Sand

Sand is a common granular element used widely as a filter medium, feedstock, and raw material in processing chains. It is naturally abundant in the Temperate Biome, appears in occasional deposits in the Caustic Biome, and large quantities occur in Oasis-style asteroids; it is also obtainable on Space POIs. Sand behaves as a solid tile that can collapse and fall if unsupported, entombing entities or objects below.

Sand sources and production methods include natural deposits in surface biomes and space: Sandy Ore Fields yield 162–486 kg per cycle and Space Debris yields 90–270 kg per cycle. Mechanical processing with a Rock Crusher converts Salt and various rock types into Sand. Renewable or semi-renewable production paths noted in-game include recovering Salt from Salt Water Geysers or Cool Salt Slush Geysers and crafting Table Salt, cooling magma from a Volcano or Minor Volcano into Igneous Rock and crushing it into Sand, and crushing Ceramic into Sand then feeding it through a Deodorizer to obtain Clay (this loop is mass-positive and can convert Polluted Oxygen and some Coal into usable Sand/Clay when coupled with heating). Creating Fullerene at a Molecular Forge and crushing it back into Graphite provides another conversion path that can ultimately produce Sand when integrated with Sulfur and Aluminum sources.

Biological and environmental conversions: certain critters and processes produce Sand. Pokeshells consume Polluted Dirt and Rot Piles and excrete Sand. Hatches accept Sand as feed and excrete Coal. Dirt converts into Sand when overheated.

Thermal and physical properties: Sand melts into Molten Glass when heated to approximately 1715.85 °C (the listed melting temperature plus a small offset). As a tile material, unsupported Sand tiles will collapse downward and entomb whatever they land on, so Sand flooring and stacked deposits require support if used structurally.

Common uses and processing recipes:

• Water Sieve: Sand is the filter medium. 5 kg/s Polluted Water + 1 kg/s Sand → 5 kg/s Water + 0.2 kg/s Polluted Dirt.
• Deodorizer: Sand filters Polluted Oxygen into Oxygen and produces Clay. 0.1 kg/s Polluted Oxygen + 0.13333 kg/s Sand → 0.09 kg/s Oxygen + 0.14333 kg/s Clay.
• Glass Forge: Sand is the primary input for Molten Glass. 100 kg Sand → 25 kg Molten Glass; Sand also converts to Molten Glass via high-temperature phase change.
• Hatches eating Sand produce Coal as an output, making Sand useful in coal-based loops.
• Dasha Saltvine domestic growth requires 7 kg Sand per growth cycle as fertilizer.

Practical notes for use:

• Use Sand as a long-lasting filter medium in Water Sieves and Deodorizers; monitor consumption rates to size filter/media supply appropriately.
• When stocking Sand for Glass Forge or heating loops, be mindful of its high melting point requirement and that melting produces Molten Glass rather than a simple liquid Sand product.
• Avoid stacking unsupported Sand tiles over workspaces or living areas because falling Sand can entomb duplicants and critters.
• Combine Sand production and consumption loops (Rock Crusher, Deodorizer/Clay, Glass Forge, critter ranching) to close resource cycles and reduce reliance on finite surface patches.