Aluminum Scrap problem

[Jimbotswana]

I found some bauxite a loooong way from my hub. As I’m not ready to experiment with trucks and trains, I decided to just make the aluminum scrap and belt it to my hub to finish production. I have one water extractor, 2 refineries and a sink. The first refinery makes the alumina solution, the second refinery takes the solution and (with coal), makes the scrap. I’ve run a pipe from the second refinery to the original water line and the sink takes the silica.
All seemed well until it all stopped. I figured the problem was too much water so I flushed all pipes and dialled the extractor down to 50%, It worked for a while and stopped again. I’ve tried the extractor at 25, 10 and 5% and each time the system works for a while and then stops. I have plenty of bauxite, coal and water and I’m using mark 1 belts. What could the problem be?

[Die Hand Gottes]

You have to discharge the waste water when it is full and the production stops - this is the first real challenge after all the preliminary work.
Either process the water with something else, for example wet concrete, or return the water to the cycle, which you then have to calculate exactly.

[Jimbotswana]

As I said in the OP, I've tried everything from 50% to 5% for the water extractor. Can you be more specific, please?

[Die Hand Gottes]

you have in the production of aluminum scrap as well as production water that must be discharged

[TheRealClown]

From the setup you stated and assuming you're using basic recipes you get 120 alumina solution/min from the first refinery if its at 100%, meaning your second refinery can only run up to 50% efficiency with the amount of solution given. That will give you 60 water/min to put back into the system or repurpose.

[luntacarsus]

If you're recycling the waste water back into production, I've found valves to be necessary to stop backflow. Without them the pipes back up and production halts, even if your numbers balance out correctly.

YMMV.

[Huren Ogeko]

I take the refineries producing the wast water and cycle it back to the refineries that need it using a priority connection. This way the waste water gets used before any new water. The simplest way I know to do this is to add the new water via the top of a junction while the waste water passes through the horizontal part of the junction. A junction like this will take water from the horizontal side before it brings in water from the top of the junction.

[LazerRay]

I made my set up a lot simpler, by leaving out one water extractor entirely and having the waste water feed back into the system.

My basic set up used two water extractors, instead of three, it took a bit for the system to spool up but once the second stage refinery started working the waste water back filled and speed the production up to 100%. (This system had two water extractors and three refineries total)

I'm now using the alternate recipe and did a similar thing, using one less water extractor than needed since again the second stage refinery looped back in on the system. (This one has only one water extractor and two refineries total)

Neither of these systems use valves and never backed up with excess water and run perfectly fine with how balanced out the system is, the only down side is the longer spool up time until everything reaches 100% efficiency.

[Mogges]

In my experience the only reliable solution for this issue: wet concrete
That´s the only reliable way to get rid of the water in a trustworthy manner. Pumping back in the system, valves....... all those solutions do not work without being controlled regularly, flushing here and there or placing liquid buffers.
A few refineries behind the scrap production, water + limestone in -> concrete out, finished. A smart splitter and sink beside the system and you can continue working somewhere else without controlling every hour.
Packaging and sinking the water would be plan B, but sometimes it is not easy to organize canisters.
I would love to see CSS´s solutions dumping the water back in a lake or a machine that splits in into H² and Oxygen for further processing.

[Vectorspace]

I never got the valve method to work either, but processing the water for sinking is not the only reliable automate-able solution.

My method is to have a second set of aluminium machines that run off the excess water from the first (and its own excess). The second set is clocked so it needs slightly more water than it will get, and the scrap output belts arranged so the second set's has priority.

[Jimbotswana]

Thanks for all these ideas. I tried adding valves and that worked long enough to make 1000 ingots back at the hub... and then it stopped again. I'll try changing the water collector pipe to a vertical entry tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I'll try a few more ideas.

Thanks to all.

[kLuns]

Make all numbers match and when you backfeed the extra water make sure it comes from above.

[La Phyzz]

I feel for you, I was the same and still have yet to use trucks but trains, I don't know why I put it off for so long, make everything 100x easier and faster.

[R3d_dawn]

Originally posted by Huren Ogeko:

I take the refineries producing the wast water and cycle it back to the refineries that need it using a priority connection. This way the waste water gets used before any new water. The simplest way I know to do this is to add the new water via the top of a junction while the waste water passes through the horizontal part of the junction. A junction like this will take water from the horizontal side before it brings in water from the top of the junction.

This what the quoted post says but sometimes if u get tired of placing pipes which ruin your factory's looks like mine did i found a solution to that which is totally upto you is to use a mod for it.

Fluid AWESOME Sink
Desc. - Tired of packaging your fluids / gases before putting them into the AWESOME Sink?
Just pipe them directly into the Fluid AWESOME Sink!

https://ficsit.app/mod/FluidResourceSinkRedux

[Die Hand Gottes]

This is more of a cheat mod for me you should rise to the challenge and do it right there are more situations where you need to regulate this with the waste product.

[Mogges]

Originally posted by Vectorspace:

I never got the valve method to work either, but processing the water for sinking is not the only reliable automate-able solution.

My method is to have a second set of aluminium machines that run off the excess water from the first (and its own excess). The second set is clocked so it needs slightly more water than it will get, and the scrap output belts arranged so the second set's has priority.

Sure and in the end you can use any recipe that needs water as byproduct, e.g. copper, caterium or iron ingots made with water. But concrete is the most spread resource and has almost endless possibilities to be used for buildings.