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Dune Awakening Spice Profit Calculator
Set a melange target and refinery size — get sand, water, cycles, runtime and melange-per-hour before you commit the build.
Refinery math, all three sizes
Spice refining is a throughput puzzle with three inputs that all bite: sand from spice blows, water from your windtraps, and machine time. The small refinery turns 100 sand and 750mL of water into a single melange every 3 minutes — fine for learning, terrible for volume. The medium jumps to 10 melange per 7.5-minute batch on 750 sand, and the large processes 200 melange per 45 minutes for group operations. Melange-per-hour is what decides your build: small makes 20/hour, medium 80/hour, large about 267/hour per machine.
Water is the silent bottleneck. A medium refinery drinks 7 liters per batch — before you scale machines, scale windtraps, or your shiny refinery row sits idle. Power matters too (small needs 200, medium 350), and every batch also drops residue: 5, 75, or 1,000 per cycle depending on size. Residue feeds lubricant and fuel-cell recipes, so count it as profit, not trash.
Build location changes the economics: Deep Desert construction costs half, but the weekly Coriolis storm resets the map — pack refineries up Monday/Tuesday and rebuild after. For Deep Desert survival and testing-station routes, see our Imperial Testing solo guide.
Frequently asked questions
Which refinery should I build?
Small is cheapest to build but slowest per unit of sand. Medium refines 10 melange per 450-second batch and is the recommended solo/small-group setup. Large is for group-scale Deep Desert operations.
How much sand and water does refining need?
Small: 100 sand + 750mL water per melange. Medium: 750 sand + 7,000mL per 10 melange. Large: 10,000 sand + 75,000mL per 200 melange. Water is usually the real bottleneck — plan windtrap output first.
What about the Coriolis storm?
The weekly storm wipes Deep Desert structures (typically Monday–Tuesday). Build refineries cheaply in the Deep Desert for the halved construction cost, but pack them up before reset day.
What is spice residue good for?
Residue is a refining byproduct used in several chemical-refinery recipes — industrial lubricant, spice-infused fuel cells and more. Never throw it away; it is part of the profit.
Example: medium refinery plan
Medium refinery, target 100 melange, 2 machines running. Result: 10 batches, 7,500 sand, 70,000mL water, 7.5 hours runtime, 80 melange/hr per machine (160 total), 150 residue. Verdict: "Water is the bottleneck — plan windtrap output first."