This tutorial is written by MosStellatus
In the early stage, hydrogen can be said to be a very important resource. In the LV phase, we mostly obtain a small amount of hydrogen by direct electrolysis of water or by ore processing methods such as centrifuging goethite powder, so as to provide raw materials for the petrochemical production line and the phenolic resin production line.
However, starting from the MV stage, we will gradually use more and more hydrogen, which makes an efficient cyclic hydrogen production line a necessity, while GTO itself has modified the relevant formulations of the sodium and potassium cycles, making the cheap and convenient hydrogen production method no longer sustainable in the early stage.
But fortunately, here we have proposed a brand new perfect loop production line solution. The following is the process explanation. It is recommended to first prepare a mixer, a chemical reactor above LV, two electrolyzers (one above MV), and solve their power supply issue.
First, we need to mix salt with a sustainable water source in a blender to make saltwater.
Next, we send the brine to electrolysis. This step is often the rate-determining step of the production line, and can be appropriately overclocked/parallelized.
Continue electrolyzing the obtained sodium hydroxide; at this point, the separation of hydrogen and oxygen from water has been completed.
Finally, recombine the obtained sodium powder with the chlorine obtained in the step before the previous one to form salt, completing the cycle.
The core competitiveness of this method is that it saves nearly half the energy and time compared to direct water electrolysis, and under high parallelism it can achieve better output performance than water electrolysis. It is a good choice for players who are new to MV and want to mass-produce petrochemicals or use heavy fuel oil and diesel as their main power generation methods. It is also an excellent solution to the hydrogen crisis in the early EV stage.
In addition, here are some common hydrogen production methods. Besides the two mentioned at the beginning, they also include: using an HV-class chemical reaction vessel to hydrate methane (recommended after developing high-efficiency petrochemistry, or using direct methane extraction after the T6 rocket); using a bedrock miner to mine salt veins or borax veins to produce rock salt, then electrolyzing salt to obtain sodium and potassium for a lossy sodium-potassium cycle; alternatively, using a clay production line made from diorite to produce sodium for a lossy sodium cycle; or obtaining brine through drilling rigs and evaporation towers for brine electrolysis. Although these production lines are not perfectly cyclic, they are still excellent hydrogen production methods.