As for the option of deerskin, Li Sheng did not come up with it on the spur of the moment.
In fact, it has been used in many machines in the past and even in later generations.
Of course, they were mainly used for conveyor belts and the like, and were rarely used as seals. After all, at that time, rubber and the like had already been widely used, and had even become a popular trading category in the international bulk market.
Due to cost control reasons, general machinery does not have the conditions to use high-tech synthetic materials as seals, but rubber is always available in large quantities.
However, it is not impossible to use leather as a seal.
Most of them are indeed not as good as rubber, but there is still a small amount of leather used as seals. In fact, the effect is worse than rubber, but the overall cost performance is not as good as rubber, so it was gradually eliminated.
As for what kind of leather this "small amount of leather" is, Li Sheng is a science student after all, not a history student...
The abbreviated version of the industrial history textbook didn't really mention it in detail, so Li Sheng could only try it himself.
But luckily, Li Sheng was in Lingzhou at the time.
What kind of place is Lingzhou? It is the junction area between Mobei and Zhongyuan, and it is the transportation window between the two places.
Not to mention after Li Sheng rebuilt Lingzhou, even before, there were many business travelers traveling from north to south, not to mention after the reconstruction, in the name of General Shengxiang Hou, he summoned business travelers from all over the world to make a fortune.
Such a place where business travelers gather, and it is located in the south of Mobei, is located in a place known as Jiangnan in history. Other goods may be in short supply, but leather goods?
In that place, it is easier to assemble some leather goods than to assemble grain.
Li Sheng quickly collected a large number of leathers of different categories, and after trying them one by one, he finally settled on a kind of deerskin.
But this performance... is really hard to describe.
Li Sheng originally thought that it would not be as convenient as the rubber used in later generations, but at least the energy efficiency should be around 77 to 80%, right?
The results were tested...
The sealing performance is indeed about 60% that of rubber, but for some unknown reason, the energy efficiency is only average...
It is really average, but of course it can also be said that it is not average.
In short, with the same coal consumption, the final product is only about one-third of the design target.
If this data appears in later generations, Li Sheng estimates that he can almost say goodbye to his diploma.
But now, the mule or the horse has been pulled out and escaped. If it is easy to use, it will be good, but if it is not easy to use...
What can you do if it doesn't work? I'll just bite the bullet and use it first...
So later on, I had to use this thing first, and finally boarded the Tang Dynasty's first expedition ship as an auxiliary.
Li Sheng was naturally quite dissatisfied with this result.
after all……
This damn thing is already on board the ship, a majestic steam engine, and it’s actually an auxiliary position.
In this river?
In this mint!
Of course, whether it is reasonable or not is another matter. The key is the issue of energy efficiency.
On the ship, it can only be used as auxiliary power and emergency power, but it is completely useless on the ground.
Relying on this kind of thing to pull a steam train can be described in four words, that is, it is whimsical.
Since that's the case...
Then one can imagine Li Sheng's workload.
Back in Chang'an, at first...
Li Sheng was just a little tired from being busy with various businesses in Hangzhou every day. Besides, he hadn't gotten together with his friends for a long time, so he came back to rest for a while.
As for scientific research, it was just a primitive version of a steam engine. Li Sheng took it for granted...
This thing can't be more complicated than a ship's steam engine, at least it won't be that complicated.
With a slight improvement, the energy efficiency should be greatly improved, and the workload will not be that heavy.
But after coming back...
After studying for a while in Xiaozhu in the west of the city, Li Sheng discovered that this thing really couldn't be weighed on the scale, weighing less than four ounces. It couldn't even weigh a thousand kilograms on the scale.
Not to mention anything else, the requirements for seals alone are much more stringent.
In this part, there are no shortcuts, you can only try and repeat!
On the other hand, how can a steam engine with a brass test tube pull train carriages section by section? This is another question.
There are no shortcuts either, we can only work hard to make a more detailed and sophisticated overall design.
All kinds of troubles are added together, and the workload will naturally increase significantly in the end...
So Li Sheng had no choice but to work hard on research and development...
…
Of course, in the whole process, not all the work, not every part, every link has to be done by yourself.
Li Sheng quickly returned to Chengxi Academy, issued tasks to the professors and students of Chengxi Academy, and directly recruited a few "scientific research coolies" to work for him.
The main purpose of this work is of course to test the sealing properties of more types of leather.
Which kind of leather is better to use and closer to the level of rubber? Test them one by one!
Fortunately, Chang'an is the capital of the country after all, and it is also one of the richest places in the entire Tang Dynasty. There are many business travelers coming and going. There is no additional difficulty in collecting various leather samples.
So a busy half month passed...
Li Sheng's hard work really yielded a surprise.
…
Because throughout the Chengxi Academy, a large number of students and professors were sent by Li Shengzheng as his tools to test various leathers for him.
So later on, all kinds of leather that seemed to have been boiled were everywhere in Chengxi Academy.
Pigskin cow skin, sheepskin deerskin...
Different species, different varieties, some are tanned, some are rawhide.
In short, due to the steam test, during this period of time, the entire vicinity of Chengxi Academy was filled with an indescribable odor and a strange smell of meat...
Throughout this period of time, the strange events in Chengxi Academy attracted everyone's attention in Chang'an City.
During this period, all kinds of rumors were flying in the streets and alleys.
The Chengxi Academy is dissecting corpses, another mass grave has been dug somewhere, the teachers and students in the academy are all evil spirits with green faces and fangs... Weird rumors like this are everywhere.
Back to the academy itself, there are also cases where students and professors have been burned due to steam experiments.
But after all the hard work...
One morning, as soon as Li Sheng got up with a yawn, he received a shocking news.
The visitor was none other than King Luo Bin, who was in a sense Li Sheng's disciple.
This guy recently returned to Chang'an from the Anxi Protectorate. Firstly, he could make up for the courses owed by the garrison, and by the way, he could bring teaching materials to the scholars and soldiers of the Anxi Protectorate. Secondly, he could also bring home letters and other documents to the soldiers in the army.
Specialties or something.
Originally, King Luo Bin could not stay in Chang'an for long, but he did not expect that not long after he returned, he was captured by Li Sheng.