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Steam engine: Difference between revisions

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m (As per FF#430, 1 water now expands into 10 steam. So number of boilers/steam engines per pump is now 10 times higher.)
 
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{{Languages}}
{{Languages}}
{{:Steam engine/infobox}}
{{:Infobox:Steam engine}}


Steam engines are used to produce electricity.  They do this by taking in hot water and converting it into electricity. The hotter the water the more electricity can be produced. If there is an overabundance of electricity then steam engines will reduce their production to match consumption.
'''Steam engines''' are the most basic [[Electric system|electricity]] generator, available to the player at the start of the game. They produce electricity by consuming [[steam]], using [[water]] pumped from an [[offshore pump]] that was heated to 165°C steam with [[Boiler|boilers]] or to 500°C steam with [[heat exchanger]]s. Steam that has a higher temperature than the maximum temperature of the steam engine (165°C) is consumed at the normal rate (30 units/s), and does not yield more electricity. This means the energy that was put into the steam to heat it to a higher temperature is wasted.


Hovering the mouse over a steam engine will display information for that particular steam engine: current production as well as maximum productivity.
Steam engines will automatically adjust their power production and steam usage based on the current demands of the electricity network. Hovering the mouse over a steam engine will display their current power production ('''Performance''') and their possible power production ('''Available Performance'''), in a display on the right.


It is possible to chain multiple steam engines together as water will pass through them. The current optimal ratio is 1 [[offshore pump]] : 14 [[boiler]]s : 10 [[steam engine]]s.
Steam engines have two ports, allowing excess steam to flow through. This allows steam engines to be chained together. The current optimal ratio is 1 [[offshore pump]] to 200 [[boiler]]s to 400 steam engines. For more information, see [[power production]].


'''Steam engines themselves don't produce any pollution.''' ([[Boiler]]s do!)
Using steam engines for power does not produce [[pollution]], however using [[Boiler|boilers]] to heat up the water does.


== Using other liquids ==
When producing power, the steam engine will display a working animation:


The steam engine can use any type of liquid to generate electricity. This can be used to get rid of unused oil-products. Just fill unusable oil products into a steam engine and it will destroy the liquids (cold liquids will be destroyed at a rate of [https://forums.factorio.com/viewtopic.php?p=144748#p144748 6.0 fluid / second]). It works the same as for cold water; you don't need to warm it. If you heat the liquid before that, the hot oil will produce electrical power, just like with hot water.
[[File:steam engine animation.gif]]


By default, water is 15°C and oils are 25°C. The steam engine happens to work with water from 15°C and oils from above 25°C (a complete coincidence). An oil temperature of 25.22°C will get you about 1.3KW of power. Heating up water or oils makes no difference: heating one liter of water from 15 to 16 degrees takes just as much energy as heating one liter of oil from 25 to 26 degrees[http://because.a.tweet.doesnt.fit.lucb1e.com/?text=1.4k+water+15%B0C-%3E17.73%B0C+and+1.4k+light+oil+25%B0C-%3E27.82%B0C%2C+both+using+1+coal+in+a+boiler%2C+filling+an+empty+tank+from+a+full+tank+until+the+coal+boiler+runs+out.+I+stopped+a+bit+early+on+the+water+one+and+the+difference+seems+negligible. (OC)]. It was not tested how much energy the steam engine produces with 16°C water versus 26°C oil, but it probably does not warrant using oils instead of water.
{{clear}}


In general you should convert the unusable oil products into useables, instead of just making electricity out of it!
== History ==
{{history|0.18.18|
* Adjusted steam engine and [[Steam_turbine|turbine]] collision boxes so player can walk between two steam engines.}}


== History ==
{{history|0.15.0|
* [[Steam]] is now internally a separate fluid from hot [[water]].
* Added high graphics quality option for the steam engine.
* Increased the maximum [[power production]] of the steam engine from 510kW to 900kW.
* Doubled the heat capacity of water from 0.1kJ per degree per liter to 0.2kJ.
* Change fluidbox height and base level of boiler, steam engine and pump to improve fluid flow.
}}


{{history|0.10.7|
{{history|0.10.7|
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== See also ==
== See also ==
* [[Electric network]]
* [[Electric system]]
** [[Power Production]]
** [[Power production]]
* [[Liquid network]]
* [[Steam]]
 
* [[Pipe]]
{{MachineNav}}


[[Category:Items]]
{{ProductionNav}}
[[Category:Electric network]]
{{C|Energy}}
[[Category:Liquid network]]

Latest revision as of 20:20, 1 November 2024

Steam engine.png
Steam engine

Steam engine entity.png

Recipe

Time.png
0.5
+
Iron gear wheel.png
8
+
Iron plate.png
10
+
Pipe.png
5
Steam engine.png
1

Total raw

Time.png
7
+
Iron plate.png
31

Map color

Fluid storage volume

200

Health

Quality normal.png 400
Quality uncommon.png 520 Quality rare.png 640
Quality epic.png 760 Quality legendary.png 1000

Resistances

Fire: 0/70%
Impact: 0/30%

Stack size

10

Dimensions

3×5

Power output

Quality normal.png 900 kW
Quality uncommon.png 1.17 MW Quality rare.png 1.44 MW
Quality epic.png 1.71 MW Quality legendary.png 2.25 MW

Maximum temperature

165 °C

Fluid consumption

Quality normal.png 30/s
Quality uncommon.png 39/s Quality rare.png 48/s
Quality epic.png 57/s Quality legendary.png 75/s

Mining time

0.3

Prototype type

generator

Internal name

steam-engine

Required technologies

Steam power (research).png

Produced by

Assembling machine 1.png
Assembling machine 2.png
Assembling machine 3.png
Player.png

Steam engines are the most basic electricity generator, available to the player at the start of the game. They produce electricity by consuming steam, using water pumped from an offshore pump that was heated to 165°C steam with boilers or to 500°C steam with heat exchangers. Steam that has a higher temperature than the maximum temperature of the steam engine (165°C) is consumed at the normal rate (30 units/s), and does not yield more electricity. This means the energy that was put into the steam to heat it to a higher temperature is wasted.

Steam engines will automatically adjust their power production and steam usage based on the current demands of the electricity network. Hovering the mouse over a steam engine will display their current power production (Performance) and their possible power production (Available Performance), in a display on the right.

Steam engines have two ports, allowing excess steam to flow through. This allows steam engines to be chained together. The current optimal ratio is 1 offshore pump to 200 boilers to 400 steam engines. For more information, see power production.

Using steam engines for power does not produce pollution, however using boilers to heat up the water does.

When producing power, the steam engine will display a working animation:

Steam engine animation.gif

History

  • 0.18.18:
    • Adjusted steam engine and turbine collision boxes so player can walk between two steam engines.
  • 0.15.0:
    • Steam is now internally a separate fluid from hot water.
    • Added high graphics quality option for the steam engine.
    • Increased the maximum power production of the steam engine from 510kW to 900kW.
    • Doubled the heat capacity of water from 0.1kJ per degree per liter to 0.2kJ.
    • Change fluidbox height and base level of boiler, steam engine and pump to improve fluid flow.
  • 0.10.7:
    • Made bounding box smaller.
  • 0.10.0:
    • New graphics.
    • New sounds.

See also