HydroCarbons

[shanejfilomena]

The world relies on these : but you really do not see Hydrocarbons being prevalent in the universe as we fly.

I am not saying we should flood the universe with dead Dinosaurs , but I was thinking they should be brought more to the front line of the item chains.

thoughts?

[CFG]

There is an "&itHydrocarbons;" (a barrel of hydrocarbons) in game. The description says

Hydrocarbons are used by industrial autofacs to create plastics and other consumer items.

Fine. Not a interesting item and not even profitable to loot (mass 1t). So Im pretty happy that Trans does not reflect a realistic distribution of matter in this universe. Anyways that hydrocarbons would be mostly located on planets in noticeable concentration (your dead dinosaurs, eg). Planets are currently only there to have stations orbit them.

Of course some trading an industry improvements would be cool, for example:

Code: Select all

hydrocarbons + energy -> plastics
plastics + steel -> plaststeel 
...

If I may borrow that idea from the game Merchant Empires.

[Patupi]

Just as long as no-one tries to make a 'hydrocarbon burning reactor'. *sigh* Yes, you could make an MHD using hydrocarbons and some kind of oxidant, but given that fusion reactors in game burn through fuel rather rapidly I think any reactor using hydrocarbons would last something on the order of 1 second on a full fuel tank

Plastics seems a good use use CFG, like the idea. Might be yet another trade item, maybe in the manufacturies around St Katherines etc.

I thought plasteel was a metal with the properties of plastic and steel? I don't think it comprises any plastic in it... but I could be wrong. I thought it was just some sort of molecular alloy that had some flexibility in it but still maintained high tensile strength somehow. Artificial spider thread steel or something? I know people have talked before about using an artificial structure to mimic spider silk from other materials (silicon is a popular one in scifi, as is diamond)

[TranscendentGeek]

Hydrocarbons are actually fairly common in space. Hydrocarbons!=Oil think titan or carbonous chrondrites.

[Patupi]

They aren't bound in the same way as on earth though. Not as much energy stored in them (as far as I understand) as oil on Earth etc. But i"m fairly sure they could be used as fuel... just that, as I said, compared to nuclear reactions there is very little actual energy stored there, even in oil. Wouldn't last long.

(Edit, hmm, forgot about Titan... That's Methane chemicals isn't it? I forget, but there is some sort of chemical reaction binding stuff up there... right? For those that don't know, Titan is a moon of Saturn that has a primordial (if rather cold) atmosphere, but slightly different chemical reactions.)

[TranscendentGeek]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrocarbo ... er_planets

[Patupi]

Yeah, thought it was methane. Thanks TG.

[Lmoy]

I thought plasteel was a metal with the properties of plastic and steel? I don't think it comprises any plastic in it... but I could be wrong. I thought it was just some sort of molecular alloy that had some flexibility in it but still maintained high tensile strength somehow. Artificial spider thread steel or something? I know people have talked before about using an artificial structure to mimic spider silk from other materials (silicon is a popular one in scifi, as is diamond)

Plasteel is a fiberglass-steel composite. At least IRL.

[Patupi]

*Smacks self in forehead* I didn't know it was real! I thought it was a common 'invention' in scifi novels. Like transparent aluminum (or aluminium ), neutronium, ceramacrete etc. Based in fact, but not made yet.

[Atarlost]

*Smacks self in forehead* I didn't know it was real! I thought it was a common 'invention' in scifi novels. Like transparent aluminum (or aluminium ), neutronium, ceramacrete etc. Based in fact, but not made yet.

Actually, transparent aluminum is a real thing too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_oxynitride

[Patupi]

You mean Scotty was right? Well whaddyano?

[Jeoshua]

Actually, technically speaking, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) are one of the most abundant macromolecules in the known universe. They make up large portions of nebular clouds, and are present in large quantities in most currently known star systems.

They're also, as a class of chemical, very common as a by-product of many kinds of industrial processes. So the "Hydrocarbons" in game should be seen, in my opinion, less as a resource and more as a by-product. They can be used as raw materials to make things, but they're basically waste.

Sorry for the necro...

[Vachtra]

It would seem to me at this point that every station probably has more than enough produced in some form or another that trade is again a moot point and thus doesn't show up.

[Dedalo]

If Hydrocarbons are so common shouldn't we be able to mine them from asteroids ????

[matix]

This thread has given me an idea for a mod