Experiment 52B

Experiment 52B

A Sap-producing cybernetic tree that shows signs of sentience.

It is rooted firmly in place, and is waiting for some brave soul to bring it food.

Effect

Converts 50 g per second of Food into Sap (1 kg/200 kcal)

Spawn Temperature

19.85 °C / 67.73 °F

Temperature

-100 °C ↔ 100 °C / -148 °F ↔ 212 °F

Lethal Temperature Threshold

Below -273.15 °C / -459.67 °F or above 750 °C / 1382 °F

Atmospheric Pressure

Ignored

Radiation Range

Ignored

Plant Size

5×5

Decor

35 (Radius: 6 Tiles)

Code

Internal Id

SapTree

String Id

STRINGS.CREATURES.SPECIES.SAPTREE.NAME

Experiment 52B is a plant-themed POI which is found on the Marshy Asteroid. It produces Sap, which has to be heated to get Isosap. Unlike most plants, it does not need an atmosphere and cannot be cultivated or uprooted. The tree is hostile and will lash out at any nearby Duplicant that comes near, inflicting damage to nearby critters and Duplicants.

Feeding

The tree eats the same food that Duplicants eat, i.e. anything that has calorie ratings.

Experiment 52B is immune to Food Poisoning.

Sap Production

After the tree has consumed enough kcals of food, it begins to spew Sap onto the ground. It consumes 50 g/s of food while producing 1 kg of Sap per 200 kcal, meaning foods with higher calories per kg produce Sap at a higher rate. Once 5 kg of Sap has been produced, it vents the Sap at a rate of 1.5 kg/s (3.33 s), during which time it doesn't consume food.

Food must be placed directly under the tree. This is the only area in which it is able to grab the food.

Experiment 52B does not need an atmosphere and does work in vacuum. Sap output temperature is that of the experiment itself, up to 100 °C / 212 °F. Keeping the tree hot and insulated is beneficial since it significantly reduces heat needed to boil the Sap. Keeping the tree below Sap's freeze point of 20 °C / 68 °F (real 17 °C / 62.6 °F) is inadvisable since Sap output forms natural tiles at the base that stifle the tree.

Analysis

Higher calorie density foods result in more time spent venting (because it reaches 5 kg of Sap faster) and thus less food consumed per cycle. Over a full cycle, around 25 kg of 1000 kcal/kg food can be consumed, or around 20 kg of 2800 kcal/kg food, or around 15 kg of 6000 kcal/kg food.

Sap must be heated above 125 °C / 257 °F in order to produce usable Isosap. As this temperature is above Experiment 52B's overheat temperature, it must be moved to a different area before heating. Heating Sap will produce 25% mass as Isosap and the remainder as Steam, essentially producing 250 g of Isosap and 750 g of water per 200 kcal of food.

• Producing 100 kg of Insulite requires 15 kg of Isosap, costing 12000 kcal.
• Producing 100 kg of Visco-Gel Fluid requires 35 kg of Isosap, costing 28000 kcal.

As the tree has a limited consumption of mass per cycle, and only one tree exists, the only way to increase per cycle production is to feed it foods with higher calorie density. Feeding Experiment 52B on Meal Lice (600 kcal/kg) will produce $\frac{1}{200}\frac{\text{kg}}{\text{kCal}}\times 600\frac{\text{kCal}}{\text{kg}}\times 30\frac{\text{kg}}{\text{cycle}}=90\frac{\text{kg}}{\text{cycle}}$ (excluding Sap venting), but feeding it Surf'n'Turf or Frost Burger (6000 kcal/kg) will instead produce 450 kg/cycle (including Sap venting).

Sap's boiling point is exactly the minimum input temperature of a Steam Turbine, which simplifies heat management significantly. Due to the relatively small amounts of water produced, reusing it in agriculture does not significantly reduce the food costs of Sap production; e.g., feeding a Gristle Berry (2000 kcal) will produce 10 kg of Sap and subsequently 7.5 kg of steam/water, while the berry required 120 kg of water to grow.

Production Rate by Food Type

The following table shows the production rate for each food type. This table properly takes into account the production and venting phase of the tree per cycle.

We can see from the "Food Consumed" column that even though the tree consumes food at a fixed 0.050kg/s (which would amount to 30kg/cycle), the effective consumption rate is reduced due to the fact that it takes exactly 3.3 sec (5kg / 1.5kg/s) to vent the Sap each time 5kg has been accumulated, and this happens multiple times per cycle. Hence, the effective consumption and production rate is significantly affected by the kcal density of the food as more venting is required during a cycle.

For reference, the right two columns show the effective amount of Insulite or Visco-Gel Fluid that could be produced assuming all the Sap was converted to those materials.

Figures have been rounded to the nearest integer.

Production Rate by Food Type (including production and venting phase)

Food	Food Density (kcal/kg)	Food Consumed (kg/cycle)	Food Consumed (kcal/cycle)	Sap Produced  (kg/cycle)	Steam Produced (kg/cycle)	Isosap Produced (kg/cycle)	Insulite Produced (kg/cycle)	Visco-Gel Produced (kg/cycle)
Grubfruit	250	29	7,250	38	29	10	63	27
Lettuce	400	28	11,200	53	40	13	108	38
Meal Lice	600	27	16,364	82	62	20	136	58
Muckroot	800	26	21,176	106	80	26	176	76
Mush Bar	800	26	21,176	106	80	26	176	76
Nutrient Bar	800	26	21,176	106	80	26	176	76
Spindly Grubfruit	800	26	21,176	106	80	26	176	76
Pacu Fillet	1000	26	25,714	129	97	32	214	92
Raw Shellfish	1000	26	25,714	129	97	32	214	92
Mush Fry	1050	26	26,809	134	100	34	223	96
Frost Bun	1200	25	30,000	150	112	38	250	107
Plant Meat	1200	25	30,000	150	112	38	250	107
Roast Grubfruit Nut	1200	25	30,000	150	112	38	250	107
Bristle Berry	1600	24	37,895	189	142	47	316	135
Cooked Seafood	1600	24	37,895	189	142	47	316	135
Meat	1600	24	37,895	189	142	47	316	135
Liceloaf	1700	23	39,740	199	149	50	331	142
Pickled Meal	1800	23	41,538	208	156	52	346	148
Gristle Berry	2000	23	45,000	225	169	56	375	161
Grubfruit Preserve	2400	21	51,429	257	193	64	429	184
Mushroom	2400	21	51,429	257	193	64	429	184
Swamp Chard Heart	2400	21	51,429	257	193	64	429	184
Fried Mushroom	2800	20	57,273	286	214	72	477	205
Omelette	2800	20	57,273	286	214	72	477	205
Tofu	3600	19	67,500	338	254	84	563	241
Barbeque	4000	18	72,000	360	270	90	600	257
Berry Sludge	4000	18	72,000	360	270	90	600	257
Pepper Bread	4000	18	72,000	360	270	90	600	257
Spicy Tofu	4000	18	72,000	360	270	90	600	257
Mixed Berry Pie	4200	18	74,000	370	278	92	618	265
Stuffed Berry	4400	17	76,154	381	286	95	635	272
Mushroom Wrap	4800	17	80,000	400	300	100	667	286
Curried Beans	5000	16	82,000	410	307	103	684	293
Frost Burger	6000	15	90,000	450	337	113	750	321
Surf'n'Turf	6000	15	90,000	450	337	113	750	321
Hexalent Fruit	6400	15	92,903	465	349	116	774	332
Pemmican	2600	21	54,419	272	204	68	454	195
Fish Taco	4200	18	74,118	370	278	92	618	265
Nosh Noms	5000	17	81,818	410	308	102	682	293
Pikeapple	800	27	21,176	106	80	26	177	76
Pikeapple Skewer	1200	25	30,000	150	113	37	250	108
Plume Squash	4000	18	72,000	360	270	90	600	258
Shellfish Tempura	4200	18	74,118	370	278	92	618	265
Sherberry	800	27	21,176	106	80	26	177	76
Squash Fries	5400	16	86,400	426	320	106	711	305
Mushroom Quiche	6400	15	92,903	465	349	116	774	332

Importing Food

Excess resources or by-products from other asteroids can be converted to food and shipped to the Marshy Asteroid via rocket or Interplanetary Payload. A single 200 kg payload can fully feed the tree for most of 7 cycles, assuming no food rots, making Experiment 52B a very efficient resource sink with low logistical overhead. Due to the high mass density of food relative to its ingredients, food should always be prepared before shipping.

Good candidates for Experiment 52B food are resources which have few other uses, and are produced as byproducts while refining more useful materials or on fixed schedules such as meteor showers or Geyser output. Particularly strong candidates for conversion include:

• Carbon Dioxide to Meat via Slickster ranching
• Chlorine to Meat via Squeaky Puft ranching
• Sulfur to Grubfruit Preserve and Meat via Divergent/Grubfruit Plant hybrid ranching/farming
• Meteoric Regolith to Meat via Shove Vole ranching

Local Food Production

All the usual means of food production can be used on the Marshy Asteroid, though its limited local resources can pose difficulties.

Food can be produced with no resource inputs via Pips wild planting/ranching, Drecko and Balm Lily farms, or Pacu, Shove Vole, or Sweetle starvation ranches.

• For raw wild plants, Dusk Cap are typically the best choice due to high calorie density of the uncooked food whilst still having amongst the highest calorie/cycle/plant.
• Plume Squash is by far the best wild plant option if available. Initial setup for the temperature requirements can be difficult however.

Tips

• The output Sap is created at Experiment 52B internal temperature. Experiment 52B can be heated up to 99.9 °C / 211.82 °F to reduce the energy required to boil Sap afterwards.
• Experiment 52B exchanges heat with the cell below its bottom middle cell (but no other cell around it). Placing a heat conductive tile here allows manipulating its temperature, especially if it's in vacuum.
• If kept in a vacuum, deep-frozen food can be dropped on Airflow Tiles, Mesh Tile or Insulated Tiles without cooling Experiment 52B.
• Sap is dropped from its first and last cell, but Experiment 52B can eat food on any cell beneath it. Keeping these cells non-solid prevents Sap from exchanging heat with deep-frozen food.
• Experiment 52B will be marked as Dead if its body temperature exceeds 750 °C / 1382 °F. Cooling Experiment 52B back down to below 750 °C / 1382 °F and reloading the game will remove the status effect and render it functional again.
• Experiment 52B is listed as a Decor Item, but does not count as one for rooms.
• Experiment 52B does not count as a plant for Pip wild planting purposes.

History

• U56-674504: Resin renamed to Sap.