Steam Engine Troubles...

[Falcon_]

For 20 of my 50 hours in this game (no joke) i've been scratching my head as to why my boiler just decides to lose volume over time. I've tried at least 7 different configurations varying in placement, pipe length, etc, and have had no luck. Is there some secret i'm missing? My aim is peak efficiency from this thing (9+ pressure always). Is this feasible?

Workshop Page

[bendigo (1983-2023) RIP]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2748362056

Take a look at this one that i made. Almost everything is adjustable.
Steam is a bit tricky. Using a boiler alone to power the turbines is not really a good way to do it, Using a pump to pump steam to the turbines allows for more consistent flow of steam to the turbines.

The key is to balance the heat and water intake into the boiler. You want to adjust the heat of the boiler and the injection of water so that the boiler is prodcing just a little bit more steam than the turbines are using. Too much steam being produced means you are wasting water and coal. Not enought steam production means you are not getting enough heat or water to the boiler.

If you adjust the heat of the firebox and the boiler, you can get it to a point where the boiler stays at a constant ppressure. You can use bypass valves to push excess steam into the condenser to help adjust the pressure without wasting too much steam or having the boiler explode.

I have found that having the firebox only about 20 to 30 degrees hotter than the boiler, is the best.

You do not need a high boiler pressure if you use pumps to pump steam to the turbines. high boiler pressure only means you are making more steam than you are using which is ineffecient. You really only need 2 to 5 pressure to run the tubines consistantly.

The designn i made can be adjusted for different numbers of turbines. more turbines need more heat and water. one turbine only needs just enough heat to make steam.

[Aaron]

Originally posted by bendigo:

Using a pump to pump steam to the turbines allows for more consistent flow of steam to the turbines.

This is troll physics right here lol, the only reason you cant make a perpituum mobile like this is that the turbine annihilates the steam and removes it from reality.

[bendigo (1983-2023) RIP]

Originally posted by Aaron:

Originally posted by bendigo:

Using a pump to pump steam to the turbines allows for more consistent flow of steam to the turbines.

This is troll physics right here lol, the only reason you cant make a perpituum mobile like this is that the turbine annihilates the steam and removes it from reality.

Yeah, it definately needs some tweaking. in reality the turbines would make water and some steam. steam doesn't just vanish like they have it in the game.

I just figured out how to beat the troll... :)

[Aaron]

Originally posted by bendigo:

Originally posted by Aaron:

This is troll physics right here lol, the only reason you cant make a perpituum mobile like this is that the turbine annihilates the steam and removes it from reality.

Yeah, it definately needs some tweaking. in reality the turbines would make water and some steam. steam doesn't just vanish like they have it in the game.

I just figured out how to beat the troll... :)

Yeah :D, but actually in reality the turbine puts out all the steam that was put in (once it has warmed up ofc), what drives the turbine is the void in the condenser sucking the steam through the turbine and in the process pushing the turbine blades out of its way

[bendigo (1983-2023) RIP]

Originally posted by Aaron:

Originally posted by bendigo:

Yeah, it definately needs some tweaking. in reality the turbines would make water and some steam. steam doesn't just vanish like they have it in the game.

I just figured out how to beat the troll... :)

Yeah :D, but actually in reality the turbine puts out all the steam that was put in (once it has warmed up ofc), what drives the turbine is the void in the condenser sucking the steam through the turbine and in the process pushing the turbine blades out of its way

Yup. There is no void in the game though... I wish they had cylinders as well as turbines. Turvines just don't have muh power.

[Falcon_]

Originally posted by bendigo:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2748362056

Take a look at this one that i made. Almost everything is adjustable.
Steam is a bit tricky. Using a boiler alone to power the turbines is not really a good way to do it, Using a pump to pump steam to the turbines allows for more consistent flow of steam to the turbines.

The key is to balance the heat and water intake into the boiler. You want to adjust the heat of the boiler and the injection of water so that the boiler is prodcing just a little bit more steam than the turbines are using. Too much steam being produced means you are wasting water and coal. Not enought steam production means you are not getting enough heat or water to the boiler.

If you adjust the heat of the firebox and the boiler, you can get it to a point where the boiler stays at a constant ppressure. You can use bypass valves to push excess steam into the condenser to help adjust the pressure without wasting too much steam or having the boiler explode.

I have found that having the firebox only about 20 to 30 degrees hotter than the boiler, is the best.

You do not need a high boiler pressure if you use pumps to pump steam to the turbines. high boiler pressure only means you are making more steam than you are using which is ineffecient. You really only need 2 to 5 pressure to run the tubines consistantly.

The designn i made can be adjusted for different numbers of turbines. more turbines need more heat and water. one turbine only needs just enough heat to make steam.

Took a hot minute to really look and understand this, but from what i'm hearing and seeing is that it's more so the circulation of steam that produces power more than it is the production and condensation of steam, my boiler doesn't need a lot of pressure, but the, we'll say circut, of pipes for the turbine does which is provided by the large pumps.

[bendigo (1983-2023) RIP]

Correct. Unless the turbines have circulation they do not work very well. You can have as much pressure as possible in the boiler but if there is not enough steam going through the turbine, the steam will just back up in the boiler without spinning the turbines.

[Falcon_]

Originally posted by bendigo:

Correct. Unless the turbines have circulation they do not work very well. You can have as much pressure as possible in the boiler but if there is not enough steam going through the turbine, the steam will just back up in the boiler without spinning the turbines.

So then are there inefficiencies within the system? Say as steam flows through it dissipates and/or condensates? I'd assume that condensation occurs once the steam itself goes below 100 temp

[bendigo (1983-2023) RIP]

In real life that would be true. But the game is funky. It seems to be more of a flow issur rather than pressure. If there is no flow there is no work.

[Falcon_]

Originally posted by bendigo:

In real life that would be true. But the game is funky. It seems to be more of a flow issur rather than pressure. If there is no flow there is no work.

So am I able to re-circulate the steam once it's made or would that end up being the lack of flow you mentioned

[bendigo (1983-2023) RIP]

You can use the steam from one tubine output to the input of another if that is what you mean? As long as youo have the flow (use pumps) you can run a bunch of turbines chained together like that. It seems that once the boiler makes steam, it stays steam until it goes through a condenser.

[Falcon_]

Originally posted by bendigo:

You can use the steam from one tubine output to the input of another if that is what you mean? As long as youo have the flow (use pumps) you can run a bunch of turbines chained together like that. It seems that once the boiler makes steam, it stays steam until it goes through a condenser.

The steam not going away is just the thing I was mentioning.

If it were to be done that it was just a loop in and out of the turbine with pumps pumping the steam through it, could you get away with making enough steam to fill this loop then closing off the loop?

[bendigo (1983-2023) RIP]

i thonk it might be a good experiment,

[Falcon_]

Originally posted by bendigo:

Correct. Unless the turbines have circulation they do not work very well. You can have as much pressure as possible in the boiler but if there is not enough steam going through the turbine, the steam will just back up in the boiler without spinning the turbines.

So then by this logic, any steam that remains in the boiler after the turbines reach the peak is just inefficiency, right?

[Falcon_]

So I'm making a test boiler to validate my comprehension and I seem to be failing to maintain fluid volume after a while. Does steam not convert back to fluid at the same proportion? Do I need a water reservoir?