Ceramics without kiln

In this article we will look at a non-traditional way of producing ceramics, as well as an interesting variant of the heat exchanger.

Ceramics can be obtained in 2 ways:

Standard, using a kiln
Setting aside badly renewable resources, the scheme would look like this - we feed the clay to the Hatch, we get coal. We use the coal and clay in the kiln to make ceramics.

On this method, we lose 33% of the clay. The Hutches will produce 25 kg of coal from 50 kg of clay, which is enough to produce 100 kg of ceramics, from 100 kg of clay. 100/(100+50) = 66.7% of the original amount of clay.

In addition, not everyone will want to build a Hatch farm, and coal reserves are not infinite.

By heating the clay to 926.9°C
You can use magma to heat the clay to the right temperature and it will turn into ceramic. However, it will appear as a block and after digging with a Robo-Miner, each 20 kg portion on the conveyor, will turn into a 10 kg pile of ceramics. We lose 50% of clay, but we do not waste coal, we do not heat the air around the kiln (which is +20kDTU/s from each kiln), and we get the clay and magma rock at a more comfortable temperature (after the kiln is 80°C).

Principle of operation
In the lower left part there is a heat exchanger, in which magma, already cooled to 1409.9°С and turned into magmatic rock, exchanges heat with clay. The clay, heated above 927°C, appears as a block of ceramic, which is dug out by the Robo-Miner.

The igneous rock goes into the upper loader and the ceramics go into the lower loader. They then fall onto a ring of conveyor, on which they spin until they give up their heat to the clay. The thermosensor is set to 935°C and the cooler ceramics and igneous rock go into the heat exchanger.

Materials

 * Facing - ceramic at the volcano, at the top and right side - any
 * Door and mesh tiles - wolframite/steel
 * Metal tile - iron, bottom copper (can be all iron). Large heat exchanger - copper/gold.
 * Auto-sweeper, loaders, robo-miner and weight plate - steel
 * Under the auto-sweeper and loaders - crude oil, under the robo-miner - crude oil and petroleum
 * Tempshift plate above the weight plate - iron, also there 1000kg of water (steam)
 * Buffer - 5s
 * Weight plate >10kg
 * Thermosensor <935°C

Cooling buildings (2 loader, robo-miner and auto-sweeper) is provided by the incoming clay through the metal blocks and crude oil spilled on them. There must be a vacuum in the chamber.

The capacity of the scheme is not great: 3 tons of ceramics and 1.5 tons of igneous rock (for 5 cycles), with temperatures of 70 and 64°C, respectively. The capacity can be increased by raising the thermosensor setting to 950°C and increasing the size of the heat exchanger.

The circuit consumption is only about 90W.

Bridge heat exchanger
Previously I have considered different variants of heat exchangers, and then I recommended a heat exchanger with crude oil, because of the simplicity of construction and sufficient efficiency. These heat exchanger options have not lost their relevance, but they are not suitable for high-temperature circuits - crude oil will turn into gas at 538.9°С.

In the first scheme I used a heat exchanger made of copper blocks. However, there is a more interesting option (bottom on the screenshot):



This heat exchanger was invented by nakomaru from the Klei forum. Its principle is based on the property of bridges to transfer heat. I have used similar mechanics before in one circuit. Between the two conveyors are built bridges - electric, pipe, gas and automation. Conveyor bridge has the same property, but it cannot be used here. And between 2 pipes you can not apply a pipe bridge, but you can use a conveyor bridge.

In the experiment 2 heat exchangers are used: the upper one is made of copper blocks, the lower one is made of igneous rock. From left to right is clay with t 27°C, towards the right is igneous rock, with t 935°C.

Outlet temperatures: clay at 459 and 538°C, respectively, and igneous rock at 538 and 467°C. The lower heat exchanger was 16% more efficient. It is worth noting that the efficiency of such a heat exchanger is not constant - it will strongly depend on the temperature difference and the heat capacity of what is transferred through the conveyor.

Let's calculate the cost of building both heat exchangers: upper one - 3200kg of copper; lower one - 690kg of copper, 17250kg of obsidian (13800kg of tiles + 3450kg of bridges). Obsidian is more common, and pure metals are scarce. So despite the apparent complexity, the lower heat exchanger is even cheaper to build.

Second option
All the same, but the heat exchanger on the bridges has been applied. The lower heat exchanger is iron and bridges.

Blueprints
Ceramics, option 1

Ceramics, option 2