Fuel Dumping

[Braker]

Hi again, in some situations (to work on the center of mass before reentry with a shuttle for example), i need to dump monoproplent/main fuel. In the older versions, we could dump one by one the oxidizer and liquid fuel by pushing full throttle, but now it is not possible anymore...

So I think that we need a dump option in the right click menu of tanks. What do you think about that ?

I think that was already suggested but not found in forums.

Thanks and regards

[OmniscientQ]

Fuel dumping should be a simple enough option, right alongside fuel transfer. Having UI elements that make such transfers (or dumps) more precise would be appreciated, too.

[Frozen_Heart]

This is really needed. My shuttle can only land with nearly empty tanks so I need to do random orbital manoeuvres until my fuel is almost spent. Dumping it would be so much easier.

[Wjolcz]

I agree. I actually liked the old way we could get rid of the fuel through engines even though I got in trouble many times because of that. It needs to come back.

[Braker]

Anyone know if this feature is planned for 1.1 ?

[OmniscientQ]

It hasn't been announced anywhere, so far as I know.

[legoclone09]

Well, you could quickly copy-paste the dumping from Ore tanks to all fuel tanks, but it might take a while.

[Braker]

Ok, so we need this for next update isn't it ?

- - - Updated - - -

Jut an additional thing : it is possible to dump the fuel in real life ? And when the fuel dumping is used ?

[Superfluous J]

it is possible to dump the fuel in real life ? And when the fuel dumping is used ?

I don't know about space ships but aircraft do it all the time. It's SOP when you land earlier than you thought, and therefore have more fuel than you would normally upon landing.

[bv1]

Now that the LV-N uses liquid fuel only, I've run into situations when it would have been nice to be able to dump oxidizer.

[adsii1970]

Braker said:

Hi again, in some situations (to work on the center of mass before reentry with a shuttle for example), i need to dump monoproplent/main fuel. In the older versions, we could dump one by one the oxidizer and liquid fuel by pushing full throttle, but now it is not possible anymore...

So I think that we need a dump option in the right click menu of tanks. What do you think about that ?

I think that was already suggested but not found in forums.

Thanks and regards

May I suggest this mod? With a right click you can dump the contents of any tank.

Jettison Fuel

I hope it meets your needs. But what would really be cool is to have a part you could stick on a tank that looked like a spigot...

Edited May 23, 2021 by Snark
Link to defunct website removed by moderator

[Braker]

Thanks, but I need this feature in the stock game. But i'm afraid that is not possible in reality, now I doubt...

[mattinoz]

Couldn't you place a fairly low efficiency engine on your craft then burn the fuel off as you enter the atmosphere?

Place it to fire retro and in the direction the nose wants to move.

That way you can use throttle to help hold angle of attack during reentry and the pressure of control system.

Get some use out of the fuel while also draining it.

Still would be good to have a part with a drain off mode.

[Rath]

Thanks, but I need this feature in the stock game. But i'm afraid that is not possible in reality, now I doubt...

it is fully possible. Aircraft and some spacecraft (I think the Shuttle vented its OMS fuel can anybody confirm?) do it.

[sumghai]

it is fully possible. Aircraft and some spacecraft (I think the Shuttle vented its OMS fuel can anybody confirm?) do it.

Controlled dumping of fuel is definitely used in real spacecraft. The Shuttle's SSME typically dumps any remaining fuel after shutdown, and the Atlas V boosters also dump excess fuel on a regular basis.

So here's a few of questions for you guys:

- Would you guys prefer a separate surface-attachable valve part, or simply have all fuel tanks come with the inbuilt capability to discard fuel?

- Should fuel dumping be limited to controllable vessels? (i.e those with a crew or powered probe core)

- What rate of dumping is desired? (Instantaneous? Constant rate universal to all tanks? Constant rate that scales with tank size? A rate that exponentially decays depending on the amount of fuel currently left in the tank?)

[Superfluous J]

Controlled dumping of fuel is definitely used in real spacecraft. The Shuttle's SSME typically dumps any remaining fuel after shutdown, and the Atlas V boosters also dump excess fuel on a regular basis.

So here's a few of questions for you guys:

- Would you guys prefer a separate surface-attachable valve part, or simply have all fuel tanks come with the inbuilt capability to discard fuel?

- Should fuel dumping be limited to controllable vessels? (i.e those with a crew or powered probe core)

- What rate of dumping is desired? (Instantaneous? Constant rate universal to all tanks? Constant rate that scales with tank size? A rate that exponentially decays depending on the amount of fuel currently left in the tank?)

I think you should be able to right click a tank and dump all fuel from it. Ideally you should be able to dump all of any one resource, or all resources in one go. For super bonus points engines could have the ability to dump fuel from all tanks that feed to them. Instantaneous is fine. It should be quick in any case.

That said, I doubt I'd personally use it much.

[nikokespprfan]

I think this is one of the many tiny features that KSP shoudl have but doesn't

tip: Add a poll asking for it, then you can see the opinion of everyone.

[FleshJeb]

TAC Fuel Balancer, anyone?

[Joonatan1998]

I think just having some kind of valve part that is basically just an really inefficient engine would be fine.

Separate modes for dumping different resources.

[Braker]

I think that the reason why it is not implemented yet is the amount of fuel to dump...

e.g. In reality, dumping a rockomax orange fuel tank should take a long time. In the space shuttle, its is a little amount of fuel (residual fuel) that is dumped.

So I think that feature MUST be implemented in all case, but may be with a realistic dump flow to prevent irrealistic dump (e.g. dumping a rocomax in 10 seconds during launch). Additionaly, I think that we cannot be satisfied by a simple system like ALT+Click, we need a realistic fuel gestion and the dumping should be used in certain precise conditions.

[cicatrix]

TAC Fuel Balancer, anyone?

This! ^^

Awesome.

Link: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/25823-1-0-2-TAC-Fuel-Balancer-v2-5-1-2May

[Phineas Freak]

Thanks, but I need this feature in the stock game. But i'm afraid that is not possible in reality, now I doubt...

Fuel dumping in fact is a requirement for every upper stage (either with hypergolic or with cryogenic fuel) to vent excess fuel (passivation) to avoid the tanks becoming ticking bombs in space and contributing to the "space junk" problem with thousands of small debris.

The link that sumghai provided is a perfect example of a Centaur passivation.

[Red Iron Crown]

Funny that we can dump ore but nothing else.

I don't care too much about modeling the time required to dump the resource, but being able to dial out some or all of it would be a really useful feature.

[Capt Snuggler]

I would love some kind of fuel dumping mechanism. I routinely dumped LOX and LF through a deprived engine before re-entry.

I would like to see some kind of fuel vapour cloud and maybe also a minute amount of thrust from the venting of a pressurised gas.

[monstah]

Controlled dumping of fuel is definitely used in real spacecraft. The Shuttle's SSME typically dumps any remaining fuel after shutdown, and the Atlas V boosters also dump excess fuel on a regular basis.

So here's a few of questions for you guys:

- Would you guys prefer a separate surface-attachable valve part, or simply have all fuel tanks come with the inbuilt capability to discard fuel?

- Should fuel dumping be limited to controllable vessels? (i.e those with a crew or powered probe core)

- What rate of dumping is desired? (Instantaneous? Constant rate universal to all tanks? Constant rate that scales with tank size? A rate that exponentially decays depending on the amount of fuel currently left in the tank?)

- A surface attachable valve would be so cool, but I'm always reluctant to add parts. For my wayof playing, a menu on the fuel tanks would be ideal

- Sure! Toggling resource lock on uncontrollable vessels is overpowered enough (although I use it shamelessly, justifying as an onboard dedicated controller)

- Fast, but not instantaneous. If you build a juggernaut, it should take long. That said, exponential decay is nice but not necessary; a universal constant-rate is simple and does the job just fine.