The five-year plan meeting that lasted for one day and one night finally came to an end with Ma Qianzhu's constant reminders to "discuss the matter and don't go off topic." Each department began to implement the five-year plan based on the general principles formulated at the meeting.
This general principle is quite general, and each department still has considerable discretion. The Planning Commission only issues the goals that need to be achieved in the near future. As for how to achieve the goals, it depends on the coordination between departments. Documents between departments
Flying all over the OA, although there are many talented people and useless people from all walks of life in Zhongli, but no one has experience in coordinating the operation of a huge industrial system, there are naturally a lot of jokes, and some waste also exists -
It often happens that in the middle of a project, we find that the supporting projects are not there yet, so we have to stop and wait. As Ma Qianzhu said: "We are learning how to engage in a planned economy, and it is normal to pay some tuition fees."
What Ma Qianzhu saw now was the expansion report of the glass factory.
The current goals of the Ministry of Light Industry are mirrors and window glass. To manufacture these two things, you must have the ability to manufacture flat glass. Most people in the Travel Group have read Verne's "The Mysterious Island" and know that flat glass is the first
Blow an oblong glass bubble, and then slowly roll and shape it to finally produce a cylindrical glass tube. Then use a diamond knife to remove both ends, then cut it lengthwise and crosswise, then reheat it to soften it, and then
It is spread out to form a glass plate and rolled flat. This process is very vividly called the artificial blow pipe spreading method.
Judging from the description itself, this method is easy to implement. However, when everyone practiced this process, they discovered that Verne greatly weakened the requirements for professional skills in manufacturing-probably copied it from a book.
Beginning in the early 19th century, this process replaced the older, more laborious crown-shaped flat glass manufacturing method, but it still required the glass craftsman to have high sophistication and strong judgment, and the sourcing craftsman to be able to properly estimate the glass.
Measure the amount of molten glass required to make the cylinder. After being cut and flattened, a glass plate of a given size and thickness can be made - if this is not a problem for those who just want to make a product, then
The skill of the blowing craftsman is much more difficult: he must constantly swing and rotate the molten glass to ensure that the entire cylinder reaches a uniform thickness and the correct overall size. To make flat glass using this method, five types of glass are required.
Various types of skilled workers are involved: scrapers, blowers, positioners, cutters and smoothers. Finally, the glass plates must be ground and polished to make flat glass that can be used as window glass or mirrors.
The skills, techniques, and experiences contained therein are simply not something that a passing glassmaker who has become a monk can master. Especially the skills of the glass blowers, who were the most experienced senior workers in the glass factories at that time - even on Lincoln Island.
Five people may not be able to do it.
The first four or five tests failed without any suspense. Either the cylinder could not be made at all, or the thickness of the glass was uneven, and it burst due to stress problems before it was even spread out.
After repeated experiments, the robots who acted as glassmakers finally produced a strange-looking glass plate with uneven thickness. Naturally, no one thought this thing could be sold, let alone made any use of it.
Mirror.
"Use the flat plate pouring method." Wang Luobin helplessly looked at the many extra baskets of broken glass.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ji Sidei knew something about glass manufacturing, "This can be considered an industrial scale."
Wang Luobin sighed: "The industrial scale is the industrial scale. We do not lack technology, but we lack skilled workers. We have to use scale to make up for technology."
Casting flat glass is also called the "French flat glass casting system". It began to be manufactured in batches in France in 1688. By 1760, the annual output of flat glass in France had reached more than 1,000 tons, most of which were
For window glass and carriage window glass.
It is very different from the flat glass made by the manual blow pipe spreading method. The advantage is that it can produce larger glass sizes, which can be almost three times that of the blowing method. The technical requirements for workers are also much lower. The disadvantages are
The investment in fixed assets is very large. If the former sheet-laying method is still a manual workshop-style manufacturing, then the pouring method is completely like a modern factory.
If the flat glass market in China in the 17th century had not been completely blank, it would have been difficult to make super profits by investing in flat glass. The first introduction by the British in 1691 failed completely, and the second introduction almost failed due to cost and loss.
Bankruptcy due to rate issues.
"Okay." Ma Qianxu knew that agreeing to this request would mean increasing the expenditure on fixed assets. In order to trial-produce flat glass, Bingfeng designed a glass factory expansion plan that shocked Ma Qianxu: This is still the same workshop-style glass
Workshop? A large-span steel-framed factory building. There is a melting kiln and a calcining kiln each in the workshop, as well as 10 annealing kilns. There are hundreds of meters of ceramic pipes in the entire workshop to collect the waste heat in the kiln for processing.
Comprehensive utilization.
"Is the scale too big?"
"It's not big. The annual output of this factory is only about 200 to 300 tons," Wang Luobin said at the side. "This is a joint enterprise, which is much more economical than the original small glass factory. Especially in waste heat utilization and material circulation,
Front-end processes such as sintering materials can also be completed in one step.”
"10 annealing kilns? That's too many. There are only one melting kiln and one calcining kiln each?"
"It takes ten days to anneal flat glass, and 10 annealing kilns are the minimum. Otherwise, continuous production cannot be guaranteed."
"Okay." Ma Qianzhu knew it was better not to argue on professional issues.
The glass factory expansion project has begun in full swing. For the pouring method, at least one set of pulley cranes must be installed in the workshop to lift and move the crucible filled with glass liquid. In addition, there are a large number of glass kilns inside, so the workshop must have good ventilation.
.So the clearance height of this workshop exceeds 6 meters. In order to accommodate 12 kilns, the span of the factory building is also very large.
Bingfeng completely abandoned the original simple structure of brick columns and wooden beams and replaced it with a portal-type steel frame structure factory - this was his specialty.
Choosing a portal-type steel frame structure factory building not only shortens the construction period, but also has fire protection. It is much safer to use in a glass factory with furnaces everywhere than using wooden trusses.
"You want such a long steel truss, but our steel rolling mill is not in place yet." Ji Wusheng was a little worried, "I haven't tried rolling it yet. I'm afraid I won't be able to get it right."
"It doesn't matter, this can be made of wrought iron or pig iron."
"Wrought iron? Malleable iron."
"Yes, if I want to completely simplify it, I will use pig iron castings, including not only the trusses, but also many load-bearing parts. I am also going to use pig iron castings for the columns. There are many benefits to using steel structures, especially for those of us who want to engage in the Great Leap Forward type of industry.
Let’s talk.”
Although the columns are made of bricks as always, in order to strengthen the structural strength, cast iron columns are built inside. The entire workshop has a gabled roof, and there are rows of large windows on the outer wall near the roof for ventilation and heat dissipation.
There are also a large number of pipe racks arranged in the upper workshop. The renderings already look very similar to the appearance of old-fashioned workshops common in another time and space.
Ji Wusheng thought about it for a moment: "I've never done such a large item before, but I can give it a try."
"This is not a very large piece." Wang Luobin brought over a roll of drawings, "You still have to cast such a thing."
The drawing was something like a large table tennis table with a heavy stand underneath. Ji Wusheng looked at the dimensions marked on it and was surprised. The dimensions were very shocking: 3 meters long, 2 meters wide, and 150mm thick.
"Use all pig iron?"
"At least the countertop must be made of pig iron. Can you use other materials for the shelves?"
"Such a large-sized cast iron plate cannot be supported without steel. At least it must be made of reinforced concrete or stone."
"This iron plate cannot be fixed, it must be pushed around. So it must be on a shelf."
"Damn, it's so fucking exciting." Ji Wusheng cursed, but he also felt very happy in his heart - if he hadn't come to this different time and space, he would never have this kind of experience if he worked in a steel factory for a lifetime. He did a little calculation, and the entire stage
After adding the bracket, it will weigh 8 tons.
"What's the use of such a big iron table?" Xiao Bailang decomposed the structure of the future huge casting on paper. He was responsible for designing and manufacturing the sand casting model.
Wang Luobin explained: "The molten glass is poured on top and then spread flat on top."
"Can't we use other materials? 8 tons of pig iron!" Xiao Bailang was shocked by the volume of the sand mold he calculated, "So much molding sand and charcoal powder are needed!"
"Iron doesn't matter, there are more than 200 tons of pig iron in stock. There will be another ship coming soon." Ji Wusheng took the drawing and looked at it. If nothing else, this is the largest casting they have ever cast, and I am afraid it is also the largest one.
The largest castings in the next few years. Although there are many senior people in the Engineering Capacity Committee, most of them have a background in machinery, and they only have a superficial understanding of casting - he was a little hesitant.
"Try it, there is a first time for everything." Wang Luobin encouraged.
"Okay, let's give it a try, but Duke, you have to give us permission to build two or three more large iron furnaces." Ji Wusheng's reason is very good: there is only one iron furnace now, and each furnace can only produce 1.5 tons at most.
Molten iron, although the 8-ton iron platform can be broken down into several parts for casting, none of the parts can be finished with just one furnace of molten iron.
"It's really a waste of people and money." The more Ma Qianzhu saw it, the more he felt distressed. Although he understood from his knowledge that this was a necessary technological upgrade. If you want to build industry, you have to be willing to invest in basic industries. There is no harm in expanding the scale of the steel plant, and now it has been built
With such a big platform, future time travelers will have experience in making large castings.
"Okay, I agree." Ma Qianzhu signed the project list.