlock to other techs to be more tier focussed than "as needed". (refining tech as an example) Revisit tiers and look for all recipes, not just existing ones in the sheet.