Chapter 67 The wrong path in steelmaking
Tomorrow afternoon [Selected Recommendations for Category Novels New Books] [Selected Recommendations for New Books from the History Channel], so I’ll update two today and three tomorrow, long live understanding.
But I owe you all an update. I won’t forget this. Let me sort out my thoughts in the past two days and then break it down for you!
In addition, of course I am asking for votes...
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Fang Jun knew that the various crafts of the Tang Dynasty were very backward. He also knew that the best craftsmen of this era were recruited by the government. The government-run handicraft industry had always occupied a dominant position in the ancient handicraft industry and represented the highest level of production technology. ?
Craftsmen gathered in workshops set up by the government, using raw materials provided by the government, and under the supervision of work officials, made and processed products designated by the government.
Their professions are hereditary and they have worked for the government for generations.
But he never expected that the Fang family's blacksmith shop would be so crude.
A row of adobe houses were built along the hillside, forming a semicircle. There were several shaft furnaces in front of the houses, probably used for iron smelting.
The furnace is about five or six meters high, with a bottom diameter of about three meters. It is thicker in the middle and slightly narrower at both ends. The outer skin is built with gravel walls. There is a charging port at the top and a blast port at the bottom. This can form a relative movement of the charge falling and the gas rising. The high-temperature gas generated by combustion rises through the material layer and transfers heat to the furnace material, which is considered a preheating process.
But there was no blower, and there were only some cinders left in the furnace.
Fang Jun had never seen what an iron-making furnace looked like before, but that didn't stop him from understanding the principle after just one look. He didn't need to have studied industry, he could understand it with a little knowledge of physics. After all, this thing was too crude.
Fang Jun asked Lu Cheng behind him: "Is this an iron-making furnace? Why not make iron?"
Although most of the pyrite mined in the mine not far away is pyrite and nothing can be smelted, you can't just sit idle like this?
Lu Cheng said: "Yes, it's an iron-making furnace. It's winter now. It's too cold and the furnace temperature can't rise, so we don't make iron."
Fang Jun clicked his tongue, thinking that this shabby stove was too crude. Not only could the temperature not go up in winter, but how much higher could the temperature get even if it was left in the dog days of summer?
How much temperature is needed to make iron?
Fang Jun pulled his hair and thought for a moment, it was probably more than a thousand degrees, right? It's probably about the same, so steelmaking will have to be at least 1,500 degrees Celsius. It's hard to make iron in this broken furnace, let alone steelmaking.
It would have been better if they had studied science, such as iron-making, steel-making, cement-burning, etc. Maybe they could have promoted the Tang Dynasty to start the first industrial revolution.
Oh, by the way, what was the symbol of the first industrial revolution?
It looks like a steam engine...
It is said that the principle of a steam engine is extremely simple. The difficulty is that the materials are not easy to obtain and the workmanship is not up to standard. Generally speaking, it does not seem to be completely impossible to make it.
Uh, I thought too far...
Fang Jun looked at the remaining cinders in the furnace and sighed in disappointment.
Using coal to make iron is probably a patent of ancient China, right? A failed patent...
The ancient iron smelting industry has long been plagued by excessive phosphorus content, probably due to poor quality of iron ore, or due to iron casting technology, or both. Su Shi once wrote a poem "Carbon Journey", praising the benefits of using coal to make iron. He believed that coal could be used to "smelt iron and make soldiers, and they would be sharper than Chang Yun." It could also save charcoal and increase the temperature of the furnace. Indeed, coal has these two benefits. It also reduces the cost of ironmaking. Coal is much cheaper than charcoal.
However, the most terrifying killer of iron smelting, sulfur, lurks in the coal.
The winter in the north is very cold, so ironware with high phosphorus content is very cold and brittle, which seriously restricts the development of ironware.
Therefore, using coal to make iron is a complete mistake, which has led the entire iron smelting industry astray!
In fact, the solution to the ultra-high sulfur content is very simple, which is to refine coke and use it to smelt iron.
But ancient people didn't know how to make coke.
Fang Jun thought again, how is coke made? Well, he won’t either...
But he knows that coke is made by putting coal in a sealed environment and burning it vigorously. Cement is also made, glass is still made, and porcelain is still made...
No wonder people often say that the use of "fire" is a sign of civilization. I see...
Although I don't know exactly how to burn it, just burn it anyway, but if you burn it with such vigor and change, you will be able to burn it one day.
Fang Jun was helpless and once again lamented the true meaning of "learn physics well, and you will not be afraid of wherever you travel".
This time I came to the blacksmith shop not to inspect the iron-making furnace, but to check and accept the tasks assigned to Lu Cheng at the house a few days ago. However, since I thought about coke, I naturally had to explain it to Lu Cheng, and if nothing happened, I would experiment according to my own ideas. After all, you can't go wrong.
Lu Cheng was confused after hearing this, so he burned the coal first, and then used the remaining coal to burn the ore... Isn't this just taking off his pants and farting, which is an extra step?
Lu Cheng looked confused and couldn't understand...
Fang Jun couldn't say much. Should he explain to this "illiterate" who lived more than a thousand years ago what carbon element is, what CO2 is, and what chemical reaction is?
In front of a row of adobe houses is a yard. The cinders and slag are crushed into fine pieces and paved with a thick layer. They are solid and flat, not afraid of rain and snow, and will not get muddy or uneven at every turn.
At this time, there was a carriage placed in the middle of the yard. It was just a simple frame without any decorations such as curtains and curtains.
Fang Jun walked over, held his chin, and walked around the carriage, feeling a little emotional.
That's right, what he wants to make is this four-wheeled carriage.
It’s hard to imagine that China’s 5,000-year civilization has invented countless world-leading technologies, but not a four-wheeled carriage.
It’s incredible, it’s unbelievable, but it’s true.
China has always had two-wheeled carriages, but there have never been four-wheeled carriages like those in Europe that shuttled through the streets. In fact, four-wheeled carriages surpassed two-wheeled carriages in terms of load capacity and comfort. The Queen of England also rides one when going out. four-wheeled royal carriage. So what is the reason why China has always had two-wheeled carriages instead of four-wheeled carriages?
Some people have found many objective reasons, such as terrain factors, war factors, flattery factors... But Fang Jun believes that there is only one fundamental reason, and that is that the Chinese have not solved the steering problem of four-wheelers.
The Chinese also had four-wheeled vehicles, but this kind of four-wheeled vehicle simply installed four wheels on a fixed frame, so it could not be turned. Although such a four-wheeled carriage looked like it had four wheels, it was It has no practical value, even forty wheels are useless...
If a modern person were to look at it, would this be a problem?
Apparently not.
The carriage in front of me has the front two wheels mounted on one frame, the rear two wheels mounted on another frame, and the rear frame is connected to the front frame by a vertical shaft, making it perfect. Fixed four-wheeler steering issue.
But that's the case with many inventions. It's like a layer of window paper. If you pierce it, it's just a thin layer. If you don't pierce it, you can't see anything.
In fact, many of the simplest mechanical technologies were invented by Westerners, such as screws, bolts, nuts, gears, racks, springs, bearings, windmills, water pumps, etc. These seemingly insignificant little things are used throughout the entire industry. The manufacturing field plays an important role...
As soon as Fang Jun appeared, the craftsmen who were originally surrounding the carriage dispersed immediately. One of them, an old man with gray hair, greeted Fang Jun with excitement: "Erlang, this thing is really a gift from God!"
Fang Jun is a little confused, isn't it?
It is said that the Big Sky is just a carriage. There is no essential difference between two-wheeled and four-wheeled. We only want to make it more comfortable to sit on. Speaking of which, this two-wheeled carriage is too bumpy...
Lu Cheng introduced to Fang Jun: "This is the most skilled blacksmith in our blacksmith shop. He has no name. Everyone calls him Wang Erxiao..."
Fang Jun sweated...
Wang Erxiao was obviously the leader of this group of craftsmen. He was the only one who dared to talk to Fang Jun, while the others stood far away.
Wang Erxiao was very excited. He looked at Fang Jun with admiring eyes and said, "I have been following the master since Shandong. I have watched him step by step to become the successful and famous he is today. I also watched you, Erlang, when you were born... ”
Fang Jun sweats again, can my father let you watch... (End of Chapter)