Space Engineers

Space Engineers

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Steam Power Systems
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Type: Mod
Mod category: Block
File Size
Posted
Updated
81.338 MB
25 Jan, 2022 @ 5:47pm
10 May, 2023 @ 9:30am
10 Change Notes ( view )

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Steam Power Systems

Description
Advanced multi-block indirect power sources!

Add depth to your power generation with geothermal, light up your world with concentrated solar, and harness the true power of the atom with new types of nuclear reactor.

Standalone version of the steam power system developed for Industrial Overhaul, tweaked slightly for vanilla use.


Solar Concentrators

Concentrator mirrors produce Steam when exposed to sunlight; connect the panels directly to your Steam network, or use Solar Concentrator Mounts to angle your mirrors for maximum output.

Geothermal

Place a Well Tip deep enough below a planet's surface, and it will accumulate heat. Use Geothermal Pipes to carry the heat to the surface, and cap the well with a Wellhead to turn the heat into Steam.
Well Tips must be placed at least 150m below ground to collect heat, and have increased output based on depth.
Any additional wells within 250m will cause the efficiency of both to fall off linearly (ie, 2 wells = 50% efficient, 4 = 25%, etc.)

Nuclear

Standard Reactors consume Uranium to generate Steam. They also produce Nuclear Waste.

Fast-Neutron Reactors are less efficient when burning Uranium, but are also capable of breeding their own fuel from lighter waste products, allowing them to burn Nuclear Waste as fuel and giving them a higher overall efficiency.

Vanilla reactors will also produce Nuclear Waste, and are significantly less efficient than either Standard or Fast-Neutron Reactors.


Steam

Steam Turbines consume Steam to generate power.
Steam Pipes are used to transport Steam between sources, tanks, and Turbines.
Steam Tanks can be used as a buffer to even out Steam flow, or to store moderate amounts of Steam for later use.

All Steam production blocks require a separate source of power to "jump-start" them
Popular Discussions View All (2)
0
10 Sep, 2022 @ 9:11am
help with nuclear steam power
Diamondhero253
0
16 Apr, 2022 @ 4:46pm
Script for heat management
Rümmler
137 Comments
Vas 31 Jan @ 8:38pm 
I love this mod though, it replaces the magic reactors the game comes with, however I'd like to see a smaller reactor that takes less reactor components and space. Even if less efficient and such. That thing is gigantic compared to what I needed.

Here's some screenshots of it when I used it in an emergency situation on my ship.
https://steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3418535501
https://steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3418535313
Vas 31 Jan @ 8:35pm 
Wanted to point out a small glitch with the solar concentrator, it seems to be misaligned. I aim it away from the sun at a 90 degree angle to get most optimal power.
Michael Blackwood 25 Jan @ 1:49am 
Am I the only one whose steam system doesn't seem to work?
Using this mod here only, not the "IO mother mod".

I drilled a 600m deep hole, stuck the geo well tip at the end of that hole onto a geo pipe all the way up to a well-head. Then I connected the well-head to a steam pipe that runs into a steam tank and from there into a turbine. Waited a good 2 hours so far, but nothing is happening at all.

Little edit: To test the system itself, I quickly connected a row of solar panels to the pipes and voilà, immediately the turbines begin to purr like a kitten. So it seems an issue related only to the well parts?
Farro 3 Nov, 2024 @ 11:39pm 
The steam turbines are loud as hell and fuck up the game's audio completely
Hellboy 8 Aug, 2024 @ 9:13pm 
Is it possible to make these small blocks as well :)
debstar 26 May, 2024 @ 7:31am 
hi i am using Industrial Overhaul ...to make Geothermal works for me, ...it seems I need only to connect the Geothermal to turbine. and no Other Steam sources.

Geothermal + turbine = OK
Geothermal + Solar Concentrator or Coil Boiler + turbine = KO

So ..I built 2 turbines : One for Solar / Coil Boiler + tanks and another one connected only to the geothermal system.

I figured it out by cutting connections.
Vas 14 Apr, 2024 @ 6:01pm 
I think I figured it out, it seems to have a delay of some kind before it can begin doing anything on each new device you add. Did the nuclear reactor and it took a while for it to turn on too.
Vas 7 Apr, 2024 @ 11:37pm 
Oh and now it finally turned on, for no reason at all. My batteries have been near empty forever, I fiddled with the steam system for ages trying to make it do something. Tons of heat sitting around inside it. Once I gave up and went to expand my solar array, I come back and its FINALLY generating power. For no reason it just started to work...
Vas 7 Apr, 2024 @ 11:04pm 
I can't get this to work. I have heat building up in the well head, but no steam is being produced. It will not begin doing anything. I have empty batteries, my base is barely powered right now. I was hoping this could provide power but it can't so far. :/

It appears this has been an issue for a long time as I've seen a lot of people saying they can't get it to work either. Is this no longer being maintained?
Snipou 25 Feb, 2024 @ 10:25am 
Great mod thank you!
However, is it intended that the welltips can store an unlimited quantity of heat and that the wellheads can instantly generate an unlimited flow of steam? (corresponding to the stored heat) Because it very quickly gives "unlimited" energy. Worse, we have access to heat items, so we can move them in a compact ship with a few turbines and have almost unlimited energy too :/
The heat items have no volume or weight so it can quickly break the survival game.
The solution would be to simply not have access to it, and perhaps to put a storage limit in the welltips, because the heat accumulates when we do not use it, and we end up with an incredible amount of energy. quickly, which is a shame for the balance