I'd like to do that, but I don't believe there is a way to do it with the basic prototypes supported by the game engine. Also, keep in mind that they're not just steam turbines, so they'd need to output whatever fluid makes sense depending on the input, which adds some more complexity. Something outside the parameters of what these types of entities have built in support for would require a lot going on under the hood, including hidden entities and scripts running for every turbine which could impact UPS. Nullius is doing some complicated things for other types of energy related structures like stirling engines, so it's not impossible. However, it would be a big change, and at this point a very disruptive change. Also certain things have been balanced around the way things are now, so there would need to be other tweaks in related systems. People who have already built turbines would have their factories broken until they went and rebuilt everything to accommodate the new output. I think if I knew how to implement these types of compound entities from the start, I might have done it that way from the start. But now that it's been released the way it is, I think it's too big of a change to make now. If there is ever any kind of major new set of features that would justify a Nullius 2 major release, this is the sort of thing that we might want to address in a new major release, but I don't currently have plans for a completely reworked version of Nullius with sweeping changes like that.
The oceans in Nullius tend to already run naturally more acidic than we'd like, and can not only absorb but benefit from the caustic solution. Furthermore, while overly concentrated lye would be harmful to life until it is diluted, overly concentrated hydrochloric acid is of more immediate concern to your factory itself. Many of your industrial machines would be more seriously corroded by hydrogen chloride hovering around your factory chimneys than they would be by alkalines.
Gameplay wise, certain compromises need to be made with what materials are or are not disposable. There's some realism when possible, but if it harms gameplay too much then we can't always have realism. Chlorine gas probably shouldn't be allowed to be vented, but how would we ever balance that if we need more sodium hydroxide than chlorine, and the only way to get rid of chlorine is with sodium hydroxide? In real life we might create solid waste and stuff it into a landfill, but I didn't think permanent solid waste landfills would be a fun game mechanic.
