Thermal Expansion Suggestions?

[iiRag3Kniif3]

So I'm fairly new to FTB, I've watched some LPs of FTB but they're all using pretty much IC or BC. I was wondering if someone could send me a link/screenshots of a good power supply that is fairly easy to get when you're first starting out.

I'm wanting to start a server with my clan but I don't want to re-do all my factories with IC to get all that energy, and I've heard TE is more power for cheaper costs.

So i just need a basic, good power supplier but semi-cheap. Screenshots or links are good

 

[danny75]

i'll post some screenshots when i get back on my server...but in the meantime i would say this. TE gives you MJ, IC2 (and add-ons) give you EU. you'll need both, especially if Gregtech is on your radar. But for ore processing, i would set up with TE machines. You can also store excess MJ in energy storage cubes that are mobile and can be used to power anything requiring MJ.

for the ore refining...i have all ores being fed into a line of pulverisers sitting on top of powered furnaces. Configure the machines so the dusts are automatically fed into the furnace for smelting. i then have a chest in front on each furnace to store the ingots. the machines themselves are powered by magmatic engines supplied with lava (from the nether). I can add empty energy storage cubes to the conduit pipes to soak up unused power. they hold 500k MJ each, and the output (MJ/t) can be adjusted according to the machine it is hooked up to.

 

[SilvasRuin]

A Steam Engine (not the ones with a descriptive "prefix") works well, won't explode (just jams up and needs a whack from the Crescent Hammer), can be instructed to run without a redstone signal or shut off from a redstone signal instead of turn on, and runs off Water and anything that will burn in a Furnace. Place an Aqueous Accumulator adjacent to it to automatically generate water for it.

Magmatic Engines are pretty effective if you have a lava surplus, but I'd have to see the numbers to determine whether it's better than a Combustion Engine. The Magmatic Engine has all the other benefits of the Steam Engine.

Once you set up to maintain a Peat Farm or two, Peat Engines aren't the fastest of engines, but run a long time when supplied with Peat, so they take more setup but are rather low maintenance.

The Electrical Engine can convert EU to BC energy and can be fairly reliable when teamed up with Solar Panels.

 

[EternalDensity]

Crafting-wise, the magmatic engine is the same as the steam engine but with tin instead of copper (you need 11 either way). Both take a silver ingot, a couple of redstone, and a piston also. It produces double the MJ/t of the steam engine, and if you have a big supply of netherrack you can melt it to lava in the magma crucible. Since it takes 8000 MJ to produce a lava bucket worth of lava which gives you 1800 MJ in the magmatic engine by default, that means each netherack is worth 1000 MJ
I currently have a line of 5 magmatic engines which are fed from a single portable tank, but I'll be starting a lava production facility soon.

 

[iiRag3Kniif3]

@Eternal
Could you post screenshots?

@Danny
Cool, thanks that'd be awesome

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Magmatic Engines produce as much Eu as a Biogas Engine, which is 4 Eu/tic. Combustion Engines produce Eu based on the fuel type. Buring fuel is the best, giving 6 Eu/tic.

Biogas engines are great if you have a steady supply of biomass (tree farm will keep you supplied) and you never want to turn them off (if you have sufficient energy storage hooked up to your network). They won't explode, produce a good amount of Eu, and run on a renewable resource.

While you certainly CAN run magmatic engines off a magma crucible, it's rather lossy. Of course, since we're talking netherrack as your fuel source, that's not really a big problem.

Once you get a solid fuel supply going, however, you may wish to convert to steam. A Railcraft Boiler can support quite a few steam engines which just run off of the steam. You have a variety of options for fuel for the boiler, from biofuel (NOT biomass), to Oil, to Fuel. Fuel, of course, gives you the most bang for your buck. For solid fuel, coal coke works wonderfully. Charcoal can also do in a pinch. But I like using liquid fuels because I can store up an enormous reservoir in an Iron Tank and set up the automation to keep it filled up. When you have a couple thousand buckets worth of biofuel sitting in a tank, it's gonna be a LONG time until it runs down.

 

[EternalDensity]

What do you want screenshots of? My magmatic engine setup? I don't have any with me right now but I can probably do it in a few hours.

 

[iiRag3Kniif3]

@Shneekey
So basically find a lava pool/water sources suck it into a reservoir, then automate it to where it powers the Railcraft Boiler which would be hooked up to the steam engines? I'll post some screens of this setup that might work?

 

[danny75]

Ok...in case i forget to do this tomorrow, i sneaked away from work to post these...go easy..the design is awful, just a proof of concept.

Ok, so this is my TE ore refining set-up. The hoppers feed the ores into the row of pulverisers, which in turn supply the powered furnaces (hidden behind the diamond chests). The ingots are then transferred to the adjacent chest (one for each ore). No need for pipes, as TE machines input/output to one another using the configuration tabs by right-clicking the machines. Further along the line i have an igneous extruder sat inbetween an aqueous accumulator and a magma crucible. I can make obsidian, smooth stone, or cobble as required (essentially a compact cobble stone generator). There is also a couple of liquid transposers used to create liquid redstone, amongst other things.

Below, you see why that lava tank is there:

The lava is fed into the magmatic engines connected to the conduit pipes, which carry the power to the machines. I get the lava from the nether right now, but i could use netherrack in the magma crucibles to supply the engines if i completely drained the lava lakes.

And, excuse the mess, but this is the EU room. Yet another lava tank supplying countless geo-gens...again, just seeing how efficient the lay-out was. But the generated EU powers some basic IC2 machines and the remained stored in the AESU (on the ceiling)...alongside that, the matter fabricator is being powered by 4 ultimate hybrid solar panels placed on the roof. They supply eu (albeit, reduced) even when it's raining or night.

The 7 centrifuges under the AESU are crucial in Gregtech. They are essential for processing bauxite dust to yield titanium, and ruby dust to yield chrome. Both are needed in plentiful supply if you want to craft the Fusion Reactor. That's the end-goal for EU generation...but we're not quite there yet...still need more rubies and bauxite!

If you have any questions, please ask...i know it's not pretty to look at though

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Here's a couple of screenshots depicting how I generally get biofuel-powered steam going. For everyone else's loading time, I'll just be linking my photobucket pages. Mind you, I just came up with this in Creative as examples.

Screen1 shows a lovely cutaway with the aqueous accumulator underneath the boiler to continually provide water, you note the iron tank to the left in the background? That's for the biofuel. On the right, you notice a series of steam engines, commercial in this case, all hooked up with Redstone Conduit (which is infinitely better than conductive pipe). Note how they are all directly adjacent to the boiler itself? Done on purpose. This is intended to be a 'power plant', which generates a LOT of power which is then transferred to wherever it is needed. Right now, it's got nine Commercial Steam Plants hooked into it. That's... 72 MJ/tic, which should be more than plenty for most needs. In a more realistic setting, redstone conduit would be snaking all over the place to go meet whatever energy needs are required.

Screen2 shows us the other side of the boiler. I've put a Redstone Energy Cell in the middle of the line, but you'll likely want several hooked up to your system to store energy when power draw does not meet power consumption. It's hooked up to a Fermentor, the little toy on top is a Buildcraft Hopper filled with saplings. If you can get the automation (i.e. Logistics Pipes), you can auto-filter saplings here. Might want a supplier pipe hooked up to the thing itself to be sure it keeps compost stocked. Notice that underneath is another aqueous accumulator. Those things are pretty handy. The pink pipe with the gate is a Valve Pipe. It's not necessary, you can just use an Autarchic Gate on a waterproof wooden pipe (or just use a redstone engine), but it's what I use. It goes straight over to the Refinery, then is piped into the iron tank in the background.

And thus the great circle of power continues, running on compost and saplings, ultimately.

While this is self-sustaining once it gets going, starting it up might need a jump-start.