Factorio Forums

I'm not really sure when Small Pumps are actually useful? It seems to me that fluids, e.g. the various Oils, distrubute themselves evenly in any connected network of Pipes and Tanks, and isn't that good enough?

What is it I'm overlooking?

You are correct that they are not very useful, but they can be used exactly in cases where you don't want the liquids to distribute equally - say, if you only want to make solid fuel when your light oil is overflowing, or something like this.
Look at this thread - https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... f=8&t=7370

Another and very important thing about pipes is that the fluid pressure decreases with distance.
Pumps increase the pressure in pumps so you an transport fluids further and more efficient.
https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... f=6&t=7952

I use them as one-way pipes myself, I don't like the oil spreading over the long pipelines and prefer if it's all near the storage tanks and oil refineries so I use small pumps to control that.

They are also useful for toggling on/off steam power, or limiting flow rates through boilers.
See the 'low power alert' section in the tips and tricks post: https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... =18&t=5553

keyboardhack wrote:Another and very important thing about pipes is that the fluid pressure decreases with distance.
Pumps increase the pressure in pumps so you an transport fluids further and more efficient.
https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... f=6&t=7952

What kinds of distances are we talking about, to see this effect? 20 tiles? 30 tiles? 50 tiles? And if so, should I place the Small Pump at the start or the beginning of such a long pipeline? Or along the middle?

Ailure wrote:I use them as one-way pipes myself, I don't like the oil spreading over the long pipelines and prefer if it's all near the storage tanks and oil refineries so I use small pumps to control that.

So where do you place the Pumps, then? Right next to the Tank pointing into it? Or right next to the Pumpjack pointing away from it and towards the faraway Tank?

Peter34 wrote:Right next to the Tank pointing into it?

I'd go with that one, sucks the pipeline between pumpjack and tank dry.

Peter34 wrote:What kinds of distances are we talking about, to see this effect? 20 tiles? 30 tiles? 50 tiles? And if so, should I place the Small Pump at the start or the beginning of such a long pipeline? Or along the middle?

https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... f=5&t=6066

Choumiko wrote:https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... f=5&t=6066

But what does that mean in practice? Given that I exclusively use Underground Pipes to avoid cluttering my factory.

Build a pumpjack, build a 1000 tile pipe (standard or underground), and put a storage tank on the other side. Repeat with the same layout, except the addition of a small pump every 10-20 pipes, power, and compare the rate tanks are filled.