Hello everyone,
I have been mocking around with the ISRU system (in sandbox) before i get to it in carrier to figure it out and the more i tried the less I understood. Searching the internet led to no up to date ducumentation on the new-ish multipart ISRU system, so i ended up here with my confusion. I will try to be the helpful uninformed and give a picture of what i didn't figure out as precise as possible. (also note that i am somewhat familiar with the reactors, engines, heat mechanic and beamed power in KSPI-E) So: The main thing i was trying to test is how i can launch a Duna-direct style misson with bringing just enough dv to get there and then refine Methane+lqdOx there for the trip back.
-So after trying the different combinations of the atmospheric scoop ISRU Refridgerator, CO2 crystat tank megajoule generation, and of course the ISRU Converter i figured out the following:
1. The scoops, converter and cryostat all use stock Electric Charge (correct me if i am wrong), but they use so much of it that it drains it real fast if i dont use a reactor+generator combo.
2. The scoop cant feed directly into the Converter so you need a cryogenic storage tank for CO2.
3. The ISRU Refridgerator is not needed to convert the CO2 coming from the scoop into lqd, the cryostat seems to handle it just fine. In fact i couldn't make anything work with the Refridgerator, the Atmospheric Extraction button in its GUI remained grayed out regardless of what i did.
4. Though i have not tested them really as i understand it the ISRU Processor is to be used with the stock mining drill/the regolith drill for processing solid materials (and Nuclear fuel reprocessing), and the Elecrtolyzer is also for use with the drill for Water/Alumina Electrolysis (Minmus/Mun respectively)
So in question form i guess:
-Can whole ISRU system can work without Reactors+Generators? (but needs a lot of EC somehow)
-What is the purpose of the Refridgerator?
-What are the MJ/Electric Charge systems used for respectivele in KSPI-E? Is MJ only for transmitters and electric engines and nothing else?
Thanks for the help in advance, and sorry for the wall of text, I tried to keep it as structered as possible but in hindsight i kinda failed at that.