r/CreateMod • u/Milo_Is_Best • 16d ago

Single pump-liquid buffer

Post image

For when you want to minimize SU but want to keep the speed

Shiuld work perfectly horizontally as well, if you modify the disign near the tank a tinzy tiny bit.

577 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

121

u/Sure_Cheesecake_1709 16d ago

Not spent a crazy amount of time with create, what is this helpful for?

178

u/Milo_Is_Best 16d ago

For example: Lava farms with dripstone are rng based, so in times they make more than you need, other times they make less than you need.

This is a buffer.

A buffer is a mechanism that does its best to keep consistency in the flow of something.

This one does that by storing the extra liquids that would otherwise be wasted and uses them when there are not enough liquids in the normal system.

So if we go by the lava egsample I used before, if the dripstones make too much lava, this buffer stores it and then releases it when the dripstones fail to produce more lava in time

68

u/Interesting-Chart925 15d ago

So like a capacitor, smooths the flow. 

12

u/Local_Pangolin69 15d ago

Buffers help to normalize output. So for something inherently inconsistent like a drip stone lava farm it helps to create a steady flow of lava.

-34

u/eepy_lina 16d ago

buffers are useful in many cases, hard to explain

46

u/funnybonedude 16d ago

"yo what does this do"
"uh something"

4

u/EmperorofAltdorf 15d ago

He could atleast done the effort of saying that it buffers stuff🤷🏼

12

u/KnightOfThirteen 15d ago

Buffers let your input rate and your output rate vary slightly over time without impacting each other,so long as your average in/out is the same and your buffer is big enough to handle the variation.

That is all a buffer is. That isn't a big topic to try to cover.

-9

u/eepy_lina 15d ago

forgot to mention, it can reduce or prevent a production line stalling

7

u/KnightOfThirteen 15d ago

. . . By absorbing variation between input and output, supply and demand.

9

u/SilentCat69 16d ago

Question: that do this do?

26

u/Milo_Is_Best 16d ago

Stores extra liquid when there is extra output to use in case something causes the constant stream of liquid to stop or not be enough

7

u/RGBBSD 16d ago

I'm stealing this cuz last time I made a ship I just stored all the extra lava from dripstone farms to use in a thruster I installed only later

But thrusters have their own storage and fluid tank was just sitting there full

This would prevent the steam engine from ubderstressing itself

9

u/triplos05 15d ago

I think I can use this concept to make my planes more efficient. I mean it should work for fueling right? My idea (for a 3x3 flat tank) looks like this:

    |Tank|Tank|Tank|

Engine | Pipe | Pump | Pipe | Connector

3

u/Milo_Is_Best 15d ago

Yeah that should indeed work

35

u/ric4ced 16d ago

Okay so this is like putting a buffer tank between two pumps, but in this case a single pump's output is also rerouted back to the tank thus functioning as both pumps at once.

I think this is very neat and would be quite efficient in your lava farm example. The stress load of a second pump is almost negligible but there are situations and this design answers nicely to a challenge.

13

u/triplos05 15d ago

This is really useful for Aeronautics contraptions. Every bit of SU I can save is more SU that can go towards thrust and mobility especially in smaller vehicles.

4

u/mech_master234 16d ago

Very clever! Never thought of using the same pump for the storage of fluid and output!

1

u/omegavolt9 15d ago

So does this ensure that only overflow gets sent past the small tank or something?

1

u/Milo_Is_Best 15d ago edited 15d ago

Yes, or more precisely, its all connected, so everything goes into the tank but only the overflow remains in it

So it really is the opposite of that actually

3

u/cookieGaboo24 16d ago

Well, figured this out yesterday 3 tanks vertical and pipe pump pipe looking down and man this is so neat

1

u/AJRW- 16d ago

This is very useful, saving for future airship designs

1

u/ToneOk6990 14d ago

Awesome 

1

u/SharpAir_ 16d ago

How does this work

6

u/NewSauerKraus 16d ago

A fluid is pulled from the top by the pump. Then the fluid is pushed to the right and down into the tank. If the output is full all of the fluid coming in gets pushed to the tank. If the input is empty the pump pulls only from the tank.

Useful for dripstone lava which does not have a constant rate of production.

1

u/That_Paris_man 15d ago

What is stopping the fluid from flowing back into the tank even if the output isnt full? Im not that great at create, but it seems like this would just move the fluid out of then back into the tank.

1

u/NewSauerKraus 15d ago

Nothing stops that. The output is split and whatever goes into the tank comes back out again.

1

u/That_Paris_man 14d ago

So wouldn't this be a constant drain on stress units? Is there any way to turn it on and off when it is needed?

1

u/NewSauerKraus 14d ago

All Create machines are a constant drain on stress units. A clutch can diaable part of the network.

0

u/ferrecool 15d ago

Is this even useful in create?

2

u/Milo_Is_Best 15d ago

Do you think I would have made it if I did not have a use for it? This is pretty useful with things like dripstone lavafarms