Difference between revisions of "Guide to Atmospherics"

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(→‎Where to Get Pipes: Added transit tubes as per PR #24739.)
 
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{{Needs revision| reason = some stuff may not be correct/up to date or adapted to baystation12}}
{{Rewrite|reason=This is due for a rewrite, it's rather short for explaining easily one of the most complex department/collection of mechanics we have available. Content is pretty much there but it could be laid out for new players a bit better and distinguish atmospherics between stations other than the NSS Cyberiad.}}
{{JobEngineering}}[[Atmospherics]]. To the ignorant, a mystical art indistinguishable from actual magic. To the (hopefully) educated [[Atmospheric Technician]]s of the station, a glorified network of conveyors for moving gases about. Either way, Atmospherics holds great and terrifying power in the hands of the initiated.


[[File:Atmospherics.png|thumb|600px]]
==Pipes and Gases, the Basics of Atmos==
If you aren't working with pipes and gases, you aren't doing atmospherics.


===Where to Get Pipes===


Atmospherics (or Atmosia) is the land of pipes and air, a peaceful place often left to its automatic work. To the untrained eye, it might appear to be entirely impenetrable and useless, just a mess of pipes that should be left alone to do their own work while the Atmospheric Technicians goof off in the break room. But this is far from the truth.
Meet your two new friends. One never returns the money they borrow, you aren't really sure why you hang out with them. The other one is kind of awesome.


[[File:rapid_pipe_dispenser.png|64px]] Rapid Pipe Dispenser - A handheld tool that can print, place and recycle pipes for you. Fits in your backpack and doesn't need ammo.


==Atmosia==


===Content===


Atmosia contains several notable things that every Atmospheric Technician should know about:
Beneath are all the things your dispenser can make. Learn them well, for they are the fabric from which atmos is woven.


* '''Monitoring Computers''' that allow the Atmospheric Technicians to check the atmospheric, fire, and power condition of the entire station
<tabs>
* '''The Atmospheric Pipe System''' that takes in waste air from the rest of the station, filters it, and gets it ready to be used again
<tab name="Atmospheric Pipes">
* '''The Distribution Computers''' that allow control of the composition of the atmosphere station-wide
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible" style="width:80%"
* '''Reserve air tanks''' that can be filled in case Atmospherics' reserve tanks are destroyed
|style="width:32px"|'''Items'''
* '''Fire-fighting equipment''' that enables Atmospheric Technicians to survive easily for extended periods in difficult atmospheres
|style="width:15%"|'''Name'''
* '''[[Portable air pump|Portable air pumps]]''' that can be used to repressurize or depressurize areas of the station
|style="width:15%"|'''Description'''
* '''Portable air scrubbers''' that can be used to clear toxins from the air
|style="text-align:center;"|'''Details'''
* '''Portable space heaters''' that can be used to keep an area from freezing
|-
* '''Pipe dispensers''' that allow repair of disposal and air distribution pipes
|[[File:Atmospheric_Pipe.png|64px]]
* '''Fuel and water tanks''' for use when fighting fires or other hazards
|Normal Pipes
* '''Freezer and Heater''' that can heat or freeze the gas in the pipes
|Generic pipes that can be used for most tasks.
 
|These are airtight pipes that can carry any gas you pump into them.
 
|-
 
|[[File:supply_pipe.png|64px]]
===The Pipes===
|Air Supply Pipe
 
|Used to distribute air all across the station.
[[File:Atmos.png|thumb|600px]]
|Special pipes that are mostly used for the air distribution network. Can be laid in parallel to normal pipes and scrubber pipes.
 
|-
Atmospherics is pretty simple, but the pipe layout makes it slightly confusing for the untrained eye. It consists of four pipe "loops", which are color-coded for easy checking:
|[[File:scrubber_pipe.png|64px]]
 
|Scrubbers Pipe
*The dark blue loop is the '''distribution loop'''. It sends air to all the vents on the station, and is fed by the cyan and orange loops
|Used to move waste or harmful gases.
*The cyan air mix loop, which contains '''mixed air''' to feed into the distribution loop
|Special pipes that are mostly used for the waste network. Can be laid in parallel to normal pipes and air supply pipes.
*The red/green loop, which '''retrieves (red) and filters (green) waste air''' from the rest of the station
|-
*The yellow/orange loop, internal to Atmospherics, which is used for '''custom air mixes'''
|[[File:heat_exchanger_pipe.png|64px]]
 
|Heat Exchange Pipe
 
|Shares heat between the pipe and the environment.
The arrows on the image indicate the direction of flow of various pipe systems. The dark blue arrow indicates the distribution loop carrying gas out to the rest of the station. The red arrow shows the waste intake. The yellow arrow shows both the direction of mixed air flow and points towards the portable air pumps that are outside Atmospherics.
|Exchanges heat between any gas in the pipe and any gas in the tile. Think space loop(for cooling) or the [[Toxins]] burn chamber(for heating). Connects to normal pipes via junctions.
 
|-
The air breathed by humans on Baystation 12 is made out of oxygen and nitrogen, and is mixed on the south end of Atmosia (Air Mixing). The gasses are pumped through the cyan tubes from their respective canisters ('''N2''', '''O2''') and are mixed in the air canister ('''Air'''). The breathable gas is then pumped through the cyan loop to the north of Atmosia, where it is then pumped into the blue loop and out to the station.
|[[File:universal_pipe.png|64px]]
 
|Universal Pipe Adapter
The filtering loop basically runs the gasses through the filters along the green piping and injects all gas not filtered into the mixing canister.
|Can be fitted to any pipe type.
 
|Used to interface between normal, air supply, and scrubbers pipes. They cannot connect to each other without this.
The "canisters" of the station's Atmospherics network are actually rooms filled with the appropriate gas. The output of these rooms are controlled by their respective Supply Control Computers, a small valve that allows the gas to be injected into the pipes, and a filter pump that moves the gas through the pipes.
|}
 
</tab>
To create a custom mix of gas, turn on the output of the supply control computers, open the manual valves, and turn the output of the pump to what you wish it to be. The gas will travel through the orange pipes into the mixing chamber. The air mix is pumped into the mixing chamber via a pump north of the orange loop. The mix obtained can then be pumped into the distribution and filtering loop. Remember to open the hand valve south of dark blue t-shaped  valves and turn on the pumps or your custom mix will just be redistributed through the red loop.
<tab name="Atmospheric Devices">
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible" style="width:80%"
|style="width:32px"|'''Items'''
|style="width:15%"|'''Name'''
|style="width:15%"|'''Description'''
|style="text-align:center;"|'''Details'''
|-
|[[File:Vent_Port.png|64px]]
|Unary Vent
|The standard vent used to distribute air.
|Needs to be inside a blueprinted room with a functional air alarm to operate. Typically used to pump breathable air into a room.
|-
|[[File:Scrubber_Port.png|64px]]
|Air Scrubber
|Scrubs the air clean.
|Needs to be inside a blueprinted room with a functional air alarm to operate. Can remove specific gases from the room it is in, or rapidly siphon out all gas. Typically used to remove harmful gases like CO2 from the station's air.
|-
|[[File:Vent_Port.png|64px]]
|Passive Vent
|An unpowered vent that relies on pipe pressure to operate.
|Freely exchanges gas and heat between the tile and the connected pipe network, based on pressure and temperature gradients. Does not require power, or even a blueprinted room.
|-
|[[File:dual_vent.png|64px]]
|Dual-Port Air Vent
|
|Has a valve and pump attached to it. There are two ports.
|-
|[[File:Connector_Port.png|64px]]
|Connector Port
|A connector port for canisters of gas.
|Connects canisters to pipe networks. When used in conjunction with pumps, allows you to fill canisters or to empty them into a pipe network.
|-
|[[File:Pump.png|64px]]
|Gas Pump
|A generic pressure pump.
|This pump is configured to measure how much gas it pumps by pressure. Can be set to only pump a certain amount of pressure through. The maximum pressure this pump can be set to move is 4500 kPa
|-
|[[File:Volumetric_Pump.png|64px]]
|Volume Pump
|The gas pump's cool sibling.
|This pump is configured to measure how much gas it pumps by volume instead of pressure. Can be set to pump only a specific volume of gas through. The maximum volume this pump can be set to move is 200L/s.
|-
|[[File:Passive_Gate.png|64px]]
|Passive Gate
|A passive one-way valve.
|A valve that only lets gas pass through if the input pressure and the target setting are both higher than the output pressure and the input pressure is above the target setting. Can be set between 0 and 4500 kPa and does not require power.
|-
|[[File:Gas_Filter.png|64px]]
|Gas Filter
|Separates out gases.
|A scrubber in pipe form. Checks for whatever gas you set it to, then filters it out into another pipe.
|-
|[[File:Gas_Mixer.png|64px]]
|Gas Mixer
|Mixes gases together.
|The opposite of a filter. Takes the contents of its two inputs and combines them together at whatever ratio you tell it to, then pumps them through the output. Importantly, ratios are measured by pressure, not volume. Maximum output pressure is 4500 kPa
|-
|[[File:Heat_exchanger.png|64px]]
|Heat Exchanger
|Equalize heat between two pipe networks.
|When two heat exchangers are placed next to each other, facing each other, they will try to equalize the heat between the two pipe networks they are connected to. They connect to normal pipes and thus are not part of the heat exchanger pipe system.
|-
|[[File:Air_Injector.png|64px]]
|Air Injector
|Used to force gases into high pressure areas.
|A gas injector that will continue to pump its contents out regardless of how high the pressure around it is. Measures how much it pumps by volume. Will not operate without being linked to a console. Will display a green light when on.
|-
|[[File:Manual_Valve.png|64px]]
|Manual Valve
|A simple hand-turned gas valve.
|A manually-controlled valve, it requires no power and also no ID authorization to use. Doesn't require power(or a blueprinted room), doesn't require ID access, and cannot be operated by the AI, borgs, or drones. Displays a small green light when open.
|-
|[[File:Digital_Valve.png|64px]]
|Digital Valve
|An electronic valve.
|An electronically-controlled gas valve. Requires power, requires ID access, and can be operated by the AI, borgs, and drones. Displays a small green light when open.
|-
|[[File:meter.gif|64px]]
|Meter
|Measures temperature and pressure inside the pipe it's on.
|Simply place over any flat stretch of pipe and wrench it on. Upon examination, it should now be yielding measurements on what is going on inside the pipe. Does not provide as much information as an analyser/gas scanner, but good for being able to tell what is going on at a glance.
|-
|[[File:Gas_Sensor.png|64px]]
|Gas Sensor
|Senses gas. No, really.
|Used to sense the pressure and temperature of the gas surrounding the sensor itself, rather than a pipe. Must be connected to one of several kinds of computer to be used.
|}
</tab>
<tab name="Disposal Pipes">
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible" style="width:80%"
|style="width:32px"|'''Items'''
|style="width:15%"|'''Name'''
|style="text-align:center;"|'''Description'''
|-
|[[File:Disposal_pipe.png|64px]]
|Disposal Pipe
|Large pneumatic pipes that are used to carry trash, mail, and occasionally people around the station.  
|-
|[[File:Disposal_bin.png|64px]]
|Disposal Bin
|The preferred method for delivering garbage into disposal pipes. Holds onto contents until they are flushed, whether manually or automatically.
|-
|[[File:Disposal_outlet.png|64px]]
|Disposal Outlet
|Whenever something or someone has reached this from a disposal pipe, they are ejected after a buzzer sounds.
|-
|[[File:Disposal_intake.png|64px]]
|Disposal Intake
|An open chute into disposal pipes. Objects or people that enter will be sent into connected disposal pipes. Objects or people who reach one of these at the end of a disposal pipe are ejected at high speed in a random direction.
|}
</tab>
<tab name="Transit Tubes">
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible" style="width:80%"
|style="width:32px"|'''Items'''
|style="width:15%"|'''Name'''
|style="text-align:center;"|'''Description'''
|-
|[[File:Transit_Tube.png|64px]]
|Transit Tube
|A glass tube used for transportation with the use of transit pods.
|-
|[[File:Diagonal_Transit_Tube.png|64px]]
|Diagonal Transit Tube
|A glass tube used for transportation with the use of transit pods. This one is diagonal.
|-
||[[File:Curved_Transit_Tube.png|64px]]
|Curved Transit Tube
|A glass tube used for transportation with the use of transit pods. This one is curved
|-
|[[File:Junction_Transit_Tube.png|64px]]
|Junction Transit Tube
|A glass tube used for transportation with the use of transit pods. This one has three sides. You can hold down a directional key to choose which side to go to.
|-
|[[File:Transit_Tube_Station.png|64px]]
|Transit Tube Station
|A station for transit pods to park in midway through the ride, letting the person leave by pressing the directional key the exit is facing in or going through the station faster by pressing a directional key where the next transit tube is. You can board it by walking in through it's entrance. It's density prevents people or bullets from passing through it.
|-
|[[File:Terminus_Dispenser_Tube_Station.png|64px]]
|Terminus Dispenser Tube Station
|A terminus used to signify the end or beginning of a transit tube network. It can be boarded it by walking in through it's entrance. This one creates and recycles transit pods.
|-
|[[File:Dispenser_Tube_Station.png|64px]]
|Dispenser Tube Station
|A station for transit pods to park in midway through the ride, letting the person leave by pressing the directional key the exit is facing in or going through the station faster by pressing a directional key where the next transit tube is. It can be boarded it by walking in through it's entrance. This one creates and recycles transit pods. It's density prevents people or bullets from passing through it.
|-
</tab></tabs>


===The Gases===
===The Gases===
The main goal of atmospherics is to manipulate these in a way that benefits the station. Each type of gas has different properties that can help or hinder. Your skill in manipulating these will determine the success of your atmospheric machinations.


{|class="wikitable" style="width:80%;"
|'''Nitrogen (N2)'''
|Nitrogen is an inert gas that makes up 80% of the air on the station. Vox breathe this, but in the station atmosphere, it mostly just takes up space.
|-
|'''Oxygen (O2)'''
|The other 20% of the air. Most of the crew will be needing at least 16kPa of this stuff in the atmosphere in order to live. Poisonous to Vox and Plasmamen. Necessary for burning plasma.
|-
|'''Air'''
|You know what this is. The gas mix that is distributed around the station. It is composed of 80% N2 and 20% O2.
|-
|'''CO2'''
|An invisible gas that is slightly heavier than air. This is what crewmembers who breathe will be exhaling. Also produced by plasma fires. In high concentrations, will make you pass out, which can quickly lead to suffocation.
|-
|'''Nitrous Oxide (N2O)'''
|A white-flecked gas that is slightly heavier than CO2. At low concentrations, will cause sporadic laughing. At high concentrations, will put you to sleep.
|-
|'''Plasma (Toxins)'''
|The oil of the new world. Purple, highly flammable, and highly toxic(unless you are a Plasmaman). Burns with oxygen and will spontaneously ignite with it at a high enough temperature. Much heavier than all the previous gases.
|-
|'''???'''
|Hmmmm...
|}


*'''N2''': One of the components of the Air mix. N2 soaks up heat in the air, and lowers the temperature of a fire. By association, it can very quickly lower the temperature of a fiery rupture to the point where the flames self-extinguish.
==Station Systems==
 
While pipes themselves will always work if undamaged, atmospheric devices all have certain prerequisites that must be met for them to operate.
 
*'''O2''': You breathe this. Running out of O2 will cause your slow death by suffocation damage. It is also required for a fire to even start, and hold, ending the fire when the O2 or Plasma is depleted. Having less than 16 kPa of O2 flowing into your lungs chokes you.
 
 
*'''Air''': The gas mix that is distributed in the station. It is composed of 70% N2 and 30% O2.
 
 
*'''CO2''': An invisible, heavy gas, CO2 is one of the first and fastest gases the scrubbers suck out of the air. It chokes people effectively and quickly, and if you can be bothered to set the alarms up, will result in a invisible room that kills those in it. Takes some setup and can be very, very annoying. The emote for this at low levels is (gasps alone? chokes and gasps?)
 
 
*'''N2O''': A white-flecked gas. Makes you laugh at low doses and at higher ones puts you to sleep. Scrubbers don't deal with it too well and portable scrubbers just choke on it. If using this as a sleep gas mix do *not* forget the O2 at at least 16 kPa, or you will kill someone.
 
 
*'''Plasma''': The one truly flammable gas on the station, plasma is orange, and highly toxic. Of note is the fact that in the presence of any oxygen at high pressures, Plasma pumped into air can and will spontaneously ignite on turf at high pressures.
 
 
 
==Setting Up Atmosia==
[[File:AtmosGuide.png|thumb|300px]]
Properly initialized, Atmosia can keep the station aired-up through nearly any emergency.  Improperly initialized, it's a waste of space at best and an outright fire hazard at worst.
 
Here's how to do it the right way:
 
 
*1) Go to every green-circled pump and filter (shown on the image) except the topmost one.  Make sure they're all on and set to max pressure (4500 kPa), so gas will actually be moved.
*2) Go to the topmost green-circled pump (the one feeding air into distribution from the cyan air mix loop) and set it to 700 kPa
*3) Go to every yellow-circled valve and make sure they're turned on. You can tell if it's on by looking at the small light on its side; if it's green, it's on.
*4) Go to every computer at the edge of the room and click "Search", so that the computer will actually register that it has gas to inject into the system. Use the O2 and N2 computers and set their vents to the maximum pressure (5066.25 KPA).
*5) Go outside, to the external ports, and make sure the portable air pumps are connected to the gas ports so that they'll fill.
 
 
Now that Atmosia is set up, there is a short list of things which fall under your stead:
 
*First and by far most important: make sure pipes don't get broken and if they do, fix them.
*Go around swiping your ID on air alarms, setting Plasma and N2O to siphon, and then re-swiping to lock it. You can ask the AI to do this as well, and probably should.
*Least importantly, maintain the disposals system. You can generate pipes with the disposal pipe dispensers.
 
==Air Alarms==
 
Air alarms are the central tool of an atmos tech outside setting atmospherics up. To use an air alarm, simply swipe your ID across it. Here's the different options:
 
 
'''Panic Siphons:''' They turn all vents off and set all scrubbers to siphon.
 
 
'''Vents:''' you control vents through the air alarm. There are the following settings:
*External on, Internal off: will drain/add air from the tile the vent is on to make it the correct amount. All air being moved goes into/comes out of the pipe the vent is attached to. Set to 0 to drain air, or pressurize to specific levels.
*Both on: completely useless. Don't bother.
*External off, Internal on: Drains/adds air to the tile to get the pipe attached to the correct level. Setting a vent to internal and the desired pressure to 0 causes ALL gas which enters the pipe to be shunted out onto the tile.
 
 
'''Scrubbers''': two settings, scrubbing and siphoning.
*Scrubbers will slowly drain any gasses set to scrub in the air of the tile they are on, and transfer it to their pipe. Really, really slow with N2O.
*Siphons will do the same, except indiscriminately and drain all gasses on their tile.
 
 
Unlike other stations, the air alarms are already setup to filter dangerous gases so there is no need to fiddle with the alarms.
 
==Pipe Dispensers==
 
There are a few different pipes and devices that you can get from the dispensers, each with specific uses.
 
Pipe Dispenser:
 
*'''Regular pipes''' - The station is infested with these thing.
*'''Insulated pipes''' - Keeps the cold out if you're placing pipes out in space. (Regular pipes don't transfer outside heat at all from the environment, so these are pretty much regular pipes without the luxury of manifolds.)
 
'''Devices'''
*Connector - Used to attach canisters, pumps or scrubbers to a pipe network. If you can't get a pipe network easily to the filter loop, an empty canister can be a good substitute.
*Unary vent - See: Vent. Once placed down it will have to be turned on by activating it at an Air alarm terminal.
*Gas pump - The basic pumps you'll find all over atmospherics. Good for precise pressure levels. Goes up to 4500 kPa.
*Passive gate - Think of it as a one-way manual valve, but electronic. Doesn't pump gas, but lets certain pressure through. Can let up to 4500 kPa pressure through. It should be noted that its on status can be easy to miss, being just a small red/green light.
*Volume pump - A bit like the gas pump, but pumps via volume rather than going for pressure. 200 is its max output, but this is fairly significant. Faster than a gas pump (You can even fill canisters up past the standard 4500 kpa pressure!), so best used in systems where precise pressure isn't needed. (Such as anything to do with the waste loop.)
*Scrubber - Self explanatory, scrubs the nasty out of things, or acts like a vacuum. Like unary vents, needs to be turned on by an Air alarm terminal after wrenched into place.
*Meter - Wanna know how much gas is in a pipe? Use these. (Helpful hint: In a room with the default 101.3kPa atmosphere pipes < 303.9 kPa pressure can be unwrenched.)
*Gas Filter - Them big ol' blocks of things that ring Atmosia, takes certain gasses out. Filters them if you will.
*Gas Mixer - Like a filter, but mixes gasses instead of filters. There is one in Atmosia that mixes nitrogen and oxygen.


'''Heat Exchange'''
Remember, almost all atmos devices require a powered APC to work.
*Pipes - H/E pipes transfer temperatures between the environment and gas within'. Besides looking spiffy, you can place some in space to cool gasses, or create a burning length of death pipe.
*Junction - Turn that regular pipe network into a H/E network, and back again! After all, you have to get that gas safely into space ''somehow''!
*Heat Exchanger - These strange and esoteric devices equalize the temperature between two pipe networks without actually mixing the gasses. To use, place them facing each other. (So you're going to need at LEAST a 1 X 4 area to set this up.)


In addition, there are other pieces of infrastructure that can/must be used when working with specific atmospheric devices.


Disposal Pipe Dispenser:


'''Disposal Pipes'''
===[[Air Alarm]]===
Those pipes are made through the disposal pipe dispenser, use them to fix or expand to the disposal system of the Exodus.
[[File:AirAlarm.png|64px]]


Mandatory for the use of non-passive vents and scrubbers. Allows a wide range of control over a blueprinted rooms current gas contents. Where exactly the Air Alarm is in the room does not matter. As long as the room is blueprinted and powered it will function. Cannot be placed in areas that are not blueprinted.


'''To learn more about Air Alarms and how to use them, click here: [[Air Alarm]]'''


==Pipe Prospecting==
===Computers Consoles===


Atmospherics isn't the only place with pipes, the entire pipe system is there to explore.  
* '''Atmospheric Alert Computer:''' This computer console will tell you where your attention is needed. Green means everything is alright, yellow signals something is wrong, and red means things have gone wrong enough for an alarm to be triggered (Usually caused when a room's air stops being breathable).


*Officially, Atmospherics has one other official room on the station, a small room in maintenance just north of the [[Fitness Room]]  and just east of the [[Detective's Office]]. This room can isolate the Security wings distribution system with its own feed of gas, canister of air mix included within.
* '''Central Atmospherics Computer:''' Allows remote control of any air alarm on the station that has remote access enabled.


*The [[Incinerator]] provides a good off-site burn room.
* '''The Distribution Computers:''' A console to monitor gas storage contents, control air injectors/extraction vents, etc. If you understand how to use these properly, you probably know what you are doing. Air Injectors REQUIRE these to work.


*By [[Arrivals]] and also the airlocks leading to the [[Toxins Test Chamber]] in the maintenance tunnels are two large cans of emergency air mix that can be put into the system with the turn of a valve.
===Thermomachine===


Finally, the entirety of the maintenance system itself is a giant playground of pipes. Try using your T-ray to explore the vast pipe systems.  
Used to change the temperature of gases in pipes, thermomachines are essential to any successful TEG.


Whatever you do, be responsible with your experiments. When in doubt, adminhelp what you're going to do.
==Atmosia Proper - The Beating Heart of the Station==


==Useful Atmos Trivia==
[[File:Atmosia_and_Air_Loop_Diagram.jpg|1300px|thumb|center|Left - Atmosia with non-air systems faded out; Right - Simplified diagram of the Air Processing System in Atmosia]]
*Using H/E pipes in space you can cool things down to a very low temperature very quickly. By making a cross with two off them you can have two on one tile, which is known as 'sequesteral' cooling.
*Air Filters on currently burning mixes can siphon out heated but PURE O2 and Plasma. Do the O2 first then the plasma, as there is less O2 in a fire and thus it functions faster. This (and H/E) allow you to reach really obscene temperatures.
*Air Filters and H/E allow you to expose gasses to the heat of fires (or their CO2 product) but keep/make them pure, allowing for hot N2O or similar.
*You can use fire to burn out floor tiles into space tiles.
*Using a small starter flame/heater you can have in pipe combustion.
*Canister bombs are heated Plasma in a canister, with a O2 tank placed in the canister, and then open the valve between them. You will also need to run very, very fast.
*The gas diverted by an air filter has no maximum pressure, and can therefore reach an insane amount. For example, you can filter out the oxygen into one sealed pipe and it will keep rising.
*You can hack an air alarm to use it as a non-atmostech.
*Any time chemistry sets off an air-affecting grenade (Think Welderfuel/Ground Plasma), the particles spread themselves as part of an airmix. This is bloody annoying, because though the Air Alarms pick them up as "High Concentration of Unknown Particles Detected", they are impossible to suck down to Atmos. Spacing the entire affected air is, as far as I know, the only real "cure". There is a viable way to clean this, if you can safely cordon off the area. Detonating a welding fuel tank usually (always?) cuts a hole to space on the tile beneath it, and thus if you set your internals on and wear a fire suit, is an highly unsafe but effective way of draining the air. It is also one of the few ways to destroy pipes which are at a high pressure and thus can be a useful emergency cut-off if there is plasma irrevocably linked to distribution. It does KO you, do damage, and can make a space tile, which means without internals and a fire suit it can kill you. Caution is advised.
*Pipes at around 300 kPa pressure can be unwrenched, however, devices such as pumps and filters don't really 'hold' pressure and can be unwrenched at any time! (Assuming they're off.)
*Gas pumps are for precise pressure control, volumetric pumps are for really fast pumping, and passive gates are for having 'one way' manual valves.




==Fun projects==
*The Atmospherics system is far from optimal, and I'm talking about just the pipe configuration! Break out that wrench and start experimenting! (Just make sure you know what's what.)
*Extremely high temperature gasses (Like those from a panic siphoned fire.) can really clog the waste loop. Can something be done to correct that?
*No one uses the ports outside of the 'refilling' station, but that doesn't mean that functionality can't be added onto them!
*The main cargo area inside Cargo has a laughably small number of vents, and how many times have those dumb dumbs sent the shuttle off while the doors are open?
*The brigs distribution system is set up to be potentially independent of the rest of the stations distribution loop, maybe other places can be set up like this as well?
*The mining station doesn't have air recycling. Very long rounds might make this a problem for any miners working there.


==HOW TO BE A TRAITOROUS BASTARD==


*1) Open valves connected to harmful gas you want to add to the station.
In Atmosia, you will see many different colored pipes. These colors are labels, marking out different systems within atmosia.
*2) Set pumps to the distribution loop to maximum pressure output (4500kPa)
*3) Set filters to not filter harmful gasses you want to add to the station
*4) Open valve from custom mix chamber
*5) Turn on pump leading to distribution loop
*6) Wait for vents to slowly kick out your deathgas mix as regular atmos drains out through the inevitable hull breaches. (Alternatively turn off pressure checks on atmos alarms vents)
*7) If you need to kill someone for your objective, and you want to be more proactive, the Fire Axe mounted in the wall is surprisingly effective. Just don't leave it lying around, because it's the only one in the station.


To hurry this process up, you can set the air vents at local control panels to maximum output pressure. Not doing so gives the AI and atmos techs more time to notice what you've done and shut it off before it takes effect.
{| class="wikitable" style="width:80%;"
!style="width:10%"|Name
!style="text-align:center;"|Description
|-
!Air Supply <br> [[File:supply_pipe.png|32px]]
|The dark blue pipe is the '''Main Air Supply'''. It sends breathable air (roughly 80% nitrogen and 20% oxygen) to all the vents on the station, and is fed by the cyan pipe in Atmospherics.
|-
!Scrubber <br> [[File:Scrubber_pipe.png|32px]]
|The red pipe is the '''Scrubber Pipe'''. This is where all the toxic waste normally ends up by the scrubber system found all around the station. It may contain breathable air, however it is unfiltered and possibly contaminated.
|-
!Air Mix <br> [[File:cyan_pipe.png|32px]]
|The cyan pipe is the breathable air or the '''Air Mix'''. This pipe feeds into the main air supply.
|-
!Waste <br> [[File:purple_pipe.png|32px]]
|The purple pipe is the '''Waste Pipe''', which retrieves waste air from the scrubber pipe which then leads to the filter.
|-
!Filter <br> [[File:green_pipe.png|32px]]
|The green pipe is the '''Filter Pipe''', which filters out the various gases in the waste air provided by the water at various filters placed along it. Each filter puts the respect gases back into the gas containers.
|-
!Pure <br> [[File:yellow_pipe.png|32px]]
|The yellow pipe is the '''Mix Pipe''', which is internal to Atmospherics and is used for custom air mixes.
|}


Crafty atmos traitors will want to cut cameras, replace pumps with pipes, and use tricky pipe configurations to avoid the AI interfering or the detective trying to fix it.
==The Basic Mathematical Details==


'''Warning'''
===Ideal Gas Law===
If you plan using any dangerous gas as a traitor, adminhelp first. Say what you're planning and wait to get approval. Do not act without an admin greenlight.


The magical formula for improving your burn mixes.... and explaining why your coolant pipes have such a low pressure.


Formula: '''PV=nRT'''


'''P''' - Pressure in kilopascals or kPa<br>
'''V''' - Volume in liters<br>
'''n''' - is the amount of substance of gas (also known as number of moles)<br>
'''R''' - is a constant or 8.31<br>
'''T''' - Temperature in Kelvin<br>


==The less well know hazards of gasses==
Cooling a gas will make it take up less space (volume) for each unit (mole) of said gas.  
*Any gas at pressure over 1000 KPA will cause you to start suffocating as in a vacuum. You can just use internals, though.
This effect also results in a gas at a lower temperature having a lower pressure.
*N2O is invisible at low pressures. If you start giggling, put on your internals to avoid passing out.
Heating a gas will have the opposite effect, resulting in a larger volume and higher pressure per mole.
*Any gas can displace O2, and less than ''16'' (also useful for optimizing internals) KPA of oxygen starts the Oxyloss. CO2 can be removed with the scrubbers, but to get rid of N2 simply apply some way of removing gas from the air and adding O2. My personal favorite is 2 air pumps, 3 connectors and a Air Filter and a canister: 1 pump draws in, goes through the connection and filters N2 into the canister, and the rest to the other pump, which expels it. Can also be used for N2O which is only sluggishly scrubbed otherwise.
*Pressure's above 750KPA do 10DPS + 5DPS for every extra 375KPA above that mark,  rounded off. Space suits completely block it all, but there is no other defence.


===Conversion to and from Kelvin===


While most things will yield temperature in both Kelvin and Celsius, here is the conversion formula just in case.


==Notes about Pressure, Temperature, Volume and Heat Capacity==
Formula: '''K = C + 273.15'''


'''PV=nRT''' where R = 8  The following are linked by this equation. Sadly, without either Volume or Moles, it's not useful in game and is here for the theory.
'''C''' - Celsius<br>
'''K''' - Kelvin


'''Pressure (P)''': Measured in kPa, kiloPascals, Pressure is lethal above 750 KPA's.
(Temperature in Kelvin minus 273.15 is that same temperature, but in Celsius)


'''Temperature(T)''': Measures in K, Kelvin, Temperature above x and below y causes burn damage. Bomb making usually relies on a temperature at or in excess of 90 kK. Floors and walls melt at a temperature of z.


'''Moles(n)''': While not a variable that can be seen, Moles are the amount of particles of a gas in the air. It is moles that cause odd effects with a certain chemical. As it dumps so many moles to a turf, to keep the pressure acceptable, the moles have to be very, very cold, causing the infectious effect.
==Additional Guides==


'''Volume(V)''': Another unseen variable, Volume is the size of a turf, or a canister, tank or piped tank. This helps dictate how much gas it can hold. (Potential list of volume for a tile, pipe, airtanks, etanks, canisters, ect?)
*[[File:Gasturbine.png|32px|link=Gas Turbine]] [[Gas Turbine|Guide to Gas Turbine]]
*[[File:Thermoelectric_Generator.gif|link=Thermoelectric Generator|32px]] [[Thermoelectric Generator|Guide to Thermoelectric Generator]]
*[[File:Supermatter.png|link=Supermatter Engine|32px]] [[Supermatter Engine|Guide to Supermatter Engine]]
*[[File:AirAlarm.png|link=Air Alarm|32px]] [[Air Alarm|Guide to Air Alarms]]


'''Heat Capacity''': A gasmix has heat capacity, and it is calculated by taking into account the quantity of all of the gases in the air and their specific heat. Oxygen has a specific heat of around 20, CO2 has 30, and N2 has 300. When you factor in the normal 70% N2 it leaves you with a very high specific heat. The higher the specific heat, the more energy required to heat up the mixture, meaning that with an air mix vs. pure O2 mix, it takes much more energy to heat the air than the O2, and the increase in energy required also decreases how much the fire spreads. Simply slowing it down means that heat energy will be 'soaked up' by the air instead of super-heating everything extremely quickly.
==Related Links==
*[[Atmospheric Technician]]


'''Fire''': An effect caused by burning plasma, fire comes in two different forms of hotspot. It causes massive burn damage, and a strong fire will not be stopped by standard firesuits. Plumbing N2 into a room might work, but heavy firefighting is not the point of this section. Fire will ignite any form of combustibles in near tiles. Sufficiently hot fires use less oxygen as they rise in temperature. This is due to the fact that fires remove X plasma and X*(1.4-Y, Y< or = 1) oxygen. X CO2 is produced.




[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Guides]]

Latest revision as of 08:45, 27 March 2024

This page needs to be rewritten
REASON: This is due for a rewrite, it's rather short for explaining easily one of the most complex department/collection of mechanics we have available. Content is pretty much there but it could be laid out for new players a bit better and distinguish atmospherics between stations other than the NSS Cyberiad.
Engineering Department

Atmospherics. To the ignorant, a mystical art indistinguishable from actual magic. To the (hopefully) educated Atmospheric Technicians of the station, a glorified network of conveyors for moving gases about. Either way, Atmospherics holds great and terrifying power in the hands of the initiated.

Pipes and Gases, the Basics of Atmos

If you aren't working with pipes and gases, you aren't doing atmospherics.

Where to Get Pipes

Meet your two new friends. One never returns the money they borrow, you aren't really sure why you hang out with them. The other one is kind of awesome.

Rapid pipe dispenser.png Rapid Pipe Dispenser - A handheld tool that can print, place and recycle pipes for you. Fits in your backpack and doesn't need ammo.


Beneath are all the things your dispenser can make. Learn them well, for they are the fabric from which atmos is woven.

Items Name Description Details
Atmospheric Pipe.png Normal Pipes Generic pipes that can be used for most tasks. These are airtight pipes that can carry any gas you pump into them.
Supply pipe.png Air Supply Pipe Used to distribute air all across the station. Special pipes that are mostly used for the air distribution network. Can be laid in parallel to normal pipes and scrubber pipes.
Scrubber pipe.png Scrubbers Pipe Used to move waste or harmful gases. Special pipes that are mostly used for the waste network. Can be laid in parallel to normal pipes and air supply pipes.
Heat exchanger pipe.png Heat Exchange Pipe Shares heat between the pipe and the environment. Exchanges heat between any gas in the pipe and any gas in the tile. Think space loop(for cooling) or the Toxins burn chamber(for heating). Connects to normal pipes via junctions.
Universal pipe.png Universal Pipe Adapter Can be fitted to any pipe type. Used to interface between normal, air supply, and scrubbers pipes. They cannot connect to each other without this.
Items Name Description Details
Vent Port.png Unary Vent The standard vent used to distribute air. Needs to be inside a blueprinted room with a functional air alarm to operate. Typically used to pump breathable air into a room.
Scrubber Port.png Air Scrubber Scrubs the air clean. Needs to be inside a blueprinted room with a functional air alarm to operate. Can remove specific gases from the room it is in, or rapidly siphon out all gas. Typically used to remove harmful gases like CO2 from the station's air.
Vent Port.png Passive Vent An unpowered vent that relies on pipe pressure to operate. Freely exchanges gas and heat between the tile and the connected pipe network, based on pressure and temperature gradients. Does not require power, or even a blueprinted room.
Dual vent.png Dual-Port Air Vent Has a valve and pump attached to it. There are two ports.
Connector Port.png Connector Port A connector port for canisters of gas. Connects canisters to pipe networks. When used in conjunction with pumps, allows you to fill canisters or to empty them into a pipe network.
Pump.png Gas Pump A generic pressure pump. This pump is configured to measure how much gas it pumps by pressure. Can be set to only pump a certain amount of pressure through. The maximum pressure this pump can be set to move is 4500 kPa
Volumetric Pump.png Volume Pump The gas pump's cool sibling. This pump is configured to measure how much gas it pumps by volume instead of pressure. Can be set to pump only a specific volume of gas through. The maximum volume this pump can be set to move is 200L/s.
Passive Gate.png Passive Gate A passive one-way valve. A valve that only lets gas pass through if the input pressure and the target setting are both higher than the output pressure and the input pressure is above the target setting. Can be set between 0 and 4500 kPa and does not require power.
Gas Filter.png Gas Filter Separates out gases. A scrubber in pipe form. Checks for whatever gas you set it to, then filters it out into another pipe.
Gas Mixer.png Gas Mixer Mixes gases together. The opposite of a filter. Takes the contents of its two inputs and combines them together at whatever ratio you tell it to, then pumps them through the output. Importantly, ratios are measured by pressure, not volume. Maximum output pressure is 4500 kPa
Heat exchanger.png Heat Exchanger Equalize heat between two pipe networks. When two heat exchangers are placed next to each other, facing each other, they will try to equalize the heat between the two pipe networks they are connected to. They connect to normal pipes and thus are not part of the heat exchanger pipe system.
Air Injector.png Air Injector Used to force gases into high pressure areas. A gas injector that will continue to pump its contents out regardless of how high the pressure around it is. Measures how much it pumps by volume. Will not operate without being linked to a console. Will display a green light when on.
Manual Valve.png Manual Valve A simple hand-turned gas valve. A manually-controlled valve, it requires no power and also no ID authorization to use. Doesn't require power(or a blueprinted room), doesn't require ID access, and cannot be operated by the AI, borgs, or drones. Displays a small green light when open.
Digital Valve.png Digital Valve An electronic valve. An electronically-controlled gas valve. Requires power, requires ID access, and can be operated by the AI, borgs, and drones. Displays a small green light when open.
Meter.gif Meter Measures temperature and pressure inside the pipe it's on. Simply place over any flat stretch of pipe and wrench it on. Upon examination, it should now be yielding measurements on what is going on inside the pipe. Does not provide as much information as an analyser/gas scanner, but good for being able to tell what is going on at a glance.
Gas Sensor.png Gas Sensor Senses gas. No, really. Used to sense the pressure and temperature of the gas surrounding the sensor itself, rather than a pipe. Must be connected to one of several kinds of computer to be used.
Items Name Description
Disposal pipe.png Disposal Pipe Large pneumatic pipes that are used to carry trash, mail, and occasionally people around the station.
Disposal bin.png Disposal Bin The preferred method for delivering garbage into disposal pipes. Holds onto contents until they are flushed, whether manually or automatically.
Disposal outlet.png Disposal Outlet Whenever something or someone has reached this from a disposal pipe, they are ejected after a buzzer sounds.
Disposal intake.png Disposal Intake An open chute into disposal pipes. Objects or people that enter will be sent into connected disposal pipes. Objects or people who reach one of these at the end of a disposal pipe are ejected at high speed in a random direction.
Items Name Description
Transit Tube.png Transit Tube A glass tube used for transportation with the use of transit pods.
Diagonal Transit Tube.png Diagonal Transit Tube A glass tube used for transportation with the use of transit pods. This one is diagonal.
Curved Transit Tube.png Curved Transit Tube A glass tube used for transportation with the use of transit pods. This one is curved
Junction Transit Tube.png Junction Transit Tube A glass tube used for transportation with the use of transit pods. This one has three sides. You can hold down a directional key to choose which side to go to.
Transit Tube Station.png Transit Tube Station A station for transit pods to park in midway through the ride, letting the person leave by pressing the directional key the exit is facing in or going through the station faster by pressing a directional key where the next transit tube is. You can board it by walking in through it's entrance. It's density prevents people or bullets from passing through it.
Terminus Dispenser Tube Station.png Terminus Dispenser Tube Station A terminus used to signify the end or beginning of a transit tube network. It can be boarded it by walking in through it's entrance. This one creates and recycles transit pods.
Dispenser Tube Station.png Dispenser Tube Station A station for transit pods to park in midway through the ride, letting the person leave by pressing the directional key the exit is facing in or going through the station faster by pressing a directional key where the next transit tube is. It can be boarded it by walking in through it's entrance. This one creates and recycles transit pods. It's density prevents people or bullets from passing through it.

The Gases

The main goal of atmospherics is to manipulate these in a way that benefits the station. Each type of gas has different properties that can help or hinder. Your skill in manipulating these will determine the success of your atmospheric machinations.

Nitrogen (N2) Nitrogen is an inert gas that makes up 80% of the air on the station. Vox breathe this, but in the station atmosphere, it mostly just takes up space.
Oxygen (O2) The other 20% of the air. Most of the crew will be needing at least 16kPa of this stuff in the atmosphere in order to live. Poisonous to Vox and Plasmamen. Necessary for burning plasma.
Air You know what this is. The gas mix that is distributed around the station. It is composed of 80% N2 and 20% O2.
CO2 An invisible gas that is slightly heavier than air. This is what crewmembers who breathe will be exhaling. Also produced by plasma fires. In high concentrations, will make you pass out, which can quickly lead to suffocation.
Nitrous Oxide (N2O) A white-flecked gas that is slightly heavier than CO2. At low concentrations, will cause sporadic laughing. At high concentrations, will put you to sleep.
Plasma (Toxins) The oil of the new world. Purple, highly flammable, and highly toxic(unless you are a Plasmaman). Burns with oxygen and will spontaneously ignite with it at a high enough temperature. Much heavier than all the previous gases.
??? Hmmmm...

Station Systems

While pipes themselves will always work if undamaged, atmospheric devices all have certain prerequisites that must be met for them to operate.

Remember, almost all atmos devices require a powered APC to work.

In addition, there are other pieces of infrastructure that can/must be used when working with specific atmospheric devices.


Air Alarm

AirAlarm.png

Mandatory for the use of non-passive vents and scrubbers. Allows a wide range of control over a blueprinted rooms current gas contents. Where exactly the Air Alarm is in the room does not matter. As long as the room is blueprinted and powered it will function. Cannot be placed in areas that are not blueprinted.

To learn more about Air Alarms and how to use them, click here: Air Alarm

Computers Consoles

  • Atmospheric Alert Computer: This computer console will tell you where your attention is needed. Green means everything is alright, yellow signals something is wrong, and red means things have gone wrong enough for an alarm to be triggered (Usually caused when a room's air stops being breathable).
  • Central Atmospherics Computer: Allows remote control of any air alarm on the station that has remote access enabled.
  • The Distribution Computers: A console to monitor gas storage contents, control air injectors/extraction vents, etc. If you understand how to use these properly, you probably know what you are doing. Air Injectors REQUIRE these to work.

Thermomachine

Used to change the temperature of gases in pipes, thermomachines are essential to any successful TEG.

Atmosia Proper - The Beating Heart of the Station

Left - Atmosia with non-air systems faded out; Right - Simplified diagram of the Air Processing System in Atmosia



In Atmosia, you will see many different colored pipes. These colors are labels, marking out different systems within atmosia.

Name Description
Air Supply
Supply pipe.png 		The dark blue pipe is the Main Air Supply. It sends breathable air (roughly 80% nitrogen and 20% oxygen) to all the vents on the station, and is fed by the cyan pipe in Atmospherics.
Scrubber
Scrubber pipe.png 		The red pipe is the Scrubber Pipe. This is where all the toxic waste normally ends up by the scrubber system found all around the station. It may contain breathable air, however it is unfiltered and possibly contaminated.
Air Mix
Cyan pipe.png 		The cyan pipe is the breathable air or the Air Mix. This pipe feeds into the main air supply.
Waste
Purple pipe.png 		The purple pipe is the Waste Pipe, which retrieves waste air from the scrubber pipe which then leads to the filter.
Filter
Green pipe.png 		The green pipe is the Filter Pipe, which filters out the various gases in the waste air provided by the water at various filters placed along it. Each filter puts the respect gases back into the gas containers.
Pure
Yellow pipe.png 		The yellow pipe is the Mix Pipe, which is internal to Atmospherics and is used for custom air mixes.

The Basic Mathematical Details

Ideal Gas Law

The magical formula for improving your burn mixes.... and explaining why your coolant pipes have such a low pressure.

Formula: PV=nRT

P - Pressure in kilopascals or kPa
V - Volume in liters
n - is the amount of substance of gas (also known as number of moles)
R - is a constant or 8.31
T - Temperature in Kelvin

Cooling a gas will make it take up less space (volume) for each unit (mole) of said gas. This effect also results in a gas at a lower temperature having a lower pressure. Heating a gas will have the opposite effect, resulting in a larger volume and higher pressure per mole.

Conversion to and from Kelvin

While most things will yield temperature in both Kelvin and Celsius, here is the conversion formula just in case.

Formula: K = C + 273.15

C - Celsius
K - Kelvin

(Temperature in Kelvin minus 273.15 is that same temperature, but in Celsius)


Additional Guides

Related Links

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