Rushui here in Haiyang is a very important waterway, reaching Lingzhi County in the north, out to the sea in the south, connecting Yuguan along the coastline, and then reaching Liaodong in the east.
It is the most important supply line in Liaodong and cannot cut off water transportation.
More than twenty miles to the east, at the junction of Longlinshui and Fengshui, there is abundant water power. It is located ten miles south of Tuyin County and has convenient transportation. It is a good choice.
Otherwise, you have to go to Yongnu, which is the junction of Gushui and Qishui. The water power is so abundant that floods occur every year, but it has not been managed well yet. But it is also an important waterway, running through Yuyang County from north to south, and from east to west.
Connecting Yuyang and Guangyang counties. Let’s check it out first. Maybe the water power is enough and there is no need to dam the river to raise the water level.
Liu Xiang turned to the engineer and said: "Find the craftsman who made the water bamboo raft and go to the junction of the two rivers in the south of Tuyin to check whether the water power is sufficient. Send a team of people to Yongnu to check. The amount of water there is amazing to see if it can meet the needs.
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"only."
After watching the waterwheel, I went to the room behind the waterwheel. The waterwheel rotates and drives the horizontal axis. There are several dials on the shaft. The dials rotate with the horizontal axis. Press the rear end of the hammer rod and use the lever principle to drive the waterwheel.
The hammer head at the front end is raised, and after the dial is turned, the hammer head falls down and hits the stone nest.
In this way, hydraulic power becomes mechanical power, which can save a lot of labor.
Theoretically, a vertical water wheel can drive countless hammer heads to work day and night. In this trial work, only two hammers are installed side by side.
Two 30-pound heavy hammers have short back-end torque, long front-end torque, and the hammer head does more work. The ancients also understood the principle of levers. Although they could not explain the detailed theory, they also summarized a lot in actual operation.
experience.
Liu Xiang had nothing to say. There was not enough water power, so it was useless to say anything.
The engineer next to him explained: "In summer, there is a lot of water, and it can carry a hammer of fifteen kilograms. In winter, when the water is low, it can't lift even ten kilograms. But it requires wrought iron, and the lightest one is a thirty kilogram hammer."
The water resources in the north are incomparable with those in the south. Not only is there less water, but the dry season is also longer, and most importantly, it freezes in winter.
"It's frozen now, and it will be frozen in ten days and a half. Will the water wheel freeze?"
The engineer replied: "We were just about to test it, so we didn't dismantle the water wheel."
Liu Xiang nodded: "Let's send someone to investigate first, and then we'll talk about it after we find the place."
Leaving the riverside and entering the city to see the blast furnace is the most important purpose of this trip.
When entering the iron smelting workshop, the blast furnace was feeding materials. The crushed iron ore, coke, limestone, dolomite, and quartz stone were being poured along the furnace mouth into the lit furnace. Subsequently, materials were continuously being forced.
Use pulleys to pull baskets one by one up the earth platform on the side of the blast furnace.
Domestic ores are mostly high-phosphorus iron ore, and the smelted iron is very brittle and easily broken. Ancient blacksmiths discovered in actual production that using dolomite, quartz stone and limestone together to smelt iron can solve this problem.
Alkaline dolomite and limestone can restore phosphorus in the ore. Blacksmiths do not know this scientific principle, but they can solve problems with practical experience. They are illiterate, but they are wise.
After the materials are added, the furnace top is capped, and the horse rows blow air into the preheated furnace around the blast furnace. The preheated hot air blows into the blast furnace, the flame is blazing, the furnace temperature rises sharply, and the molten iron flows to the bottom of the furnace and passes through the bridge.
In the iron ladle on the side of the furnace bottom, more and more bright yellow molten iron gathers.
The craftsman responsible for discharging the glaze inserts an iron drill into the glaze discharging opening and rolls it hard to pull out the red and black silky glaze. This stuff is like over-fried syrup, floating on the surface of the molten iron and very viscous.
The iron smelter looked at the bright yellow hot molten iron and reported helplessly: "General, we are incompetent. Steelmaking has failed again."
The engineer's judgment was correct. He poured the iron ingots and buried them in sand to cool them down. What he got was still white iron.
Although it has fewer impurities, it is still not steel. It still needs to be fried and forged by craftsmen to become steel, which requires a lot of manpower and time.
What's the problem?
The burning temperature of coke is already high enough, and there is preheating blast, what else should be done?
Liu Xiang tried his best to suppress the irritability in his heart and tried hard not to waste his mental energy on useless emotional venting.
Incompetent rage is just internal friction and useless.
"What do you think is still missing?" he asked the engineer, wanting to see the problem from the engineer's perspective.
"General, the temperature of the furnace has risen a lot, and the molten iron in the furnace has begun to turn white. It is supposed to be able to directly produce steel, but it always feels a little different, and I can't explain what is wrong." The engineer was also very confused.
, compared to when burning charcoal, the temperature of the furnace is much higher, and the molten iron is white, which is obviously the color of steel to be produced, why is it not coming out?
"Is the temperature inside the iron bag cooling down?"
The engineer explained helplessly: "General, the iron ladle is a place where molten iron is stored, and the iron is smelted inside the furnace."
Uh, seems like a stupid question.
Liu Xiang coughed, covering up his embarrassment, and changed the subject and said, "Take me to the iron frying place."
He had no choice about the blast furnace, so he could only let the craftsmen figure it out by themselves, and look elsewhere first. Steel was produced only where iron was fried. He wanted to see the steel to relieve his frustration.
When we came to the iron-frying furnace in the workshop next door, the iron-frying furnace was also a blast furnace, or in other words, this was the place where steel was smelted. The place just now was equivalent to the testing ground of the iron smelting workshop, specially designed to explore blast furnace steelmaking.
There is an extra square pond for frying iron here than next door, which is connected to the iron ladle. The molten iron enters the square pond, and the craftsmen sprinkle the ingredients and stir it with wooden sticks. The bright yellow molten iron surges, and instead of cooling down and condensing, it begins to boil.
Liu Xiang seemed to have thought of something and asked the engineer hurriedly: "What ingredients were added?"
"Powders of iron ore and quartzite."
There was also this in the furnace. His guess was correct. It had nothing to do with the added materials. It was the oxidation reaction of the molten iron itself that raised the temperature.
Impurities such as silicon and manganese in the molten iron first undergo an oxidation reaction, and then the carbon. The carbon content is reduced, and the steel is released.
Liu Xiang grabbed the engineer and turned back to the steel-making workshop. As he walked, he said: "Improve it and start another furnace."
It only took one night to build an air duct for blowing air into the iron ladle in the preheating furnace and build a plug valve to turn the air duct.
It took two days to wait for drying.
When drying refractory bricks and sealing mud, attention must be paid to the heat to prevent cracking.
After waiting anxiously for two days, the furnace was finally started, the fire was ignited, and materials were added. Everything was as before, until molten iron began to accumulate in the iron ladle, and the engineer shouted: "Turn the air duct."
The air rushed into the iron ladle, and the bright yellow molten iron reacted violently and began to boil like magma. The glaze discharger poked the glaze discharge opening, and the soft glaze poured out directly, along with the hot white molten iron.
"Why, why is this so?" The engineer was puzzled and blew air into the iron ladle. Although it was hot air, according to common sense, the molten iron should condense. How could it become more intense?
This is contrary to common sense. There must be something strange about this furnace.
Liu Xiang was thinking about how to explain this oxidation reaction to him, how could the people of the Han Dynasty understand it?
It really tests my ability to express myself.
I thought about it for a long time and didn’t know what to say.
While he was still thinking about it, brown smoke was already rising from the molten iron. This was because the iron was beginning to oxidize. He had no time to explain, so he quickly ordered: "Stop blowing and come out of the furnace."
The molten iron came out of the furnace, the iron ingots were poured, and the sand was buried to cool down. The engineer rushed into the sand burial room impatiently, and soon his joyful voice came out: "It's done, it's done, the steel is out, Taiyi bless you, Steel comes out of the furnace."
Looking at the steel ingot pushed out of the buried sand, the fractures reflected the silvery white light, Liu Xiang seemed to see a torrent of steel. This was his backbone, no, this was the backbone of this nation.
very nice.
When the blast furnace steelmaking was successful, he originally thought he would cheer loudly, laugh loudly, and be ecstatic.
None.
He just stood calmly, feeling relieved.
But what’s going on with the sore nose?
He blinked hard, it would be embarrassing if he cried.
While Liu Xiang was fighting against his instinct, the iron smelter rushed over and asked hurriedly: "General, why did the temperature of the molten iron become higher when the wind blew at the last time?"
How to explain?
I can't think of words that the ancients could understand.
That’s a stupid explanation, so let’s just do it.
"Remember the process and start the furnace when the brown smoke comes out. What's the reason? You want to go."
The engineer was puzzled and determined that there must be something strange about this furnace.