Unlike Ma Guilan, who started from scratch, Zhao Zhikuan has a much stronger foundation. In the past four months, Zhao Zhikuan has trained more than thirty apprentices, which is much better than the 200 illiterate farmers under Ma Guilan.

There are also more than thirty apprentices recruited by Zhao Zhikuan, who were originally some craftsmen in Fucheng, such as the brick-burning apprentice Shen Fu, the blacksmith Zhao Fuxiang tricked Wang Facai, Wang Mushao, the carpenter Qin Gui, and the mason Li Lao

Second, wait, although these people are illiterate, they at least know some physical and chemical knowledge. For example, Blacksmith Wang knows that pig iron needs to be burned until it turns white before it can melt, etc. What Zhao Zhikuan needs is to teach them scientific principles.

The pig iron shipped by Zhao Fuxiang solved a big problem. Zhao Zhikuan immediately used original lathes to upgrade the gearboxes of all steam turbines. The precision of the gears processed by the lathes was greatly increased. After replacing the gears handmade by Blacksmith Wang, the transmission of the steam turbines

Efficiency is on the next level.

The power of the steam turbine increased, and Zhao Zhikuan began to prepare for the production of ball mills. Although this thing looks inconspicuous, it is indeed an equipment that is in short supply in the early stage of industrialization. Not only the cement plant in front of us needs ball mills, but also the iron ore of the future will also need ball mills to refine refined products.

Mine, so this ball mill must be produced.

The power plant where Zhao Zhikuan worked later required pulverized coal to generate electricity, and naturally a ball mill was indispensable. Although Zhao Zhikuan had never repaired it himself, he heard those mechanical engineers talk about the basic structure of a ball mill when he was bragging with a group of retired employees.

The ball mill is actually not a precision machine. To put it bluntly, it is a machine that uses the weight of the iron balls in the drum to smash the materials. However, because this thing is all made of iron, the total weight of a ball mill with a capacity of 2 tons is 5 tons, which is still small.

Yes, the total weight of the large grid ball mills used in those mines can reach 480 tons.

In addition to abundant power, driving such a big guy also requires strong bearings that can withstand a weight of 5 tons. Wood alone cannot do this, so the bearings must be made of iron.

Now after improvements, the horsepower of Zhao Zhikuan's steam turbine has reached nearly 200 horsepower, which can completely drive a 5-ton ball mill, so manufacturing this big thing is on the agenda.

After Zhao Zhikuan drew the drawings, he decided to manufacture the bearing first, which is the key part responsible for the rotation of the ball mill. As for using later forged bearings, it was basically impossible, so Zhao Zhikuan planned to only use casting.

The history of casting has been thousands of years in China. As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, bronzes weighing several tons were cast, so casting this bearing is not a difficult task, but the key is whether Blacksmith Wang's skills are good.

Blacksmith Wang is just an ordinary blacksmith in Fucheng. He can repair some tools and make some sickles and axes. But now, can he complete the bearings, which are more than a ton?

Zhao Zhikuan was worried and called Blacksmith Wang over and asked him what he had cast before. Blacksmith Wang thought for a while and said: "Master, my apprentice has cast hoes, axes, and a weight from the butcher Zhang's house in the city. This butcher is so evil."

If you have to fill the weights with lead, I, Mr. Wang, am a conscientious blacksmith, how can I harm the common people?"

Zhao Zhikuan didn't care whether Blacksmith Wang had cheated him or not, and asked, "Now there is something weighing more than a thousand kilograms that needs you to cast. Can you?"

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Are you done?"

Blacksmith Wang's eyes widened when he heard this, and he asked: "Master, what are you going to cast? It won't be a big Buddha machine, right? This is a serious crime of losing one's head!"

Zhao Zhikuan secretly scolded this apprentice for being good at everything but talking too much nonsense. He was afraid that this guy was going to say something, so he quickly stopped him and said, "It's not the artillery, it's the bearing!"

Hearing that he didn't have to break the law, Blacksmith Wang was relieved and asked: "Bearings? Aren't they all made of wood? Why are they made of iron?"

Blacksmith Wang has been following Zhao Zhikuan in the past few months and knows what a bearing is. Isn't it the thing that drives the blades in the steam turbine? Wouldn't using iron increase the weight?

Zhao Zhikuan didn't want to explain anything to him, so he took out a drawing and said: "Facai, this is the drawing of the bearing. You can make a sand mold according to the shape first!"

Blacksmith Wang looked at the drawing and found that the bearing was no different from the one in the steam turbine, except that it was larger. Blacksmith Wang nodded and said, "Master, this is simple. I'll go find a carpenter to make a model first. I estimate it can be made in two days."

!”

Zhao Zhikuan nodded and asked Blacksmith Wang to go out and prepare. He would build an iron furnace to melt pig iron and cast bearings.

As for this iron furnace, it is simple. Zhao Zhikuan does not even need to find a blacksmith master. He can build this furnace himself because he has experienced the era of large-scale steel smelting across the country. At that time, Zhao Zhikuan was in high school. As an intellectual who was in short supply

, Zhao Zhikuan was asked by the village to help technicians sent by the county. Through their efforts, a blast furnace and several iron furnaces were built for the village.

Zhao Zhikuan had already drawn the drawings of the blast furnace and the iron-melting furnace in his mind. In his previous life, the blast furnace only produced a few furnaces of floor steel and was abandoned due to poor craftsmanship. However, the iron-melting furnace was still successful. As for the blast furnace, Zhao Zhikuan believed that there was

If you follow the guidance in the manual, you will definitely be able to build a qualified steelmaking blast furnace.

The iron furnace used by Zhao Zhikuan is a three-section furnace that has been used since the Yuan Dynasty. This furnace is composed of an upper furnace body, a lower furnace body, and a furnace hearth. Because the structure is relatively simple and easy to maintain, it was used in the Yuan Dynasty.

It was widely used until 49 years ago. However, this type of furnace was eliminated in later generations due to its low furnace body and high fuel consumption. Later generations of iron furnaces used cupola furnaces that were more fuel-efficient and less polluting.

The drawings used by Zhao Zhikuan are of course more advanced than the three-section furnace of the Yuan Dynasty. After improvements by later technicians, a blower motor was added to the lower furnace body to provide sufficient oxygen. However, Zhao Zhikuan does not have a motor in his hands now, so naturally this point is omitted.

, without a motor, the output is just a little small, and it has no real impact.

Zhao Zhikuan and others worked according to the drawings and built the iron furnace in two days. After Blacksmith Wang completed the sand mold, the iron furnace was also completed.

When Blacksmith Wang saw the newly built iron furnace, he couldn't help but sigh: "Master, you are still better at your craftsmanship. This iron furnace is so big, can one furnace produce a thousand kilograms of pig iron?"

The amount of iron produced by the iron furnace is directly proportional to the furnace hearth. Zhao Zhikuan could have built a 2-ton iron furnace, but he thought that so much molten iron was of no use. He has not yet built a large-scale steelmaking plant. At present, one thousand kilograms of iron furnace has been built.

It was enough, so Zhao Zhikuan reduced the size of the furnace. Now one furnace can produce up to 1,500 kilograms of molten iron.

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Zhao Zhikuan saw that Blacksmith Wang had already moved the sand molds here. Since his iron furnace had been built, he would not wait for any auspicious day and start construction directly.

The steps for smelting pig iron are much simpler than making steel. First, a certain amount of coal is put into the furnace as bottom coke. Its height is generally more than one meter.

After ignition, add the bottom coke to the specified height. The height from the tuyere to the top surface of the bottom coke is the height of the bottom coke. Then add the prepared limestone, metal charge and layer coke from the charging port in order and in batches according to the melting rate of the furnace.

.

During the entire furnace opening process, keep the top surface of the charge at the lower edge of the charging port. The air entering the furnace through the tuyere reacts with the bottom coke, and the generated high-temperature furnace gas flows upward, heating the charge and causing the top surface of the bottom coke to

The first batch of metal charge is melted.

As the molten iron droplets fall into the furnace hearth, they are further heated by high-temperature furnace gas and hot coke. This process is called superheating. As the bottom coke is burned away and the metal charge is melted, the material layer gradually descends.

After each batch of charge is melted, the fuel is supplemented by additional layer coke, so that the height of the bottom coke remains basically unchanged, and the entire melting process proceeds continuously.

The limestone in the charge is decomposed into lime and carbon dioxide under the action of high-temperature furnace gas. Lime is an alkaline oxide, which can combine with the ash in the coke, impurities in the charge, metal oxides and other acidic substances to form slag with a lower melting point.

.The molten slag also falls into the furnace hearth and floats on the molten iron.

The maximum temperature of a three-section furnace can reach about 1400 degrees. If it goes higher, it is necessary to purchase additional equipment. According to the structure of the three-section furnace, the temperature cannot be increased, so the molten iron in the furnace appears dark red.

When Blacksmith Wang saw the molten iron, he shouted: "Master, it's almost done. It's time to fill the mold!"

Zhao Zhikuan nodded and directed the workers to carefully tilt the furnace body and slowly pour the molten iron into the open mold. After half an hour, the surface of the mold was no longer red, and Zhao Zhikuan asked the workers to carefully remove the sand mold, revealing the silver-gray inside.

Casting parts.

At this time, the temperature of the casting has dropped to about 200 degrees. The workers on the side carefully sprinkled water on it to cool the casting. When the temperature dropped to an acceptable level, Zhao Zhikuan stepped forward to carefully observe the largest iron cast from across time.

pieces.

The entire casting is silver-gray in color, and it exactly follows Zhao Zhikuan's drawings. Except for burrs on some corners, the workmanship is perfect. At least Zhao Zhikuan didn't see any cracks with the naked eye.

Blacksmith Wang on the side looked at it, and then said happily: "Master, with this skill, you can shock Guangdong and Guangxi. My apprentice heard that even in Guangfu, there are few people who can cast things weighing more than a thousand kilograms at a time!"

Zhao Zhikuan knew that Blacksmith Wang was flattering him. If nothing else, the Ming army's Hongyi cannon was made in Guangdong. Each of that thing weighed two to three thousand kilograms. It couldn't have been made with a lathe!

At this time, the casting in front of him had already cooled down. Zhao Zhikuan took a hammer and knocked it up and down. He found that there were no obvious trachoma or bubbles inside. You must know that trachoma and bubbles are inevitable in the casting. If there is trachoma in the artillery,

, it will inevitably explode after being used for a long time. But this is a bearing. According to the drawings designed by Zhao Zhikuan, the speed of the ball mill is from 15 to 30 rpm. Even if there are trachoma in the bearing, it can withstand it, so this casting is considered a success.

of!

(End of chapter)
Chapter completed!