Steam engine vs Steam Turbine

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NosajDraw
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Steam engine vs Steam Turbine

Post by NosajDraw »

Can a Steam Turbine work using steam from a boiler?

Also, is there any efficiency difference between a Steam engine and a Steam Turbine? My maths, which could very easily be wrong, says a Engine produces 5.4545 KW per degree of heat, and a Turbine produces 4.8KW, but I've read in other posts they produce the same, anyone able to explain the maths behind this to me?

Kelderek
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Re: Steam engine vs Steam Turbine

Post by Kelderek »

The turbine will only work with 500 degree steam which you cannot get from a boiler, you need a reactor and heat exhcangers for that. Boilers cap out around 165 degrees I think.

Aeternus
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Re: Steam engine vs Steam Turbine

Post by Aeternus »

Not exacly Kel.
A turbine can work with steam from boilers, but it can consume at most 60/s. Because steam from boilers has a much lower temperature (and therefor has less energy), the turbine can produce at most 1.8 MW of electricity from that steam instead of the 5.8 MW it is at most capable of. So yes, Turbines can work with boiler steam, but they will never reach their maximum potential with it.

Kelderek
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Re: Steam engine vs Steam Turbine

Post by Kelderek »

Interesting. If you have unlocked nuclear power and therefore the steam turbine, would your boilers work better being connected to turbines or engines at that point or is it a wash? I can envision someone unlocking nuclear but continue using steam from boilers with turbines instead of engines if that amounts to better numbers when used with boilers.

Aeternus
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Re: Steam engine vs Steam Turbine

Post by Aeternus »

A turbine can use 60 liquid/second, a steam engine can use 30/s. In terms of power produced, 1 boiler can supply 1 turbine or 2 steam engines at most, and the electricity generated is equal - as is the chemical fuel and water consumed in the process. Alternatively, you can generate 900Kw of electricity from 500 degree steam with a simple steam engine by using very low amounts of steam. No energy is lost by supplying a steamengine with higher energy steam (as of 0.15.13).

It's possible to mix steam between boiler and heatexchanger as steam generators - see viewtopic.php?f=208&t=48150 for my own design based on this principle.

Nasabot
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Re: Steam engine vs Steam Turbine

Post by Nasabot »

Looking into the game file, it does not matter wheter you use engines or turbines for normal boilers.
The ratio is 1:2, so if you use 1 Boiler with 2 Engines or 1 Boiler with 1 Turbine has exactly the same effect.

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