Big Reactor Yellorium Rods: Do they need coolant on all sides?

[Daniel_USA]

For example: Can I place them next to a wall and get the same efficiency?

I usually place coolant in all around the yellorium rods so they only touch coolant.

 

[malicious_bloke]

As far as I understand it, rods emit heat on all their horizontal faces, so having them touching the outer case of the reactor will cause the case to heat up and lower your efficiency.

 

[Daniel_USA]

That's what I understood as well. but I have seen plenty people making recordings about efficient reactors/ best reactor builds and disregard this completely.

 

[ScottulusMaximus]

Waaaaaay more complicated than that, ask @rhn

 

[GreenZombie]

That's what I understood as well. but I have seen plenty people making recordings about efficient reactors/ best reactor builds and disregard this completely.

They are muppets with a poor understanding of what they are doing. Ideally there should always be 4 blocks of coolant between your core and the edge of the reactor to capture energy from radiation. Space and materials permitting of course.

Iirc heat flows from the core into the reactor as a factor of the effective surface area of the reactor.

 

[Ieldra]

For example: Can I place them next to a wall and get the same efficiency?

I usually place coolant in all around the yellorium rods so they only touch coolant.

It's a little more complicated than that, since fuel rods also fertilize each other so it's not good to isolate the rods from each other completely, but the rule that no fuel rod should touch the casing is pretty hard. Ideally, as mentioned above, there should be 4 blocks of coolant between the rods and the casing, but only in a straight line, i.e. the blocks that form a "+" around the rod should be coolant or other fuel rods, while the blocks that form an "X" around it can be anything, unless there's another rod in a straight line of them of course.

My last reactor looked like this (C=casing, O=Coolant, Y=Fuel rod, space=anything, but should be solid if you're using liquid coolant):

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
C    OOOOO    C
C    OOOOO    C
C    OOOOO    C
C    OOOOO    C
COOOOYYYYYOOOOC
COOOOYOYOYOOOOC
COOOOYYYYYOOOOC
COOOOYOYOYOOOOC
COOOOYYYYYOOOOC
C    OOOOO    C
C    OOOOO    C
C    OOOOO    C
C    OOOOO    C
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

I'm not quite sure if it was good to concentrate so many fuel rods as I did, it's possible the reactor would be more efficient if I removed the centre rod and maybe the four at the centres of the sides of the block. I didn't get around to testing this.

 

[GamerwithnoGame]

The 4 blocks of coolant rule really does make a difference - there are diminishing returns, but 4 will net you a very nice chunk of RF compared to 0!

My reactor, though smaller, is similar in configuration to @Ieldra

CCCCCCCCCCCCC
C    OOO    C
C    OOO    C
C    OOO    C
C    OOO    C
COOOOYOYOOOOC
COOOOOYOOOOOC
COOOOYOYOOOOC
C    OOO    C
C    OOO    C
C    OOO    C
C    OOO    C
CCCCCCCCCCCCC

While there are probably more efficient methods, this works really well for me.

TL;DR No, you most definitely cannot get the same efficiency placing rods next to the casing. Nowhere near!

 

[Ieldra]

Once more thing: switching from passive to active cooling drastically increases your power output. The reactor I described above (at height 7 for a 15x15x7 design) can produce 50KF/t at max power in passive mode, but in active mode, it can power eight maximum-size turbines for a total of 200KRF/t, running at 50% capacity. Building all that costs a megaton of resources, but it's totally worth it if you have a use for all that power. I did it in Agrarian Skies to power 16 laser drills (In AS the prechargers only take in 2.5KRF/t) for the final "bragging rights" quest (the one that appears after "crazy automation").

Of course, this may all have changed with the latest version, and modpacks may make their own config adjustments.

 

[rhn]

For example: Can I place them next to a wall and get the same efficiency?

I usually place coolant in all around the yellorium rods so they only touch coolant.

As the other say: No you cannot place fuel rods next to the outer wall to get same efficiency. The "Casing" that you need to transfer the heat from the fuel rods to is an imaginary place, not the actual reactor walls. This also means that you dont need to "chain" the heat from the fuel rods out to the wall. As soon as heat is absorbed by a conductive material it is transferered to this imaginary "casing" and turned into RF/steam.

Ideally you want all 4 sides of a fuel rod to be touching a conductive material to have maximum heat transfer. But you also want your fuel rods to be orthogonally facing each other with no or few blocks between them so they can fertilize each other with radiation. So you have a problem as these two are mutually exclusive and you have to compromise. It turns out that for small reactors(specially actively cooled) it is most efficient to have lots of fuel rods clumped together with no gaps(with conductive materials) between them. The larger you build your reactors the more of the fuel rods need to have more sides touching conductive materials to combat the temperature(specially for passive reactors). This is all because the most optimal radiation fertilization(reactivity) contra fuel consumption penalty lies around 900-1000C. You should always try and aim for your reactors optimum performance point being just around that point by adding more cooling or adding more cores for more radiation.


And yes when it comes to radiation, in order to take advantage of ALL the energy produced by it you need to have something like 3 layers of Cryotheum and a layer of Ender(or is it 2 and 2?). But in all the cases I have tested it was always more efficient to use that space for more cores(fore more radiation fertilization) or more cooling(means lower control rod settings and more power and better efficiency). This is extremely sad IMO as it is an interesting mechanic, but is is totally underpowered atm to be of any real value. Wish the author would rebalance it in the future perhaps.

 

[Daniel_USA]

After re-reading this post I just realized that everyone was stating that it needs to have 4 spaces between the middle of the reactor to the outside!

Let me explain what I am doing:
I have been placing my yellorium rods only one space away from the casing and I have cryotheum as coolant.

CCCCC
COOOC
COYOC
COOOC
CCCCC

I repeated this set up in a 2 row 3 column set up with the middle cryotheum being shared.

BUT! From reading I should instead make my reactor have a minimum of 4 blocks coolant in a plus sign pattern and fill my corners with a solid block (Does it matter what type? Should it be Enderium or Ludicrite?)

My new question is concerning the yellorium rod set up:
Do I place them right next to each other or should I stagger then in an x pattern with coolant in between? Would it be better to use a "staggered X" pattern with coolant on all sides and diagonals like my current setup?

 

[rhn]

After re-reading this post I just realized that everyone was stating that it needs to have 4 spaces between the middle of the reactor to the outside!

Let me explain what I am doing:
I have been placing my yellorium rods only one space away from the casing and I have cryotheum as coolant.

CCCCC
COOOC
COYOC
COOOC
CCCCC

I repeated this set up in a 2 row 3 column set up with the middle cryotheum being shared.

BUT! From reading I should instead make my reactor have a minimum of 4 blocks coolant in a plus sign pattern and fill my corners with a solid block (Does it matter what type? Should it be Enderium or Ludicrite?)

My new question is concerning the yellorium rod set up:
Do I place them right next to each other or should I stagger then in an x pattern with coolant in between? Would it be better to use a "staggered X" pattern with coolant on all sides and diagonals like my current setup?

Did you read what I posted just above?

It turns out that for small reactors(specially actively cooled) it is most efficient to have lots of fuel rods clumped together with no gaps(with conductive materials) between them. The larger you build your reactors the more of the fuel rods need to have more sides touching conductive materials to combat the temperature(specially for passive reactors). This is all because the most optimal radiation fertilization(reactivity) contra fuel consumption penalty lies around 900-1000C. You should always try and aim for your reactors optimum performance point being just around that point by adding more cooling or adding more cores for more radiation.

And yes when it comes to radiation, in order to take advantage of ALL the energy produced by it you need to have something like 3 layers of Cryotheum and a layer of Ender(or is it 2 and 2?). But in all the cases I have tested it was always more efficient to use that space for more cores(fore more radiation fertilization) or more cooling(means lower control rod settings and more power and better efficiency).

I suggest you try things out using this:
http://br.sidoh.org/

 

[Daniel_USA]

I used the website and now I got it saved on my favorites bar. I will use it to demo some builds.

By conductive material do you mean blocks?
What temperature should I aim for? 1000?

I will do more tinkering when I get a chance. I am doing a Mass Effect Playthrough. I am on the final game. I have all the material and more to build whatever reactor I want I just want to build the most efficient one.

 

[rhn]

By conductive material do you mean blocks?

I am just being stubborn and refusing to call cooling materials "cooling materials"

What temperature should I aim for? 1000?.

Every reactor you design have an optimal temperature. You should use the specific reactors optimal temperature(within reason). But you should try and design your reactors to have their optimal temperatures around 900-1000C

I have all the material and more to build whatever reactor I want I just want to build the most efficient one.

There is no "best" or "most efficient" reactor. It is all about compromising. What size can you/do you want to fit in to your build? How much fuel can you/do you want to supply? How much power do you need? How many materials do you have available to build the reactor? How many turbines do you want to use(if any)? Etc.

For me space is usually very important as the reactor and turbines have to fit into my bases without looking stupid. So that is the main compromise on efficiency I make.
So for example I made this for my current world:
http://br.sidoh.org/#reactor-design...ontrolRodInsertion=43&layout=G2CGC2X2C2XCG2CG
Supplying steam for two turbines with these stats: 4 Enderium Coils, 70 Blades, 1732mB/t Steam @1800RPM

And whenever peak power draw is high I have two of these passive reactors set to start up(in succession as needed, controlled by EnderIO Power Monitors):
http://br.sidoh.org/#reactor-design...on=14&layout=2G2E4G2C2GEC2XC2EC2XCE2G2C4G2E2G

Neither of these are very efficient, but they are a good compromise when size is important to me too.

 

[Daniel_USA]

Can you explain what "Rate Limit Exceeded" means when I use the website you provided that helps build reactors.

I noticed you use graphite instead of diamond or gold. Any particular reason why? I changed the graphite for diamond/gold and didn't notice any difference.

I am strapped for space. I could build a giant reactor if I wanted to. I also use EnderIO Power Monitors but for some reason it doesn't always turn off my reactor and I have to remove a block on the reactor to get it to work again.

I noticed you use Ender on the edges. I assume it's to increase core temperature? I noticed if I switched it out to cryotheum I would lose some RF.

Thanks for the examples. Here is my current layout:

http://br.sidoh.org/#reactor-design...lRodInsertion=0&layout=6CXCX7CXCX7CXCX7CXCX6C

How could I make it better? Add 4 spaces between the cores and the casing?

 

[rhn]

Can you explain what "Rate Limit Exceeded" means when I use the website you provided that helps build reactors.

Dunno, just some error that happens some times. Just hit simulate again or draw something and it goes away.

I noticed you use graphite instead of diamond or gold. Any particular reason why? I changed the graphite for diamond/gold and didn't notice any difference.

Heat is only transferred out the sides of Fuel rods to the immediate adjacent blocks and radiation travels horizontally out in only X and Z directions. Therefore there is no need to put expensive Cryotheum or Ender in the corners as no heat or radiation gets to these areas. There are several different "placeholder" blocks you can use to fill the gaps, but Graphite is cheap and it is sure to work in all packs, which I why I chose to use it in this example. It serves no purpose at all in terms of efficiency.

I am strapped for space. I could build a giant reactor if I wanted to. I also use EnderIO Power Monitors but for some reason it doesn't always turn off my reactor and I have to remove a block on the reactor to get it to work again.

I personally use this ComputerCraft script to control my reactors running:
https://github.com/sandalle/minecraft_bigreactor_control
It will manage the reactors fuel rod settings and turn it on and off depending on the internal power buffer.
I then have the reactor charge TE Energy Cells and then have the EIO Power Monitor trigger those on and off based on power level of my main Capacitor Bank which I feed all my power generation through.

I noticed you use Ender on the edges. I assume it's to increase core temperature? I noticed if I switched it out to cryotheum I would lose some RF.

The Ender is there to absorb radiation. The deal is that Cryotheum is better at conducting heat and changing fast radiation to slow radiation. This is why we use it next to the fuel rods. But in order to turn radiation into power/steam we need to absorb the slow radiation and Cryotheum is bad at that. Ender however is great at absorbing Slow radiation, so a "jacket" of ender around the outside will catch the radiation and produce a bit more power/steam.

Thanks for the examples. Here is my current layout:

http://br.sidoh.org/#reactor-design...lRodInsertion=0&layout=6CXCX7CXCX7CXCX7CXCX6C

How could I make it better? Add 4 spaces between the cores and the casing?

No that would not be recommended IMO. For such a relatively small reactor you do not gain enough from absorbing all the radiation, compared to the space you need to do so.

You gain more by making it slightly taller and one block wider and doing something like this:
http://br.sidoh.org/#reactor-design...G2C2GEC2XC2EC2XC2EC2XC2EC2XC2EC2XCE2G2C4G2E2G

 

[Daniel_USA]

I can retrofit that into my game without a problem as a matter of fact that will be the first thing I do.

I doubt I will use that computercraft code but thanks for providing it. I read somewhere in the forum that EZ Nuke wasn't working in Infinity which is what I use. I don't know if it has been fixed. If I ever get caught up in my builds I will look into computer craft.

Is the Ender source blocks or cascading from the top? Does it matter?

I notice that you only go 2 out from each side instead of 4. If I go 4 should I do 3 layers of Ender with 1 layer wrapped around the core? I really appreciate all the information and diagrams since the big reactor is my main source of power right now and I'm burning through yellorium and blutonium at a radical pace.

 

[rhn]

I can retrofit that into my game without a problem as a matter of fact that will be the first thing I do.

I doubt I will use that computercraft code but thanks for providing it. I read somewhere in the forum that EZ Nuke wasn't working in Infinity which is what I use. I don't know if it has been fixed. If I ever get caught up in my builds I will look into computer craft.

Is the Ender source blocks or cascading from the top? Does it matter?

I notice that you only go 2 out from each side instead of 4. If I go 4 should I do 3 layers of Ender with 1 layer wrapped around the core? I really appreciate all the information and diagrams since the big reactor is my main source of power right now and I'm burning through yellorium and blutonium at a radical pace.

Lolmer recently updated the script so it should work with even the newest versions of ComputerCraft etc.

And usually you can manage with Ender flowing down from the top, but when you have to have Cryotheum and Ender next to each other like this, you need to build it up layer by layer. So you need to use source blocks for all of them(simply to keep the cryotheum in place).

It is really really not worth it going further out on such small size reactors(it really isn't on larger ones either). What you gain from absorption of radiation is minimal. If you have the space you should instead use it on more fuel rods and cooling thereof. A single layer of Ender already absorbs 90% of the slow radiation. Adding a second will then absorb 90% of the 10% that is left, and so on. It is the same deal with diminishing returns on using multiple blocks of Cryotheum to make fast radiation into slow radiation. And you need to remember that radiation only travels 4 blocks. So if you have 4 layers from the fuel rods to the side, the material will only be able to absorb radiation from the fuel rods on the same side. Other fuel rods will be too far away.

And if you have the space for it you REALLY should build a turbine setup instead and get something like x10 efficiency.

 

[Daniel_USA]

Now I am starting to understand.

For some reason I was thinking it was measured from the case to the middle and not the middle outward.

I've never set up a turbine before but I have some cyanide saved up for when I wanted to try.

I was going to go solar right after the big reactor and use solar panels to create steam some how to power a turbine but there is nothing that will work that uses RF so I'm going to use coal coke/creosote oil powered railcraft boilers but that is still a few weeks away from even starting.

This is the first time I have made a big reactor and this is the biggest build I have made. I was really happy building it because I even used cryotheum for it.

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

One design that I occasionally use that might be of use:

http://br.sidoh.org/#reactor-design...out=2G3E4GCEC2GECXCXC3ECXC3ECXCXCE2GCEC4G3E2G

In effect, it's a typical X reactor with cryotheum/resonant ender optimized and corners filled with graphite. When I don't care as much about efficiency and just want power, I go for something like this:

http://br.sidoh.org/#reactor-design...ECGCXCXCXCECXCXCECXCXCXCECXCXCECXCXCXCGCECECG

Dropped fuel efficiency, but it's got more raw power output.

 

[jdog1408]

Each source block reduces the heat, so you don't need it to be full but it will heat up faster if you leave spots open