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Processing uranium before train

Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:48 am
by wvlad
Is it a good though to process uranium directly at mine? Considering the "compression" rate it should be.

Re: Processing uranium before train

Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 6:48 am
by Optera
Considering how little even a 10GW power plant needs I don't think it's worth doing it on site.

If you use a tone of u238 for nuclear missiles doing refining + kovarex on site might reduce shipping.
On the downside you'd end up with a ton of u238 just sitting there and have to move and set up the whole thing once the mine depletes. So far I didn't come across a kovarex build priming itself with exactly 40 u238 circulating.

Re: Processing uranium before train

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 1:33 am
by piblow
You can prime kovarex build using the new splitter priority units. Setup correctly, the u235 can recirculate the kovarex centrifuges until the belts are full, then the splitter priority will yield the excess, never starving the system.

Re: Processing uranium before train

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 6:52 am
by Optera
Priority Splitter don't help priming with exactly 40 u238. This can only be done manually or with a counter circuit.
The simplest way of doing that requires a filter inserter in pulse read mode hooked up to a decider combinator as memory cell and a constant combinator set to 2^31-1-40 u238 to produce an int underflow after 40 u238 have been loaded, turning the filter off.

Re: Processing uranium before train

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 7:22 am
by eradicator
I do initial refining at the mine as a 10 times shipping reduction is pretty huge, and unlike copper/iron outposts, uranium outposts last a lot longer so there's no need to constantly set up new outposts. Kovarex is done at base where all the other stuff happens.

Re: Processing uranium before train

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 5:28 pm
by impetus maximus
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Re: Processing uranium before train

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 5:32 pm
by sathill
Optera wrote: This can only be done manually or with a counter circuit.

Im use other method. 11 chest and 22 inserters. In first chest inserter put exacly 1 uranium and in the rest of chest every inserter put exacly 4. When 41 uranium is detected one goes somewhere and rest go back to processing. Something similiar to train balanced loading. No combinator needed only circuit. It also can be done only with 5 chests and 10 inserters but research for inserters must be done first.

Coming back to topic ansfer is smelting in outpost maybe god early game but later its just too much work to setup new outposts. Better have smelting inside base. Ok uranium ore take a lot of slots but not too many are needed actually for power/nukes/fuel. Personally i use 10loco+28wagons setup and its works great. Single train for single ore type. I was in love with small trains but when behemots start spawning they destroy small trains. 10+28 not even slow down when runover multiple behe. Also thing is after some time it pain when bitters destroy power poles. But deliver 28 wagons of nuclear steam and minners work for hours (but not smelting they take alot of power, also laser turrets must be replaced with flame or guns)

Re: Processing uranium before train

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 10:12 pm
by piblow
This is what I meant. If you wanted to make a setup that does not require any player intervention, simply feed ore to the bottom and do what you will with the result. This will only put out u235 once the belt fills, it takes time, but its maintenance free so long as the ore supply continues.
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