Is refining the oil actually worth it? ~Question~

[Ihaffcomp"lied"]

I've been pumping oil and water into combustion engines, to power refineries for a while now. I've been transporting it to a very large dig site. The process as you may know is very time consuming. I've been doing it this way for a while now. So...

~Actual Question~

Is there any way to differentiate the difference between use of fuel or oil?

Does it make the engines run faster?

Does it supply more?

Does it make any difference whatsoever?

I would much appreciate any help given to me about this situation.

[Stormchaser]

A little wikiing goes a long way. This is the first page that comes up when you google "buildcraft fuel":

http://minecraftbuildcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Fuel

[Korialstrasz]

combustion engines running on oil produce 2 MJ/t when they run on fuel they produce 5 MJ/t so.

Conversion from oil to fuel in a refinery is 1:1 it is just that the refinery need energy to run.

At least 2 MJ/t and 10 MJ/t to reach max speed.

[gavjenks]

If the numbers above me are correct, then it is just BAAAARELY worth it, and probably not at all if you are sinking a lot of time into setup and resources.

oil at 2 MJ ---> Fuel at 5 MJ = a gain of 3.

If it costs you 2 to refine the stuff, then you're only increasing your net fuel amount by 1, or 50%. Unless I'm misunderstanding something.

Getting 50% more power out of your oil may not be worth all the hassle of refineries and cooling and filtering and blah blah for a lot of people.

[GreenWolf13]

I don't even think it is worth it to pump the oil out of the ground. It is a long, time consuming process that causes lag (from bc waterproof pipes). When i use a bc quarry, i just use an energy link or stem engines instead.

[Hello30]

Is an energy link that machine that converts Industrailcraft power to Buildcraft power

[TheBard]

Fuel not only provides more MJ.. but also runs LONGER per unit of fuel compared to oil.

1 bucket of fuel lasts 7.5 times longer than 1 bucket of oil.

So yes, it's worth it.

[gavjenks]

Oh well if youre just using BC then yes, probably worth it.

I'd still say definitely not worth it, however, compared to just using an energy link and forgetting all about oil. Two LV solar arrays exactly equal the output of a combustion engine with fuel (if it is run at 4/5 timing to avoid the need for cooling systems). Both are 8 Eu/t, 24/7.

The combustion engine will eat through an entire average oil well's worth of fuel in about a real life week, though... plus the effort to refine it and build platforms, etc. So if you have 7 combustion engines running (a very modest 56 EU/tick equivalent), you'd have to go fine a brand new medium to large oil well EVERY DAY you play the game, and set up a whole refinery EVERY DAY.

To get 56 Eu/t in solar panels, which require zero maintenance, you only have to gather one-time about 7 stacks of iron ore, 5 stacks of resin, and about 3 stacks of copper ore.

Even if youre mining by hand, I think the effort would tip in the favor of solar panels + an energy link in even just a few days of real life time.