Pump

A pump is an item used to move fluids through pipes and to load or unload fluid wagons. It forces flow in one direction and acts as both a flow booster and a controllable valve. A placed pump changes visually when one end faces a rail track and the other end is connected to pipe; if a fluid wagon stops adjacent, the pump head attaches to the wagon tank and begins transferring fluid provided the pump is powered and not prevented by a circuit condition.

A pump resets the maximum travel distance of a fluid. Fluids travel up to 320 tiles from where they exist before requiring a pump to continue; a pump resets that 320-tile limit so the fluid can travel another 320 tiles. When pumps are placed in series only the last pump in the chain extends the travel range; pumps do not stack their distance extension. Pumps placed in parallel, however, can increase overall throughput beyond what a single pump can provide.

A regular pump moves up to 20 units of fluid per game tick, equivalent to 1,200 units per second. Actual throughput depends on the fluid levels in the pipe segments feeding and receiving the pump: if the source segment drops below about 20% full, the pump cannot reach 1,200 units per second, and if the destination segment is above about 80% full, throughput is similarly reduced. For high-throughput connections the practical limit is that multiple pumps in parallel are needed; because each pump supplies up to 1,200/s, five pumps in parallel are sufficient to reach the 6,000 units per second theoretical maximum of a single input/output connection.

The pump functions as a controllable valve with directional flow. When powered the pump allows fluid to pass only in its set direction. If the pump is unpowered it blocks fluid entirely. A circuit condition can be applied so the pump only operates when the condition is satisfied; when a circuit condition is active the pump will only let fluid through while powered and the condition is met. This feature enables automation and conditional piping behavior, for example using a single circuit wire from a lubricant tank to disable heavy oil cracking pumps while lubricant is required.

• Place pumps with their arrow/direction oriented from source to destination; orientation controls allowed flow direction.
• Pumps visually attach to nearby fluid wagons when properly aligned and powered; they will not attach if disabled by circuit conditions or lacking power.
• Use parallel pumps to increase throughput; use pumps at intervals to extend fluid travel distance up to successive 320-tile segments.
• Monitor upstream and downstream pipe fill levels to ensure pumps can reach their maximum throughput.