Mine is still up to date. There is no difference between version 0.3 and 0.4. Its just an update from 1.6.4 to 1.7.10. Nothing more, nothing less. For discussion and more (up to date) information
check my forum post.
From that the following still stands:
Skyqula said:
Cooling:
- Ender is the best outside coolant. More layers of coolant is better. More layers Significantly reduces block efficiency. Max 4 layers on the outside.
- Outside coolant layers bigger then 1 should consist of the outer most layer of resonant ender and the inner layers of cryotheum.
- Cryotheum is the best coolant inbetween rods. 1 coolant between each rod is best. In some smaller/cooler designs Graphite can be better.
- Coolants are needed inside an actively cooled reactor, the cooling effects actually stack!
- Coolant is not needed in area's where radiation does not travel (see radiation). So the corners can be annything you want.
Theoretical best:
- As big as you can build it. Keep the rod's as square as possible for maximum efficiency. IE: 15x15x7 has a 5x5x5 core of fuel rods, 8 layers of coolant and 2 for the casing.
- One big block of fuel rods "dotted" with crytheum. Aka, 1 crytheum completly surrounded in fuel rods.
- Suggested 4 layers of coolant between Fuel Rods and casing. 3 layers of Cryotheum and the outermost layer of resonant ender.
Radiation:
- Higher levels of radiation is better. Produced in fuel rods. Travels upto 4 blocks in north/east/south/west direction (Not diagonal or up/down).
- To more fuel rods inside that 4 block area, to higher the radition level inside a reactor.
- The higher the radiation the less fuel used.
Temperature:
- Lower is better. Ideal ~200 Degrees. Aslong as this is under 1000 degrees then Radiation is more important.
- After ~1000 Degrees reactor efficiency drops significantly. If you only got 1 coolant layer then adding additional coolant layers will help you out here.
- Steam stored inside the reactor increases reactor temperature, PUMP IT ALL OUT. Alternatively, adjust fuel rod insertion to lower steam production
- Bigger reactors will eventually go well over 1000 and even 2000 degrees. This is because of the amount of heat generated from coolants absorbing it.
Rod Control:
- Reduces reactor temperature, radiation, fuel efficiency, steam production and fuel consumption.
- Can be used to tweak superior reactor designs to match desired steam output.
- Can be used to increase fuel efficiency. Certain reactor setups have better efficiency when controlled down.
This part: "
Rod Control: Certain reactor setups have better efficiency when controlled down. " is probably the most important part to understand when looking for efficient reactors. As all passive cooled reactors are actually significantly more efficient when controlled down. Its only active reactors that can realy go all out.
As for coolants: A good page to take a look at as far as cooling goes
is this one. It shows the datamined properties of coolants. Including the 4 important stats to look at: Absorption, Heat efficiency, moderation and thermal conductivity. For a quick explanation:
Skyqula said:
- There are 2 types of radiation, fast and slow.
- slow radiation can be absorbed by coolands. How much is determined by its absorbion stat.
- Absorbing radiation generates heat wich is used to calculate RF/t or steam/t. A high heat efficiency is obviously good to have.
- Fast radiation can be slowed down. How well is determined by its moderation stat.
- Coolants next to a rod cool the reactor down. All that matters is the number of rod sides are connected to coolants. Build a 2x2 rod with coolant all around has 8 exposed sides. Fluids next to a rod should have a high heat conductivity.
- Slow radiation passing trough a fuel rod increases a reactors radiation level and in turn reduces fuel burnup.
As you can see there are a few things you can play around with. But generally this is what it comes down to:
- Cryotheum is good at cooling with a high heat conductivity
- Cryotheum is the best moderater
- Cryotheum has the highest heat efficiency
- Enderium has the highest absorbtion
- Enderium has the highest absorbtion * heat efficiency
- Graphite blocks have nearly no absorbtion
Taking the above aswell as knowing that radiation travels a maximum of 4 blocks we get:
- Cryotheum between fuel rods. Graphite is a close second (better in some cases).
- 3 layers of cryotheum between rods and casing. Absorbs most radiation with the highest efficiency.
- 1 layer of resonant ender between casing and cryotheum. Last block radiation can be absorbed.
Ive been doing some testing myself, I have never built a turbine before but want to this time around. Brinkthegamer's video on the subject was also very helpful, wish I had watched it first. In a nutshell what I have learned is that eight cores in a three high reactor creates enough steam for a maxed out turbine. The hardest part is getting the water flow rate high enough. Extra utilities transfer nodes are the popular solution but its so sloppy. I installed the Pressure Pipes mod to compensate for BR's missing features.
One of the things that Brink got wrong in his video or has changed since he made it is the narrowness of the turbine. 4 rows of ten blades putputs the same amount of RF as one with ten rows of four blades. And four small turbines with 20 blades outputs the same in total as a big one would. Which is probably what I am going to do.
As for a turbine, a
7x7x17 turbine with 4, 8 block coils of ludicrum and 80 blades produces ~27800 RF/t and consumes 2B/t. Its about as efficient as it gets, both in space required aswell as ouput. You can build multiple smaller ones, but all you do is increase the cost of making them as you need more walls. Wich is also why turbines are build small and long, less walls.
Another usefull tip for you:A turbine will convert all steam back to water without anny loss. Meaning you only need to fill the reactr with water once and you will never have to do it again. Just make sure you extract the steam/water fast enough or set the turbine to never fent fluids.
