EPS/Plasma Manifold

[DanGovier]

My understanding of the EPS or Plasma Manifold is that it takes the electro plasma from the EPS grid and either separates a large conduit into many smaller ones, or conversely takes multiple small conduits and combines them into a larger trunk conduit.

In my design I've got two large EPS conduits (redundancy) running up the centre of my saucer, with an EPS manifold on each deck acting as a central concentrator for all the various smaller conduits feeding that particular deck's equipment.

Does this fit with cannon, or is there only a single plasma manifold as part of the warp core assembly?

 

[Timo]

It appears that the EPS grid powers even relatively humble applications, consoles and the like - so in all probability there is a vast treelike hierarchy of branches there, with manifolds of different size at different levels. This would in no way stop LaForge from speaking about "the" manifold when repairing a particular one, or when discussing the biggest one.

I haven't come up with references to separate port/starboard manifolds or the like in a cursory dialogue search, so there is no pressing need to decide upon, say, two or four manifolds at the top level or anything. On the other hand, the "starboard plasma/power coupling" is a bit of technobabble mentioned at almost comical frequency, suggesting there indeed are at least two separate major branches of the power net, this supposedly being the EPS net. Your redundancy factor of two would nicely cater for that dialogue.

Otherwise, "fitting with canon" is easy - there is no prop or set detail identified as "primary plasma manifold" or anything. But the TNG core has two easily identified horizontal plasma conduits branching off the general area of the reaction chamber, so putting a splitter right there and then doing the port/starboard redundancy would sound like a good idea IMHO.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[blssdwlf]

There is enough unknown about the TMP Enterprise's power system that your design would be just as good as anyone else's

FWIW, there isn't any canon information that the TMP Enterprise used any electro plasma for power. And in the same vein, only that energizers sent power thru the ship. You could imagine that being electro-plasma. The first mention of "plasma" was only for impulse exhaust in ST6 and in ST7 dialogue mentions "drive plasma" from the Enterprise-B's warp nacelles.

My understanding of the EPS or Plasma Manifold is that it takes the electro plasma from the EPS grid and either separates a large conduit into many smaller ones, or conversely takes multiple small conduits and combines them into a larger trunk conduit.

In my design I've got two large EPS conduits (redundancy) running up the centre of my saucer, with an EPS manifold on each deck acting as a central concentrator for all the various smaller conduits feeding that particular deck's equipment.

Does this fit with cannon, or is there only a single plasma manifold as part of the warp core assembly?