An explanation of the quirks behind the mechanics of pipes, and how they can be used to give more control over how fluids and gasses are distributed through your colony.
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The Basic Junction
Both liquid and gas pipes follow the same rules. You can make a basic junction by connecting 3 or 4 pipes at one point. This works fine when you’re starting out, but as you progress, you’ll find these simple junctions aren’t the most efficient way to distribute your resources.
Take the above junction for example. Gas will flow in from the top, and will alternate between taking the pipe below and to the right. Simple enough, right? However, what happens when one of the output pipes backs up? The gas will still try to flow into the backed up pipe, causing the flow to stop every other second, so you have half as much gas flowing through the junction. Not very ideal when you’re trying to distribute oxygen throughout your colony.
This is the opposite case, two pipes are inputs, one is an output. When you have a maximum flow of gas in both pipes, it alternates passing gas from each of the inputs to the output. However, unlike in the previous junction, if one of the inputs is completely empty, the gas flows through the other input into the output without stopping.
Inputs and Outputs
So in order to have better control over how resources flow through the pipes, you might think we’d need to use shutoffs and automation wires. Not necessarily! In more elaborate setups, we can actually get the resources to go where we want to go just by using inputs and outputs.
- When a pipe goes straight through an input, all flow goes in, unless the input is backed up, in which case it goes straight through without stopping. It will also take resources from the packet as it passes through, if there’s not enough room for a whole packet.
- When a pipe goes through an output, resources will only be output if there’s room: If a packet going through it is less than full, it will be topped up. No resources will be output if the pipe before it is backed up.
So what can we do with this information?
Bridges Aren’t Just for Bridging
The key is to use bridges: they act as one way valves with an input and and output, and unlike the actual valves, they can go behind walls and other objects. Lets take a look at some Junctions that use bridges.
In this junction, flow is prioritized out the bridge. If one of the outputs is blocked, flow will go out the other output uninterrupted. In my own colonies, I use this for oxygen distribution: production won’t be stalled just because one area of my base is overpressured.
In this junction setup, the bridge only sends water into the pipe when the pipe has room for it. I use this method to supply water to my electrolyzers. Since the gas produced by the electrolyzers always comes out at the same temperature, I prioritize using the hottest water sources first:
- Water directly from steam geysers (hottest)
- Water from water sieves (medium temperature)
- Chilled water meant for farming (coolest)
The best part is that this priority system works automatically without needing any automation components or additional power.
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