Nuclear reactor boiler

[Jek]

I dont know why, but my boiler always runs fine for a minute or so then drops from 174 volume to 0 in about 5 seconds, my condensor seems fine, its only at 32 and it has fluid trickle through it but my boiler just stops working, its running at 120 degrees

[ElfBossHogg]

What I found help is adding pumps wherever possible and a fluid tank on the far side of what it is connected to. For example, to cool the condensers: pump exiting to the heat sink, a tank of fresh water half filled next and then another pump returning to the condenser.

Another thing I found is that you may want to make your steam pipe runs as short as possible. I did an experiment to see if I could capture steam in a container. It registered originally but disappear a short time after with no water returned. If your pipes are too long perhaps steam is disappearing with no water in return.

[Dark Spirit]

Same problem here.
Boiler runs out of water few seconds after starting to generate steam/power. The weird thing is that boiler NEVER takes new water in, no matter what I do to supply water.
Condensor don´t have time even to convert the steam exiting the turbine into water again. And even with pumps everywhere, the boiler never takes any water from any source.

[ElfBossHogg]

The trick with the boiler/turbines/condenser is you have to find that fine line between how much steam you produce, the amount of pressure required to spin the turbines for the load you have on them (hint: use flywheels) and how fast can you clear that used steam (i.e. return to water with the condensers) to allow more steam to enter the system.

What spins the turbines is the movement of steam through the system, not the amount of steam actually in it. You can spin up turbines to full speed and keep them there with very little pressure so long as its consistent pressure. Too much pressure in your system is a sign of either too much heat in the boiler, too much water in the system or not enough cooling for the condensers.

Solutions:
- You don't need high temperatures in either the reactor or the boiler (160' in Reactor and 120' - 130' in the boilers)
- Keep your steam runs short
- You don't need a ton of water in the system. Have a parallel line that connects to a fresh water tank where you can either bleed or feed the boiler small amounts of water. You can then play around with what is the right amount of water you need in the system. Too much pressure, pull water out. Too little pressure, put water in. But you don't need a ton of pressure for the turbines.

I have a nuclear reactor system in a sub I will be releasing shortly that drives a large generators that produces over 4200+ Swatt units of electricity per side, two sides (Port and SB) = Total of 8500+ Swatts. Each side is one boiler, 5 turbines (coupled with fly wheels) and 2 condensers. The turbines are running easily with less then 0.5 pressure. With that setup I can run a large sub underwater at 31knots and barely touch the batteries.

[Jake4159]

Why flywheels though?

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Originally posted by Jake4159:

Why flywheels though?

Flywheels will store mechanical energy as angular momentum, meaning they will dampen shaft rotation changes that would occur from turbines being fed inconsistent steam flow rates.

[ElfBossHogg]

Additionally with the way flywheels are implemented they will continue to develop momentum with every rotational force added to it. The result is sort of a multiplier effect to the torque being sent from the engine.

[Jake4159]

Umm thank you

[Jek]

Mother of god I just added 8 1x1 fly wheels, im now producing 12000 swatts up from 2100

[ElfBossHogg]

Originally posted by Jek:

Mother of god I just added 8 1x1 fly wheels, im now producing 12000 swatts up from 2100

Nice! :) Huge difference when I added flywheels. I just hope it's not considered a glitch that will go away.

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

Originally posted by ElfBossHogg:

Originally posted by Jek:

Mother of god I just added 8 1x1 fly wheels, im now producing 12000 swatts up from 2100

Nice! :) Huge difference when I added flywheels. I just hope it's not considered a glitch that will go away.

I can come clean since it was fixed somewhat recently... a glitch i reported about 1½ years ago. You could spin wheels in air and use them as "flywheels" for the very same purpose of significantly increasing power output, as in, you could relatively easily get 50 times power output from something for the trade of space. I got a giant tanker full of oil to do a flip with 1 single small engine :)

[DJCOOL101]

Originally posted by AdmiralTigerclaw:

Originally posted by Jake4159:

Why flywheels though?

Flywheels will store mechanical energy as angular momentum, meaning they will dampen shaft rotation changes that would occur from turbines being fed inconsistent steam flow rates.

I thought flywheels were for modular engines only... huh.

[Frag2000]

Originally posted by ElfBossHogg:

Originally posted by Jek:

Mother of god I just added 8 1x1 fly wheels, im now producing 12000 swatts up from 2100

Nice! :) Huge difference when I added flywheels. I just hope it's not considered a glitch that will go away.

Where do you put the flywheel? At the turbine? I tried there (at the power output) and it simply jam the turbine. It stop revings as soon as I connect a flywheel. I also thought that you could only use those with modular engines.