Selling Refined Fuel

[Edsan]

This thought just struck me. Is there anything preventing a crew of a ship with fuel scoop and processors of making a small killing by selling refined fuel?

The cost of obtaining it is next to nothing (just the operation time) particulary in worlds with surface water, and the stuff would most certainly always be one demand in every Starport of class C or less.

 

[zozotroll]

You got it right from the start. Time. How much time to get to the spot, do the refineing and then find a buyer.

Remember, just because you have it, and there is none at the port, does not mean anybody has landed that doesnt have thier own capability. So you might wait weeks for somebody that needs your serices.

 

[FreeTrav]

Not to mention needing to STORE that fuel (separate from what your operation USES) until you can sell it.

OTOH, if you contract with the STARPORT to do this, it might represent a quick way for a D port to get a bare-minimum C rating, and start upgrading...

 

[zozotroll]

I think it will be how much can I make refining vs how much can I make on spec cargo vs how bored do i get sitting in a port wattching the processer run.

Not a bad idea in an unusual moment when you need money and have no other alternative.

 

[Mithras]

Having played alot of EVE, you can bet that in the EVE+Traveller universe, there'd be a bunch of people doing exactly this. Maybe not everywhere, but where the situation is just right ...

Some guy got a good deal on a surplus military tanker of 10,000 tons and puts it into orbit around a busy system's only GG. Then he picks up some clapped out Type Rs and refits them with fuel tanks. They're lovely and aerodynamic and include integral lifeboats if things get dicy. Then he uses those two TYpe Rs to keep his Tanker topped up with refined fuel (using the tankers onboard refining facility). Anybody who wants to save x hours skimming can pick up the good stuff from him.

But his overheads are quite high, and there are no end of problems ... cue the PCs being hired on as skim pilots for a few months ... to help him out of his fix.

 

[BP]

This thought just struck me. Is there anything preventing a crew of a ship with fuel scoop and processors of making a small killing by selling refined fuel? ...

Adventure?

 

[Sturn]

Not to mention needing to STORE that fuel (separate from what your operation USES) until you can sell it.

OTOH, if you contract with the STARPORT to do this, it might represent a quick way for a D port to get a bare-minimum C rating, and start upgrading...

This reminds me once again of one of my issues with Traveller and unrefined fuel. A Class C starport, that can repair starcraft, doesn't have refined fuel for sale but even a small 100 dton Scout ship with an onboard processor could make its own refined fuel easily from a local gas giant or water source. Why wouldn't a Class C starport, or even a Class D one, have a processor for all of that unrefined fuel it stores? It wouldn't take much in berthing costs or unrefined fuel sales to buy a refinery.

I've been making the onboard ship processors a requirement just to get unrefined fuel from whatever the ship scoops up from a world surface or gas giant. The "processor" only seperates the hydrogen fuel from the other liquids picked up. A much larger, more expensive "refinery" is needed to convert the unrefined fuel to refined fuel.

 

[rust]

I've been making the onboard ship processors a requirement just to get unrefined fuel from whatever the ship scoops up from a world surface or gas giant. The "processor" only seperates the hydrogen fuel from the other liquids picked up. A much larger, more expensive "refinery" is needed to convert the unrefined fuel to refined fuel.

A very good idea - thank you for it.

 

[BP]

... A Class C starport, that can repair starcraft, doesn't have refined fuel for sale but even a small 100 dton Scout ship with an onboard processor could make its own refined fuel easily from a local gas giant or water source. Why wouldn't a Class C starport, or even a Class D one, have a processor for all of that unrefined fuel it stores? ...

That's part of what makes it a Class C or Class D starport. Also note that Class C repair is for small craft (under 100 tons) which generally don't need jump fuel - and unrefined is fine for them (IIRC).

As you point out - even small craft will often have their own - so in these low-budget ports, budget minded vistors may likely not pay the refined premium when, for a small amount of their time, they can do it themselves. Plus bases have their own refining - so outpost type situations are not catering to main stream, jump oriented transports.

(In the RW, back in the day, there were plenty of out of the way gas/service stations that didn't have premium (or even unleaded) gasoline (add your own if you needed it) - but did have a tow truck and could 'service' a vehicle with spare parts on hand for most common repairs.)

 

[Sturn]

...But a Class-C Starport could even have a Scout Base. Imagine a scout base, with hangars, equipment, a few administrative offices, a training base, and a squadron of scout ships (many of them able to refine fuel themselves), but the starport/scout base itself has no refined fuel??

If a gas station is the proper analogy, I think a better comparison might be hydrogen stations of the future (hydrogen being made by electolyzing, or "cracking" water to get hydgrogen). In a future era imagine half of the cars pulling into the hydrogen station being able to crack their own water, but the station itself can't??

 

[BP]

...But a Class-C Starport could even have a Scout Base. Imagine a scout base, with hangars, equipment, a few administrative offices, a training base, and a squadron of scout ships (many of them able to refine fuel themselves), but the starport/scout base itself has no refined fuel??...

MGT has this covered, but its easy to miss (why I mentioned this above):

Core pg 178[/i] shaded inset"]Bases have their own fuel-refining ability ...

I used the regular versus premium analogy since it seems quite applicable to the question of refined vs. unrefined (and given the late '70s period of Traveller's original creation, might have even been the reason this was considered). Other than for jump, I don't recall any negatives (DMs) for using unrefined fuel. To wit: cars, with say higher compression ratios normally might require premium (this equates to Jump) others could run on cheaper regular (not jumping).