Pumps
Pumps are the primary way of actively moving gasses through a pipenet. They take gas from one side and push it to the other. There are two different types of pumps:
Some important things to note about pumps:
- Pumps require power through a nearby LV cable to function.
- Pumps output on the side with the red stripe.
- Gas cannot move backwards through pumps (although if you are using a pump to do solely this, you should use the passive gate instead).
- Pumps cannot move gasses into pipes with pressures or volumes exceeding their limit. This causes them to be blocked.
Pumps will show a colorful animation when they are doing work. If they have no gas to pump or they are blocked, they will show a blinking red animation. Pumps that are off, have no power, or are unanchored will show no animation.
Pressure Pumps
Pressure pumps are the most common type of pump. They move gas based on pressure, making them useful for controlling the exact pressure of a pipe, or for drawing a vacuum.
A pressure pump cannot move gas to a pipe that has a pressure higher or equal to the pressure set on the pump.
For example, a pressure pump cannot pump gas to a pipe that is currently at 500 kPa, if the pressure pump is set at 500 kPa.
Pressure pumps can pump up to a maximum pressure of [data] kPa. They will become blocked if they try to push gas into a pipe higher than this pressure.
Volumetric Pumps
Volumetric pumps are an alternative pump, moving gas based on volume.
They are extremely useful for moving large amounts of gas quickly. They can typically achieve higher pressures than a pressure pump.
While volumetric pumps work off of the principle of volume, they will become blocked if they try to push gas into a pipe higher than [data] kPa.