Purpose of the condenser

    • Official Post

    Since steam can be turned into kU with the Kinetic Steam Generator, what is the purpose of the condenser?


    Super-heated steam comes from distilled water in the Steam Generator too right?

    145 Mods isn't too many. 9 types of copper and 8 types of tin aren't too many. 3 types of coffee though?

    I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realise that what you read was not what I meant.


    ---- Minecraft Crash Report ----
    // I just don't know what went wrong :(


    I see this too much.

  • Since steam can be turned into kU with the Kinetic Steam Generator, what is the purpose of the condenser? Super-heated steam comes from distilled water in the Steam Generator too right?


    no Super-heated comes from heat up steam from Steam Generator inside a "Superheater" ;) -> Super-heated steam -> turbine = 4 time more output... and less turbine damage

  • will this superheated steam be clear(realism), or will it have a color(gameplay/visibility)?

  • will this superheated steam be clear(realism), or will it have a color(gameplay/visibility)?


    for gameplay visibility look like brighter steam

    • Official Post

    OK, that still doesn't explain the purpose of the condenser though

    145 Mods isn't too many. 9 types of copper and 8 types of tin aren't too many. 3 types of coffee though?

    I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realise that what you read was not what I meant.


    ---- Minecraft Crash Report ----
    // I just don't know what went wrong :(


    I see this too much.

  • OK, that still doesn't explain the purpose of the condenser though


    16 Build in 7 Days = in the middle of development.... Test report Bugs put dont ask for purpose 8) ... somewhere in my designe notes it have a gut purpose

    • Official Post

    I was just checking that it wasn't going to be removed like the Water Heater :P

    145 Mods isn't too many. 9 types of copper and 8 types of tin aren't too many. 3 types of coffee though?

    I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realise that what you read was not what I meant.


    ---- Minecraft Crash Report ----
    // I just don't know what went wrong :(


    I see this too much.

  • Earlier, I had assumed that the steam cycle would be more like:


    Water -> Reactor -> Superheated Steam -> Turbine -> Steam -> Condenser -> Water


    Thus, the reactor could either be cooled with water OR coolant, and each would have its own advantages somehow. Perhaps one would be better for efficiency, and the other would be better for high-power setups. But I'm interested to see what the superheater is like and what kind of gameplay it will bring.

    • Official Post

    The superheater is designed to heat steam again in order for it to be able to produce more EU in the steam turbine. It sounds like it could be interesting and useful, but it depends on how it works.

    145 Mods isn't too many. 9 types of copper and 8 types of tin aren't too many. 3 types of coffee though?

    I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realise that what you read was not what I meant.


    ---- Minecraft Crash Report ----
    // I just don't know what went wrong :(


    I see this too much.

  • As of build 551, it looks like the condenser has a purpose now...


    Steam Kinetic Generators (which really should be called Steam Turbines, IMO) will now cause explosions unless there is somewhere to "output" their exhaust.


    - If the input steam was superheated, the exhaust steam can be put into another turbine to generate more power.
    - If the input steam was not superheated, the exhaust can only be put into a condenser, which must be placed adjacently.


    I suppose you could choose to allow the explosions instead of using a condenser, but I don't think you'd be able to regenerate enough water to keep the Steam Boiler fed. I'll have to test that ;)

    • Official Post

    Yeah, I found that a few hours ago. A condenser is so much nicer than annoying steam particles everywhere

    145 Mods isn't too many. 9 types of copper and 8 types of tin aren't too many. 3 types of coffee though?

    I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realise that what you read was not what I meant.


    ---- Minecraft Crash Report ----
    // I just don't know what went wrong :(


    I see this too much.

  • So, right now, even with a condenser I am slowly running out of distilled water for my two-stage turbine.


    I think the mass-balance gets screwed up somewhere. As far as I can tell:


    - The boiler turns 1 water into 100 steam.
    - The turbine turns 1000 steam into 1 distilled water and 900 exhaust steam.
    - For each operation, the condenser turns 10000 steam into 20 distilled water.


    Yeah, that doesn't quite add up. The condenser should either output 100mB of distilled, or change its maxprogress to 2000.



  • :huh::huh::S:S;(;( BUG fix in my next Build > #552

  • I have a small suggestion:


    Let steam turbines accept steam from other steam turbines that run with steam and not superheated steam. That way one could chain more steam turbines together and every added turbine would be less efficient than the one before, so it would be a self balancing system. The only thing to keep in mind is that there is no perpetual motion. So the electric heat generation must be less efficient than the energy generation from heat. If one would chain 10 Steam turbines the result would be ~ 7 Steam turbines running with full steam power.
    One suggestion would be to change the excess steam to 50% that way the series would converge to 2 (1 + 1/2 + 1/4 + ... = 2)


    EDIt: Of course other values can be chosen to balance towards a specific efficiency.
    One could change the electrical heat generator to be as efficient as a setup with infinite Steam Turbines.