Thermo Regulator

Thermo Regulator is a gas cooling building that does not destroy heat so much as move it elsewhere. It takes heat from gas piped through it and applies that heat to itself, so the process is heat-neutral overall. If its own output is used to cool it and there are no other significant heat sources or sinks, the system can stabilize at a steady temperature.

Each packet of gas loses a fixed 14°C as it passes through the machine, regardless of the gas’s specific heat capacity. Because the heat moved per packet depends on both temperature drop and the gas’s heat capacity, Thermo Regulator is most efficient with gases that have high specific heat capacity, especially Hydrogen. It also uses 240 J per packet, so the best results come from sending full 1 kg packets through uninterrupted gas pipes.

A key limitation is that Thermo Regulator does not account for condensation points. If the gas is cooled below its condensation temperature, the output pipe is damaged when the gas phase changes. This means it is poor at making liquids in general, and especially awkward for Liquid Hydrogen because hydrogen has the lowest condensation temperature and is difficult to cool without breaking pipes. It can produce Liquid Oxygen, but Thermo Aquatuner is usually the better choice when Super Coolant is available.

• Thermo Regulator cools gas only; it does not process liquids.
• It is less powerful in bulk heat movement than Thermo Aquatuner, but it also consumes less power and material.
• For smaller-scale or short-term cooling, its lower power draw can make it convenient.
• Hydrogen is usually the best working gas because it combines high heat capacity with a low condensation temperature.
• Steam and Super Coolant move more heat per packet, but they are already high-temperature gases and are less generally useful as cooling medium.