Large Plasma Turbine

The Large Plasma Turbine (LPT) is an LuV tier multiblock for generating power from plasma. The LPT is a direct upgrade from the singleblock plasma generators because it outputs up to 4A of power with much higher efficiency. However, a turbine must be placed inside the controller for the machine to run, the input rate of plasma must be carefully regulated, and it must be running for at least 50 seconds to fully warm-up. Turbines come in four different sizes and many different materials each with their own efficiency bonus and optimal flow rate (L/s). Power is extracted from a 4A dynamo hatch on the back of the structure as the plasma condensates into liquid. Breaking the dynamo hatch while the machine is running causes it to explode. Save on fuel by automatically toggling the LPT with an RS latch connected to a Lapotronic Supercapacitor.

The LPT is superseded by the XL Turbo Plasma Turbine in ZPM which consumes as much plasma and produces as much power as 16 LPT, but only requires 12 turbines. It also supports multi-amp and laser energy hatches for serious power generation.

Spreadsheet: GTNH Power Planner 2.9

The LPT has no tiered components. The maintenance hatch, input hatch, and output hatch may replace any turbine casing on the back half of the structure. The dynamo hatch is limited to the center casing on the very back of the structure and cannot be greater than 4A. There is no muffler hatch so do not include one. Use the Multiblock Structure Hologram Projector to visualize/build the structure.

Unique to large turbines is the turbine housing which is effectively a ULV input bus for storing an extra turbine that automatically replaces the one inside the controller once it breaks. It is completely optional and gated to UV, but helps maximize runtime.

Structure

• Controller: Front center, 2nd layer
• 14 Tungstensteel Frame Box
• 8-14 Tungstensteel Turbine Casing
• 12 Tungstensteel Pipe Casing

• 0+ Turbine Housing: Any back turbine casing
• 1 Dynamo Hatch: Back center turbine casing
• 1 Maintenance Hatch: Any back turbine casing
• 1+ Input Hatch: Any back turbine casing
• 0+ Output Hatch: Any back turbine casing
• Mandatory Air: 3x3 area in front of controller

Wallsharing

LPTs may wallshare each of their sides to save on space, casings, and hatches. However, do NOT share the input hatch because the fuel is not split evenly between the LPTs--one consumes everything and the other receives nothing. The restriction on the hatch locations make that difficult to accomplish anyway.

The LPT has two operating modes, listed below, but see the planner linked at the top for the quantifiable differences between them. The former is better in the early to mid game when plasma production is low and the latter is better in the late game when power output is more important than efficiency. Switch modes by using a screwdriver on the controller.

• Tight Fitting Mode - High efficiency, Low optimal flow rate (power).
• Loose Fitting Mode - Low efficiency, High optimal flow rate (power).

The speed of the LPT increases linearly up to 100% while active and decreases back to 0% while inactive. Speed is directly proportional to the power output of the machine and takes 50 seconds to reach its maximum value regardless of the turbine size/material. Speed decays extremely fast when the LPT is disabled, the turbine is removed, the structure is broken, or fuel runs out. View the current speed of the turbine by using a Portable Scanner on the controller or looking at the "efficiency" value in WAILA.

The rate (L/s) at which plasma enters the LPT is extremely important. Too little plasma and only a fraction of the potential power is generated; too much plasma and a tremendous amount of fuel is wasted. Ideally, plasma enters the LPT at the optimal flow rate of the turbine which changes significantly with size/material and the operating mode of the machine. Although visible in NEI, the optimal flow rate (${\displaystyle {\displaystyle {\dot {m}}^{*}}}$) in L/s can be calculated with the following equations where ${\displaystyle {\displaystyle k}}$ is an arbitrary multiplier associated with each material, speed is the Tinker's Construct mining speed of the material, size is a constant between 1=small and 4=huge, and ${\displaystyle {\displaystyle \eta _{0}}}$ is the base efficiency of the turbine.

${\displaystyle {\displaystyle {\dot {m}}^{*}{\text{ (Tight)}}=k\times {\text{Speed}}\times {\text{Size}}\times {\frac {1,000}{\text{EU/L}}}}}$

${\displaystyle {\displaystyle {\dot {m}}^{*}{\text{ (Loose)}}=k\times {\text{Speed}}\times {\text{Size}}\times {\frac {2,000}{\text{EU/L}}}\times 1.03^{20(\eta _{0}-0.8)}}}$

The quicker and easier way to calculate the optimal flow rate in tight fitting mode is to divide the optimal plasma EU/t (left value in NEI) by the density of the plasma, listed below in the following table, and then multiply the result by 20. Some plasmas have slightly lower densities and thus higher optimal flow rates--especially if the LPT is in loose mode. The player may need to upgrade their fluid regulator or add a second input hatch to meet the increased demand. Eventually it becomes necessary to switch to AE2 fluid P2P tunnels which effectively have no transfer limit and no regard for temperature or heat capacity.

The power generated by the LPT depends on the current flow rate (${\displaystyle {\displaystyle {\dot {m}}}}$), the optimal flow rate (${\displaystyle {\displaystyle {\dot {m}}^{*}}}$), and the efficiency of the turbine (${\displaystyle {\displaystyle \eta }}$). Exceeding the optimal flow rate generates additional power with diminishing returns based on the overflow tier (${\displaystyle {\displaystyle {\text{T}}}}$) of the turbine. There are only three overflow tiers in total and depends strictly on the material of the turbine. A higher overflow tier also increases the maximum flow rate (${\displaystyle {\displaystyle {\dot {m}}_{max}}}$). View the overflow of a turbine through NEI and the current power output of the machine through WAILA.

Power is extracted from a 4A dynamo hatch on the back of the structure. Do not break the dynamo hatch while the machine is running or else the LPT will explode. Exceeding the maximum EU/t or the total EU in the dynamo's buffer is perfectly safe; the LPT will not explode if an attached battery buffer or Lapotronic Supercapacitor (LSC) is full and there is nowhere for the EU to go. Any additional EU is simply voided. It is highly recommended to automatically toggle the LPT with a redstone RS latch to avoid wasting fuel--see the LSC page for a guide on setting that up.

The following graph depicts the relationship between the flow rate (${\displaystyle {\displaystyle {\dot {m}}}}$) of Helium Plasma and the power generated by an LPT with a normal Draconium turbine in tight fitting mode. The efficiency of the turbine is 150%, the optimal flow rate is 21 L/s, and the overflow efficiency is Tier 3. This means the maximum flow rate is 21 L/s x 5.5 = 115.5 L/s and the LPT follows the top line in red. The lower overflow efficiency tiers are only visible for comparison purposes. Notice how quickly the EU/t increases as the flow rate approaches the optimal value and then how quickly the turbine loses efficiency afterwards. Loose fitting mode and every other turbine follows a very similar pattern.

A turbine must be placed inside the GUI of the controller for the machine to run. Turbines come in four different sizes and many different materials each with their own efficiency bonus and optimal flow rate. There are too many different permutations to list them all here, but the planner linked at the top has all the relevant information and even a calculator for determining the power output and lifespan of any turbine with any fuel.

• Small turbines are crafted with long magnalium rods (available as early as LV)
• Normal turbines are crafted with long titanium rods (available at the end of HV after traveling to the moon)
• Large turbines are crafted with long tungstensteel rods (available in IV after the tungsten processing line)
• Huge turbines are crafted with long americium rods (available in ZPM after building a Fusion Reactor Mk-II)

Turbines slowly lose durability proportional to the power generated. The total durability of a turbine depends on the material and instantly voids once it reaches 0%. Turbines cannot be inserted or extracted from the controller, but turbine housings check if the controller is empty once every 60 seconds to insert a new one. Use a screwdriver on the housing to decrease the interval, as necessary, and re-enable the LPT with a machine controller cover.

The following equation calculates the lifespan of a turbine (in hours) from the current power output of an LPT. Turbines generally have lifespans of several hundred hours (or more) so they do not need to be replaced very often.

${\displaystyle {\displaystyle {\text{Lifespan (h)}}={\frac {\text{Durability}}{36\times {\text{Min}}{\bigl (}0.2\times {\text{EU}}/{\text{t}},({\text{EU}}/{\text{t}})^{0.6}{\bigr )}}}}}$

The following are recommended turbines and flow rates based on the maximum EU/t of various 4A dynamo hatches. It is very common to skip a few of these because the cost of replacing healthy turbines may not be worth the slight boost in performance. Note that this list is slightly different from the other large turbines and even the XL Turbo Plasma Turbine because different fuels have different densities and the LPT is very limited by the size of the dynamo hatch. Use the planner linked at the top for a complete list of turbine materials and full setup breakdowns.

Alternatively, send the plasma through an Extreme Heat Exchanger to produce dense supercritical steam and generate at least 50% more power in XL Turbo Steam Turbines. More infrastructure is required, but it saves on Fusion Reactors.