How are these systems gained? all at once or when needed? if the sim had an expand as you progress playstyle it would make for an addictive game indeed..
The compressed air is a fair idea but you wont be able to contain air in a hollowed out mine the air would just go into the dirt, regolith.
You might keep 1 or 2 psi in a enclosed space but to have 100 + psi you need a pressure vessel that is air tight.
Maybe not compressed 'air' but a gas that is gained from procceses from mining/o2 creation ie carbon dioxide? or simular but would'nt go for breathable air..
"The MMRTG is designed to operate on planetary bodies as
well as in the vacuum of space. At beginning of mission, the
MMRTG is designed to generate a minimum of 110 watts of
power at 28 volts DC, and to have a design life of at least 14
years. The power level was selected to afford the capabilities
of meeting the potential needs of a wider variety of planetary
lander and deep space missions. Potential mission concepts
that could benefit from use of the MMRTG include a Titan
Biological Explorer - with both a balloon mission and a
rover mission, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), with a
follow-on Astrobiology Field Laboratory mission and finally
a Neptune / Triton Orbiter mission."
I would like to point out a major downside of an RTG compared to a reactor.. Not saying they will not be used and actually I am certain they will be for everything from heating and emergency power in a hab to running communications and the like... however.. they are always on. Producing heat.
The heat might not seem like a big deal on a planet, but during launch when everything goes up in a nose cone of a rocket, the RTG has to be cooled. This is not a problem for a small one like less than 100 watts, but when you get to a colony sized 5KW RTG, the heat because it is only 8% efficient is over 50KW's of thermal waste. ALWAYS ON with no way of turning it off.
Maybe they could launch them inside the fuel tanks somehow with liquid hydrogen to keep it cool... but it will be a pain to deal with no matter what.
"The system is very similar to a rechargeable battery, but it can store four to six times more energy than a battery of the same weight." - NASA Glenn's David Bents.
The PEM hydrogen-oxygen regenerative fuel cell system is potentially the highest storage capacity and lowest weight non-nuclear energy storage system for extra-terrestrial applications. A solar array equipped unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a regenerative fuel cell energy storage system, for example, could provide a high altitude platform with theoretically unlimited endurance. This potential led NASA to undertake the practical development of a hydrogen-oxygen regenerative fuel cell, initially as solar energy storage for a high altitude, UAV science platform. At present, the RFC system is programmatically part of the NASA Vehicle Systems Program’s Low Emissions Alternative Power (LEAP) Project to further the development of aerospace regenerative fuel cells for high altitude and space missions.https://www.fuelcelltoday.com/media/pdf/archive/Article_1011_H2-O2%20PEM%20Reg%20Fuel%20Cell%20Energy%20Storage%20System.pdf (https://www.fuelcelltoday.com/media/pdf/archive/Article_1011_H2-O2%20PEM%20Reg%20Fuel%20Cell%20Energy%20Storage%20System.pdf)
"What makes our regenerative fuel cell unique is that it's closed loop and completely sealed," Bents said. "Nothing goes in and nothing comes out, other than electrical power and waste heat. The hydrogen, oxygen and product water inside are simply recycled over and over again."http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/home/lunar_fuel_cell.html (http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/home/lunar_fuel_cell.html)
The RFC system was designed to be a completely closed loop test bed for the cyclic operation of fuel cell systems up to 60 kWh (5 kWe X 12 hr). Closed loop means the system with its electrochemical reactants and products is completely sealed; nothing goes into the system other than electrical power and there are no discharges or emissions from the system other than electrical power and waste heat. The RFC system can accomodate a fuel cell stack up to 5.25 kW (100 A at 52.5 V) capacity. The system has a maximum operating pressure of 400 psig. The electrolyzer operates at the system pressure while the fuel cell reactant feeds are regulated down to 50 psig. A 15 kW (150 A at 100 V) electrolyzer is used to charge the reactant tanks to full pressure while running under a current profile that simulates the output of a solar array during the 12-hr daylight cycle. During the nighttime phase of the solar cycle, the fuel cell runs at constant power for most of the cycle.- https://www.fuelcelltoday.com/media/pdf/archive/Article_1011_H2-O2%20PEM%20Reg%20Fuel%20Cell%20Energy%20Storage%20System.pdf (https://www.fuelcelltoday.com/media/pdf/archive/Article_1011_H2-O2%20PEM%20Reg%20Fuel%20Cell%20Energy%20Storage%20System.pdf)