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The closing date has passed. In the end, 6 designs got submitted, all of which beat my 728MW...

The winner of the challenge is...... <<< coppercoil >>> (check your pm)

I will make a video featuring all of the designs and comparing them, it will take me probably a week or so, I will update the post whenever it's ready!


Quarantaine Challenge!

The Highest Output 7 tile high Nuclear Reactor design wins FAME, HONOR and $10!

Oof, I got thoroughly nerdsniped by a comment about making a nuclear reactor for a 9-tile high ribbon world (meaning that with a railway, the entire reactor setup can be only 7 tiles high), and it got me wondering what is the maximum possible. During the process I learned a lot about fluid/heat mechanics, and ultimately I came up with a design, which I don't think can be improved anymore.

Prove me wrong! (I'm probably wrong!).

Below is my working design (728MW):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_hN1vbnfbc

Next to fame and honor, there is a small prize for the design with the highest output ($10 through paypal). Closing date is 30 april. On the off chance that I was NOT wrong, I'll disqualify myself due to lying I was wrong and the next best entry will win $10.

How to enter:
Option 1: Upload a short video with your design. You can showcase it, but something like I made already will do. Prize contenders will need to send the blueprint, scenario or save file for verification, so it doesn't matter if you don't showcase on video.
Option 2: Send me your best blueprint through private message. Do mention your designs MW output (obligatory) and preferably some other interesting details/specs.

Rules:
- 7 tile high design, including everything (so also offshore pumps, power lines, heat pipes, etc. you can place/remove water at your descretion)
- All reactors must be connected directly as a 'single entity' (so no groups of reactors scattered about)
- Must be automatically refuelable by train
- Only the 'real' MW-output which can be sustained indefinitely counts!
(make sure you test your design by starting it up while connected to an infinite power consumer, this prevents 'fake' temporary higher maximums than the setup can sustain long-term (without maximum load, excess heat is stored in the heat pipes and/or as an unconsumed steam buffer)
- I'm no lawyer, anything not covered but which is not in the spirit of the challenge will be for me to review. Like mods. Forgot to mention mods. Yeah, so no mods which alter any game mechanics. Anyway you get the idea.
EDIT:
- I can't build the offshore pumps directly from your blueprints. Make sure there is free space to place water tiles so I can manually place the offshore pumps
- It seems that nuclear performance is the same in 0.17.stable and 0.18.19 No design has performed different in my test then stated by the designer yet, but just in case, I'll test on 0.18

Tips:
- Use the map editor for your build (can place/remove water, instabuild with copy/paste, has access to infinite consumers (power/pipes/etc).
- Speed up your testing by using command "/c game.speed=120"
- Use an Electric Energy interface as an infinite consumer, and use it to initially power your pumps/inserters. Set it to produce like 500 kW, set buffer and consume to maximum. This will start up your pumps/inserters/etc (if you set it very low, after nuclear kicks in it switches to consume mode and apparantly doesn't produce any power anymore)

Looking forward to your designs!

Haha, I'm already defeated on the first day! What else could I expect!

Keep 'em coming!

This was fun dude!

Specify the required game version please. 0.18 experimental or 0.17 stable?

1. Must it be resistant to brownout? I mean, to not fall into deep blackout once consumption power limits exceeded (or fuel shortage occurred)?
2. Can it be insanely wide?
3. Can it be very err... ugly?

So tinkering with this in 0.18.19, I'm at a sustained 717.2374 MW. I think I do need the above question answered before I tinker more but looking at the UI in your video leads me to believe you're running 0.17.79. I don't have the train in just yet but I think that's pretty trivial.

Personally, I would be very surprised if it's possible to exceed 730 MW in 0.18.19.

ColonelSandersLite wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 5:05 am Personally, I would be very surprised if it's possible to exceed 730 MW in 0.18.19.

I have not tested nuclear 0.17 vs 0.18 yet, but I can say it is possibe to exceed 730 MW in 0.17.

coppercoil wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 6:53 am

ColonelSandersLite wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 5:05 am Personally, I would be very surprised if it's possible to exceed 730 MW in 0.18.19.

I have not tested nuclear 0.17 vs 0.18 yet, but I can say it is possibe to exceed 730 MW in 0.17.

With these restrictions?

I have built a reactor that ran about 1.6 GW but it most definitely was not anywhere near 7 tiles tall.

ColonelSandersLite wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 7:35 am I have built a reactor that ran about 1.6 GW but it most definitely was not anywhere near 7 tiles tall.

Yes. 7 tiles are serious restriction. Without restrictions you can build nearly unlimited nuclear power plants using tiled design.

That's all fine and good but I wasn't talking about an unlimited height tileable reactor. I was talking about this threads subject which is a single cluster reactor limited to 7 tiles in one axis. So again - Personally, I would be very surprised if it's possible to exceed 730 MW in 0.18.19.

The limiting factor is the heat pipes.

OK, lets be more specific. I can confirm that it is possible to exceed 730 MW on 7 tiles high single cluster reactor on 0.17 stable, if brownout resistance is not required.

Game version, yeah good one. I'm on 0.18, so that's going to be the choice since I'll need to run the tests. So far all designs entered have run their claimed MW in my 0.18.12, if there will be a submitted design which has a different output than mentioned, I'll update the game. Unless a new experimental messes with the fluid system (which could affect already submitted designs), it's ok to update.


ColonelSanders (I'm at a sustained 717.2374 MW), can you tell me how I can display more numbers behind the comma (is it a debug option? or did you calculate this from the more precise fluid count?)

Coppercoil: 1:no, the only interaction with the outside world is that fuel must be able to be inserted and taken automatically by train) 2: yes 3: yes

coppercoil, could you pm me the blueprint with the exact MW you get on 0.17?

I'll then test in in 0.18 and see if there is a difference

BP is not finished yet, I just made a proof of concept (yes, there's a small risk I have missed something). But I have my number and I can pm it.

ColonelSandersLite wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 5:05 amPersonally, I would be very surprised if it's possible to exceed 730 MW in 0.18.19.

coppercoil wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 8:31 am OK, lets be more specific. I can confirm that it is possible to exceed 730 MW on 7 tiles high single cluster reactor on 0.17 stable if brownout resistance is not required.

Well, In that case -
We'll see what I come up with. I'm not done tinkering yet .

mikehendi wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 8:49 amColonelSanders (I'm at a sustained 717.2374 MW), can you tell me how I can display more numbers behind the comma (is it a debug option? or did you calculate this from the more precise fluid count?)

I calculated from fluid count.

ColonelSandersLite wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 9:09 am I calculated from fluid count.

For some reason my fluid flow calculations did not match effective power. I don't know why. I was too lazy for it
I think flow rate is suitable for different design comparison only.

By the way, there also are traps while generating electricity... You should try it too.

Nice challenge.

In my first fast and messy test build which is not yet symmetrical (just placed heat exchangers and turbines on one side yet) I already get ~371 MW sustained. A few problems with cabling still to sort out because they won't reach yet, but I am sure I can space the electric poles in there somehow given the restrictions. Also the offshore pumps are a bit fiddly.

So symmetrical I expect that I might be able to get the 740MW with power poles and offshore pumps in... if I am capable of breaking that mark at all... but if there is not much room for much beyond. Kinda doubt that would be possible with the space restrictions. I will submit a blueprint once I am satisfied.

Btw using 0.18.19 currently.


Does there need to be some circuit network stuff to control the fuel consumption in low power demand? If so then I will also put in my classic circuit for that too.



[edit]

Nah, I will withdraw on the grounds that the fluid physics are still a broken mess as of 0.18.19 and any results cannot be compared properly since the physics only work when they feel like it.

I just copy & pasted the layout I had to space some things a little bit further apart since I still had 1 tile room in underground pipelength... so to make room for the poles.

Guess what.

Now it doesn't reach peak capacity as before anymore.

But not because I changed anything on the heat exchanger/pipe layout. It is perfectly the same. Just the underground pipes 1 tile longer than before... and now the steam for some reason clogs in the heat exchangers when before it did not.

Simply ridiculous how picky the fluid system works just based on where it is located on the map because it obviously seems to be tile/chunk aware or whatever and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

For me that is the perfect example again why they should have scrapped the damn fluid physics entirely. They should have gone through with the plan of making a pipeset one large unified pool which producers/consumers add/draw from... and for aesthetics of flow just cheat using a directed graph.

I was proud that I made 1.2 GW builds and then I realised it's 8 tile high

Just for the record: 0.18.19 didn't change nuclear performance for me, comparing to 0.17.stable.