The Water Boy mobile electrolysis plant

[sneakylikeajavelin]

Need to produce some hydrogen to fuel your dropship/aerospace fighters but the nearest water source is miles away? Introducing the Water Boy!

Water Boy

Mass: 4.985 tons
Movement Type: Hover
Power Plant: Fusion
Cruising Speed: 118.8 kph
Maximum Speed: 183.6 kph
Armor: BAR 2
Tech Rating/Availability: D/D-E-D-D
Cost: 27,814 C-bills

Chassis Type: Hover (Small)
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Mass: 4,985 kg
Battle Value: 16

Equipment		Mass (kg)
Chassis/Controls		325
Engine/Trans	Fusion	1,558
Cruise MP:	11
Flank MP:	17
Heat Sinks:	0	0
Fuel		0
Armor Factor (BAR 2):	8	104

	Internal Structure	Armor Value
Front	1	2
R/L Side	1/1	2/2
Rear	1	2

Weapons and Ammo: None

Cargo
Bay 1: Cargo (Liquid) (0.1 tons)
Bay 2: Cargo (Refrigerated) (2.5 tons)

Notes: Features Monocycle, Ultra-Light Chassis and Controls Modifications, Light Fluid Suction System(15kg)

I was looking for a vehicle to either collect water from a remote location to bring back to a dropship LZ for conversion into hydrogen, or to do the conversion at the water source and bring the hydrogen back. I settled on the latter option, as it's much more tonnage-efficient (it takes 9 tons of water to produce 1 ton of hydrogen).

My first attempt was a hovercraft that ended up at 46 tons and 526k C-Bills to move 10 tons of hydrogen (the amount Campaign Operations tells me a vehicle can produce in one maintenance cycle) at 9/14. That felt a bit clunky (and would need to make at least four runs to earn back its purchase price) so it was time to investigate what a much smaller chassis could do...

Although the hauling capacity is lower you can still get 5 tons of hydrogen from a water source that's an hour away per maintenance cycle by making two trips, and it can travel a long way in an hour. The lower weight and cost mean you can afford to bring two or more, and they pay for themselves when they return from the first run.

Any suggestions for improvements or competing designs gratefully received.

[idea weenie]

So this design basically has a small tank for the water supply to be put into, and the vehicle itself handles the processing of the water into LH2?

Very nice little design, at less than 5 tons and just under 30,000 C-Bills each you can get a decent number of these into a Dropship's cargo bay for setting up a refueling location.

Of course the monocycle setup means it is very tippy.

[Dragon Cat]

Nice idea

[ANS Kamas P81]

This is definitely the kind of thing that makes for great objectives in raids.  It's also a perfect little structural support for the universe, the kind of fluff vehicle that makes things work.  Nicely done.

[sneakylikeajavelin]

So this design basically has a small tank for the water supply to be put into, and the vehicle itself handles the processing of the water into LH2?

Yes, that's the idea. Find a quiet spot, park up at the water's edge, drop the fluid suction system's nozzle in the water and wait for the LH2 tank to fill up. If anyone unfriendly shows up, just crank the throttle and disappear over the horizon - it's probably not worth the effort to try to catch you even for the few things in the SW era that can.

Of course the monocycle setup means it is very tippy.

I figured that it'll have some retractable stand to keep it upright when parked, and when you're moving you should be going fast enough to stay stable if you avoid cornering at full speed. You can go with a bicycle (or even standard) chassis easily enough, it just drops your speed down to the point where maybe something like a Warrior or a Karnov gunship might decide that it's worth chasing you down to screw with your logistics.

I also put together a wheeled bicycle design that was a little slower but had environmental sealing, so you had the option to just  go park underwater for extra sneakiness (and in that case I'd argue the O2 you also generate by electrolysing water gives you endurance limited by the driver's need for food or a visit to the little boy's/girl's room).

[Daryk]

Room for ration packs and a chemical toilet will take care of those needs...  8)

[acksed]

I figured that it'll have some retractable stand to keep it upright when parked, and when you're moving you should be going fast enough to stay stable if you avoid cornering at full speed. You can go with a bicycle (or even standard) chassis easily enough, it just drops your speed down to the point where maybe something like a Warrior or a Karnov gunship might decide that it's worth chasing you down to screw with your logistics.

Fascinatingly, there is such a thing as a cargo transport with one central wheel: the historical Chinese wheelbarrow; it does indeed have an integral stand. Its advantage was that it could navigate the worst, most rutted roads, with the handler only providing balance.

[idea weenie]

Room for ration packs and a chemical toilet will take care of those needs...  8)

You'd need optional rules, but an empty LH2 tank can give up its cargo tonnage to carry some ration packs, and the fusion reactor means the cockpit could have those Mech toilets that use the fusion reactor to vaporize (va-poo-rize) the waste.  The water from that can then be extracted for more LH2.  As for clean water, whatever it brings in has to be purified before it can be separated, right?  So the crew can drink that purified water while they are on-station.

And while the crew is on-site, they can undergo training or watch out for enemy scouts.

[Daryk]

Fascinatingly, there is such a thing as a cargo transport with one central wheel: the historical Chinese wheelbarrow; it does indeed have an integral stand. Its advantage was that it could navigate the worst, most rutted roads, with the handler only providing balance.

Fascinating article!  Thanks for sharing!  :thumbsup:

[sneakylikeajavelin]

Fascinatingly, there is such a thing as a cargo transport with one central wheel: the historical Chinese wheelbarrow; it does indeed have an integral stand. Its advantage was that it could navigate the worst, most rutted roads, with the handler only providing balance.

That is a very interesting article! I admit to not having thought very much about the origins of the wheelbarrow :))

Inspired by Daryk/idea weenie I went back and reworked the wheeled version:

Water Boy (wheeled and sealed)

Mass: 4.985 tons
Movement Type: Wheeled
Power Plant: Fusion
Cruising Speed: 97.2 kph
Maximum Speed: 151.2 kph
Armor: BAR 2
Tech Rating/Availability: D/C-E-D-D
Cost: 22,058 C-bills

Chassis Type: Wheeled (Small)
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Mass: 4,985 kg
Battle Value: 17

Equipment		Mass (kg)
Chassis/Controls		773
Engine/Trans	Fusion	1,060
Cruise MP:	9
Flank MP:	14
Heat Sinks:	0	0
Fuel		0
Armor Factor (BAR 2):	8	104

	Internal Structure	Armor Value
Front	1	2
R/L Side	1/1	2/2
Rear	1	2

Weapons and Ammo: None

Cargo
Bay 1: Cargo (Liquid) (0.1 tons)
Bay 2: Cargo (Refrigerated) (2.5 tons)
Bay 3: Cargo (35kg)

Notes: Features Ultra-Light, Environmental Sealing, Off-Road, Bicycle Chassis and Controls Modifications, Light Fluid Suction System(2; 15kg each)

I've added a pillion seat and a second light fluid suction system as the closest equivalent to a mech-toilet that I can think of, and 35kg of cargo should hold plenty of ration packs. It moves 9/14 instead of the 11/17 of the hover version, but is also nearly 6kCB cheaper and can hide underwater.

[Daryk]

Hmmm... 9/14 wheeled movement can be done with an actual combat vehicle at 5 tons... I wonder how the price compares...  ^-^