Self-Regenerating Fuel

[Sampa]

Ok, this is more of a challenge than a request, so make of it what you will.

What I would like to challenge a modder out there to create a mod that implements an idea of reusable fuel. I just really want to see how creative a modder can be with this! (what I imagine is something similar to the ion engine with the electricity...as you burn, you use it up, but, as long as you leave a little left in the tanks and let ship sit, the fuel will slowly begin rematerializing)

Edited March 3, 2015 by Sampa
Title change

[RainDreamer]

That is...quite a funny idea. I mean generating fuel out of nothing is possible with the module generator. But to make it only work when there is something in it... Maybe it is possible to have a fuel tank/generator part that use the same resource for input/output, with output in higher amount. That might possibly work?

[Sampa]

Yeah, i was just doing schoolwork, and the idea occured to me

[Starwaster]

That is...quite a funny idea. I mean generating fuel out of nothing is possible with the module generator. But to make it only work when there is something in it... Maybe it is possible to have a fuel tank/generator part that use the same resource for input/output, with output in higher amount. That might possibly work?

Yeah that would work. I could write a config for it in my sleep, blindfolded with both hands behind my back and no coffee.

Anything fancier would require some C#, but that too would be trivial.

But I'm not really seeing the gain in such an exercise so I'll pass.

[Guest]

Why not just create an engine with an incredible isp value and stick a fork in it?

[sumghai]

"Self-regenerating fuel" might be a more accurate description than "Reusable fuel".

[Sampa]

Thanks for the heads up, Sumghai! Title change made!

[Slam_Jones]

Why not use infinite fuel debug? Same effect anyway. You can even role-play the parts where you "run out" and have to "regenerate" more.

[Sampa]

simple, because you CAN run out if you are not paying attention to the fuel levels. Once there is no fuel at all, you canNOT regenerate it! in order for the regeneration to occur, you MUST have some fuel in the tank

[sumghai]

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/93116-0-90-GN-Drive-from-Mobile-Suit-Gundam-00-%28v4-0%29

Apparently, this plugin-powered add-on provides an engine that regenerates its energy supply over time, as well as accessories such as condensers that act as a "buffer" for peak loads that may otherwise run down said engine.

I haven't used this myself, and the description is unclear (author doesn't seem to be an native English speaker), but give it a whirl and see if this works for you.

[Sampa]

ah yes, I remember trying that one, but I could never get it to work (at least not the way I was trying it) I guess I could try it again!

[Sampa]

What I,was hoping for was a, tertiary emergency fuel type that you could,use the stock engines,or most conventional liquid fueled mod engines with that will regenerate so long as there is at least some fuel remaining in the tank. However, once it's gone, it gone.

[Axelord FTW]

I don't see the point. All you'd need to do is to have a small tank of such fuel with flow turned off sitting somewhere and you'd pretty much unlimited d/v unless you wanted to run out of fuel.

It seems like you want something that neither make sense (it's not so bad, lots of popular mods don't) but also useless (the effect can be replicated by using debug/modding a part to have insane isp). If someone is actually willing to make such thing, all the better but I wouldn't put any hope that you'd get anything more than basic.

[sumghai]

What I,was hoping for was a, tertiary emergency fuel type that you could,use the stock engines,or most conventional liquid fueled mod engines with that will regenerate so long as there is at least some fuel remaining in the tank. However, once it's gone, it gone.

You'll be hard-pressed to find an add-on that automatically regenerates LOX/LF from a small seeding quantity, since that is an implausible concept.

The Gundam GN drive add-on I suggested uses particle physics that is at least consistent within its own fictional universe.

[delder92663]

How about a fuel that's biological and alive that feeds off radiation? The more fuel you have the faster they will breed. This way when the tank is full it would be like having a high isp. As the fuel draws down it would replicate much slower. Could be interesting.

Also if it feeds off radiation there would be no way for it to replicate on Kerbins surface.

[Sampa]

How about a fuel that's biological and alive that feeds off radiation? The more fuel you have the faster they will breed. This way when the tank is full it would be like having a high isp. As the fuel draws down it would replicate much slower. Could be interesting.

Also if it feeds off radiation there would be no way for it to replicate on Kerbins surface.

That makes excellent sense (probably more so than my slightly more vague description)!

[Xyphos]

as you burn, you use it up, but, as long as you leave a little left in the tanks and let ship sit, the fuel will slowly begin regenerating)

*fixed, and are you suggesting an renewable-energy source such as alcohol-based bio-fuel, where you have a microbe tank absorbing sunlight and converting biological waste into a fuel source?

[Sampa]

yes, something to that effect, yes!

[TCFirebird]

converting biological waste into a fuel source

This makes much more sense than generating fuel out of nothing or out of energy. This would also allow for conservation of mass. Use the existing community resources Waste and WasteWater (and maybe CO2, ElectricCharge), and converting to LFO to squeeze a little extra deltaV out of manned missions. You wouldn't be able to make very much, but it gives you something to do with those waste products if you aren't recycling. That's probably very different than what you originally had in mind, but it's much more in line with reality and game balance.

[EdFred]

Should be doable with simple part configuration. Make an "engine" and set the rate usage to negative rather than positive.

[EdFred]

So I decided to mess around with this a little bit and figured out how to do it without it being an engine. I have so far made a LF+E==>O converter, and an O+E==>LF converter. If you run out of LF/O it will not generate the other. And if you run out of electricity, it won't work either.