[POC] Greenhouse - providing Oxygen & Food

[keks]

THIS IS JUST A PROOF OF CONCEPT I QUICKLY HACKED TOGETHER!

GitHub: https://github.com/michaelkrupp/ksp_greenhouse

This POC is based on 'BioMass Science+' (http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/53009).

Here's a summary of what I did in addition to the ressources/numbers:

* removed all parts, except the large greenhouse

* simplified production - basically Sunlight + CarbonDioxide + Water + Waste = Food + Oxygen

* replaced 'Kethane' converters by 'TAC' converters

- They are 'less broken' in time warp and simulate resource consumption when vessel is not active

* modified the greenhouse texture (I did not like the blue)

This mod depends on 'TAC LifeSupport' v0.8 and has support for 'Connected Living Space' via 'Module Manager'.

Most of the generator code was ripped from TAC/LS 'GernericConverter'.

As already stated above, this is just some kind of proof of concept I quickly hacked together.

I'm not planning to make a real mod out of this, providing continuing support etc. I currently don't have time for this.

I just want to share my idea how a greenhouse in KSP could work in combination with TAC/LS, and I hope someone will pick it up and continue work.

I tried to make the numbers 'somewhat realistic'. The numbers are based on heavily simplified chemical formula:

(I really don't know if any of this actually makes any sense. I'm not much of a chemistry/biology guy)

BioMass (glucose) = C6-H12-O6

Water = H2-O

CarbonDioxide = C-O2

Waste (formacetal) = C-H2-(O-H)2

Food (sugar) = C12-H22-O11

photosynthesis: Sunlight + 6(C-O2) + 6(H2-O) = C6-H12-O6 + 4(O2)

reproduction: Sunlight + 4(C-O2) + 1(H2-O) + 1(C6-H12-O6) + 1(C-H2-(O-H)2) = 4(O2) + 1(C12-H22-O11) + Seeds

respiration: 6(O2) + 1(C6-H12-O6) = 6(C-O2) + 3(H2-O)

germination: Sunlight + Seeds + 4(C-O2) = 1(C6-H12-O6) + 6(H-2O)

The conversions are not 100% realistic in terms of preservation of mass.

This is due to some floationg-point imprecision problems I encountered and balancing decisions I made.

In combination with TAC/LS the only ressource you will have to really care about is water.

The greenhouse will basically convert the CO2 and waste into oxygen and food using sunlight/electricity.

TAC/LS can convert WasteWater into water and waste, as well as excess CO2 into O2 and waste.

The rates of production/consumption will increase with the amount of biomass (or seeds for germination, respectively) using the following formula:

factor / ln(1 + max_capacity) * ln(1 + amount_available)

Known issues:

* 'Electric Charge' consumption seems to be broken. It jumps up and down for no reason.

* 'Sunlight' should not be a storable resource, instead it should be some kind of environmental variable.

* the numbers may need further tweaking

Contributions / External ressources:

original 'BioMass Science+': seanth

model: Roboto

TAC: TaranisElsu

[4nxs]

I will be playing around with this for personal use. I don't think a will ever make a mod out of it. But it seems like a reasonable model.

As for the chemical formula:

photosynthesis: "Sunlight" + 6 CO2 + 6 H2O = C6H12O6 + 6 O2

respiration: 6 O2 + C6H12O6 = 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + "Food/Chemical energy"

These can be balanced as they don't contain a arbitrary compound (seeds).

The other 2 are harder to balance because of the seeds but the reproduction formula has less going in than coming out.

If I find a reasonable solution I will post it here.

All in all, it is a nice concept and thanks for making this.

[keks]

As for the formula:

I was playing around with WasteHeat (Interstellar mod) to balance the formula.

Produce/consume waste heat to compensate loss/lack, but that did not work out well, because (just like sunlight) it should not be a storable resource IMHO.

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

Waste heat is produced and recycled by means of heat exchangers in many processes and environments, typically water is a common medium for the storage and transfer of waste heat , so being storable would not be at all cheaty, although, as water is a precious resource using it for heat transfer may not be the neatest solution.

[SyberSmoke]

Waste heat is produced and recycled by means of heat exchangers in many processes and environments, typically water is a common medium for the storage and transfer of waste heat , so being storable would not be at all cheaty, although, as water is a precious resource using it for heat transfer may not be the neatest solution.

Not unless the waste heat you can store is related to the current amount of water you have. So as you use water and do not recycle it, you reduce the amount of heat that can be stored. That way the state of your water reserves impacts your heat capacity.

That said, it would be interesting if there was a part that took the waste heat and converted it in to energy. Radiothermic Generators use this principle of taking the thermal energy from the decay of nuclear material and converting it to electricity. The process is not all that efficient, but it would offer another way to use the stored energy (Heat)

Edited July 9, 2014 by SyberSmoke