Packager

The Packager is a building used to package and unpackage fluids in and out of or. Both Canisters and Fluid Tanks are returned when fluid is unpackaged from them, allowing them to be reused. Packaged liquids can be transported with Conveyor Belts - this can be more efficient when transporting them with Conveyor Lifts due to the power usage of Pipeline Pumps, but only for very large vertical distances.

Head lift
The Packager has a recommended head lift of 10 meters, measured from the center of its pipe outlet.

Using for vertical transport of fluids
For vertical transport of fluids, using Packagers and Conveyor Lifts instead of Pipelines and Pipeline Pumps can be more efficient, but only for extremely large vertical distances, due to the number of Packagers required to package/unpackage a full Pipeline of fluid. The break-even point varies by fluid as they all have different package/unpackage rates.

To approximately calculate the break-even amount of vertcal lift you:


 * Calculate the number of Packagers required to package and unpackage a full Pipeline (300/s for mk1 or 600/s for mk2) of fluid
 * Pipeline flow rate / package rate of fluid
 * Plus Pipeline flow rate / unpackage rate of fluid
 * Calculate the energy these Packagers require
 * Packager count * 10MW
 * Note this is simplified as it does not account for the lower-than-proportional energy usage of an underclocked machine, or the higher-than-proportional energy usage of a partially idle machine
 * Calculate the number of Pipeline Pumps that can be powered for the same energy
 * Packager energy / Pipeline Pump power
 * (4MW for a mk1, 8MW for a mk2)
 * Round the Pipeline Pump count down to the nearest whole number (as they do not underclock)
 * Calculate the total Head lift this many Pipeline Pumps will provide
 * Pipeline Pump count * Pipeline Pump Head lift
 * (20m for a mk1, 50m for a mk2)
 * This is the approximate break-even point

The equation for this is: FLOOR( ( ( (pipe flow rate / package rate) + (pipe flow rate / unpackage rate) ) * packager power) / pump power ) * pump head lift

Where FLOOR is a function that rounds down to the nearest integer.

Note this equation does not account for underclocked or partially idle Packagers, where a fractional number of Packagers is needed (e.g. 2.5 Packagers are needed to unpackage 300/s Water).


 * If fractional Packagers are underclocked to the exact required fraction then power use and break-even will be slightly less than this equation indicates due to better power efficiency
 * If fractional Packagers are left at 100% Clock speed and so are partially idle then power use and break-even will be slightly more than this equation indicates due to idle power draw

Even the smallest break even point for any combinaton is 240 metres, or 60 4m Wall segments.

* Nitrogen Gas is a gas, not a liquid. As such does not require Head lift to transport vertically, so does not require any Pipeline Pumps.

Trivia

 * "PAC-IT MK1" is written on the machine, suggesting that higher marks would be available, though it has been denied by developers.
 * Before the introduction of the Packager, Refineries were given the job of packaging and unpackaging liquids. Refineries that were constructed after the update lost this ability.
 * To calculate the energy spent to package / unpackage a certain fluid:
 * . The multiplier for the item recipe can be ignored as only the rate is concerned.

History

 * Patch 0.3.6: Introduced