Power Over Production, need tips

[KidWobble]

I'm having over production issues at cycle 550 and when my geysers are not active energy tends to run scarce. I would like to conserve as much gas and hydro as possible during active cycles. My 2 main sources are 1 hydro and 1 gas, each has a dedicated power room with 4 generators and a power control station. 

All generator are connected to my control smart battery which kicks in below 10%. I chose to make the controller battery the one running the kitchen as this seems to be an indicator of a system that needs to always be up. 

Currently there's 8 small transformers (each with a single battery) running of the mains with various amounts of usage. I've tried cutting different systems and ranges on the smart but this does not seem to reduce the waste of 200kJ  - 400kJ on the gas and upwards of 900kJ when running hydro. (Also disabling 1 of the 2 power rooms if both resources are running)

I was thinking of linking 2 grids in the central base to a 4kJ transformer and reworking with conductive wire but not sure if that would make a difference. I figured the automation on the smart would prevent any over production but apparently I'm missing something. Any tips or a crash course in electrical engineering would be appreciated. 

Secondary and not as critical but I'm running 2 SPOMs in my base. Any way to run power 1 directionally using a smart battery only when the SPOMs are at 100%?

My dupes and I thank you! And remember, it's always sunny in the Neural Vacillator.

[KittenIsAGeek]

OK, its hard to tell exactly what all is going on there, but here are some tips for energy conservation:

1)  Each generator needs its own smart battery controller.  In addition, depending on the generator, it is sometimes useful to turn the battery off at 95% instead of 100%.  

2) Both the generator and its smart battery controller need to be on the same power grid.

The battery in the kitchen, for example, is not going to tell you whether the main power grid has sufficient power or not -- it is only going to tell you if the kitchen grid has enough power.  

3) Depending on your power uses, a smart battery on the 'small' side of the transformer can save a lot of power in the form of heat.  If you have a grid that is not used very often, then the transformer is pumping out a lot of heat for no reason at all.  Sticking a smart battery on the small side turns off the transformer when power is not being used -- and smart batteries generate far less heat.  

 

4) You can use a smart battery and gas piping mechanics to save excess hydrogen when the SPOM is running.  Here are some screenshots from my particular variation on the SPOM:

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OK, so.. as you can see, there's a smart battery controlling a hydrogen generator which is the sole source of power for my SPOM. The line of power that leaves the SPOM goes down to a pump in a pool from a slush geyser, handling both the cooling and water needs of the SPOM. But, the generator, even though it only produces 800 watts, does not need to run continually so there is a split in the hydrogen delivery pipe.  When the buffer stretch of pipe is full, the excess goes off to run a hydrogen generator on my main power grid.  This means that even if there's a catastrophic power failure (maybe I'm re-designing the base and need to take down the grid), my SPOM will still continue to run and provide fresh, cool oxygen to the base. 

The smart battery is set to 95% and 50%, but these numbers aren't that important.  It needs to go active at some point before the system runs out of power, so "active" could be as low as 5%.  It also should shut off at some point before 100% to prevent 'over production.'  Since the generator only produces 800 watts, "standby" could be set as high as 99%.

[mickaux]

As long as gas pressure is not affecting tiles in any way, I keep using simple air compressor with 3 doors and simple automation (Brothgar was using them some time ago). I find them extremely useful, as you can store crazy amounts of gas and pump it back into the system when needed. The only thing you need in this setting is using pipe bridge and thus creating main pipe (from the geyser) and auxilary pipe (from the compressor).

In my last base I decided to go for gas storage though. With over 10 of those I had enough natgas to run 3 generators for over 30 cycles while both natgas geysers were dormant. If you consider compressor exploits, this is so far the easiest way to store surplus hydrogen and natgas.

[KittenIsAGeek]

3 minutes ago, mickaux said:

In my last base I decided to go for gas storage though. With over 10 of those I had enough natgas to run 3 generators for over 30 cycles while both natgas geysers were dormant. If you consider compressor exploits, this is so far the easiest way to store surplus hydrogen and natgas.

Or just do something like this:

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[KidWobble]

47 minutes ago, KittenIsAGeek said:

Or just do something like this:

  Hide contents

 

does locking vents still work? what's the kg per tile?

1 hour ago, KittenIsAGeek said:

1)  Each generator needs its own smart battery controller.  In addition, depending on the generator, it is sometimes useful to turn the battery off at 95% instead of 100%.  

 

Yes, amazing I think this will work for my use case.And way less automation wire strung around. Thanks! Also very curious about the SPOM system. I'll try this once things stabilize a it.

1 hour ago, KittenIsAGeek said:

3) Depending on your power uses, a smart battery on the 'small' side of the transformer can save a lot of power in the form of heat.  If you have a grid that is not used very often, then the transformer is pumping out a lot of heat for no reason at all.  Sticking a smart battery on the small side turns off the transformer when power is not being used -- and smart batteries generate far less heat.  

 

I've never tried this but might be interesting. My heavy watt runs so far under the base and I'm radiating cool slush before it hits the my sieve so actually having the opposite problem)

1 hour ago, mickaux said:

As long as gas pressure is not affecting tiles in any way, I keep using simple air compressor with 3 doors and simple automation (Brothgar was using them some time ago). I find them extremely useful, as you can store crazy amounts of gas and pump it back into the system when needed. The only thing you need in this setting is using pipe bridge and thus creating main pipe (from the geyser) and auxilary pipe (from the compressor).

In my last base I decided to go for gas storage though. With over 10 of those I had enough natgas to run 3 generators for over 30 cycles while both natgas geysers were dormant. If you consider compressor exploits, this is so far the easiest way to store surplus hydrogen and natgas.

. Ah cool, Yes I remember seeing this. It hasn't been the top emergency right now but definitely something worth trying. 
Why you think there's a problem? 

For now I just let the backup sink into this crater. the pump with element sensor make it easy enough to reclaim when needed. It is a mess though, compression here would be great. Thanks for the idea)

[KittenIsAGeek]

19 minutes ago, KidWobble said:

does locking vents still work? what's the kg per tile?

This actually works very well and is very easy to build. I think of it as a one-way valve.  Right now the room is at 18kg/square of hydrogen, but I've been burning hydrogen recently.

To make the room, start with something like this:

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When the water starts to overflow the tile, deconstruct the pump and mop up on the outside. Do NOT mop on top of the air tile.

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Once the water stops overflowing, build a second air tile and your air vent.

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Also, here's an example of putting a smart battery on a transformer.  You want to do this only on systems that are not very active, as each time the transformer turns off you lose a small amount of power from the transformer.  If the transformer is continually turning off and on, that small amount of power loss can become quite noticeable.  In this particular case, the top transformer switches on about 3 times a cycle and the bottom one about once every 3 or 4 cycles.

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[Nitroturtle]

Initially I stored my excess NG like this (I know this is Hydrogen, but same setup):

Once that reached 3000Kg per tile, I started storing it like this:

[KidWobble]

 

3 hours ago, KittenIsAGeek said:

1)  Each generator needs its own smart battery controller.

Not to be slow but I'm still not seeing how this should be set up on a central circuit, even if each generator has its own battery, it still bridges to the main heavy watts right past the battery. So in effect all the batteries are getting charged by the mains.

 

[KittenIsAGeek]

@KidWobbleYes, all the batteries on the mains get charged by any generator on the mains.  This means that each time you add a battery/generator pair, you add a larger buffer to your power system.  If the batteries are all set the same, then the generators will all run simultaneously.  If you set the batteries differently, then you can prioritize some generators.  For example, I have two coal generators, one nat-gas generator, and one hydrogen generator.  Coal is not a problem because of my hatch farms, so the batteries for my coal generators are set to turn on at 90% and turn off at 99%, meaning that they're almost always on.  The nat-gas generator is set to turn on at 60%, and basically just means that when the coal generators can't keep up, it kicks on.  Finally, I'm saving up hydrogen, so I don't really want to run that generator all that much.  However, some times my power demands are more than the nat-gas and coal generators can supply.  When power is really low, say, 20%, then the hydrogen generator kicks on.

[KidWobble]

27 minutes ago, KittenIsAGeek said:

@KidWobbleYes, all the batteries on the mains get charged by any generator on the mains.  This means that each time you add a battery/generator pair, you add a larger buffer to your power system.  If the batteries are all set the same, then the generators will all run simultaneously.  If you set the batteries differently, then you can prioritize some generators.  For example, I have two coal generators, one nat-gas generator, and one hydrogen generator.  Coal is not a problem because of my hatch farms, so the batteries for my coal generators are set to turn on at 90% and turn off at 99%, meaning that they're almost always on.  The nat-gas generator is set to turn on at 60%, and basically just means that when the coal generators can't keep up, it kicks on.  Finally, I'm saving up hydrogen, so I don't really want to run that generator all that much.  However, some times my power demands are more than the nat-gas and coal generators can supply.  When power is really low, say, 20%, then the hydrogen generator kicks on.

Works perfectly now thanks! 

[thejams]

One thing that I use is a setup like this:

Generators --> Battery1 --> Transformer1 --> SPOM

                       |--> Transformer2 --> Battery2 --> Non-critical systems

This enables me to turn off Transformer2 when needed, making sure the critical systems like SPOM are prioritized with power.  Surplus power overflows to noncritical systems filling Battery2.

[KittenIsAGeek]

25 minutes ago, thejams said:

One thing that I use is a setup like this:

Generators --> Battery1 --> Transformer1 --> SPOM

                       |--> Transformer2 --> Battery2 --> Non-critical systems

This enables me to turn off Transformer2 when needed, making sure the critical systems like SPOM are prioritized with power.  Surplus power overflows to noncritical systems filling Battery2.

That's a pretty good method.  My method is that the SPOM has its own generator and battery. Any hydrogen beyond what is necessary to operate the SPOM is sent to the main power grid.  My oxygen supply, then, will continue to operate even if I completely tear down my entire electrical grid.

[SackMaggie]

6 hours ago, KidWobble said:

Any way to run power 1 directionally using a smart battery only when the SPOMs are at 100%?

You can do it with help of power shutoff, some automation and smart battery.

If you don't know take a look at my setup.

  

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Save file: Test Save.sav

  

 

[ShadowOfALegend]

my current power set-up

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[KittenIsAGeek]

Here's a method of running power one-directionally.  I use a small transformer backwards to feed power from hamster wheels to my main power grid without having to build heavi-watt wire in my living space.

Spoiler

The hamster wheels charge the two batteries underneath the transformer.  The smart battery to the right of the transformer is set to turn off the transformer when the main grid is full, and turn it on when power gets low.  When I ran the hamster wheels straight to the grid, the dupes would spend all their time on the wheels.  This way they charge up the two batteries, then leave.  Some time later when power is low, transformer kicks on, power drains from the two batteries at a rate of 1kw.  When the two batteries get low, dupes come back to the wheels.