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Hello welcome to here
{{toc_right}}
=Power Generation=
If you want power then you gotta talk about how it's generated first


=HELP IM THE ONLY ENGINEER=
==Thermoelectric Generator==
[[File:Engineroom.png|right|thumb|Colors:need nine of these]][[File:FilterUI.png|right|thumb|A gas filter set to configuration mode.]]{{toc_right}}So you're new and no one else has joined engineering and you have no idea how to setup the engine? Well first things first: '''don't panic!''' You could try waiting for an engineer to join and teach you... unless you've joined during deadpop hours, in which case, the following steps will get the engine rolling quickly with minimal explanation. You should probably read the rest of this guide to understand how it works in greater detail once you're done:
<small>See also: [[Supermatter_Engine#The_TEGs|Supermatter Engine Guide]]</small><br>
*'''If everything is out of power, [[#Emergency!|skip to here]].'''
You put in cold gas in one end and hot gas in the other and you get power depending on the difference in temperature and if the pressure difference isn't awful
#Open a radiation PPE locker (one is found near the entrance to the engine room) and put on safety goggles, a radiation suit, and radiation hood.
#Retrieve three Phoron canisters from hard storage (the room with two doors across from the equipment room with all the lockers) and move them to the engine room.
#Wrench one of the canisters into the north connector (highlighted in COLOR).
#Wrench another canister into the south connector. '''Do not turn the pumps on yet.'''
#*You do not have to open the canister valve on the canister UI. Don't worry about that.
#Move to the northern end of the engine room and click on the filters (highlighted in COLOR). Click "configure", then click the button that says "Nitrogen" and change it to Phoron. Do this for both filters, and turn them both back on.
#While you're up here, click the engine SMES (highlighted in COLOR) and maximize both its input and output values.
#Move back south and click the pumps (highlighted in COLOR), maximize the pressure, and turn them on.
#Move a little bit more south and click the pump (highlighted in COLOR), maximize the pressure, and turn it on.
#You should see the canisters beginning to empty. Once the indicator light starts flashing, unwrench the canister on the south connector and plug in another one. If you did everything correctly up until now you should see purple stuff floating around in the core.
#*If you cannot see inside the core, click the '''reactor blast doors''' button on the wall (highlighted in COLOR).
#*If you do not see purple stuff floating around inside, check the pump (step seven, COLOR) on the northern connector. Otherwise check your filters (step five, COLOR) to make sure they are filtering Phoron, and not some other gas.
#Move over to the emitter (highlighted in COLOR) and click on it. Count the amount of times it fires.
#After twenty shots, turn the emitter back off by clicking on it.
#Close the SM core blast doors so that radiation doesn't spread to the rest of the engineering hallway.
#Head north and open the blast doors to the waste processing room (highlighted in COLOR). Turn on and maximize all pumps, and turn on all three of the gas coolers (their values don't need to be modified).
#Head to the main distribution SMES (highlighted in COLOR) and maximize its input value. You can maximize its output value as well, but it shouldn't be necessary unless the station is very well populated and you're somehow the only engineer.
Congratulations, you have successfully setup the engine, and everyone can enjoy their round in a powered station. You're a hero <s>for as long as no one finds out you used Phoron, an incredibly scarce resource</s>! Unless you set something up wrong and now everything is either still out of power ''or'' in the process of exploding. For the former's case, refer to the [[#Quick Diagnostic List|quick diagnostic list]]. In the latter's case, head to [[#Emergency!|this section]].


=The Actual Guide=
==Tesla Coils==
Now, assuming you aren't new and actually know a bit of what you're doing, then this guide will attempt to accurately describe the intricacies and in-depth mechanics of most of the systems related to the SM engine, from the SM itself to the SMES units connected to it at the end of the line. An informed mind is one that can potentially save the station from disaster!
<small>See also: [[INDRA]]</small><br>
sorry burrito justice... it's over


==How It Works==
==Solar Panels==
On the surface level, the default engine setup is very simple: SM is energized, SM heats up gas, gas goes to TEGs, TEGs exchange heat and produce power, power goes to the SMES, etc. The sections below will cover what makes each individual part tick.
<small>See also: [[Solars|Solar Setup Guide]]</small><br>
You connect the solars to a solar tracker and it tries to track the sun and generates power based on how many solars can see the sun


===[[File:Supermatter.png]]The Supermatter===
==Antimatter==
<small>See also: [[Phoron]]</small><br>
Wacky engine that supplies power by feeding it fuel. It can also be scaled as large as you want and in any shape you want as long as the parts are laterally adjacent. There's not much else to it unless you mess up the settings, then it might blow up. Ordered through cargo.
The Supermatter (often known as the SM) is a large crystal of tightly compacted Phoron with special properties. This particular crystal differs from typically large quantities of Phoron in that it is a semi-transparent yellow instead of an opaque purple, and it even glows. Another contrast is that the Supermatter is incredibly unstable, and is capable of vaporizing solid and liquid - and sometimes gaseous - matter in an instant (this includes you). It can even consume photonic energy in the form of lasers. This process usually results in the Supermatter becoming "energized", a state at which it will begin to slowly shed Phoron and oxygen particles (roughly at a ratio of ten moles of Phoron to one mole of oxygen, depending on the temperature of the environment), as well as radiate Gamma rays and produce incredible amounts of heat. It is also in this energized state that its visual appearance will distort in the minds of the beholder, assuming they are biologic (excepting Dionae), and will inexplicably stimulate the visual cortex of the brain to hallucinatory extremes. A footnote in its energized state is when high concentrations of oxygen are introduced, forcing the crystal to radiate a red glow instead of its usual yellow. Intermittently, the crystal will also cease glowing all together. This interaction between the SM and oxygen is poorly understood, but what is known is that the crystal will passively energize in its presence at a rate dependent on how much oxygen there is. Put simply, anything shot/thrown at the SM will energize it, producing heat and lethal amounts of radiation, and probably hallucinations.


The Supermatter in its default state does nothing unless you do something to energize it. It does not produce Phoron or oxygen, it does not radiate Gamma rays, it does not generate heat, and it does not cause hallucinations. Though viewing it without protection in an unenergized state is poor form, it is safe nonetheless. It is also safe to '''pull''' the SM around freely. It is not safe to walk into/against the SM, nor is it safe to click on it; this will disintegrate you immediately. Removing the SM from a crate in an environment with oxygen (such as a hallway or poorly maintained SM chamber) also isn't safe for the reasons outlined above.
==PACMAN==
Secure over a wire knot, give fuel, set target power, turn on. What fuel it takes and how high it can go depends on the subtype
*PACMAN: Takes phoron sheets
*SUPERPACMAN: Takes uranium
*MRSPACMAN: Takes tritium


While being basically space magic is all well and good for the purposes of generating power, it's also incredibly dangerous if not managed properly. Besides being able to heat up its surrounding atmosphere to rather high temperature extremes when energized, it is also capable of exploding spectacularly, known as a "delamination event". Most commonly this occurs when the crystal's structure begins to decay as a result of extremely high heat, particularly at '''five thousand Kelvin''' and above, and the SM will eventually detonate if this is not corrected. It can also decay if it is exposed to vacuum while energized. Though the Supermatter can be "damaged" in a way, it is also capable of regenerating itself if allowed an environment in which it can do so. It is prudent, then, to keep the SM from becoming over-energized and heating its environment up to a point where it can self destruct, a task that isn't that difficult since all Supermatter crystals provided by NT come with a device that will broadcast over the radio its status if it is concerning.
==Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator==
thing with infinite fuel that can power up to 1 kilowatt. that's it. there's an advanced version that can generate up to 10 KW with good parts


'''TL;DR''': Energizing the SM (shooting it with the emitter/a gun, or touching it with something else/yourself, or introducing oxygen to it) will make it produce heat and radiation, and start spewing Phoron and oxygen, and make you hallucinate without safety goggles. It begins to take damage at 5000 Kelvin, and this damage scales with temperature. It can also take damage if exposed to vacuum (even 0.1 kPa of gas will save it) while energized. It will explode and irradiate the entire map if allowed to take damage for too long and everyone will get pissed at you, mostly because the SM itself will yell at you over the radio if it's taking damage.
==Unimplemented and Misc==
===TEG 2===
If the TEG is so great then why isn't there a TEG 2? Well, there was. It didn't go anywhere and has been sitting around collecting dust in the code for ages.


===The TEGs===
===Radiation Collector Arrays===
[[File:TEGUI.png|right|thumb|Your typical TEG UI in an unpowered state.]]Something much better understood compared to the SM are '''thermoelectric generators''', or TEGs as they're often shortened to. The basic operating principle of any TEG is that it uses the difference in temperature between gas to generate electricity, the result being power based on the difference and slightly colder/hotter gas. In practice, the Supermatter - when energized - will heat up its surrounding atmosphere to a rather high degree. These gases are then pumped into one of the turbines (the north one) on the TEG, where it will exchange heat with the turbine on the opposite end (the south one) that ''hopefully'' has gas that is significantly colder. This turbine has gas being pumped in from a somewhat extensive radiator network in space, where it is slowly chilled. The two gases exchange heat with each other, producing energy, and the difference in temperature between the two is lowered slightly. Note that TEGs can safely produce up to five hundred kilowatts individually, beyond which they will begin to grow a little less consistent in their power generating capabilities. There is no danger in going above this threshold, however.
Though available in cargo, these don't collect radiation since they've existed before radiation was actually implemented and never got changed. They can harvest power from a singularity but they can't harvest energy from a SM because that part of the code got commented out.


A TEG also needs some sense of flow in order to function, meaning a turbine's input and output sharing the same pipe network without something to break it up will function rather poorly, if it functions at all. In particular, the turbine's input requires gas to be moved towards it specifically. Most commonly, a pump of some sort can be found connecting much of the cold loop to a small section of pipe connected to the turbine's input. While it may not be obvious, the hot loop does actually possess a pump in the form of a vent constantly scrubbing gas from the air. A TEG turbine has specific sides that its input or output can be found on, which can be found by simply examining the turbine.
===Gas Turbine===
<small>See also: [[Guide_to_Atmospherics#Unimplemented|Guide to Atmospherics]]</small><br>
Two machines that compress gas in the surrounding atmosphere to shove through a turbine in order to generate power. The compressor takes power to do its job, meaning this engine can be run at a net loss for power, but if supplied a decently hot burn mix then the pressure will be high enough to allow the turbine to turn at a rate that can generate sort of decent amounts of power - the turbine is more of a supplement to existing engines for powering the station rather than a standalone one. As it stands, despite the code not being meaningfully altered in almost a decade, the turbine runs almost exactly as it was intended.


In all honesty, most of the values shown in the UI aren't necessary at all to know except for output. If the TEG's sprite looks green then all is well on the TEG's end. Regardless, the values will be described anyway:
===Pipe Turbine===
*'''Total Output''': The amount of power available that can be output into a wire. You even get a cool looking bar that shows how much power is being generated! Wow!
The pipe version of the gas turbine, however the code and era when it was implemented are completely different. High pressure gas must be piped into the input and the output pipe should remain as low pressure as possible to allow gas to be turned through without issue. The turbine will then turn a motor which generates power. Just needs a proc called on the motor to connect to a wired power net, otherwise this setup is still functional. Mention the Adiabatic Process
*'''Thermal Output''': The actual amount of power being generated. Due to inefficiencies with the system, some power is lost, hence the existence of the '''Total Output''' value.
*'''Turbine Output''': How much power the turbines themselves are generating, independent of thermal exchange. Probably.
*'''Flow Capacity''': Literal mystery number.
*'''Inlet/Outlet Pressure/Temperature''' The pressure and temperature of the inlet and outlet, measured in kilopascals and Kelvin respectively. As you can imagine, the inlet refers to the pipe network connected to the input of the TEG, while the outlet refers to the pipe network on the output side.


For more information on how gas interacts with the TEGs, refer to the [[#Coolant|coolant section]] of this guide.
===Fractal Reactor===
Generates 1 MW of power when active, which is pretty crazy, and it doesn't seem to use any fuel. Probably because it's actually used for debugging. If you see this then you should probably ahelp.


===Gas and Heat===
=Power Storage=
Something something fire triangle
If you wanna keep power then you gotta talk about how it's stored


==Safety First==
==[[File:SMES.png]]SMES==
Before entering the engine room you should always wear proper PPE. The following will suffice, and are always found inside radiation lockers:
Big battery fella. The amount of power it can store and the amount of power it can input and output per tick depends on the type and amount of coils installed. Receives power through a terminal, outputs power into a wire beneath itself
*[[File:MGlasses.png]]'''Safety Goggles''' to prevent hallucinations from developing by looking at the SM. How do they work? Who knows...
*[[File:Radsuit.png]]'''Radiation PPE''' to keep you from receiving a lethal dose of radiation that can very easily kill you within minutes. Dionae and IPCs are exempt from wearing this.
As long as you have these two sets of items you are pretty much safe unless the engine room is either an inferno or vacuum. Certain [[Hardsuit Operation|hardsuits]] and [[Guide to Voidsuits|voidsuits]] are immune to radiation as well if you need to wear those out of necessity.


==[[File:SMES.png]]SMES Configuration==
===SMES Coils===
There are two SMES units that are immediately relevant to the engine: the '''engine SMES''' and the '''main distribution SMES'''. The former is what receives power from the TEGs and powers the engine room APC directly as well as the emitter. If the output is not high enough, the emitter may not fire, or the APC may not have enough power to allow the pumps to operate. The other SMES also receives power from the TEGs, but it outputs to the rest of the station. It should have its input maximized, since every kilowatt not used is another kilowatt wasted. The output can be adjusted as needed, of course, but one should take into account how populated the departments are and how much power the station will need in general.
Coils determine how much power can be stored and how far you can adjust the I/O. You can fit six coils inside a single SMES unit
*Superconductive Magnetic Coil: Stores 5 MJ of power, I/O of 250 KW
*Transmission Coil: Stores 0.5 MJ of power, I/O of 1000 KW
*Capacitance Coil: Stores 50 MJ of power, I/O of 50 KW
*Basic Coil: Stores 1 MJ of power, I/O of 150 KW


==Coolant==
==Power Cell Rack PSU==
An intrinsic property of matter - particularly gas, in SS13's case - is something called '''heat capacity''', a variable that determines how much energy it takes to increase the temperature of a substance. In the context of setting up the SM: how energized the SM needs to be in order for the gases in the hot/cold loops to actually rise in temperature. Heat capacity also factors into how power is generated with the TEGs; higher heat capacity allows a gas to hold more thermal energy, which means more energy can be transferred between the turbines, allowing more energy to be produced.
An alternative to the SMES. I/O is probably locked but the amount of power you can store depends on how many power cells you shoved inside it.
*[[File:Phoron_canister.png]]'''Phoron''': Arguably the most stable and safe gas to use, Phoron carries with it a stupidly high heat capacity, at least compared to most other available gases. There is a lot of leeway with this particular gas, making it easy to train new apprentices with. It's worth noting, though, that '''phoron is a fuel''', and can start fires. The SM will generate Phoron passively as long as it is energized. This gas is viable for either the hot loop or the cold loop.
*[[File:Hydrogen_canister.png]]'''Hydrogen''': Second best gas to use with the second highest heat capacity, and it compares pretty well to Phoron, at least compared to the other gases. Like Phoron (sans all the wacky space magic that comes with it), Hydrogen '''is a fuel''', and can start fires. It is otherwise inert and safe to breathe as long as you don't light a match. This gas is viable for either the hot loop or the cold loop.
*[[File:Nitrous_canister.png]]'''Nitrous Oxide''': Not nearly as good as Phoron or H2 (in fact it's leagues below these two), it's still a respectable gas nonetheless. Its only caveat is that '''it is an oxidizer''', and it will start a continuous fire if used in the hot loop, though the heat generated from such isn't as bad as one might think. It can also knock people out if exposed to the atmosphere, but almost all of these gases are dangerous in high quantities anyway. This gas is viable for the cold loop, but less so for the hot loop unless it is monitored.
*[[File:Carbon_canister.png]]'''Carbon Dioxide''': ''Just'' under N2O in terms of heat capacity is CO2. This gas pretty much has nothing going for it other than that, but it is totally viable for use in the hot or cold loop. You'll probably see this in the chamber anyway as a result of the SM producing Phoron and oxygen passively (which almost immediately burns up into CO2). This gas is viable for either the hot loop or the cold loop.
*[[File:Nitrogen_canister.png]]'''Nitrogen''': Lowest heat capacity, twined with oxygen, N2 ''has'' been regarded as the standard coolant for the SM engine, but the fact of the matter is that this is '''definitely no longer the case''', and N2 should really only be reserved for experimentation or as [[#Coolant Dump|emergency dump coolant]]. This gas is barely viable for anything.
*[[File:Oxygen_canister.png]]'''Oxygen''': Same heat capacity as N2, except '''it's also an oxidizer''' (obviously). Oxygen can also energize the SM. Because of this, using this in the hot loop will almost definitely result in a roaring, nearly uncontrollable blaze eventually. That's not to say that it can't be controlled, but this shouldn't be the first gas you look at for coolant. The SM will generate oxygen passively as long as it is energized. This gas is barely viable for anything.
*[[File:Air_canister.png]]'''Air''': Literally just 79% N2, 21% O2. Why would you use this. I mean, you have a lot of it, sure, but... why? For the reasons listed on the O2 section, using this is a terrible idea.


==[[File:Filter.gif]]Waste Processing==
===Power Cells===
While this whole shebang doesn't impact SM performance ''too much'', it's a good idea to set it up anyway, otherwise TEG performance might be negatively impacted, or worse. The filters up north are what will keep the coolant gas in the loop and the byproducts/gases you don't want out, pushing them towards the room to the north, assuming you set them up right. Towards the top of this guide is a picture of a filter's UI in configuration mode. Pressing "configure" will bring that screen up, allowing you to tweak the settings of the filter. The button that says "nitrogen" is what you'll want to change assuming you're not using nitrogen as coolant. You should do this to both of the filters, then turn them both back on. The picture on this subheading is what an operational filter may look like. Incorrectly setting these filters will most likely result in the SM chamber slowly depressurizing until there is no gas left, or the gas leftover is so miniscule that it heats up to dangerous values instantly. The room beyond these filters has a black pipe network known as the waste line with two pumps, a connector, and three gas coolers. As it turns out, siphoning gas from a blazing hot almost-inferno of an engine chamber gives you '''very hot gas''', which has expanded considerably, making most atmospheric devices function slowly, particularly the devices in Atmospherics, assuming the waste gases are allowed there via the pump connected to the scrubber line. Thus it's a good idea to cool the gas down with the gas coolers. The simple way to set this up is to turn on and max both pumps and turn on all three gas coolers. Alternatively you can plug in an empty canister into the connector instead of pumping the gases into the scrubber line, but there's no real reason to unless you just want to expand the volume of the waste network.
*Default: 1000
*Heavy Duty: 5000, found in APCs and portable atmospheric equipment
*High Capacity: 10000
*Super Capacity: 20000
*Hyper Capacity: 30000
*Slime: 15000, recharges, harvested from yellow slimes in xenobiology
*Potato: 300


==[[File:Emitter.png]]Turn It On==
=Power Distribution=
If you wanna use power you gotta talk about how it's distributed


=Emergency!=
==Wires==
First you should make sure you have power lmao
Things you throw down to carry power from one place to the next. Distance doesn't matter, a cable close to a SMES and a cable really far on the same network will have the same charge. use a multitool on these to figure out how much power is available.


==Coolant Dump==
==APC==
Should make sure the pipe pressure isn't over 15000 kpa or you're kinda screwed
Stores power but not much, it supplies power to all machines in the same area as the APC. If it's not in the same area, it's not under that APC's control


==Coolant Valves==
==Rechargers==
These things use ridiculous amounts of power so maybe don't decide to recharge more than two power cells at a time lmao
*Device Recharger: 45 KW when active. Accepts power cells, energy weapons, batons, and certain devices.
*Heavy-Duty Cell Charger: 90 KW when active. Only accepts [[#Power Cells|power cells]].
*Cyborg Recharging Station: 40 KW when active with default parts. Accepts stationbounds, [[IPC|IPCs]], and biologic crew if they're wearing a [[Hardsuit Operation|RIG]]. It can also repair the damage of synthetic individuals if its parts are upgraded, though this can consume more power.
*Exosuit Dock: 90 KW when active. Park a mech over this to recharge its cell.


==Direct Cooling: Maverick Style==
==Power Priority==
SMES receive priority over APCs, otherwise everything will try to charge equally and simultaneously based on available input, i.e. four SMES units with max input but only 4 KW available will mean that all four SMES will charge at 1 KW/h


==Ejection==
==Interruptions and Syncing==
APCs will turn red for a while if an explosion happens or if substations have their breaker boxes toggled. That's because power code sucks and has to resync everything after a large change in power nets like wires being spawned or deleted. if people complain about APCs being red and that engineering sucks tell them to shove it up their ass and wait two seconds lmao


=Quick Diagnostic List=
==RCON==
RCON is short for Remote Control in that it is a program that can remotely interface with SMES units that have their RCON wire enabled, and it is also able to toggle breaker boxes remotely, allowing you to manage most of the grid from a single computer. It's intended purpose is to separate and organize department power networks into their own grids so that they aren't wholly reliant on the main grid. There are many reasons to setup substations, however there are another many reasons to ''not'' use RCON. [[#Pros and Cons|You will have to determine when it's best to use]], but setting up substations is by no means necessary: unless purposefully sabotaged, the main grid will power the whole station just fine assuming the SMES in charge of the grid is charged and outputting enough power.


=Upgrades=
The ideal way to configure each substation is to set it up in a way that the department will always receive power when necessary. If you aren't sure what settings to use then don't bother configuring the substation; it's simpler and safer to just run it off the grid directly. Nonetheless, the substation's output must be able to meet a number of factors:
SMES upgrade, more TEGs, better use of coolant, more pumps, blah blah blah
#'''The amount of APCs:''' All rooms should have one APC, though sometimes multiple rooms share an APC. Departments vary in the amount of APCs they have but, ignoring the rest of these factors, 20 to 60 KW is a safe minimum to expect.
#'''The amount of machinery:''' Lots of machinery will consume power while idle, so it's important to keep them in mind, ''especially'' when they're in use. Lights fall under this category, atmospheric installations especially so.
#'''The amount of [[#Rechargers|rechargers]]:''' Rechargers are machines that tend to consume the most power at a time. The amount of rechargers in a department is what you want to know the most, and you'll want to adjust the SMES output to account for the potential for all rechargers being used at the same time. If the SMES output doesn't go high enough then the department will lose power if someone decides to recharge a lot of equipment. Research is especially prone to this.
If you want a quick and easy way to determine how much power a department will draw normally, just setup the substation like normal and set the output to maximum, the SMES will tell you the expected draw. If the draw is below available output then you can lower it to something a bit above that value to account for intermittent draws of power. However, if the draw is the same as available output or higher then you will need to either upgrade the SMES or re-enable the bypass.
 
The substation's input, on the other hand, must be set to what the department is expected to require at the least. It is '''safe to set the input lower than the output''' - as long as the input can meet demand during normal work then the higher output will use the SMES' stored charge to account for more demanding loads, assuming the high demand is only temporary (like recharging equipment).
 
===Breaker Boxes===
Breaker boxes are the physical objects next to SMES units inside substations that determine whether or not the substation is bypassed. It does this by literally spawning wires underneath itself to connect a wire leading to it from the grid to a wire beneath the SMES leading to the rest of the department, effectively connecting the department to the grid and ''bypassing'' the SMES. Breaker boxes can be interacted with in person or remotely, though to prevent [[#Interruptions and Syncing|power net weirdness]] they cannot be toggled back for a while. To clarify: wires beneath the breaker means the SMES is '''bypassed''', wires missing from beneath the breaker means the '''bypass is disabled'''.
 
===Pros and Cons===
Setting substations can be a nice tool if you know what you're doing, but it can easily incapacitate entire departments if you aren't careful. If you aren't sure then don't setup substations. Anyway here's all the benefits and disadvantages to disabling the bypasses of substations:
*'''Pros:'''
**Department-specific power net monitors will be limited to only their department instead of it ''and'' whatever else is connected to the grid, allowing you to diagnose room-specific power draw issues remotely more easily.
**Substation SMES can function as backup batteries if something terrible happens to everything else, assuming they're charged. This, however, doesn't require the bypass to be disabled: the SMES will charge as long as a wire from the grid is connected to its terminal, and it will always be there unless damage or sabotage is done.
**Incomprehensibly high power draw can be isolated to a single department, sparing the rest of the station.
**''Carefully maintained'' output can reduce the damage of being shocked by equipment managed by the substation.
*'''Cons:'''
**Values that do not take all equipment in a department into account can result in the department running out of power, or simply not being supplied enough power.
**Certain departments (like Research) are capable of exceeding the maximum possible output of their substation SMES by several times, meaning either the SMES needs to be upgraded or the SMES should remain bypassed.
**The benefits of keeping a SMES' output low for the sake of reducing the damage of shocks is irrelevant if you are forced to maximize the output or need to bypass the SMES.
**Grid checks affect APCs ''and'' SMES units. A SMES must be restarted before it can output power again, so departments that don't have their bypass enabled are reliant on their substation to restart rather than the main grid SMES being restarted and powering everything.
 
{{Engineering}}
{{Guides}}
[[Category:Engineering]]
[[Category:Guides]]
<!---if you're seeing this then I'm not working on a project at the moment--->

Latest revision as of 10:26, 15 October 2023

Power Generation

If you want power then you gotta talk about how it's generated first

Thermoelectric Generator

See also: Supermatter Engine Guide
You put in cold gas in one end and hot gas in the other and you get power depending on the difference in temperature and if the pressure difference isn't awful

Tesla Coils

See also: INDRA
sorry burrito justice... it's over

Solar Panels

See also: Solar Setup Guide
You connect the solars to a solar tracker and it tries to track the sun and generates power based on how many solars can see the sun

Antimatter

Wacky engine that supplies power by feeding it fuel. It can also be scaled as large as you want and in any shape you want as long as the parts are laterally adjacent. There's not much else to it unless you mess up the settings, then it might blow up. Ordered through cargo.

PACMAN

Secure over a wire knot, give fuel, set target power, turn on. What fuel it takes and how high it can go depends on the subtype

  • PACMAN: Takes phoron sheets
  • SUPERPACMAN: Takes uranium
  • MRSPACMAN: Takes tritium

Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator

thing with infinite fuel that can power up to 1 kilowatt. that's it. there's an advanced version that can generate up to 10 KW with good parts

Unimplemented and Misc

TEG 2

If the TEG is so great then why isn't there a TEG 2? Well, there was. It didn't go anywhere and has been sitting around collecting dust in the code for ages.

Radiation Collector Arrays

Though available in cargo, these don't collect radiation since they've existed before radiation was actually implemented and never got changed. They can harvest power from a singularity but they can't harvest energy from a SM because that part of the code got commented out.

Gas Turbine

See also: Guide to Atmospherics
Two machines that compress gas in the surrounding atmosphere to shove through a turbine in order to generate power. The compressor takes power to do its job, meaning this engine can be run at a net loss for power, but if supplied a decently hot burn mix then the pressure will be high enough to allow the turbine to turn at a rate that can generate sort of decent amounts of power - the turbine is more of a supplement to existing engines for powering the station rather than a standalone one. As it stands, despite the code not being meaningfully altered in almost a decade, the turbine runs almost exactly as it was intended.

Pipe Turbine

The pipe version of the gas turbine, however the code and era when it was implemented are completely different. High pressure gas must be piped into the input and the output pipe should remain as low pressure as possible to allow gas to be turned through without issue. The turbine will then turn a motor which generates power. Just needs a proc called on the motor to connect to a wired power net, otherwise this setup is still functional. Mention the Adiabatic Process

Fractal Reactor

Generates 1 MW of power when active, which is pretty crazy, and it doesn't seem to use any fuel. Probably because it's actually used for debugging. If you see this then you should probably ahelp.

Power Storage

If you wanna keep power then you gotta talk about how it's stored

File:SMES.pngSMES

Big battery fella. The amount of power it can store and the amount of power it can input and output per tick depends on the type and amount of coils installed. Receives power through a terminal, outputs power into a wire beneath itself

SMES Coils

Coils determine how much power can be stored and how far you can adjust the I/O. You can fit six coils inside a single SMES unit

  • Superconductive Magnetic Coil: Stores 5 MJ of power, I/O of 250 KW
  • Transmission Coil: Stores 0.5 MJ of power, I/O of 1000 KW
  • Capacitance Coil: Stores 50 MJ of power, I/O of 50 KW
  • Basic Coil: Stores 1 MJ of power, I/O of 150 KW

Power Cell Rack PSU

An alternative to the SMES. I/O is probably locked but the amount of power you can store depends on how many power cells you shoved inside it.

Power Cells

  • Default: 1000
  • Heavy Duty: 5000, found in APCs and portable atmospheric equipment
  • High Capacity: 10000
  • Super Capacity: 20000
  • Hyper Capacity: 30000
  • Slime: 15000, recharges, harvested from yellow slimes in xenobiology
  • Potato: 300

Power Distribution

If you wanna use power you gotta talk about how it's distributed

Wires

Things you throw down to carry power from one place to the next. Distance doesn't matter, a cable close to a SMES and a cable really far on the same network will have the same charge. use a multitool on these to figure out how much power is available.

APC

Stores power but not much, it supplies power to all machines in the same area as the APC. If it's not in the same area, it's not under that APC's control

Rechargers

These things use ridiculous amounts of power so maybe don't decide to recharge more than two power cells at a time lmao

  • Device Recharger: 45 KW when active. Accepts power cells, energy weapons, batons, and certain devices.
  • Heavy-Duty Cell Charger: 90 KW when active. Only accepts power cells.
  • Cyborg Recharging Station: 40 KW when active with default parts. Accepts stationbounds, IPCs, and biologic crew if they're wearing a RIG. It can also repair the damage of synthetic individuals if its parts are upgraded, though this can consume more power.
  • Exosuit Dock: 90 KW when active. Park a mech over this to recharge its cell.

Power Priority

SMES receive priority over APCs, otherwise everything will try to charge equally and simultaneously based on available input, i.e. four SMES units with max input but only 4 KW available will mean that all four SMES will charge at 1 KW/h

Interruptions and Syncing

APCs will turn red for a while if an explosion happens or if substations have their breaker boxes toggled. That's because power code sucks and has to resync everything after a large change in power nets like wires being spawned or deleted. if people complain about APCs being red and that engineering sucks tell them to shove it up their ass and wait two seconds lmao

RCON

RCON is short for Remote Control in that it is a program that can remotely interface with SMES units that have their RCON wire enabled, and it is also able to toggle breaker boxes remotely, allowing you to manage most of the grid from a single computer. It's intended purpose is to separate and organize department power networks into their own grids so that they aren't wholly reliant on the main grid. There are many reasons to setup substations, however there are another many reasons to not use RCON. You will have to determine when it's best to use, but setting up substations is by no means necessary: unless purposefully sabotaged, the main grid will power the whole station just fine assuming the SMES in charge of the grid is charged and outputting enough power.

The ideal way to configure each substation is to set it up in a way that the department will always receive power when necessary. If you aren't sure what settings to use then don't bother configuring the substation; it's simpler and safer to just run it off the grid directly. Nonetheless, the substation's output must be able to meet a number of factors:

  1. The amount of APCs: All rooms should have one APC, though sometimes multiple rooms share an APC. Departments vary in the amount of APCs they have but, ignoring the rest of these factors, 20 to 60 KW is a safe minimum to expect.
  2. The amount of machinery: Lots of machinery will consume power while idle, so it's important to keep them in mind, especially when they're in use. Lights fall under this category, atmospheric installations especially so.
  3. The amount of rechargers: Rechargers are machines that tend to consume the most power at a time. The amount of rechargers in a department is what you want to know the most, and you'll want to adjust the SMES output to account for the potential for all rechargers being used at the same time. If the SMES output doesn't go high enough then the department will lose power if someone decides to recharge a lot of equipment. Research is especially prone to this.

If you want a quick and easy way to determine how much power a department will draw normally, just setup the substation like normal and set the output to maximum, the SMES will tell you the expected draw. If the draw is below available output then you can lower it to something a bit above that value to account for intermittent draws of power. However, if the draw is the same as available output or higher then you will need to either upgrade the SMES or re-enable the bypass.

The substation's input, on the other hand, must be set to what the department is expected to require at the least. It is safe to set the input lower than the output - as long as the input can meet demand during normal work then the higher output will use the SMES' stored charge to account for more demanding loads, assuming the high demand is only temporary (like recharging equipment).

Breaker Boxes

Breaker boxes are the physical objects next to SMES units inside substations that determine whether or not the substation is bypassed. It does this by literally spawning wires underneath itself to connect a wire leading to it from the grid to a wire beneath the SMES leading to the rest of the department, effectively connecting the department to the grid and bypassing the SMES. Breaker boxes can be interacted with in person or remotely, though to prevent power net weirdness they cannot be toggled back for a while. To clarify: wires beneath the breaker means the SMES is bypassed, wires missing from beneath the breaker means the bypass is disabled.

Pros and Cons

Setting substations can be a nice tool if you know what you're doing, but it can easily incapacitate entire departments if you aren't careful. If you aren't sure then don't setup substations. Anyway here's all the benefits and disadvantages to disabling the bypasses of substations:

  • Pros:
    • Department-specific power net monitors will be limited to only their department instead of it and whatever else is connected to the grid, allowing you to diagnose room-specific power draw issues remotely more easily.
    • Substation SMES can function as backup batteries if something terrible happens to everything else, assuming they're charged. This, however, doesn't require the bypass to be disabled: the SMES will charge as long as a wire from the grid is connected to its terminal, and it will always be there unless damage or sabotage is done.
    • Incomprehensibly high power draw can be isolated to a single department, sparing the rest of the station.
    • Carefully maintained output can reduce the damage of being shocked by equipment managed by the substation.
  • Cons:
    • Values that do not take all equipment in a department into account can result in the department running out of power, or simply not being supplied enough power.
    • Certain departments (like Research) are capable of exceeding the maximum possible output of their substation SMES by several times, meaning either the SMES needs to be upgraded or the SMES should remain bypassed.
    • The benefits of keeping a SMES' output low for the sake of reducing the damage of shocks is irrelevant if you are forced to maximize the output or need to bypass the SMES.
    • Grid checks affect APCs and SMES units. A SMES must be restarted before it can output power again, so departments that don't have their bypass enabled are reliant on their substation to restart rather than the main grid SMES being restarted and powering everything.
Engineering Department
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