Hydrogen Engines Purpose?

[DoomsterEG]

I have built a hydrogen engine in my survival world with the hope it can provide me with more power than my turbines. Yet it requires at least two O2 generators to start filling up and uses ice incredibly quickly. At this rate it uses more power collecting the ice than the power it generates.
What is the point of it?

[forcemaster2000]

I need an answer to this also! I built a small atmospheric ship and with batteries alone (3) it only lasts a few minutes before plummeting to the ground. So I built 2 hydrogen engines on it and an O2/H2 generator, nothing I've done so far seems to power anything! All it does is eat ice and sit there making noise! Please someone explain how these hydrogen engines are supposed to work!

[Malkuth]

Well its true it goes through ice way quick..

But it actually does produce more power than it takes to make hydrogen. By a large margin.
I did test on it in Play Test 2. But not sure how much it has changed since than. I know it still is a Ice guzzling machine though.

It runs rovers really well though. And can be a nice Jump to your base power supply if your on the moon, which Windmills don't work.

If you have say only solar panels and batteries. It can give you the extra juice for your batteries to survive the night on the moon. Its not good for a Main Power Source though.

Works great on Europa Ice Moon too..

[ExpendableGrunt]

At the moment, it seems purposeless. Apparently, it works better with access to a Hydro tank, as opposed to a generator. Regardless, it's an inferior source of power than the alternatives.

Maybe if the progression tree forced you to use it before learning battery tech, it would make sense. But right now, the only reasons to use this block is for roleplaying purposes, or if you just want to try something new.

EDIT: Although I can see some use as a way to quickly charge base batteries if you've got a surplus of ice.

[DoomsterEG]

Originally posted by Malkuth:

Well its true it goes through ice way quick..

But it actually does produce more power than it takes to make hydrogen. By a large margin.

What I mean is that you can't really collect the ice yourself as it takes ages, so when using a mining ship to collect ice you end up using more power than the engine produces taking into account the energy used to collect the ice as well as produce the hydrogen.

[Wygos]

charging bateries quickly.

I have station powered by solar energy and power stored in bateries in close orbit to planet.
Sometimes i run out of power when too many drones docked and cant wait for sunrise. Engine is emergency power boost that instantly puts my station back in action.

[ExpendableGrunt]

Originally posted by Wygos:

charging bateries quickly.

I have station powered by solar energy and power stored in bateries in close orbit to planet.
Sometimes i run out of power when too many drones docked and cant wait for sunrise. Engine is emergency power boost that instantly puts my station back in action.

Yeah, this seems to be the biggest reason for the addition of the block. Now that Uranium is harder to find, it gives a quick power alternative to Reactors.

[Malkuth]

Originally posted by DoomsterEG:

Originally posted by Malkuth:

Well its true it goes through ice way quick..

But it actually does produce more power than it takes to make hydrogen. By a large margin.

What I mean is that you can't really collect the ice yourself as it takes ages, so when using a mining ship to collect ice you end up using more power than the engine produces taking into account the energy used to collect the ice as well as produce the hydrogen.

Well going off the top of my head... Well actually first I agree with you 100%.. But I have the numbers to shock you more.. Based on playtest 2. (Again it might changed slightly since release)

Originally posted by Malkuth:

Large Grid Hydrogen Engine produces 5 MW of power.

2 O2 Generators can supply it at 500 KW per O2 gen.

That is 1 MW total.. Giving you a 4 MW profit.

The hydro engine burns 1000 Liters per second of hydrogen at max output. (Which is common for large grids with refineries and assemble etc)

The Engine can hold 500000 liters of hydrogen in its Internal tank (this is determined by your settings for cargo.. 3X 10X etc.

An engine that is filled max will run 8.33 Minutes on a full tank. Again this is large grid. On 3x size inventory.

Also If I'm doing my conversion right. It takes 1000Kg Ice to make 10,000 Liters of hydrogen. So it cost 50,000Kg ice to supply 8 mins of power that’s only on one internal tank, at max output for engine.

I was hoping that would make it a viable source of power for bases. But lets see, I made some changes to my idea..

I installed a Large Grid Hydrogen tanks that holds a Whopping 5,000,000 liters of Hydrogen.. Holy crap.

This = 1.38 Hours of run time not including the Hydrogen Engine which if full adds another 8.33 mins for total of 1.46 Hours of run time. Really not that bad actually.. Until you figure out the Ice it took.. Ready. Hold your pants.

500,000Kg Ice... LOL... For just under 2 hours of operation.

[Ext.]

they work ok on rovers

[Defektiv]

1 Hydrogen Engine can output a max of 500 kW. A single small atmo thruster requires 600 kW of input. It's pretty clear that you're not supposed to be able to support atmo thruster operation until you get access to Uranium for reactors. You actually have to think, design and work a little to get off a planet legit from the start now. I love the idea that I now need to use cheap hydrogen rockets to deliver myself and whatever I need to space, then parachutes and drop pods to return things back to the planet. Before I just landed on a Uranium deposit and mined for a bit until I was ready to blast off with everything to space.

[Malkuth]

Originally posted by Defektiv:

1 Hydrogen Engine can output a max of 500 kW. A single small atmo thruster requires 600 kW of input. It's pretty clear that you're not supposed to be able to support atmo thruster operation until you get access to Uranium for reactors. You actually have to think, design and work a little to get off a planet legit from the start now. I love the idea that I now need to use cheap hydrogen rockets to deliver myself and whatever I need to space, then parachutes and drop pods to return things back to the planet. Before I just landed on a Uranium deposit and mined for a bit until I was ready to blast off with everything to space.

Batteries my friend. Before hydrogen engines we powered our early atmosphere thrusters with batteries charged from our base power supply.

You don’t need reactors and uranium. Only wind turbines.

[ExpendableGrunt]

Originally posted by Defektiv:

It's pretty clear that you're not supposed to be able to support atmo thruster operation until you get access to Uranium for reactors. You actually have to think, design and work a little to get off a planet legit from the start now.

I got off planet faster this go around than ever before. With a Survival Kit onboard, I was able to escape gravity with a simple ship that was little more than large hydrogen thruster attached to a hydro tank. I just had to take enough ice to keep me alive until I could find some space ore.