Radiant pipes, or Insulated pipes?

[RoomTempiQ]

I have a bunch of 65 degree water that I'd like to cool down. I'm planning on running it through a cold biome, but not sure which pipes would work best in this situation?

I'd like it to not melt through my ice biome, but I'd also like it to significantly cool down the water,

It's a big ice biome, so space isn't an issue.

I'd like to dig the least amount of snow or ice out of the way, as possible. So basically I'd be running it through a long distance of cold biome only really digging the least amount possible.


The way I see it, is that maybe using insulated pipes for the majority of the loop, and nearing the end using radiant piping to cool it down more so.

This way I do not introduce a large amount of heat into my ice biome.



Am I understanding the mechanics correctly in this situation?


or would I be better off using more radiant piping?

[dorianmode]

This sounds reasonable - the less radiant piping you use, the less heat exchange between the fluid and the environment. Do you need to dig any of the cold biome at all? Just putting the stretch of radiant pipe next to an exposed edge would work just fine.

I'd also bear in mind that you absolutely will melt the ice if you keep adding heat to it. Water has a pretty high heat capacity, so it can hold a lot of energy. It depends how much 65C water you have to cool.

[RoomTempiQ]

I have a large pool of water, coming out of a cool steam vent i believe.

perhaps making a room, filled with weezeworts and cooling down hydrogen would be a better idea first?

Maybe once iv cooled down my hydrogen enough, I could make a loop for the water to pass through in said room, before entering the final loop inside my ice biome?

I think pipes burst after the fluid gets below freezing ( -0 ) ?

So I'd have to adjust the length of loop accordingly.

[IdealPoint]

If your goal is to cool the water then use radiant. You can't cool the water and not heat the ice. The heat exchange is proportional. Also, definitely go along the edge, don't dig the ice. Digging the ice reduces the total amount of ice by half, and therefore half of the cooling capacity. Just run the water by multiple times or a longer run along the edge if it isn't cooling fast enough.

If you are going to use the water for oxygen generation then first pump the hot water into an electrolyzer, then cool the hot air. An electrolyzer will always put out oxygen and hydrogen at 70C.

Trying to use cold hydrogen to cool water could take a long time. Water is much more dense. So unless you have a ton of cold hydrogen, the water will only cool down a little bit, while the hydrogen will heat up a lot. But wheezeworts can be good passive cooling if you have no other choice.

[RoomTempiQ]

Thanks both of you.

It's not for the electrolyzer, I'm actually trying to lower the temperature of the water, It's more of an experiment I guess.


I'll probly end up using it to cool down certain areas of my base eventually.

[Angpaur]

Originally posted by IdealPoint:

An electrolyzer will always put out oxygen and hydrogen at 70C.

This is not true. 70C is minimum value. If you send water at higher temperature e.g. 95C then gases will be output at 95C too.

Still it is the best to send water as hot as possible to maximize heat deletion when it is electrolyzed into gases.

[Hedning]

If you're trying to move heat from a pool of water into the ice biome you may want to try a hydrogen gas loop. This avoids all risks of freezing the water in the pipe and is naturally slower at moving heat than a radiant liquid pipe would be.

[intenselygoodtime]

Originally posted by Angpaur:

Originally posted by IdealPoint:

An electrolyzer will always put out oxygen and hydrogen at 70C.

This is not true. 70C is minimum value. If you send water at higher temperature e.g. 95C then gases will be output at 95C too.

Still it is the best to send water as hot as possible to maximize heat deletion when it is electrolyzed into gases.

A related footnote: Assuming you have steel & ceramic for the hardware, you'll want to burn that Hydrogen hot too. Don't bother cooling it. Delete that heat!


Back to your cold biome -- try to dig as little as possible, but DO anticipate where that freshly-melted water & P-water will run off to. Maybe build a "pre-emptive outer insulated wall" wherever there is NOT already abyssalite. Dig reduces volume, melt does not.