Guide to Gases ErisEN

Gases of Atmos

There are 5 major gases in the gas pipes of the CEV Eris. They are (in no particular order) Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen, Nitrous Oxide and Plasma. For most of the ship outside engineering it should be only the first 3 on the list. Standard atmosphere is about 78% Nitrogen with 21% Oxygen with a little bit of Carbon Dioxide due to respiration.

Gas Quick Reference

Gas	Storage Canister	Specific Heat [J/(mol*K)]	Molar Mass [kg/mol]	Notes
Oxygen		20	0.032	Oxidizer, necessary for human life
Nitrogen		20	0.028	Slows down Supermatter reaction
Carbon Dioxide		30	0.044	Byproduct of respiration and combustion
Nitrous Oxide		40	0.044	Provides a long duration anesthetic, knocks out most biological entities
Plasma		200	0.405	Toxic to most biological life, flammable

Oxygen (O₂)

Oxygen (more accurately Dioxygen) is necessary for life as we know it. Despite this, in a standard atmospheric mix Oxygen only makes 21% of the mixture. Typically crew members start with a small reserve bottle of Oxygen for use in an emergency in combination with a breathing mask.

Despite it's life-giving nature, Oxygen is still dangerous due to it's Oxidization properties. Common discussion of Oxidization usually brings up rust or other metal oxides, however it can also cover such things as fire. Fire, or combustion, is the violent oxidization of a material (such as Hydrogen) and uncontrolled is a hazard to the ship.

In power engineering, Oxygen can be used in the Supermatter core loop however it causes a runaway reaction as it causes a more violent reaction from the Supermatter than other gases such as Plasma.

Nitrogen (N₂)

Nitrogen (more accurately Dinitrogen) is a common gas that actually makes up the bulk of breathable atmosphere on the CEV Eris. At approximately 78% of a breathable mix, it is still dangerous at higher levels. Exceeding this level in a breathing atmosphere may lead to asphyxiation and eventually death for those without their own source of oxygen.

Pure Nitrogen however is useful in one (usually non-lethal) application: Supermatter regulation. The Supermatter's reaction is governed by several factors, one of which is the reaction retardation effect of Nitrogen. In the case of an emergency, flooding the core loop with Nitrogen could be a viable tactic, though at that point it becomes necessary to filter out the Nitrogen once the situation has stabilized as to restart power production.

Carbon Dioxide (CO₂)

Carbon Dioxide is the natural output of respiration and combustion. As such it is not frequently found in large quantities since most of the ship's air scrubbers will remove it without delay.

It does have use in propulsion applications (ie jetpacks) but is these devices are largely considered inferior to their oxygen-based cousins.

In the power engineering world Carbon Dioxide can be used in either loop though it's power output and cooling potential are worse than the recommended counterparts (Plasma for Core Loop and Nitrogen for Cooling Loop).

Nitrous Oxide (N₂O)

Nitrous Oxide (aka laughing gas) is a useful tool for putting targets to sleep without killing them. It has common application in small amounts for medical and research procedures and in large amounts when it becomes necessary to pacify a large area without being immediately lethal. Due to it's niche use case it is not a common gas to find on the ship and use is largely relegated to the Moebius section of the ship.

Note that prolonged exposure may prove dangerous to biological organisms.

Nitrous Oxide can be used in certain engineering functions but doing so may lead to unintended consequences.

Plasma (PZ)

Plasma is a blessing and a curse. It is central to several functions on the ship such as power generation and research but is also toxic and extremely flammable. If it escapes into an uncontrolled environment it becomes a threat that can disable the ship. This situation is often known as a "Plasmaflood" and should be avoided at all costs.

Plasmaflooding

Plasmaflooding the ship is a round ending event. A successful plasmaflood will force an evacuation of the ship. As such DO NOT DO THIS IF YOU ARE NOT AN ANTAGONIST OR IF YOU WOULD LIKE THE ROUND TO CONTINUE.

Even if not ignited Plasma in the atmosphere is toxic and invisible in small quantities. If you can see Plasma particulate in the atmosphere it is far, far too late to avoid damage and it becomes a race to prevent any further harm.

In terms of engineering Plasma is the premier gas for Supermatter interaction and it also powers the ship's thrusters. A high specific heat and reactivity means it is good for anything involving power and it's use on the ship.

Dealing with Gases

The most accessible way of finding out what your local atmosphere contains is by reading the output of one of the many atmospheric alarms placed throughout the ship. These wall mounted devices show you temperature, air pressure and contents. In the case of a hazardous atmosphere these alarms will detect the hazard and deploy emergency shutters around the effected area.

Air Scrubbing

The first line of defense against messes involving atmosphere are the ship's ventilation and filtering system. For most players these machines are black boxes - bad air goes in, clean air comes out. If necessary one could weld the grates shut - and in the case of a subverted atmospheric system it quickly becomes so.

Repairing Atmos Pipes

Often damage to the ship will also break the pipes that transport gases throughout the ship. These breaks can be repaired these steps:

1. Assemble tools. You will need a Pipe Dispenser and a Wrench.
2. Reveal the damaged pipes. Pipes run under floor tiles and as such you will need a crowbar to pull up tiles that get in your way.
3. Select and print the appropriate pipe section(s) with the Piping Dispenser.
4. Place the new sections on the tiles they should go on. You can rotate the sections by holding them in your active hand and clicking on them.
5. Wrench the new sections into place. Note that pipes MUST be adjacent to an anchored plumbing component such as a gas port.

Containing Gas Leaks

In the case that everything has gone wrong, the crew can manually work to filter their local atmosphere. The process is as such:

1. Identify and seal off source of contamination. This might be a simple as closing off a opened tank or involve using inflatable walls to physically block off sources.
2. Place scrubber in contaminated zone. If a minor contamination the Portable version should work but larger areas should use the Huge variants.
3. As necessary power the scrubber. Portable version uses medium power cells, but Huge variants need to be wrenched on an active power cable.
4. Turn on the scrubber and wait. The scrubber works by deleting contaminants from the air so air pressure may drop noticeably.

In the case that no scrubbers are available a portable air pump can be used to remove ALL offending atmosphere by transferring it into tanks, however this is a slow process.

Protective Equipment

Individuals can protect themselves against errant gases by wearing the appropriate protective equipment. If you are going to or think you are going to enter an environment that is full of dangerous gases, it is well worth to put on a basic breathing mask and emergency air tank. These do not protect you against other dangers such as fire or decompression, for which you will want some sort of enclosed suit such as a voidsuit.

Notes

• Specific Heat is the amount of energy it takes to heat one unit of a gas by one degree. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_heat_capacity for more information.

• Molar Mass is the mass of a sample divided by the number of molecules in the sample which reflects the average of the compound. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molar_mass for more information.

• Unlike Baystation SM Nitrous Oxide does NOT devolve into it's component atoms at high temperature

• Lit objects can set otherwise invisible plasma on fire. Remember to extinguish your cigarettes before entering a hazardous environment.

See Also

• Supermatter Engine/ErisEn