Rebalance Boiler & Heat Exchanger Fluid Volumes to Account for New Water-to-Steam Mechanics

[macdjord]

TL;DR

Since 2.0.7, 1 water turns into 10 steam, meaning boilers and heat exchangers use 1/10th as much water now, but the amount of water they store has not been updated to match; it should be.

What?

Reduce the amount of water boilers and heat exchangers can contain from 200 to 20.

Why?

Since boilers and heat exchangers cannot be controlled using circuit networks, there are only three ways to disable them:

1. Cut off their supply of fuel or heat
2. Cut off their water input
3. Cut off their steam output

Option 1 has never been very viable; it doesn't work at all for heat exchangers, and even for boilers it is complicated to implement since, without a circuit connection, there is no way to check how much if any fuel a boiler already holds.

Prior to the steam rework, options 2 and 3 were ~equally viable. A boiler or heat exchanger had equal storage for steam and water (200 units of each) and consumed/produced them at equal rates (60/s for boilers, 103.1/s for heat exchangers); thus cutting off either one would cause the device to shut down promptly (in 3.33s for boilers, <2s for heat exchangers).

Now, however, the water consumption is 1/10th what it used to be, but the amount of water each device can store is unchanged. A boiler cut off from water supply can thus continue to run for over 33s, while a heat exchanger can do so for nearly 20s, effectively making this method of controlling them nonviable.

These devices should have their water storage capacities reduced to restore the old balance and make this method of control viable again.

[angramania]

And why this "balance" should exist in the first place? If for some weird reason you need to shutdown your boilers then use 3rd option. And let everyone else to have half minute to change water supply configuration without brownout.

[Hurkyl]

"Weird" reason? I understand this to be a relatively common mid-game thing to keep a legacy steam plant around for backup power. For example, wanting to prioritize accumulators when using solar power, or to have an emergency backup that should only run if you accidentally brick your nuclear plant.


I've never used it myself, but I've heard a number of people describe "disable the offshore pump" as their favorite method of disabling a steam power plant. Blocking the steam output sounds like it's much more intrusive on your design; e.g. you can't use that at all with the most common early game power plant design.

[mmmPI]

4rth method : use a power switch

[computeraddict]

4rth method : use a power switch

Method 2 doesn't require any rewiring of the existing plant

[mmmPI]

4rth method : use a power switch

Method 2 doesn't require any rewiring of the existing plant

Correct, but as mentionned in OP, given the change in consumption for the fluid, it now has quite the latency whereas the power switch is more reactive, the fastest method of the 4 i think.