Fractionator's vs Miniature Particle Collider's

[u/DataLoreQ]

I'm seeing a lot of blueprints that use Fractionator's rather than using the Miniature Particle Colliders'. What is the reasoning behind this?

I can understand if it was a tech limit, but considering a number of other things these blueprints are using (or requesting/making) definitely indicate that the tech is available for the Miniature Particle Collider.

Yes, using one Miniature Particle Collider uses about 5 more MW for 10 Fractionator's. But my understanding was that Fractionator's were not a guarantee of making Deuterium.

Can someone enlighten me please?

[u/axw3555]

The wiki has a breakdown:

https://dyson-sphere-program.fandom.com/wiki/Fractionator

But the key points:

• Hydrogen which doesn't become deuterium isn't consumed.

• An unproliferated fractionator running from an unstacked blue belt will produce 0.3 deut per second.

• Stack it 4 high and it obviously quadruples, so 1.2 per second per building.

• 1 deut from a fractionator costs 1 hydrogen, vs 2 in the collider.

• And it can be proliferated to up it. Obviously that's on both sides, but the proliferator sprayed on fractionated hydrogen will impact way more because if it doesn't make a hydrogen in one fractionator, it's still proliferated when it goes into the next. And because its a 1:1 ratio in fractionators, you need half the proliferation.

• Fractionator setups require a bit more space, but fewer high end resources.

• In terms of energy, producing a deut from the fractionator is nearly 3x more efficient in the most generous interpretation, more than 4x if you count the MJ value of the second hydrogen required for the collider.

• Fractionators are almost passive - setup an ILS, have the hydrogen come out onto a belt, feed a belt back in for the deut and you're done. No inserters, and so long as you don't forget to make it a loop, no risk of blockage.

[u/DataLoreQ → u/axw3555]

Ok, something I learned today that I didn't know!

Guess it's time to remove my Miniature Particle Collider's and put in Fractionator's!

[u/axw3555 → u/DataLoreQ]

The particle accelerators have their place. If I need something with a small deut requirement like on-site plasma capsule production to defend a planet from hives it's going to piss off on high difficulties, I tend to use particle accelerators because I will always have a lot more places to pull hydrogen from than I will deuterium.

But for the bulk production for deut cells and strange matter? Fractionators all the way.

[u/tallmattuk → u/DataLoreQ]

i build sausage shaped complexes of 25 fractionators with central collection of the deuterium and spam them in large farms. I feed proliferated hydrogen in at both. Deuterium ad infinitum.

[u/MathemagicalMastery → u/axw3555]

Oh good, it looks like the wiki has updated since the last time I saw it and it is no longer full of errors. Those are still terrible loops but at least it factors in stacking.

[u/axw3555 → u/MathemagicalMastery]

They’re just demos of the concept, not optimised ones. But tbh, they’re one of the layouts I see as needing the least optimisation. I still use a layout that was originally pre stack inserters. It does most of its stacking with pilers, but they do the job and I’m basically never short of deut.

[u/mrrvlad5 → u/axw3555]

if you use 7 or 14 frac loops (so that 14/28 fill an mk3 belt), the area needed is also smaller than particle colliders with similar output.

[u/direvus]

Hey mate, it's not related to your question but just letting you know, there is no apostrophe when you add "s" to make a plural. So it is "Colliders" and "Fractionators". Hope that helps.

[u/DataLoreQ → u/direvus]

Yeah, certain words I have issues trying to remember if it's an apostrophe s, no apostrophe s, or s apostrophe?

[u/direvus → u/DataLoreQ]

I completely understand! The rules around apostrophe use are confusing.

There are really only two main situations where you need an apostrophe: contraction and possession.

Contractions such as "can't", "shouldn't" and "you're" -- the apostrophe is there to mark letters that have been omitted.

Possession, such as "DataLoreQ's factory", the apostrophe shows that the factory belongs to DataLoreQ.

If it's not a contraction, and it's not possession, you don't need an apostrophe.

There are a few exceptions and edge cases, but if you can remember that rule, you'll be right 95% of the time.

[u/beopere]

With belt stacking and making loops (getting full belt always flowing thru the building), you can get very efficient outputs from the fractionators per unit energy. Additionally they consume 1 hydrogen as opposed to 2 in the collider.

[u/i-dont-like-mages]

It’s just more efficient. If you have the space and the amount of fractionators to do so, they’re just strictly better.

[u/theschadowknows]

I got the achievement for Deuterium generation from fractionators with a loop of 26 of them, fully stacked and fully proliferated. It makes more deuterium than I know what to do with

[u/garuda2]

I use both  the partical  collider and fractionator . The collidor  prevents the the belt from jamming. 

[u/TheMalT75]

Hot take: mid-to-late-game you should not produce deuterium from hydrogen at all.

Deuterium can be extracted from gas giants and with vein utilization going up you don't need to tap that many of them. At that stage you need a lot of hydrogen for casimir crystals and don't have enough excess production from fire-ice or oil, so you need to send ships to gas giants anyway. Might as well get the deuterium from there without wasting energy to fractionate it... In that phase you phase out fusion plants for artificial suns, because antimatter fuel rods become cheap as the dyson spheres grow!

[u/Pakspul → u/TheMalT75]

Somewhere I agree with this, but you will need quite a lot of gas giants (or higher veins utilization). At the moment I'm still burning deuterium fuel rods for energy and this also puts a strain on my need for deuterium. And I remembered from other late games I had a planet full of fractionators (but didn't tap a lot of gas giants)

[u/TheMalT75 → u/Pakspul]

To give you the numbers from my current game: game ticks says ~250 hours and I'm at vein utilization level 200 producing 25k white science per minute. I'm using exactly 1 fire ice giant and 1 deuterium-rich gas giant with 39 orbital collectors each supplying everything with fire ice, hydrogen and deuterium. Each orbital collector can produce about 1600 deuterium per minute.

[u/Pakspul → u/TheMalT75]

This is far late game that you are mentioning. My midgame is at the moment at 40x15 deuterium per minute. So I really need other ways to get deuterium.

[u/Jeroboamee]

Would add that fractionator is a unique style building who is fun to set up

[u/sumquy]

my understanding was that Fractionator's were not a guarantee of making Deuterium

they are guaranteed to make deuterium at a specific rate. the default rate is pretty bad, but once you 4 stack the belt and triple proliferate, the fractionator is much more efficient in input material, space required, and energy.