I haven't seen any basics for setting up or using a Fluid reactor, so I figured I'd write out what I know.
1. Fluid ports can handle infinite fluid exchange; in practice, this means 3 sides in use on a corner, 2 on an edge, and one if it is in the side-center squares of the 5x5 fluid reactor.
2. Liquid Heat Exchangers (LHE's) with 10 heat conductors handle 100 heat.
2a. LHE's MUST exchange heat with a machine; the orange square must match up with something else's orange square or else it exchanges 0 heat.
2b. LHE's MUST have a place to send coolant after it has been cooled; the shortest reactor distance is into a tank next to itself, which is next to another Fluid port.
3. Heat loss in a reactor has 3 factors:
3a. Cooling from components
3b. External cooling from coolant exchange, such as Liquid Heat Exchangers
3c. Components fully using the exchanged heat
4. A reactor creates approximately 2x the heat shown in many reactor planners when in fluid / heat mode. This will fluctuate as the reactor runs, but the fluctuations are not significant with adequate cooling. you need component cooling for the original number and LHE / external cooling for the 2x number.
5. Reactors lose heat equal to the MINIMUM of the factors in 3.
5a. Example: If components remove 400 heat (x2, from 4), LHE's remove 1200 heat and items are hooked up to use 1100 heat, 800 heat is removed. (LHE's will be underused).
5b. Example: If components remove 600 heat (x2), LHE's remove 800 heat and items are improperly hooked up / only use 700 heat, 700 heat is removed. Even if properly hooked up, LHEs are only removing 800 heat and the reactor can heat up despite components "cooling" 600 (x2,1200) heat.
5c. There may be some initial additional cooling if things are improperly hooked up; watch any new reactor for at least 1 minute, checking all components.
6. A fluid reactor must have a redstone port to turn it on. A reactor DOES NOT need an access hatch, but one is HIGHLY recommended for monitoring or modification.
6a. Breaking a hole in the 5x5 reactor wall allows you to place components into the reactor inside, which allows it to run properly.
7. The hottest, no-consumable, IC2-only stable reactor seems to be 672 heat (x2; 1344 HU). There is a possibility for up to 692 heat (1384 HU), but this is much more expensive uranium-wise, uses multiple uranium cell types, and I have not seen a design that shows both the heat and the cooling.
672: http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.b…yzlm7bjkt7mbdxo9cq7nx5dds
(Copy, then use "Paste URL" to put this into the standalone IC2 Reactor Planner v3)
676: http://www.talonfiremage.pwp.b…o07q1ru2z5f8wipmn4qavj9xc
--------FLUID REACTOR SHELL DESIGN--------
1. It is easiest and cheapest to put fluid ports on the corners. You can get 6 LHE's per corner with only 4 fluid ports, where on a side it might take 2 ports to get 1 LHE working; at best, 5 ports give you 4 working LHE's on a flat side.
2. The Setup I use for LHE's is as follows:
= Port with Fluid Puller
= Port with Fluid Ejector
= Liquid Heat Exchanger with 10 Heat Conductors and a Fluid Ejector
= Tank with no mods
= Regular Reactor Wall
= Air / nothing
Layer one, facing the side:
Layer two, on top of Layer 1:
You can attach Sterling engines or other heat users to the LHE's if you face their orange square away from the reactor. If you copy this design on all sides of the corner, you only need 2 corners to handle a 600 heat reactor. Start on a 3rd corner and you can easily handle a 672 heat reactor.
