(Yet another) Nuclear Cloverleaf, 4R/480MW - belt/bot compatible, auto-feed, lossless, failsafe (Batteries not included)

[Theikkru]

Here's my take on the old problem. I've adapted a few things according to my preferences, since I wanted a nice, clean, simple setup for starting nuclear power:

• Clean fit up against a bus (yes, I put nuclear processing on my bus)
• Low cost to build (relatively speaking)
• High efficiency (respectable neighbor bonus)
• Auto-start (no priming necessary)
• Automated control (no fuel wastage)
• Manual overrides (for debugging/servicing)
• Deep throttling (can throttle between 0~480MW without energy loss)
• Failsafes (handles low/no fuel, power outages, contaminated belts, etc. gracefully)
• Customization (interface at steam/water pipes)

Pretty pictures

preview.png (1.11 MiB) Viewed 4268 times

example.png (2.62 MiB) Viewed 4268 times

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

Copy blueprint
As recorded, the blueprint is configured for belting use, but it can easily be converted for bots by removing the belts, replacing the two lower iron chests with fuel chests, and placing depleted cell collection chests under the appropriate long-arm inserters.

I've intentionally excluded turbines and pumps from the blueprint, because I want flexibility in how to pipe in water, and I don't want to invest in 80-something turbines right off the bat. (I usually don't need that much power to start.) I've therefore made the water and steam pipes accessible, and as long as 5 pumps are connected to any 2 sides of this thing, water flow appears stable for at least a few full cycles. It's also possible to lop off at least 20 heat exchangers and their heat pipes for further build cost reductions, without compromising the overheat protection, so long as you don't try to tax the plant above its new power limit (-10MW per exchanger excluded).

I did design and test for all the weirdness that may occur during normal operation of a base (fuel starvation, blackouts, brownouts, waste backup, etc.), and this setup will simply stop whenever a blocking condition occurs, and resume operation normally once that condition is removed. Finally, the logic is designed to start from the blueprint state without priming, so I think I've achieved my goal of set-and-forget; once you hook this up, you shouldn't have to futz with it. (See circuitry section for details.)

Control Circuitry

circuit.png (766.22 KiB) Viewed 4268 times

The control circuit tests for the following 4 conditions before it activates the fuel cell inserters:
① all 4 of the fuel cell chests have fuel,
② there are no fuel cells outstanding in any of the reactors,
③ manual overrides are not active, and
④ steam is low.
Once all 4 conditions are met, all fuel cell inserters grab fuel cells simultaneously. (Aside: I discovered that inserters will grab from entities with just 1 tick of enabling signal, but they cannot do the same from belts, so the fuel chests are helpful even with belting.) All inserters are set to read hand contents in hold mode, to send fuel cell counts to the control circuit for tracking.

Combinator description by dot color:
Red: Start condition checkers. From left to right, steam detector, fuel chest tallier, reactor cell counter, manual override reader. Steam detector is set to activate below 15k steam per tank.
Green: Fuel chest checkers. Check chests individually to prevent uneven distribution of fuel (e.g. from fuel on the belt running out, or a player dumping fuel cells in a random chest) from causing activation when only some of the reactors have fuel in their chest.
Cyan: Edge finder. Converts the hand contents signals from the inserters to positive and negative pulses when they grab and drop their loads, respectively.
Yellow: Pulse filters. Isolate the relevant (new cell dropped and empty cell grabbed) pulses from the edge finder output to send to the memory cell for tracking.
Magenta: Spent cell signal converter. Converts pulses of fuel cell signal to spent cell signal to be recognized by the memory cell.
Blue: Memory cell. Keeps track of fuel cells currently outstanding in the reactors by counting and remembering pulses from all reactor inserters; fresh cell pulses decrement, while spent cell pulses increment. Resets if the manual memory reset is triggered.
White: Start poller. Sends activation signal to fuel cell inserters if all 4 conditions are met.
Constant combinator: Provides manual override access. H signal halts operation, while R signal resets memory (which shouldn't be necessary unless tampering with control circuitry or fuel in the reactors.)

The control logic is designed to auto-start, so it'll get confused if you just dump fuel cells directly into the reactors to prime them. So what do you do if you need to jumpstart the system from a blackout, and this is your sole source of power?

Manual priming instructions

1. Disconnect any turbines (or other steam drains). The fastest way to do this is probably to remove any turbines, pumps, or pipes directly connected to the steam pipes around the edges of the build. Disconnecting the turbines from all consumer electrical connections (including the control circuit) will also work, if you're not using the steam for anything else.
2. Enable the manual reset signal. (See circuitry section for details.) If you haven't used any manual overrides yet, this means turning on the constant combinator, and setting the R signal to 1.
3. Prime each reactor with 2 fuel cells if cold-starting (from 15℃), or 1 cell if hot-starting (from ～500℃).
4. Go do something else while the reactors run.
5. When the reactors are done running, (and you remember to check,) reconnect your turbines, and wait for all depleted cells to be emptied out of the reactors.
6. Once all depleted cells have been emptied, disable the reset signal (by setting the R signal to 0), and turn the constant combinator off.
The system should now operate normally.

[Theikkru]

Blueprint updated with minor cosmetic wiring optimizations, and circuit limits added to fuel cell chests to make startup easier when fuel is scarce.

[Theikkru]

Finally did some heat tests, and adjusted the steam trigger to 20k/tank to improve steam buffering and flow behavior. Even with 6 exchangers missing and no steam drain, reactors do not overheat. Blueprint and text in first post updated.

[mrvn]

You only have one pipe going from the steam tanks to the turbines. And a lot of pipes between the tanks and the first pump. How many turbines can you power with that?

The reason why I ask is because I think you have too many heat exchangers. It might be the right number for the reactor but there is little point producing steam much faster than you can consume.

[Theikkru]

The blueprint doesn't include the turbines; that image was just an example where I was using it and I didn't need that much power (which is why I put in the exclusion lines). As I wrote earlier, you can knock off heat exchangers to save on building costs if you don't need that much power initially, but I'm putting them all in the blueprint so you can repaste it later to expand. The pump is definitely overkill at the new steam trigger level. You can just connect turbines directly to the steam pipes around the edges if you wish.

[Theikkru]

I've updated the wiring in the blueprint to account for a case where the circuitry could possibly get stuck depending on the signal timing when reloading fuel under low power conditions. (I've had some trouble reproducing it reliably.) Hopefully I've serialized it enough that it can't get jammed anymore. I've also updated the pictures to take advantage of the high-resolution sprites in 1.0.0.

[gGeorg]

Your setup is unfortunate. You actualy need about 4 steam tanks to hold the heat to prevent overheating. Make the math.

Edit:
Or check mine math for my plant thermal balance
viewtopic.php?f=208&t=96233

[Theikkru]

Your setup is unfortunate. You actualy need about 4 steam tanks to hold the heat to prevent overheating. Make the math.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. It's primarily the heat pipes that store the heat and prevent overheating, not the tanks. The steam tanks are mostly there as an extra backup for usage spikes (since you can attach an arbitrary number of turbines). Their other purpose is to act as an indicator for when to trigger the next reactor cycle. (See circuitry explanation in main post.)

[gGeorg]

Your setup is unfortunate. You actualy need about 4 steam tanks to hold the heat to prevent overheating. Make the math.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. It's primarily the heat pipes that store the heat and prevent overheating, not the tanks. The steam tanks are mostly there as an extra backup for usage spikes (since you can attach an arbitrary number of turbines). Their other purpose is to act as an indicator for when to trigger the next reactor cycle. (See circuitry explanation in main post.)

Look, Storage tank holds about 2,5 GJ of energy, heat pipe holds 0,5GJ.

• Thermal capacity of the design covers the drops in consumption. Your Power plant thermal capacity is way overboard.

• Spikes could be covered by extra turbines, which are over the regular (480MW) capacity. But they are not inculded in your design.

You are somewhat mashing everything into everything.
Edit :
Check data
viewtopic.php?f=208&t=96233

[Theikkru]

That's the point; it's a one-size-fits-all design that has enough heat buffering to prevent overloads under intermittent use, while also maintaining a healthy steam buffer to handle spikes above rating. As I mentioned above, the turbines are left out intentionally to make setting it up simpler when resources are limited. The blueprint would be a lot more awkward to fit around terrain and other parts of the factory if it came with over 80 turbines stuck to it. Tacking them on after the fact is pretty trivial since the steam pipes are exposed all around the edges.
You could even hook it up as a steam depot instead of a direct power plant, and export the steam by train to distant outposts or something.
This build isn't tuned to a minimum heat buffer because that's not one of the design goals.

[echo_aka_echo]

Very nice! This didn't work for me because the 3rd Decider from top left which checks if the reactors are empty was expecting input "0" but was receiving "-4" from the four empty reactors.

Everything works after I changed that Decider to "< 0". I don't know if the blueprint is wrong or if I did something wrong when setting it up.

[Theikkru]

That's odd, there shouldn't be any normal case where the fuel count gets below 0. Did you happen to prime the reactors by manually putting in fuel? As another possibility, was your factory low on power when you started up this plant?
You can restore it to normal behavior by undoing your change to the decider setting and briefly turning on the memory reset signal (R signal on the constant combinator) while the reactors are empty.

Edit: I've updated the blueprint and first post again to improve some failsafe and error tolerance behaviors. Most importantly, I've included an update to the circuit that should work around an incompatibility that I recently discovered between inserter pulse signals and combinators under low power conditions. The energy-storing components of the build haven't moved, so it's possible to update to the new version without wasting any energy (if you're careful to engage the manual halt and deconstruct the 4 fresh fuel inserters first).
There may, hypothetically, still be an edge-case where the circuit can get desynced if the build is never supplied with 100% electricity through construction and initial startup. That case can be avoided by either ensuring the logic circuit gets some full power sometime between construction completion and first reactor startup, or making sure that all combinators in the build first get power at the same time.
As a footnote, the new circuit's memory cell now normally counts between -4 and 0, instead of the 0 to 4 in previous versions.

[echo_aka_echo]

That's odd, there shouldn't be any normal case where the fuel count gets below 0. Did you happen to prime the reactors by manually putting in fuel? As another possibility, was your factory low on power when you started up this plant?
You can restore it to normal behavior by undoing your change to the decider setting and briefly turning on the memory reset signal (R signal on the constant combinator) while the reactors are empty.

Yes I both primed manually and there was no power when I set it up. Mind you I am completely new at this. I did try a lot of resets, but it was always following a blackout, so with manual priming and no backup power I wasn't able to 'snap out' of the -4 signal problem.

Anyway now that I understand the decider logic a bit better I reverted my change and sent the reset signal and now everything is working as intended! I'm also excited to try out the new blueprint. Thanks!

[Theikkru]

Erp. Unfortunately, there's no way to build a combinator logic circuit that can work while unpowered, (so the reset won't help there,) and an auto-starting circuit is going to get confused if you just manually prime the reactors and leave the system to its own devices. I hadn't considered trying to boot the system from a cold blackout; I've added an instruction set for that in the main post.

[NotRexButCaesar]

Erp. Unfortunately, there's no way to build a combinator logic circuit that can work while unpowered, (so the reset won't help there,) and an auto-starting circuit is going to get confused if you just manually prime the reactors and leave the system to its own devices. I hadn't considered trying to boot the system from a cold blackout; I've added an instruction set for that in the main post.

You can make a separate solar grid to power the combinators/inserters

[Theikkru]

I know, but then it's not a pure nuclear build, and wouldn't be compatible with the "Steam all the way" achievement. Adding a solar backup is a pretty trivial exercise, so I figure I'd assume it unwanted, and leave it to the end-user to tack one on at runtime if desired. I never thought of the blackout scenario because I'd just assumed the presence of legacy boiler power, but that turned out to be a bad premise, so here we are.

[gGeorg]

I know, but then it's not a pure nuclear build, and wouldn't be compatible with the "Steam all the way" achievement. Adding a solar backup is a pretty trivial exercise, so I figure I'd assume it unwanted, and leave it to the end-user to tack one on at runtime if desired. I never thought of the blackout scenario because I'd just assumed the presence of legacy boiler power, but that turned out to be a bad premise, so here we are.

For a reason to stay away from solar, you can add a normal burn boiler, with burner inserter, then attach the 165C steam to the power plant system. It can prime itself this way.

[Theikkru]

You can definitely do that, but I don't see much reason to include it in the blueprint, since you could just plunk down a boiler in place of one of the heat exchangers temporarily and dump fuel into it manually. No need for any additional infrastructure, so it's even more trivial than auxiliary solar.
I'm assuming worst case scenario for compatibility reasons, so if someone's in the position where they need to boot this system from a cold blackout, I suppose no fuel for boilers, ergo priming instructions. Knowing how to cold-start the system sans alternate power sources won't hurt if an easier option is readily available. Brownouts, blackouts, no solar, no boiler fuel, etc.; I'm just covering all the bases.

[Theikkru]

Minor edit eliminated the need for 1 arithmetic combinator. First post updated.

Edit: steam trigger adjusted to 15k after some additional testing. Turbine distribution needs to be a bit more even now, but tolerance to other weird conditions (power draw spikes, missing heat exchangers, etc.) has improved.