XL Turbo Plasma Turbine

The XL Turbo Plasma Turbine (XLPT) is a ZPM tier multiblock for generating immense power from plasma. The XLPT is a direct upgrade from the Large Plasma Turbine because it has 16x the throughput with only 12 turbines, supports multi-amp and laser dynamo hatches, and does not explode if the dynamo hatch is broken while the machine is running. However, the turbines must be identical for the machine to run, there are harsher penalties for exceeding the optimal flow rate, there are penalties for using lower density fuels, and the machine must be running for at least 50 seconds to fully warm-up. Save on fuel by automatically toggling the XLPT with an RS latch connected to a Lapotronic Supercapacitor.

Spreadsheet: GTNH Power Planner 2.9

The XLPT has no tiered components. The glass can be any tier and has no effect on the operation of the machine. The heating coils must be naquadah specifically and also has no effect on the operation of the machine. Buses/hatches may replace any turbine casing anywhere on the structure. Multi-amp and laser dynamo hatches are supported for serious power generation, and there can be multiple. There is no muffler hatch so do not include one. Insert turbines through an input bus or the GUI of the controller. Use the Multiblock Structure Hologram Projector to visualize/build the structure with subchannel "glass" to specify the tier of the glass.

Structure

• Controller: Front center, 5th layer
• 330-352 Reinforced Plasma Turbine Casing
• 100 Naquadah Coil Block
• 72 Tungstensteel Pipe Casing
• 36 Any Tiered Glass
• 32 Tungstensteel Frame Box
• 16 Turbine Shaft
• 7 Steel Gear Box Casing
• 1+ Dynamo Hatch: Any turbine casing
• 1 Maintenance Hatch: Any turbine casing
• 0+ Input Bus: Any turbine casing
• 1+ Input Hatch: Any turbine casing
• 1+ Output Hatch: Any turbine casing

Wallsharing

XLPTs may wallshare each of their sides to save on casings, heating coils, and buses/hatches. However, do NOT share the input hatch because the fuel is not split evenly between the XLPTs--one consumes everything and the other receives nothing.

The XLPT 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 fuel 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 XLPT 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 XLPT 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 XLPT 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 XLPT 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. Note that these are exactly 16x the optimal flow rates of the Large Plasma Turbine.

${\displaystyle {\displaystyle {\dot {m}}^{*}{\text{ (Tight)}}=k\times {\text{Speed}}\times {\text{Size}}\times {\frac {16,000}{\text{EU/L}}}}}$

${\displaystyle {\displaystyle {\dot {m}}^{*}{\text{ (Loose)}}=k\times {\text{Speed}}\times {\text{Size}}\times {\frac {32,000}{\text{EU/L}}}\times 1.03^{20(\eta _{0}-0.8)}}}$

Some plasmas have slightly lower densities and thus higher optimal flow rates--especially if the XLPT is in loose mode. It may be necessary to upgrade the 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.

${\displaystyle {\displaystyle \epsilon ={\frac {(0.005\times {\text{EU/L}})^{2}}{\text{Optimal EU/t Tight}}}}}$

The power generated by the XLPT depends on the current flow rate (${\displaystyle {\displaystyle {\dot {m}}}}$), the optimal flow rate (${\displaystyle {\displaystyle {\dot {m}}^{*}}}$), the efficiency of the turbines (${\displaystyle {\displaystyle \eta }}$), and the density penalty (${\displaystyle {\displaystyle \epsilon }}$). Exceeding the optimal flow rate is not only less efficient but it reduces the total amount of power generated. Overflow tier has no effect on the operation of the machine. View the current power output of the machine through WAILA while looking at the controller, or with an industrial information panel.

Power is extracted from a laser or multi-amp dynamo hatch anywhere on the structure. Exceeding the maximum EU/t or total EU in the dynamo's buffer is perfectly safe; the XLPT 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 XLPT 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 flow rate (${\displaystyle {\displaystyle {\dot {m}}}}$) of helium plasma and the power generated by an XLPT with 12 large draconium turbines in tight fitting mode. The efficiency of the turbine is 175%, the density penalty is 76.1%, and the optimal flow rate is 492 L/s. This means the maximum flow rate is 492 L/s x 1.25 = 615 L/s. Notice how quickly the EU/t increases as the flow rate approaches the optimal value and then how slowly it decreases afterwards. Loose fitting mode and every other turbine material follows a very similar pattern.

The 12 turbines must all be the exact same 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)

The 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 can be automatically inserted into the controller via the input bus, but they cannot be automatically extracted.

The following equation calculates the lifespan of the turbines (in hours) from the current power output of an XLPT. Note that turbines last much longer here than in the Large Plasma Turbine. Turbines generally have lifespans of several hundred hours (or more) so they do not need to be replaced very often.

${\displaystyle {\displaystyle {\text{Lifespan (h)}}={\bigg \lceil }{\frac {50\times {\text{Durability}}}{3600\times {\text{Min}}{\bigl (}0.04\times {\text{EU/t}},(0.2\times {\text{EU/t}})^{0.6}{\bigr )}}}{\bigg \rceil }\times 1.25}}$

The following are recommended turbines and flow rates based on the materials available at different stages of the game. 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 XL turbines and even the Large Plasma Turbine because different fuels have different densities and the LPT is very limited by the size of the dynamo hatch. Use the power 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.