Gas turbine generator

[hotcrazyfruit]

A gas turbine generator would have many uses. Essentially turning a current turbine engine into an electrical generator, where rather than outputting much thrust (if anything worth noting, at all) it outputs a much more significant amount of electricity. Perhaps, 30 or 40 units per second.

In the mean time, I could simply edit the CFG of the turbine, however I feel it would be a significant addition to the game. Primarily for rover power in atmospheric environments, during night, without having to carry a gazillion batteries. Also counters having to have solar panels everywhere which can break, and can cause lag.

Both a 1.5m and 0.75m part would be useful.

Thoughts?

[ravener]

If it could run on both intake air/ liquid fuel and liquid fuel/ oxidizer it would have a lot more uses.

[TheSaint]

If it ran on either intake air or oxidizer, and it ran on an on-demand basis instead of burning fuel 24/7, I think it would be great.

[hotcrazyfruit]

Perhaps it could be controlled via "onboard computer"

Remember gas turbines derive power from accelerating air through a turbine, not through the use of oxidizer agents, perhaps it's use could be for emergency situations. I would only see the latter happening with a significantly reduced specific energy output; Similar to using a rocket engine for an airplane, its not practical for any length of time.

For now, I've edited the turbine part to output 40 units of electricity, 1 kN of thrust (Cannot use zero, or the engine will not consume fuel) , and a specific impulse of 13s at sea level. Reason being that fuel consumption is determined by specific impulse and thrust, the thrust has been reduced by 150 times. Reducing the specific impulse by 150 times keeps the fuel consumption the same.

I feel its a pretty balanced part.

[Themohawkninja]

Primarily for rover power in atmospheric environments, during night, without having to carry a gazillion batteries. Also counters having to have solar panels everywhere which can break, and can cause lag.

RTGs are your friend.

Once we get resources, I could see this as a neat idea, but for right now, RTG's will do all of this and more (no resource requirement).

[hotcrazyfruit]

RTGs are your friend.

Once we get resources, I could see this as a neat idea, but for right now, RTG's will do all of this and more (no resource requirement).

Not at all, RTG's put out a measly 45e/min.

Gas turbines can put out megawatts in real life, compared to a few hundred watts from an rtg.

The part I modified puts out 40 electricity per second at full throttle, its a completely reasonable number IMHO seeing as how were burning the same amount of jet fuel we use to move aircraft. Only were turning a generator, in theory anyways. Throttling this allows us to have a variable amount of energy production based on how fast we desire to go, lighting, whatever other auxiliaries you may have ect.

[Themohawkninja]

Not at all, RTG's put out a measly 45e/min.

Gas turbines can put out megawatts in real life, compared to a few hundred watts from an rtg.

The part I modified puts out 40 electricity per second at full throttle, its a completely reasonable number IMHO seeing as how were burning the same amount of jet fuel we use to move aircraft. Only were turning a generator, in theory anyways. Throttling this allows us to have a variable amount of energy production based on how fast we desire to go, lighting, whatever other auxiliaries you may have ect.

One RTG can power probes, two can power a probe, or a manned craft with some reaction wheels added on, and a few RTG's can power four wheeled rovers. When would you ever need megawatts of power in KSP? Not even space stations chocked full of lights needs all that much power.

[Psycix]

When would you ever need megawatts of power in KSP?

Electric propulsion.

Real life electric propulsion systems can easily soak up 250 KW. This is the main reason they aren't used, you'd need a nuclear reactor to provide that sort of power.

[Themohawkninja]

Electric propulsion.

Real life electric propulsion systems can easily soak up 250 KW. This is the main reason they aren't used, you'd need a nuclear reactor to provide that sort of power.

That one generator would provide over three ion engines worth of power, however I can't imagine the generator would be very light, thereby decreasing the potential delta-V by quite a bit, not to mention the weight of all of the liquid fuel being carried to make the generator work.

[Cashen]

That one generator would provide over three ion engines worth of power, however I can't imagine the generator would be very light, thereby decreasing the potential delta-V by quite a bit, not to mention the weight of all of the liquid fuel being carried to make the generator work.

Not to mention that a gas turbine requires air. Air with oxygen in it. Unless you want to inject oxidizer into it somehow. I think a more elegant solution would be fuel cells, the kind used on Apollo and the Shuttle, that consume small quantities of your liquid fuel and oxidizer to make electricity, and perhaps can control their output to match the vessel's demand, to conserve resources.

A gas turbine is essentially a jet engine. More accurately, a jet engine is a specific kind of gas turbine, that is built to generate mostly thrust and only a little power, enough to run the aircraft's systems. Power-generating gas turbines on vehicles are rare. The American M1 Abrams tank uses it. Some question the practicality of that versus a traditional diesel engine, including me. Otherwise gas turbines are use for stationary power generation, and those units are big and heavy.

[hotcrazyfruit]

I appreciate the comments very much.

However, please read the *Primarily for rover power in atmospheric environments, during night, without having to carry a gazillion batteries. Also counters having to have solar panels everywhere which can break, and can cause lag.*

It isn't for space use, its a gas turbine. There are no gases in space.

RTG's arent really fun, in my opinion. They just sit there and give you free electricity.

This gas turbine generator i've modded is about to power a massive train to the north pole, one big use i've found with it thus far.

Cashen, are you a stationary or marine engineer?

The main reasons for gas turbines rarely used in real life are mostly noise, low thermal efficiency and cost.

Perfect for kerbal, IMO!

Edited August 2, 2013 by hotcrazyfruit

[Cashen]

I appreciate the comments very much.

However, please read the *Primarily for rover power in atmospheric environments, during night, without having to carry a gazillion batteries. Also counters having to have solar panels everywhere which can break, and can cause lag.*

It isn't for space use, its a gas turbine. There are no gases in space.

RTG's arent really fun, in my opinion. They just sit there and give you free electricity.

This gas turbine generator i've modded is about to power a massive train to the north pole, one big use i've found with it thus far.

So it would be limited to bodies with atmospheric oxygen. Kerbin and Laythe.

[trvtannenberg]

In this topic, i think that wheels should require a new resource, mechanical power which would be produced by some new parts from fuel or electricity (or from electricity produced by fueled generator).

[Themohawkninja]

I appreciate the comments very much.

However, please read the *Primarily for rover power in atmospheric environments, during night, without having to carry a gazillion batteries. Also counters having to have solar panels everywhere which can break, and can cause lag.*

It isn't for space use, its a gas turbine. There are no gases in space.

RTG's arent really fun, in my opinion. They just sit there and give you free electricity.

This gas turbine generator i've modded is about to power a massive train to the north pole, one big use i've found with it thus far.

Cashen, are you a stationary or marine engineer?

The main reasons for gas turbines rarely used in real life are mostly noise, low thermal efficiency and cost.

Perfect for kerbal, IMO!

So, the only use this has is either for bases or huge vehicles, both of which would need refueling constantly, until resources are added whereby they would be capable of self-renewal (assuming you are on a vein of such ore).

Again, I feel the need to re-iterate that until resources are added, enough RTG's can fill the role you desire.

I do like the idea of generators once we get resources (at the very least, it would give some nice sound to your base as the generator runs it's course)/

[hotcrazyfruit]

So it would be limited to bodies with atmospheric oxygen. Kerbin and Laythe.

Yes.

Do you feel it makes it not worth while?

So, the only use this has is either for bases or huge vehicles.

Also night time driving with electricity for ample lighting, without having to rely on ridiculous amounts of batteries.

Edited August 2, 2013 by hotcrazyfruit

[Themohawkninja]

Also night time driving with electricity for ample lighting, without having to rely on ridiculous amounts of batteries.

RTG's can provide that. Lights use very very little power, and rovers can run with insufficient power supply, as long as they are always getting power.

Also, since it can only be used on two bodies, that makes it quite near useless when combined with it's weight.

[Cashen]

Yes.

Do you feel it makes it not worth while?

It would make its application limited. They'd be useless on Duna for example. But I consider Laythe the most interesting place to go anyway. Fuel cells would still work everywhere in any conditions. They're also lighter, and I'm sure scaled up. Plus they produce water as a byproduct.

[Cashen]

In this topic, i think that wheels should require a new resource, mechanical power which would be produced by some new parts from fuel or electricity (or from electricity produced by fueled generator).

In theory the rover wheels have integrated electric motors that turn the wheels, which allow them to consume only electricity.

[hotcrazyfruit]

I suppose I will just use my modded part from here on out, if its application is perceived as limited.

Thanks for the discussion.

[Lysius]

Even though it is possible to use RTGs, I do not like them, because of the environmental problems when reentering into Kerbin atmosphere or in case of accidents.

I also thought about fuel cells previously. Ideally they should only start to work when the battery level drops below a certain threshold.

[leax256]

RTG's can provide that. Lights use very very little power, and rovers can run with insufficient power supply, as long as they are always getting power.

Also, since it can only be used on two bodies, that makes it quite near useless when combined with it's weight.

no 3, don't forget duna