Pipeline flowrate problem

[Donkey Bong]

I have oil extractor on normal spot overclocked to 200% for total of 300m3 per minute which i connected to 10 refineries each one connected to main pipe by juction cross. Problem is 2 last refineries dont get expected flowrate and cant work most of the time. Same with oil extractor which is stopping for couples of second despite 2 last refineries not working. How can i fix that? I have tried splitting pipe in two 150m3 per minute or adding fluding buffer and nothing have worked.

[Donkey Bong]

Originally posted by Bobucles:

Pipes have a flow indicator showing how much liquid is going through. If it's consistently flowing 300, the system works fine. Extractors also have a spinny dial that shows what is flowing out of the extractor, this is different from the overclocking theoretical value. If both things are fine, the system is fine. You simply have too many refineries.

Pumps reset the max altitude of the system. Place a pump every 20m of height and use the UI to see if it's overloaded. Fluid buffers are a trap and do not belong on extractor lines at all. When in doubt of flow issues, use more pipes.

Right now my rafineries are on same level as extractor. Can i have to many rafineries when they demand 150m3 per minute and extractor cleary is set up to extract 150 per minuter? Why do extractor stop every now and then despite some rafineries are running low on supply.

[Donkey Bong]

Originally posted by Lil Puppy:

If your extractor is shutting off and your whole pipe system isn't full, you don't have a pump in the right place, plain and simple. It means that the head lift pressure is greater than the capabilities of the pumps in the line to a certain point, after that point, the flow is ZERO as the pressure is too high to lift it any further. Make sure your pumps are going in the right direction, they act as check valves (one way systems for flow).

Anyway, a screenshot or several would help greatly. And there's nothing wrong with the system as it is, it works the same way in the real world.

Im gonna post some screens if i can in sec but like said rafineries are right next to extractor. I dont know if i wrote that rafineries are filling up sometimes and then drop to 50% and after couple of minute they fill up again. I really cant make sense out of this pipe.

[Donkey Bong]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199266255
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199255028
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199254708
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199266628
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199266454
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199255507
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199255835
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199256114
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199256376
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199256661
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199256950
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199257511
Screens in order.
If something is wrong please do tell me. Buffer is placed there so that pump always have space to pump to. Cleary its not working as i intended.

[DaBa]

Originally posted by Donkey Dong:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199266255
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199255028
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199254708
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199266628
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199266454
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199255507
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199255835
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199256114
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199256376
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199256661
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199256950
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2199257511
Screens in order.
If something is wrong please do tell me. Buffer is placed there so that pump always have space to pump to. Cleary its not working as i intended.

Hard to judge from screenshots, I can join your game and see if I can work out a solution. Add me on Steam if you want to debug this with me.

The only thing I can say from the get go is that I don't like how heavy on the overflow this is, some load balancing on the pipes should make this work much more efficiently and will make it easier to find the issue. With this much overflow it can take a REALLY long time for things to balance out with fluids. Don't know why, but I know from experience that setup like this can take several minutes or even several dozens of minutes to balance out.

Also I don't like how the first pipe arcs upwards, needless headlift. The pump is also way too close to the extractor, it doesn't really do much in this situation, but I can't tell how much elevation is there anyway, looks pretty flat. Probably a non-issue but inconsistency nonetheless that should be eliminated.

[Donkey Bong]

I cant play right now as this issue doesnt accour every several minutes. Like i said refineries are filling up to the full 50 crude oil then are droping slowly back to starving and after some time they are full again. Problem clearly is that extractor is stoping randomly. This set up work fine when extractor is over clocked to 300 per minute but not when to 150 or even 155. I dont want to overclock over the need because other oils spots are impure so i cant overclock past 150. Im gonna try making every connection to rafinery identical later. I have spent 3 hours testing this set up and 7 hours testing previous set up so its not overflow issue.

[Warlord]

Ummm, I think I read that fluid storages are bad. They reset liquid head lift. Try removing it. There's no real need to use one here on the extractor>refinery side anyway.

[Donkey Bong]

I added it cuz extractor was shutting of randomly. Set up without buffer for the same

[Grandaddypurple]

How's your output setup dealing with heavy oil residue ? Does it involve a buffer ?

[Asopax]

hmm

[Mod Sloth]

Originally posted by Ahmetcxn44:

hmm

Indeed.

[Mister Fabulous]

I tried to duplicate this, but I wasn't able to produce the same issue: https://imgur.com/jJxH4mC
This is being fed by an extractor on an impure node clocked to 250% with a pump right in front of it. All refineries are running at 100%. Let it run for an hour. Took around 20 minutes to balance out and get everything to full speed.

The buffer is part of the problem though. I was seeing many of the refineries stop filling for a short time before quickly filling back up. The buffer gives a lot of room for the flow to go backwards because they can fill from both sides and sometimes fluids will backflow into a buffer for longer than one may expect before getting blasted back out.

Getting rid of just the buffer should solve the problem if you leave everything else the way it is.

Additionally, because of the rise in the pipe on the first refinery, that will cause conflict with the fluid flow and occasionally make it flow backwards which screws with the balance of having an even input vs. consumption. So, if you don't fix the pipes as well, you will need that pump on the line, anywhere before the refineries.

If you're not looking to mess with anything, want to leave the pipes, and insist on having the buffer there, add a powered pump right after the buffer. This will let you keep the buffer, which really should never fill, and will prevent the flow from going backwards into the buffer and screwing with the flow down the line.


You're not placing the pipework on foundations, so that is probably part of the problem. Unless you did and just deleted the foundations, then ignore this part.
The pipe isn't flat, and I'm guessing even the slightest height variations in the segments is causing the flow to go backwards too long before correcting itself. Because of this, you definitely want a pump on the line even though it's a horizontal (technically) pipe.

[DaBa]

Exactly what Mister Fabulous have said. I have done these setups dozens of times and I have none of these issues. Just keep it clean and don't introduce any weirdness. Place everything on foundations, split the liquid better so there isn't as much overflow (not necessary but makes things run smoother), don't create needless headlift, delete fluid buffer since it's not necessary and might mess up with your production.