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[Terisuke]

STATUS UPDATE - July 16.

Completed the initial pumping station, as well as the first two reservoirs in the chain, although I might have to go back and modify them so they effectively fit with the rest of the network.  I've decided to go with all-at-once building, since it's easier to incorporate the pumps as I go than it is to have the masons complete things first.  Also, I get to iron out the quirks before I've left myself with 50 reservoirs to redesign.  Pictures follow:

Here's the layout as things stand - the first two stations complete, plus the initial tap and the makings of a third station. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The bottoms of the reservoirs ended up looking pretty badass.  I went with iron doors, bridges and hatches on all of the reservoirs, since I'm swimming in it - I've got two magma forges turning out iron on repeat, and the mountain has it riddled through.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And here's the top of the canal, which serves as a conduit for my workers to access the various stations.  The windmills that power the various pumps incorporated into the reservoirs are seen at this level, which I think looks pretty awesome.  Luckily, I have a really windy clime - they're putting out the max power of 40 per mill, which is highly convenient.  If I ended up doing 20 per, or none, I had hatched a plan to set up a reactor core in the center of each hex and radiate axles out - which, now that I'm saying it, sounds awesome - but it's so much easier to just plop on a windmill for the time being. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Urist Imiknorris]

Iron really does make awesome constructions.

[Terisuke]

STATUS UPDATE: July 17

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

As you can perhaps see from the image, today my project was mostly to test the fill behavior of the reservoirs.  As it turns out, I learned some interesting stuff - maybe it was generally known, but I certainly hadn't had reason to look it up prior to this point.

-A screw pump, when pumping into a confined space, will pump until the space is as full as it can get and then cease to move liquid forward.  The other possibility I had considered was that it would continue to pump forward, either pressurizing or destroying the liquid that passed through.  This is a much more advantageous option for me, as it allows the system as a whole to "fill" and maintain maximal magma storage. 

-Magma does not (whew) leak through open space above aforementioned confined spaces when there is a power conduit of some sort (in this case, windmills above gears/pumps) filling the space.  I cannot testify to what would happen without the power linkage, or with water, or in any other direction, and am not responsible for the ramifications if someone decides to overpressure a small room in their own fort to see what happens. 

I also decided on a lever grid setup.  I have three lever rooms, spaced where I found a large enough uncluttered area throughout the fort.  They are all laid out in a miniature diagram representing the hexagonal layout of the reservoirs themselves.  The first one is the Fire Control Room.  This one has a lever for every reservoir, and opens the bridge at the bottom to dispense death and destruction.

The second two rooms concern the flow of magma throughout the grid.  After lots of thought and whiskey, I decided to arrange the grid in a more or less concentric pattern for as long as I could.  Every hex is designated by its distance from my fortress entrance.  The magma pipes that connect WITHIN a distance ring are the primary outflow of the reservoir, and are controlled from the Upper Flow Control Room.  The magma pipes that feed BETWEEN distance rings are the secondary outflows, and are controlled from the Lower Flow Control Room.  Not every reservoir has a secondary outflow, so the grid is a bit patchy.  I'm thinking of subbing in orthoclase floor tiles to represent the leverless stations just for visual completeness.

Lastly, I dedicated some time to roofing over and otherwise modifying my fortress entrance so that I could literally dump lava right on top of it and be good to go, as well as ensuring that the entryway was raised up so as to deny entry to any incoming magma flows without the need for gate systems that I will inevitably fail to activate. 

[Agamemnon]

Don't worry, pumps never pressurize liquids enough to actually sip over the level they are pumping it to. Also, any pressure is reset when the liquid passes the pump, so you should be fine, windmill or not. On another note: Pumps seize to operate, when the target square is full. Filling the whole network can take some time, because since the pressure is reset, the magma moves just as slowly as it would when just flowing naturally.

[Terisuke]

Don't worry, pumps never pressurize liquids enough to actually sip over the level they are pumping it to. Also, any pressure is reset when the liquid passes the pump, so you should be fine, windmill or not. On another note: Pumps seize to operate, when the target square is full. Filling the whole network can take some time, because since the pressure is reset, the magma moves just as slowly as it would when just flowing naturally.

Actually, I've had very good results when it comes to magma speed throughout the network.  As long as I continue to fill the reservoirs as I construct them, I don't anticipate having a fill time (for an individual reservoir) over about 30 seconds.  The reason it works out is that I've got an extra load of magma in all of the hallways that gets sucked up by the pumps.  This gets kicked out at very high speed (relative to normal magma motion) by the dual pump system I have set up in every corridor.  The only potentially slow point is the initial volcano tap, but I gave that a very large reservoir of its own, as well as eight separate taps into the volcano so that it fills more quickly. 

Edit:

For clarity, my tap setup is :


XXX
X#X
+#X
X=X
~~~

Where X = wall
+ = door for access
~ is magma
# is grate
and = is my fortification. 

Eight of those, stacked vertically, makes for VERY fast replenishment.  Enough that three pumps working in tandem can't really keep up with it. 

[Terisuke]

STATUS UPDATE: July 18

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Added in the framework for most of the A-ring, and filled several more stations.  At this point, it's actually looking like a viable defensive mechanism.  I'm still very pleased with the fill rate, although it is starting to take longer to repressurize after adding on a new section.  Still, the ability of the network to move magma to the endpoints is very strong and speedy - opening a gate in the pressurized system results in magma covering 12 tiles of 2x2 hallway in about as many program steps.  This has made me realize that my initial calculations about how much magma would come out of an opened reservoir are going to be way off.  Even with the pipe floodgates in place, the magma dispensed is going to be another 3/4 reservoir worth - and without the floodgates, it's more like 10 reservoirs worth as every pipe in the chain discharges into the open reservoir. 

I revised my layout a little to eliminate some extraneous linkages and make the extremes of the network more equidistant from the central tap.  I also added some work gantries to the plan so that my dwarves can path more efficiently to the various stations.  Hopefully I get a siege soon so that I can test this sucker out.  I've had some kobolds and snatchers, but they're pretty much dead by the time they decloak due to various traps and animals I have lying around my entrance. 

[breadbocks]

You should put "taps" on the sides of the big reservoir to prevent "overflow" and if it happens to land on your roofed-over Depot, and have the lava flow down the sides of the clear glass windows, who are you to complain.

[Terisuke]

You should put "taps" on the sides of the big reservoir to prevent "overflow" and if it happens to land on your roofed-over Depot, and have the lava flow down the sides of the clear glass windows, who are you to complain.

Unfortunately, my depot is underground - however, I have considered adding a central tap to the main hex so I can pour lava directly on top of my entrance if needed.  If I do add it, that'll be for the end stages of the project. 

[existent]

Also, a "self-destruct" lever that backs up lava into your fortress, killing/trapping all inside.

[lanceleoghauni]

a neat Idea I had was create a mini "map" with the levers, coloring the levers like the section of ground it would hit.

[Terisuke]

a neat Idea I had was create a mini "map" with the levers, coloring the levers like the section of ground it would hit.

I do have them laid out in a miniature of the network, but insofar as colors go I'm just trying to use up any magma-unsafe mechanisms on them so that I don't accidentally use them in the floodgates or something.

[lanceleoghauni]

Don't you want the magmsafe IN the floodgates so you don't melt the world prematurely?

[existent]

Don't you want the magmsafe IN the floodgates so you don't melt the world prematurely?

That's what he's saying. He's using the magma-unsafe mech's in the levers, so he doesn't accidentally use them in the floodgates.

[Alkyon]

a neat Idea I had was create a mini "map" with the levers, coloring the levers like the section of ground it would hit.

I do have them laid out in a miniature of the network, but insofar as colors go I'm just trying to use up any magma-unsafe mechanisms on them so that I don't accidentally use them in the floodgates or something.

I've always just cranked out a boatmurderedload of magm asafe mechanisms whenever I'm dealing with magma.  I can never remember which order they're supposed to go in, so might as well make sure, and it's not like it's a hard thing to do if you find a bauxite or olivine patch now.

[breadbocks]

Yea. TPTB blessed us with other magmaproof stone.
TPTB= The Powers That Be. It's a habit I've from KoL