I am not sure self contained is the right word, but whatever.

Screenshots & Blueprint: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ep3sjf9vl1dn6qj/EtWO_nB73L

Essentially it is a self regulated 12 combustion engine cell that is currently setup for Lava and Water. The goal is that you keep the upper tanks flush with water and lava.

If any combustion engine has room for water and the water tank is not empty, the redstone engine for water will automatically turn on. Each combustion engine stay running as long as (it is not hot and water is in the tank) or if water is still in the engine. This means that each combustion engine will be triggered to run regardless of its lava status because of the water state.

If any combustion engine has room for lava and the lava tank is not empty, the redstone engine for lava will automatically turn on. However it won’t turn on if the yellow common wire does not have power applied. This essentially lets you turn on the entire power plant. You can actually turn it on for a few minutes and it will continue to run until the lava that was just queued up is fully used up OR it runs out of water.

The one part that is not obvious is the yellow common wire. It is located at the center of the ends and is seen under the crosshairs in picture: 2012-07-24_20.35.06.png. This is what you apply power to start the process. Also the outer tanks are for water and the inner tanks are for lava.

Things to do:
1. The status area lights act as status lights (they turn on according to the yellow common wire). Instead they need to turn on with the yellow common wire AND turn off when the power plants turn off.
2. Need to add wires along the supply lines for the tanks to allow for control such that when any tank is empty, it will request more water or lava from its source or another tank.

Thanks!
Frank