How long will refining take using the Expanse compared to a station-based refinery?
Cloud Imperium
The aim is for it to be a relatively fast, skill-based process. If you know the material that you want to refine and you know how to properly process it, you should be much faster than the big refineries. Also, you'll be refining much smaller quantities (globally speaking) per job than a station-based refinery would.
starfarer.space · Q&A: MISC Expanse