Distillation Tower

Distillation Tower
Mod	Gregtech 5
Type	Tile Entity
Tooltip Text	Controller Block for the Distillation Tower
Relevant Quest	Using All the Fractions Fractioned Benzene
Tier	HV
Size	3x3x3 - 3x12x3
Pollution	None
Properties:
Blast resistance	6
Hardness	1
Energy:
Energy usage	60-1.9m EU/t
Voltage in	As Energy Hatch
Max amperage	1-2A

The Gregtech Distillation Tower (DT) is a multiblock that distills an input fluid into all of its possible distilled products, unlike the single-block Distillery. While not technically mandatory for early progression, it's the backbone of any proper oil/bio processing chain and is thus highly recommended to all players. Like many other multiblocks, it can share walls with other Distillation Towers. Typical applications include separating raw oil into petroleum products, distilling water, Benzene production, Osmium, Iridium & Naquadah processing, and converting Biomass to fuel.

Construction

A Distillation Tower is a hollow 3xNx3 structure (where N is between three and twelve) that requires:

• x1 Controller block; front centered, bottom layer
• x1 Maintenance Hatch; anywhere
• x1+ Energy hatch; anywhere
• x1+ Output Bus; any bottom layer casing
• x1+ Input Hatch; any bottom layer casing
• x1-11+ Output Hatch; at least one per layer, except the bottom layer
• x16-79 Clean Stainless Steel Machine Casings, everywhere else. Minimum requirement is $7*(height)-5$

The height of the Distillation Tower will be dependent on application. Different recipes have different numbers of outputs, and each output is always created on a specific layer. While multiple input/output blocks can be used, it's strongly recommended to stick to the minimum of one Input Hatch, one Output Bus, and one Output Hatch per layer above the base. The minimum casing requirement makes it difficult to fit in too many extras that are not Clean Stainless Steel Machine Casings, and the multi will not split outputs but fill the first valid destination it finds.

Usage

Unlike many multiblocks, the Distillation Tower does not have an Input Bus so any required circuit must be an actual Programmed Circuit item and placed in the bottom right slot of the Controller's GUI. Only Voiding Mode is supported, with the standard Nothing, Excess Fluids, Excess Items, Excess Items/Fluids options available. Logistics can be a challenge with so many fluids all being made in close proximity. Remember that an Output Hatch can be placed anywhere on its layer, they do not all have to be stacked in a neat row unless convenient.

The Distillation Tower recipes shown in NEI will show a grid of numbered cells with liquids in them. The grid number denotes which output hatch the liquid will come out of in the Distillation Tower, where 0 is the Output Bus (items) and 1 is the Output Hatch of the second layer, 2 is the Output Hatch of the third layer, etc. from bottom to top. If a DT is too short to accommodate all of the potential outputs, it will show a "not enough output space" error message. Turning Voiding Mode on for Excess Fluids will make it run anyways. If running this type of setup, ensure the Output Hatches are emptying fast enough because the Distillation Tower will also void overflow of potentially desired fluids.

Tips

• Sharing walls is highly recommended since stainless steel can be hard to come by early on in the game.
• Ender Fluid Conduits are not recommended due to causing lag when accepting auto-output from GT sources to use on the output hatches, despite being able to handle multiple liquids simultaneously and having built-in filters.