Now that you have unlocked coal and pipes, you now need to think about how to setup your power grid to support your power needs.
If you follow some simple rules as per below, you should be able to scale with ease keeping up with your power demands.
Here is a diagram showing possible setup scenarios you may encounter when setting up the pipes, I have pictures in game of real world potential setups further down:
Diagram provided by Discord User McGalleon
Some basic rules for setting up are as follows:
- The Water Extractors have a output of 120m3 output at 100% clock speed
- Pipes are not directional
- Pipeline Pumps are directional, pay close attention when setting them up. They also need to be powered or the pump will not work
- The only time you should need Pipeline Pumps is when you encounter a rise in the pipe. You will need to separate these at a max of 20m intervals & at the earliest possible point before the start of a rise (either at the bottom of the pipe or just before the bend). Bunching pumps will not increase the flow rate beyond the 20m rise
- You can go vast distances with pipes if going straight and not need a pump, the moment you have a rise then follow the pump addition rule above
- You can merge pipes up to a maximum of 300m3, if you have more then that, then you will need to run additional pipes to match the flow you need. The T junctions cannot be lined up with the stackables without foundations and a pipe join at this stage, it will line up with stackables if they are on foundations and no pipe. It can line up with machines while on an existing pipe. Foundations are your friend for setting up the junctions before laying pipe, after laying pipe good luck!
- Water Extractors do not have a way to line up against other structures or foundations, this will need to be done by eye
- Conveyor Pole Stackables & Pipe Stackables can be interchanged. Use wisely
- Color code pipes to not mix liquids, if you accidentally mix liquids you will need to flush the effected pipes and remove the effected merge
- Freight Platforms can hold 500m3 of liquids, to save packing and unpacking use these to transport the raw liquids & plan your receiving station to collect them for production/power needs
- At this stage fuel power generators is not really worthwhile, it is 2.6 generators per refinery
- Add a buffer into any liquid line to help with flow issues and potential power outages. Do this at the earliest possible point in the line to maximize output. You can never have too many buffers!
Coal Power:
For setting up coal power, a good ratio to follow is as follows:
For setting up coal power, a good ratio to follow is as follows:
The way this works out is as follows. For building your setup, the rate an extractor puts out is 120m3 of water a minute. This powers 2.6 coal generators. However a good ratio to follow is 3 extractors will fill 8 coal generators from 1 pure node of coal with a mk1 miner. If you decide to overclock then those numbers will obviously change.
A good idea early game is for the most simple setup requiring the least amount of power just to have power, build your generators near a water source. Doing so reduces the need for line pumps and the extra power cost they encounter for each additional one you need to add.
Also keep a biomass burner on location with the Water Extractors just incase you overload your power grid or the Extractors cannot keep up with demand
Here is a few sample pics of potential setups with pipes:
A potential Fuel setup:
A potential Rise setup:
A potential Station setup:
These are likely setups you will encounter and you will need to plan ahead when building any of these types of setups
A sample of what fluids you are going to encounter in the game are as follows:
There are alts that can turn the byproducts of some liquids back into fuel, the other option is packaging the waste and sending it to the sink to dispose of, either way that's up to you
If there is anymore info or other stuff to be aware of then that will be added in the future, until then have fun with pipes and good luck!