Atmospheric Technician: Difference between revisions

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{{Job_Header
{{Job_Header
|department=Engineering Department
|department=Engineering Department
|img=[[File:Atmospheric Techincian.png|128px]]
|img=[[File:Atmospheric Techincian.png|128px]]
|title=Atmospheric Technician
|title=Atmospheric Technician
|access=Engineering, Atmospherics, External, Maintenance
|access=Atmospherics, Engineering, External, Maintenance
|difficulty=Medium to Hard
|difficulty=Medium to Hard
|duties=Manage the station's various gases. Restore breathable atmosphere to depressurized areas. Ensure the station's air remains at livable conditions.
|duties=Restore breathable atmosphere to depressurized areas. Ensure the station's air remains at livable conditions. Get bored and create tritium.
|supervisors= [[Chief Engineer]], [[Captain]]
|supervisors= [[Chief Engineer]], [[Captain]]
|subordinates= None
|subordinates= None
|guides=[[Pipes and vents]], [[Gases]], [[Setting up the mix chamber]]  
|guides=[[Atmospherics]]
}}
}}


As an atmospheric technician, your primary job is to maintain a safe and breathable atmosphere inside the station. As a member of the engineering department, you may also be expected to double as a [[Station Engineer]] <s>if they don't know what they're doing</s> in exceptional circumstances.


Much like your engineering counterpart, the [[Station Engineer]], your job is to fix, maintain, and improve the station's air quality. By working on various pipes, pumps, and vents insure that the hallways remain breathable. Most of the time your job will be to sit back relax in your department until the inevitable hull breach occurs depressurizing the hallways. When this happens don your hardsuit and magboots, turn on your internals, and work with the engineers to patch up the hole. Ensure that the atmosphere in the recently breached area is livable once again with your Gas Analyzer. Once the air quality is back to standards, return to your department to relax or experiment with the pipes until the next inevitable hull breach occurs.
The primary threats to a safe and breathable atmosphere inside the station are:


Your supervisor is [[Chief Engineer]].
* Air escaping into space due to intentional or unintentional removal of walls or floor tiles (''spacing'')
* Buildup of unpleasant or outright hazardous [[#Gases|gases]] such as miasma or plasma


==Atmosia==
Your supervisor is the [[Chief Engineer]].
Atmospherics, or sometimes referred to as Atmosia, is where you will be spending most of your time. In this jungle of pipes and vents is where the magic of atmospherics happens. Make sure to stare at the pipes until they begin to make sense. Observe where the distro and waste loops are and how to keep them separated. Once you feel comfortable with the layout, feel free to tweak the pipes and pump to your liking. Reroute the layout to a more efficient setup or experiment with gases in the mix chamber.


==Pressure and moles==
==Quick-Start==
[[File:Gas analyzer.png]]
# Grab [[#Equipment|equipment]] from your atmospheric technician locker. You should grab at least a hardsuit or fire suit and helmet, a gas mask and gas tank, a gas analyzer, an RCD, and a holofan projector. Consider grabbing inflatable walls, inflatable doors, steel sheets, and metal rods to be ready to fix spacing.
[[File:Pressure law.png]]
# Find the [[#Distro|distro]] pipe and inspect its pressure and temperature using your [[#Equipment|gas analyzer]]. If the pressure is zero and shows no sign of rising, [[#Distro|set up distro]].
# (''optional'') Set filters to recover gases from the [[#Waste|waste]] pipe. Because [[Pipes_and_vents#Gas_Miner|gas miners]] are available on most stations, this step is not very important. And, unless [[Pipes_and_vents#Air_Scrubber|scrubbers]] are set to siphoning, there will only be waste gases in the waste pipe.
# Deliver [[#Equipment|portable scrubbers]] to locations that expect miasma build up. This is usually the [[Medical#Cloning_and_Morgue|cloning room or morgue in the medical bay]].
# Monitor the station's radio or patrol the station yourself for spacing or other atmospheric issues. Fix issues if they arise.
# Make sure that [[Passenger|suspicious]] [[Nuclear_Operative|people]] are not sabotaging [[#Atmosia|your department]].


All gas can be quantified by its pressure, mole amount, and temperature. These three variables are closely related and directly affect one another. If you add more gas(# of moles) to a given area, the pressure will increase. Take the same amount of moles and lower the volume by using a smaller room and the pressure will be even larger. If you then heat up the gas, the pressure will be even larger still. The opposite is also true, less gas means lower pressure. cooling down gas will also lower the pressure. Volume, or size of the room, also plays a role in pressure. A larger area will require more gas while a smaller area will require less gas to reach the same pressure. using this knowledge we can see why space has a low pressure because the area and temperature are so low.
==Equipment==
Like your fellow [[Station Engineer|Station Engineers]], you start with a full belt of tools. Atmospheric technicians may also have access to:


Moles are a way of measuring how much gas is present in a given area. A higher pressure does not always mean more of a gas in the given area. If you want to physically fit a larger amount of a gas in a specific area, you will need to cool the gas down to lower the temperature, thus lowering the pressure allowing more moles to fit inside the given area.
{| class="wikitable"
 
|+ Atmospheric Equipment
If you open a canister will 100 moles of air into a large hallway, you will hardly notice a difference in pressure. However, if you open the same tank in a small room the pressure difference will be greater.
|-
 
! Picture !! Name !! Description
The standard livable air requirements are about 20 moles of oxygen and 80 moles of nitrogen at a pressure of 101kpa and temperature of 20° Celsius. If you have less than 20 moles of oxygen present, your character will begin to gasp and take oxygen deprivation damage. If the pressure is any lower or higher than 101kpa, your character will begin to take brute damage in relation to the depressurization or overpressurization levels. If the temperature is much lower or higher than 20°C, you risk your character taking burn damage from the extreme cold or heat.
|-
 
| [[File:OxygenTank.png]] || Portable Oxygen Tank || Small enough to carry around. Hook this up to a mask, and you can have a portable air supply to breathe while in space or fixing leaks. People will probably ask you for these.
Generally speaking:  
|-
*Hot gas = high pressure.
| [[File:Gas Analyzer.png]] || Gas Analyzer || Use this to analyze the composition of gases in the air around you, or to measure the temperature and pressure of gases inside pipes.
*Cold gas = low pressure.
|-
*Large hallway = more moles needed to notice pressure change.
| [[File:Portable Scrubber.png]] || Portable Scrubber || Can be wrenched down to scrub waste gases to an internal tank. Useful for cleaning up a miasma problem. Must be emptied once full.
*small hallway = less moles needed to notice pressure change.
|-
 
| [[File:Holofan Projector.png]] || Holofan Projector || [[File:Holofan.png|thumb|right|A holofan projection]] Creates a holographic firelock (''holofan'') that blocks gas flow but allows objects to move through them. Holofans last for three minutes before despawning. Extremely useful when repairing a hull breach, since they will safely block the flow of station atmosphere while still giving access to move around freely to work. Stores a total of six charges before the internal [[Power cell]] runs out of power.
==Distro==
|}
Distro, or the distribution loop, is usually marked with light blue pipes and is responsible for distributing gas to the station via vents. These pipes start and end in atmospherics and are looped around the entire station. The main purpose of Distro is to ensure that the station maintains a constant pressure of breathable air. The distribution loop works in conjunction with air vents spread across the station to slowly replenish the atmosphere. At round start, Distro will be fully automated and connected to only the nitrogen and oxygen gas chambers.
 
==Waste==
Waste, or the waste loop, is usually marked with red pipes and is responsible for removing waste gas around the station via scrubbers. These pipes start and end in atmospherics and are looped around the entire station. The main purpose of the waste loop is the ensure that harmful gases get removed from the station's atmosphere. Scrubbers will remove gas from the hallways and return it to Atmospherics where it will then be separated by gas filters into various holding chambers. Harmful gases will be deposited into their assigned chambers and the breathable air will once again make its way back to Distro and into the station to continue the cycle.
 
 
==Mix Chamber==
 
[[File:Mix chamber in use.png|thumb|A mix chamber in use]]
 
The mix chamber is an empty holding area with its own separate loop of pipes and pumps in atmospherics. The mix loop is generally marked with brown pipes and the holding chamber can usually be found close to the external hull, separated from the station by reinforced walls and windows. There will be an emergency button nearby to vent the chamber to space if you need to dump your mix in case an accident arises, or you just wish to reset the chamber for a new mix. The mix chamber is here for you to experiment with different mixes, ratios, temperatures, and pressures while combining gases.  
 
On most stations the Mix chamber will loop around to either the [[Supermater]] chamber, to the distro loop, or back to the waste loop. It is generally a good practice to have your mix loop flow back into the waste loop to recycle any unspent gases. You should '''NEVER''' have the mix loop flow into distro unless you have a [[Traitor|very good reason.]] Most savvy Atmospherics Technicians physically disconnect the mix loop from distro at round start to prevent an easy sabotage target or accident from occurring later in the round.
 
 
See the guide to [[Gases]] if you are interested to learn how different gases interact with each other at different temperatures and pressures.
 
==Gas Miner==
 
[[File:Gas miner.png]]
 
Gas miners create new gas from nothing and are solely used to make sure the station has an infinite amount of a specific gas. Gas Miners come in different types and create different types of gas. A oxygen miner will create oxygen gas while a plasma miner will create plasma gas. Gas Miners can be found in Atmospherics inside each gas holding chamber.
 
 
==Gas holding chambers==
 
[[File:Atmos holding chambers.png|thumb|Gas holding chambers]]
 
Located in atmospherics is a series of separated gas holding chambers. These chambers will generally contain a specific gas and its respective gas miner. Depending on the station layout, the holding chambers may be separated from the hull by reinforced walls and windows. If a holding chamber is breached all the gas held inside will be vented out to space. Patch up the breach to allow the miner to replenish the storage of gas.
 
Each chamber will be connected to the waste and mix loops. The nitrogen and oxygen chambers will also be connected to the distro loop. The gas can be extracted using pumps and mixers and sent off to various locations around atmospherics. Unused gas in the system will be recycled as it flows back along the waste loop. filters will separate each gas and pump it into its assigned chamber. These chambers can generally be considered an ''infinite'' source of gas.
 
Each chamber will have a sign on the wall displaying information on what gas is in its own specific chamber. Each chamber should contain pure gas of its element and can safely be treated as such.


==Useful trivia and tricks==
==Useful trivia and tricks==
*always be prepared to fix a breach. Carry your Atmospherics hardsuit or firesuit with you so you can survive long enough to fix any breach at a moments notice.
*Always be prepared to fix a breach. Carry your Atmospherics hardsuit or firesuit with you so you can survive long enough to fix any breach at a moments notice.
*the Atmospherics firesuit is space proof and functions like a hardsuit. Just make sure you wear the helmet with it or else it wont give you any protection.
*The Atmospherics firesuit is space proof and functions like a hardsuit. Just make sure you wear the helmet with it or else it wont give you any protection.
*The standard air mix is about 20% oxygen and 80% nitrogen @ 101.7 kPa at 293.2K (20°C).
*The standard air mix is about 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen @ 101.7 kPa at 293.2K (20°C).
*A quick and dirty way to vent high pressure or unwanted gases is to expose the area to open space. Breach a wall or open an airlock to quickly suck out all the atmosphere. Just be sure you have the area sealed off and no crewmembers get caught in the depressurization zone!
*A quick and dirty way to vent high pressure or unwanted gases is to expose the area to open space. Breach a wall or open an airlock to quickly suck out all the atmosphere. Just be sure you have the area sealed off and no crewmembers get caught in the depressurization zone!
*Overpressurization can be just as harmful as depressurization!
*Overpressurization can be just as harmful as depressurization!
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*If you want to check the pressure and temperature of a pipe, hold your gas analyzer in hand, shift left-click on the pipe, and click on the magnifying glass in pop-up window.
*If you want to check the pressure and temperature of a pipe, hold your gas analyzer in hand, shift left-click on the pipe, and click on the magnifying glass in pop-up window.
*Make sure that the distro loop never connects to anything else like the mix or waste loop. unless you want to flood the station with superheated plasma and risk getting an angry admin message.
*Make sure that the distro loop never connects to anything else like the mix or waste loop. unless you want to flood the station with superheated plasma and risk getting an angry admin message.
[[Category:Jobs]]
[[Category:Engineering jobs]]

Revision as of 18:18, 14 August 2024


Engineering Department

Atmospheric Technician

Access: Atmospherics, Engineering, External, Maintenance
Difficulty: Medium to Hard
Duties: Restore breathable atmosphere to depressurized areas. Ensure the station's air remains at livable conditions. Get bored and create tritium.
Supervisors: Chief Engineer, Captain
Subordinates: None
Guides: Atmospherics

As an atmospheric technician, your primary job is to maintain a safe and breathable atmosphere inside the station. As a member of the engineering department, you may also be expected to double as a Station Engineer if they don't know what they're doing in exceptional circumstances.

The primary threats to a safe and breathable atmosphere inside the station are:

  • Air escaping into space due to intentional or unintentional removal of walls or floor tiles (spacing)
  • Buildup of unpleasant or outright hazardous gases such as miasma or plasma

Your supervisor is the Chief Engineer.

Quick-Start

  1. Grab equipment from your atmospheric technician locker. You should grab at least a hardsuit or fire suit and helmet, a gas mask and gas tank, a gas analyzer, an RCD, and a holofan projector. Consider grabbing inflatable walls, inflatable doors, steel sheets, and metal rods to be ready to fix spacing.
  2. Find the distro pipe and inspect its pressure and temperature using your gas analyzer. If the pressure is zero and shows no sign of rising, set up distro.
  3. (optional) Set filters to recover gases from the waste pipe. Because gas miners are available on most stations, this step is not very important. And, unless scrubbers are set to siphoning, there will only be waste gases in the waste pipe.
  4. Deliver portable scrubbers to locations that expect miasma build up. This is usually the cloning room or morgue in the medical bay.
  5. Monitor the station's radio or patrol the station yourself for spacing or other atmospheric issues. Fix issues if they arise.
  6. Make sure that suspicious people are not sabotaging your department.

Equipment

Like your fellow Station Engineers, you start with a full belt of tools. Atmospheric technicians may also have access to:

Atmospheric Equipment
Picture Name Description
Portable Oxygen Tank Small enough to carry around. Hook this up to a mask, and you can have a portable air supply to breathe while in space or fixing leaks. People will probably ask you for these.
Gas Analyzer Use this to analyze the composition of gases in the air around you, or to measure the temperature and pressure of gases inside pipes.
Portable Scrubber Can be wrenched down to scrub waste gases to an internal tank. Useful for cleaning up a miasma problem. Must be emptied once full.
Holofan Projector
A holofan projection
Creates a holographic firelock (holofan) that blocks gas flow but allows objects to move through them. Holofans last for three minutes before despawning. Extremely useful when repairing a hull breach, since they will safely block the flow of station atmosphere while still giving access to move around freely to work. Stores a total of six charges before the internal Power cell runs out of power.

Useful trivia and tricks

  • Always be prepared to fix a breach. Carry your Atmospherics hardsuit or firesuit with you so you can survive long enough to fix any breach at a moments notice.
  • The Atmospherics firesuit is space proof and functions like a hardsuit. Just make sure you wear the helmet with it or else it wont give you any protection.
  • The standard air mix is about 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen @ 101.7 kPa at 293.2K (20°C).
  • A quick and dirty way to vent high pressure or unwanted gases is to expose the area to open space. Breach a wall or open an airlock to quickly suck out all the atmosphere. Just be sure you have the area sealed off and no crewmembers get caught in the depressurization zone!
  • Overpressurization can be just as harmful as depressurization!
  • A pressurized pipe will violently decompress if unwrenched!
  • If you want to check the pressure and temperature of a pipe, hold your gas analyzer in hand, shift left-click on the pipe, and click on the magnifying glass in pop-up window.
  • Make sure that the distro loop never connects to anything else like the mix or waste loop. unless you want to flood the station with superheated plasma and risk getting an angry admin message.
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