RTG Heat Management

[Alshain]

I remember seeing something about RTGs generating heat now, but how much heat exactly. Is there a way to numerically calculate how much cooling per RTG you need to remain safe? Edited November 24, 2015 by Alshain

[fourfa]

So far, I haven't found them to generate any at all. Perhaps on the tinest little ships with no thermal mass to them...

Maybe in a later update

[Streetwind]

It's perfectly possible that the RTG cools itself - i.e. that even if thermally isolated from the rest of the ship, it will eventually reach an equilibrium where negative radiative flux cancels out positive internal flux. That is how RTGs work IRL, after all... they look the way they do because they have cooling fins on them.

However, I suspect this has more to do with the fact that any generic part in KSP is far better at getting rid of heat than IRL spacecraft are. The Apollo spacecraft was coated in a mirror finish top to bottom to deflect the largest amount of sunlight possible, and it still required a few active radiators to maintain comfortable temperatures for all components. Meanwhile a huge wall of uncoated structural plates in KSP will still cool down below sea level temperature once in orbit, even in full direct sunlight.

Large tanks in KSP radiate so much heat energy away in space even at low body temperatures that making them receive all the heat of a RTG probably doesn't even affect their overall temperature by more than 1 or 2 degrees.

[Warzouz]

I have a space station with 16 RTG around Vall / Dres / Eeloo. Even one of my Moho ship is power by RTG (one ship to rule them all...). I didn't notice any overheating. Space stations where in place since 1.0.4

BUT I didn't played 1.0.5 much and didn't used the on board ISRU since then.

[Snark]

Wouldn't the thermal debug menu answer the question? Look at an RTG, see the heat flux, tack on a small folding radiator, see the heat flux.

[Claw]

[quote name='Alshain']I remember seeing something about RTGs generating heat now, but how much heat exactly.[/QUOTE]

They do generate flux now (i.e. they produce heat), but it's a very small amount. Such that they reach equilibrium just a bit above ambient. They don't actually require any active cooling.

I'm not sure (and can't check at the moment), but I think RTG CoreHeat might even be thermally isolated from radiators. (In other words, I don't think radiators can pull heat from RTGs.)

Cheers,
-Claw

[Alshain]

Thanks for the responses guys. Sounds like my Laythe satellites don't really need cooling then.