Steam

Steam
(H2O) Steam is water that has been heated into a scalding Gas.
ID	Steam
Type	Unbreathable
Chemical Symbol	H2O
Condensation point	99.35 °C / 210.83 °F → Water
Specific Heat Capacity	4.179 (DTU/g)/°C
Thermal Conductivity	0.184 (DTU/(m*s))/°C
Light Absorption	10%
Radiation Absorption	8%
Molar Mass	18.01528 g/mol
Properties	Gas, Unbreathable Gas

Steam is the Gas state of Water. It can be created by heating Water to 102.35 °C (vaporization point + 3 °C) or Polluted Water to 122.35 °C (vaporization point + 3 °C). Steam is denser than Oxygen or Natural Gas, but lighter than Sour Gas and Chlorine.

Production

• Steam naturally comes out of the two types of Geysers, as either 110 °C or 500 °C.
  • Cool Steam Vents slowly pours lukewarm steam at various rates. At least two uncovered Cool Steam Vents are guaranteed to spawn on each map.
  • Steam Vent erupts with the large amounts of superheated steam, and is harder to deal with, but can be used directly to power Steam Turbine.

• Steam can be created by boiling Water, Salt Water, Brine or Polluted Water in hot environment such as Volcanic Biome and Space Biome.
  • However, Polluted Water produces Dirt when evaporated and Salt Water and brine produce Salt when evaporated.

Usage

• Steam naturally cools down to Water, one of the important Resources in the game.
• Steam of any temperature is used as fuel of Steam Engine for space missions.
• Steam of any temperature is used in Sauna for recreational purposes.
• Steam Turbine can generate Power from Steam hotter than 125°C. For this reason, the Steam generated by Cool Steam Vent can not be used without additional heating.
• Steam can be an alternative for Hydrogen as heat transfer agent in environments above 100 °C since it has better conductivity and heat capacity.

Tips

• Steam is an environmental danger and quickly scalds the Duplicants. Better to equip Atmo Suits before entering Steam atmosphere or working with risky water-cooled equipment.
• Polluted Water can be cleaned by boiling it into Steam, then condensing it. Directly cooling the Steam to condensation is difficult, as it will damage pipes if done with a Thermo Regulator, and Wheezeworts do not cool below condensation points and will become stifled by hot Steam. Instead, cooling another gas, such as Hydrogen, and using this to cool the Steam, either by bubbling, piping, or using a highly-conductive tile wall between them.
• A Liquid Tepidizer can be used to generate Steam if water is dripped onto it (if submerged or in large amounts, the Tepidizer will limit itself before boiling the water). Batteries contained in an insulated room can also reach high temperatures. Alternatively, the bottom of the map contains large amount of very hot material, including Magma. Water pumped onto these hot materials will rapidly boil. However, the resulting Steam will often be extremely hot, making it harder to condense than other methods.
• An easy way to generate Steam for Steam Engine is to build a Steam room in Space Biome. The top wall of the room shall be made of Bunker Tile and exposed to sky. The side and bottom wall could be made of normal tiles with good hardness and thermal conductivity. Pumping hot Water into this room, and the heat from accumulated Regolith on top ceiling will boil the Water into Steam. A Gas Pump made of Steel can pump the Steam out for Steam Engine.
• Another way to generate Steam is to build a normal cooling loop with a Thermal Aquatuner and Radiant Pipes, but no Steam Turbine. Send the loop through a large body of liquid to reheat the coolant and keep the aqutuner running. The heat generated by the Thermal Aquatuner can create steam.