Kayser's Cracking Auto-Cracker

The Most Cracking Cracker Around

Current as of: v0.7.4 (Update 3)

Note: If there is a lot of swapping between modes, the cracker may ocassionally jam due to ingredients being used for the wrong recipe. It can usually be resolved by enabling truck imports on the cracking units temporarily (which increases the input buffers), or by deselecting all recipes from the cracking units, discarding all ingredients, and enabling all recipes again.

General Features

• A miracle of CoI engineering, Kayser's Cracking Auto-Cracker is a fully automatic mid/late game Diesel/Napthta/Fuel Gas balancer.
• Feed it any or all three ingredients in any proportions—get all products in return. Never again have one product back up while others are in shortage.
• Automatically detects when products back up and stops cracking for that product. Stops gracefully if all products back up.
• Effective use of both Cracking Units simultaneously for all recipes/products—no workers or maintenance wasted on idling cracking units.
• Storage array (optional) included for easy set-up, testing, and mapping of inputs/outputs.

Technical Features

• Ultra compact design for minimal space footprint, low maintenance, and efficient use of construction materials.
• Back-up protection—fills output tanks but never backs up internally.
• Overload protection—takes from input tanks but never overloads internally.
• Waste protection—never makes a product that is already abundant.
• Air separator included for Oxygen supply.

Input/Output

• The I/O balancers have capacity to pass through full Pipe IVs of each of the main fluids (Diesel/Naphtha/Fuel Gas).
• Primary ingredients: 0-72 Fuel Gas, 0-48 Naphtha, and/or 0-48 Diesel, depending on supply/demand.
• Primary products: 0-48 Diesel, 0-36 Naphtha, and/or 0-48 Fuel Gas, depending on supply/demand.
• Auxiiliary ingredients: 0-6 High Steam, 0-18 H₂ (optional*)
• By-products that require removal: 0-12 Water, 0-16 H₂

*If H₂ is not supplied, the cracker cannot crack Naphtha directly to Diesel. It will still make Diesel from Naphtha (via Fuel Gas), but at a much lower rate (about 20 Diesel per minute instead of 48).

Usage

• Basically plug-and-play. Place blueprint. Researching Pipe III before is recommended. If Pipe III is not available, plant will still function, but in some special cases not at full capacity.
• Connect your surplus supply of Diesel/Naphtha/Fuel Gas to the input tanks (if using storage array) or directly to the respective balancer labeled "I/O" for each product. Input connections should not be prioritized in the I/O balancers.
• Connect your output tanks to the tanks labeled output (if using storage array) or directly to the respective I/O balancer. Output connection should be prioritized in the I/O balancer.
• Connect auxiliary H₂ or ensure it is filled by trucks.
• Connect auxiliary steam or (if using storage array + boiler) water. Using auxiliary steam is recommended due to the low volume of steam required (max 6/60).
• Ensure residual Water is transported away by pipe or truck. (Residual water is neither a reliable source of water for steam, nor is the steam production a reliable consumer of residual water due to different recipes.)

Design Notes/Operational Description

1. From the I/O balancers, the primary fluids (Diesel/Naphtha/Fuel Gas) are passed around in four control loops (one for each recipe in the cracking unit).
2. I/O balancer priotrtizes sending the fluid toward cracking. Any surplus is sent into another "surplus pipe" to indicate that a surplus is available.
3. A second "control balancer" in each loop checks if that recipe's main ingredient is available in surplus. If so, it passes that surplus along into the loop. If not, the cracking candidate (product) is passed into the loop instead.
4. A pair of tanks in each loop sorts the fluids. If the product (indicating surplus) was passed along, it is simply sent back to the I/O balancer to block the loop. If the ingredient (indicating shortage) was passed along, it will be sent to cracking.
5. An overflow watch balancer in each loop checks if the cracking unit is already fully loaded. If so, it sends the ingredient back to the control balancer, to block the loop from adding more ingredient.
6. Naphtha and Diesel are mixed with H₂ or Steam in exact proportions. (O₂ is fed to a dedicated port.)
7. Fluids enter a cracking unit feeder loop and eventually enter one if the cracking units and is subsequently cracked.
8. All output is combined and sorted in a fluid sorting loop.
9. Primary fluids are sent back to the I/O balancer to be output (or cracked again, if needed).

Crack away!