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[ShadowLop]

So, I started thinking about how to make lots of power within dwarf fort, preferably in a small package, since windmills are rather weak and without using any dwarf power.

So, I turned to the steam turbine for inspiration.

I give you, the Stream Turbine:

Upper Level

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Lower Level

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This design can be effectively extended indefinitely, and should, in theory, be extendable sideways into double turbines as needed, or to conserve space.
This one has 26 waterwheels in total for 2600 power. I wanted to make it long for proof of concept test and to make sure the water would do what I want.
The pressure valves before each intake prevent the water spilling up into the fort though the turbines, they also limit flow outright, allowing water to flow down to the far end of the turbine as well as the near end.
This particular design has an entire stream redirected to power it and the junction at the top also diverts to my cistern to the left, off the map to the right to ensure flow.

If one does not have a river on the map, you can make the output flow hook back into the input via 2-4 pumps that are directly connected to the drivetrain. This would not be able to be hooked up to a cistern and would need to source the water through an indirect means (either buckets or draining a pool into it.)
The pump section would look like this:

X X X | X X
X O P P I X
X O P P I X
X O P P I X
X X X | X
X X WWW X
X X X |  X X

X = wall
P = Pump
G = Gear Assembly
| = Axle
W = Water wheel
. = Floor
I = Intake (1z hole, pump takes from here)
O = Output (1z hole, pump outputs here)

Granted, there's no that much to use power for, besides mills, rollers and pumps, but this could quite easily be set up to run pump stacks from nothing, without needing to send any dwarves down to the actual pumps in the stack.

EDIT: Fixed diagram

[DTF]

I am sorry to disappoint you and kudos to you for coming up with that system yourself, if you didn't know about it before, but:
Dwarven Water Reactor
Which is basically what you did - although you have recreated natural flow of water by redirecting a stream.

Also, what are the 2 gear assemblies for in your diagram? To shut down the pumps?

[ShadowLop]

I am sorry to disappoint you and kudos to you for coming up with that system yourself, if you didn't know about it before, but:
Dwarven Water Reactor
Which is basically what you did - although you have recreated natural flow of water by redirecting a stream.

Also, what are the 2 gear assemblies for in your diagram? To shut down the pumps?

The limiting factor of those pump designs is that they can't really be expanded easily and to generate more power, you need more pumps and mechanisms.
My design can be expanded almost indefinitely using only wood, and needs a maximum of 3-4 each pipe and screw, if you can't redirect a stream. Turbines can be extended or coupled as long as you have room for them, giving high-yield power output with almost zero overhead. I haven't tested it yet, but I'm also fairly certain that you wouldn't even need to shut the turbine down to expand it, allowing expansions on the fly as required (You would build back, away from the pumps. The ramps from the channels would allow quick escape for the miners.)

The extra mechanism was an error on my part. I forgot that you can route power into the back square of the pump.

[blue sam3]

I am sorry to disappoint you and kudos to you for coming up with that system yourself, if you didn't know about it before, but:
Dwarven Water Reactor
Which is basically what you did - although you have recreated natural flow of water by redirecting a stream.

Also, what are the 2 gear assemblies for in your diagram? To shut down the pumps?

The limiting factor of those pump designs is that they can't really be expanded easily and to generate more power, you need more pumps and mechanisms.
My design can be expanded almost indefinitely using only wood, and needs a maximum of 3-4 each pipe and screw, if you can't redirect a stream. Turbines can be extended or coupled as long as you have room for them, giving high-yield power output with almost zero overhead. I haven't tested it yet, but I'm also fairly certain that you wouldn't even need to shut the turbine down to expand it, allowing expansions on the fly as required (You would build back, away from the pumps. The ramps from the channels would allow quick escape for the miners.)

The extra mechanism was an error on my part. I forgot that you can route power into the back square of the pump.

As the proud owner of a 20,000 power tower reactor, I beg to differ.

[ivanthe8th]

Yep, I'm drawing up plans for a pretty powerful over-under reactor.

[GhostDwemer]

I am sorry to disappoint you and kudos to you for coming up with that system yourself, if you didn't know about it before, but:
Dwarven Water Reactor
Which is basically what you did - although you have recreated natural flow of water by redirecting a stream.

Also, what are the 2 gear assemblies for in your diagram? To shut down the pumps?

The limiting factor of those pump designs is that they can't really be expanded easily and to generate more power, you need more pumps and mechanisms.
My design can be expanded almost indefinitely using only wood, and needs a maximum of 3-4 each pipe and screw, if you can't redirect a stream. Turbines can be extended or coupled as long as you have room for them, giving high-yield power output with almost zero overhead. I haven't tested it yet, but I'm also fairly certain that you wouldn't even need to shut the turbine down to expand it, allowing expansions on the fly as required (You would build back, away from the pumps. The ramps from the channels would allow quick escape for the miners.)

The extra mechanism was an error on my part. I forgot that you can route power into the back square of the pump.

Congrats, you independently came up with almost the same variation on the DWR that I did, only yours takes massively more water and does not appear to be functioning at full efficiency because it is overfilled and does not seem to use a two level water return system. Of course, all this is pointless if you have an aquifer, as the aquifer power system is orders of magnitude better than any DWR design.

[ShadowLop]

Congrats, you independently came up with almost the same variation on the DWR that I did, only yours takes massively more water and does not appear to be functioning at full efficiency because it is overfilled and does not seem to use a two level water return system. Of course, all this is pointless if you have an aquifer, as the aquifer power system is orders of magnitude better than any DWR design.

Congrats, you sarcastically point out flaws in a proof of concept design. Why don't you tell me more about how Benz' Motorwagen or Chicago Pile 1 had crappy designs too?

I don't mind being told I'm wrong or not the first to do something or not the best, but if you're going to have that attitude, then you can take your comments elsewhere.

Still, in rebuttal:
yours takes massively more water - I had no idea that this would work at all. This was a proof of cencept deign that I was using to test water flow through a long, thin turbine-design reactor. I used a 4 wide intake to guarantee that I would get enough water. A 2 wide intake would probably have been enough, or half the intake sent below to power additional turbines.

does not appear to be functioning at full efficiency because it is overfilled - 26 wheels, 2600 power output. that's 100% efficiency. I don't see the problem there? It's also filled exactly enough: 7/7 on the bottom layer, nothing on the top, which is to be expected with an oversized intake.

does not seem to use a two level water return system - Assuming you're referring to a second level to return water in the reactor, it's stream powered, why would I need this at all? I also did, as a matter of fact, include a design to return water in case a stream was unavailable. It's right there in the first post.

aquifer power system is orders of magnitude better than any DWR design - Until you have no aquifer, then they kinda suck... They are also not very newb friendly.

[ThatAussieGuy]

aquifer power system is orders of magnitude better than any DWR design - Until you have no aquifer, then they kinda suck... They are also not very newb friendly.

Au contraire - Aquifers are quite simple to get unlimited power from


Your design's not bad, but the layout is semi-redundant - You could just build parallel rows of waterwheels connected by gearboxes down the length of that stream as far as you want, rather than dig out that channel into the side of it.  And if you need to expand it, just widen the river by channeling down one side of it from the level above.

[ShadowLop]

aquifer power system is orders of magnitude better than any DWR design - Until you have no aquifer, then they kinda suck... They are also not very newb friendly.

Au contraire - Aquifers are quite simple to get unlimited power from


Your design's not bad, but the layout is semi-redundant - You could just build parallel rows of waterwheels connected by gearboxes down the length of that stream as far as you want, rather than dig out that channel into the side of it.  And if you need to expand it, just widen the river by channeling down one side of it from the level above.

Yes, but you're a genius, so you don't count

The idea was to have a safe, underground, near-infinite power source, without the use of aquifers, hence the river redirection.
Your suggestion of stuffing the river full of waterwheels rigged to a central drive shaft works as well, though after building my design and realising that I'm practically diverting the entire river underground into safety, I may as well build a massive pile of waterwheels though, I've only recently started building "megaprojects" outside of fortifications.

[ThatAussieGuy]

Nothing wrong with that at all.  If you divert the out-flow of your underground river into a cavern through floorgrates, you'll have the water constantly flowing and nothing can fly out of the cavern to ruin your power system.

Oh, and take the time to place constructed floors in the river channel before you fill it, or you might get trees growing in it.

[Martin]

Nothing wrong with that at all.  If you divert the out-flow of your underground river into a cavern through floorgrates, you'll have the water constantly flowing and nothing can fly out of the cavern to ruin your power system.

Oh, and take the time to place constructed floors in the river channel before you fill it, or you might get trees growing in it.

Constructed floors don't stop trees - they'll still grow trees when muddied. You need a paved road. It's a building. Nothing will grow on it. It'll obscure your water level, but you can (h)ide the road and the water level will return.

[ThatAussieGuy]

Constructed floors don't stop trees - they'll still grow trees when muddied. You need a paved road. It's a building. Nothing will grow on it. It'll obscure your water level, but you can (h)ide the road and the water level will return.

You sure you're not thinking of smoothed or engraved floors?

[Demonic Spoon]

Nope, I'm pretty sure Martin is correct, only paved roads will stop tree growth.

[jwest23]

That doesn't sound right to me at all.  I've used constructed floors successfully in the past.  I have not tested in the latest just yet, however.

Others have claimed to use stockpiles with success as well.

I'll grant you that paved roads are certainly convenient for the job, excepting for the obscured water levels.

[Fnear]

I used a similar system in my most recent fort.  I had two aquifers, a high aquifer and low aquifer (in different biomes) with the fort in between.  The top aquifer drained through the fort into the bottom aquifer (with probably a 30x3 paved path to get to the bottom aquifer).

I built water wheels above the drain path.  You can actually avoid the axel between wheels if you build them one at a time, channeling as you go.  I was a bit surprised it worked with the wheels perpendicular to the water flow, but it does - and feels very turbine-like.

The main aquifer thing I learned is that for flow, it is preferable to have the source 1 z-level above the path to your fort and the drain 1 z-level below the drain path.  If a path is on the same level as the aquifer, it tends to both emit and absorb water which dramatically reduces flow.