Depleted Cells

  • I just finished filling up all six slots of my RTG so maybe I will use the empty nuclear reactor that I set aside for who knows what to try some MOX stuff out.

  • How much constant power can you even get off a single RTG gen? I haven't messed too much with ICsteam, but it took me three of them to pull 100mb/t of high pressure off.

  • If it is full it will output 64 heat. So that is 32EU with a Stirling Generator. I don't like putting anything that is not a multiple of 100 into steam so I'm not going to bother with that.

  • Hmm, I hadn't looked at those, that opens up fluid reactors pretty wide... efficiency of 9 with uranium seems trivial, no need to mess with steam, nearly instant on and off, 499 EU/t...

  • You might want to use MOX fuel too, for extra power in the reactor.


    It generates more heat in a fluid reactor, so beware. Also more heat the hotter the reactor, so beware².

    Do they have a different ratio than uranium for component heat dissipation and hot coolant generated?


    For example I have a fluid reactor set up, and it produces as much heat as my components can handle, but frankly I wish it was outputting MORE hot coolant, my system could absorb more of that.


    I've been saving all my plutonium, because I don't know much about MOX, and whether my plutonium should go to that or RTG pellets.

  • I think I might know what you've mean. I've seen the graphic where red lines start creeping over from the right as hot coolant levels rise, and they effect the components, right?


    So MOX outputs more (EU or hot coolant) if the core temperature is high? The ideal thing is to get the core temperature high, but stable, and keep the components alive?

    • Official Post

    Exactly. The increase on the temperature also increase the heat the MOX cells transfer to the core/components around it, so it is prone to cause a meltdown.


    Stable with very high output reactors are possible with the usage of coolant cells to absorb all that heat (and then usage of secondary reactors to cool down those cells).

  • But isn't any heat absorbed by coolant cells a waste in a fluid reactor? I thought hot coolant was only produced when VENTS dissipate heat? How do we get ahead?

  • I'm getting ideas about making a redstone timer, that alternates a strong fluid mox reactor on and off. While off, couldn't 60k coolant cells that were still full of heat continue to dissipate and provide SOME hot coolant?

  • The heat absorbed by coolants cells have yet to be dissipated. Its stored there. You can then afterwards use vents and whatmore to take the heat from it (then recycle it back into the mox reactor).

    Oh! You're talking about putting the heated cells into other fluid reactors. Gotcha. Still, it sounds like we're still hitting our head on the same ceiling where one reactor can only do so much, the only real advantage in doing what you describe would be that you get a great deal of power out of one set of MOX fuel cells, though you have to build multiple reactors to work on it's total product?

  • Thank you, two more questions:


    1.Just to be super clear, is the ratio of heat dissipated by vent to hot coolant created any different with mox cells? Is there ANY method of changing said ratio?


    2. Is it possible to automate the removal and replacement of certain components from a reactor?


    For example could I place an emerald transport pipe that removes 60k coolant cells? If so where do I attach it? Anywhere? hatch?

    • Official Post


    Thank you, two more questions:


    1.Just to be super clear, is the ratio of heat dissipated by vent to hot coolant created any different with mox cells? Is there ANY method of changing said ratio?

    Not different. You'll just have way more heat to dissipate than the vents can handle. Theres where the cells come in.

    2. Is it possible to automate the removal and replacement of certain components from a reactor?


    For example could I place an emerald transport pipe that removes 60k coolant cells? If so where do I attach it? Anywhere? hatch?

    It is possible. Its one of the hatches, i just don't remember which :P You gotta experiment on that.