Love this mod, have been enjoying it for quite a while now.

It seems like, due to fluid intermediates like ECH and Acrylonitrile, there is a big need for propene. However, the only way to create propene also creates benzene, which cannot be converted to propene. We end up burning of a lot of benzene. In fact, one place where benzene is used initially, rubber (via styrene), has a later recipe that relies less on benzene.

I'm wondering if benzene needs another sink. We definitely make a lot of use of pyrolysis for both propene and ethylene. We're relatively happy with that, as we dedicate our large-scale builds to intermediates such as rubber, plastic, carbon fiber, epoxy, etc, and pyrolysis makes that possible. Adding an alternative way use benzene, either like pyrolysis or something different, could give an option in-between treating benzene as a precious commodity, or creating so much that you just burn almost all of it off.

I wanted to have pyrolysis for benzene, but in real life benzene pyrolysis doesn't work the same way. The ring is pretty stable, so the major products of benzene pyrolysis tend to be even larger and more complex organic materials that don't really correspond very well to any of the other materials we use in Nullius. It doesn't just break down into propene like we might want for gameplay reasons.

If you have any specific recipe ideas for a benzene sink, I'm open to it. I tried to look into uses for it, but a lot of them didn't make sense for Nullius. The priority turbine was added in part for cases like these to at least use that steam for power rather than vent it.

One possibility would be to simply adjust the ratios of the alkene synthesis recipe. I'm wary of overadjusting it in a way that could make the early game harder. A thought would be to add a higher tech alternate version of alkene synthesis that yields more ethylene and less benzene. Or possibly methane instead of benzene. Excess methane can be turned back into carbon monoxide and fed into the reaction again. I like that, since it doesn't break anything for people using the current ratios, or unbalance anything for people who don't have the chemical engineering recipes yet.

I think your possible ideas sound great. I understand why pyrolysis doesn't make sense for benzene in Nullius.

An additional option might be to have an alternate high-tech recipe to use Benzene in solvent (in real life this approximates something like acetone).

Whatever you decide to do (even if you don't end up changing anything) works for me. We do indeed try to use priority turbines for benzene steam output where possible. It's an interesting challenge in it's own right, when recycling the CO2, but handling thousands of units of steam in the process.

Thank once again.

Oh please do not change ratios of alkene synthesis. Benzene is much needed in fuel canisters for trains.
But getting too much benzene is the exact reason to NOT go for pyrolysis at all.
Balancing different alternatives for rubber and plastic is what I personally LOVE this mod for. It is not about using "best" recipe and "voiding" undesirable side products, if I took it correctly.
Benzene situation probably can stay as it is, there is nothing wrong with it.

The latest update has an alternate alkene synthesis recipe. It doesn't supercede the old one, but using a combination of the 2 you might be able to get a better balance.

Thanks you! Will take a look now :)