Skip to main content

Thermal System Engineering

A simulation of thermal systems onboard a spaceship. Must be able to be simulated at extremely high speeds (days/second).

Basic Elements​

  • Heat Source: Anything producing heat (watts)
    • Reactor
    • Weapons
    • General ship systems
  • Heat Sink: Anything that can "store" heat up to some limit (joules)
    • Phase change heat sink
    • Fuel tanks
  • Radiator: Radiates away heat (watts)
  • Heat Pump: Moves heat from one place to another, at the cost of generating some more heat itself.
    • Efficiency is determined by how many joules it is moving, and the temperature difference.
  • Cooling Loop: Operates at a set temperature, connects together devices

Layout​

  • Every heat source is connected to a cooling loop, which has one or more radiators.
    • Optionally, connected through a heat pump
  • Cooling loops have a set operating temperature
  • Cooling loops can be attached to heat sinks
  • Heat sinks can be connected to an output loop, always through a heat pump

Flow Algorithm​

  • Every source calculates total joules produced given delta time
  • Adds joules to it's cooling loop
    • If there's a heat pump, add extra joules to the cooling loop based on temperatures involved
  • If total joules added exceeds the cooling capacity of the radiators in the loop, move heat into attached heat sinks which are currently cooler than the loop operating temperature
  • If a loop has spare capacity left, move joules from a heat sink into the loop