Great warships

Chapter 445 Boilers for Aircraft Carriers

A brand new boiler is being tested.

The test site is fully enclosed. After all, if the test fails and the boiler blows up, then the high-temperature and high-pressure steam is enough to cook everything around. When the boiler of the Gorshkov exploded, 28 sailors were so dead.

Coal-fired boilers need someone to shovel coal. For this kind of heavy oil boiler, as long as the fuel is supplied normally.

"Mr. Qin, you came at the right time. Last night, this prototype machine completed all the testing items. In the morning, we started to ignite and preheat. Now, the water in the boiler is almost boiled." Wang Wang Yanwei said.

In the next room, there are several monitors, through which you can see the status of the test site. The boiler that was sprayed with silver powder looks very ordinary. It stands on the test bench. Through two pipes and connected to the outside world.

"This is also the weakness of the boiler power. It needs to be fired before starting." Qin Tao said: "However, for an aircraft carrier with tens of thousands of tons, the boiler is the only choice, and the power of the gas turbine is still not enough."

Even the British, whose technology of gas turbines ranks first in the world, still can't make the Queen-class aircraft carrier run at a high speed, so they don't need to think about it for the time being.Whether it is burning oil or burning uranium, it is just boiling water.

Back then, the Beiyang Fleet was attacked by surprise and was unable to attack because the water in the boiler was not heated enough to get out.

Back then, it took ten hours to heat boiling water, which sounded like a long time.

"Yes, even if it is nuclear power, the time is not short. Fortunately, our boiler is a pressurized boiler, and the preheating time is already very short." Yu Changhong said, looking at the data displayed on the side: "Boiler The temperature of the water inside has reached 250 degrees, so we can start testing the efficiency of steam generation!"

Their boilers are called supercharged boilers. The so-called supercharged refers not to the supercharging of the water in the pipes, but to the air.

For ordinary boilers, the air is naturally circulated, and the air flowing into the booster boiler is pressurized, so that more air can enter the boiler, burn faster, and heat up faster.

Now after testing, it has risen to the predetermined working temperature in 2.5 hours!
(The data was searched from the Internet. I don’t know if it’s true or not. Originally, the hero of East China thought it would take ten hours to go to sea. If it takes two or three hours, it’s acceptable. These data should be top secret, so , just follow what the hero of East China wrote, and I beg you to take it lightly.)
If it is an ordinary boiler for ground use, then the water in the boiler will be directly boiled, and it will be turned into water vapor, which will be directly supplied to the steam turbine. However, the boiler on the warship does not work according to this principle.

The water in the boiler is always maintained at about 250 degrees Celsius, flows through a special steam generator, and circulates continuously.

When the water is at [-] degrees, isn't it boiled?Of course, it is because of the pressure problem. On the plateau, the eggs are not cooked well, because the air pressure is low, and the water boils at seventy or eighty degrees.As for the current boiler, the pressure inside far exceeds the standard atmospheric pressure, so the circulating water inside will also be maintained at a higher temperature.

What about water vapor?

Requires a steam generator to form!

The relevant water pipes were opened, and after treatment, the soft water flowed to the fins of the steam generator, and immediately changed from liquid to gas after contact.

"The temperature of the generated steam is [-] degrees, which meets the design requirements!" Wang Yanwei also became excited: "The pressure is increasing rapidly at present!"

(The temperature of the steam is indeed higher than the temperature of the water in the boiler. The specific principle is unknown to Huadong Xiong.)
"The pressure has reached five MPa!"

"It has surpassed the 051 boiler we produced before." Yu Changhong is also very excited, this brand new boiler is so excellent!
"The pressure has reached six MPa!"

"The pressure reaches seven megapascals!"

"Eight MPa!"

"Attention, the pressure is about to reach the critical value!"

"The emergency protection system is automatically activated!"

When he heard these words, Wang Yanwei finally relaxed: "Successful!"

This emergency protection system was designed by him, and it is a new addition to the original product.

"Lao Maozi's boiler has serious lack of safety protection measures. According to your request, we have paid special attention to adding safety measures. Once the steam pressure in the pipeline exceeds 8.4 MPa, the emergency protection system will be activated to reduce the pipeline pressure." Wang Yanwei said.

Safety is the most important thing!
Lao Maozi’s aircraft carrier boilers have frequent accidents. On the one hand, it is because of the brutal operation of the engineers. For example, if there is a shortage of water, they will directly add sea water, which will cause the internal scale to increase. After reaching a certain level, of course it should explode. On the other hand, it is also because of safety measures Did not do well.

Wang Yanwei led the team to improve, one of the main methods is to increase security measures, and now it seems that the effect is still good.

Hearing his words, Qin Tao nodded with satisfaction: "We must pay attention to safety measures, and there must be no accidents!"

"Yes, if an accident occurs due to hidden dangers in the design, I am willing to bear the relevant responsibility!" At this time, Wang Yanwei's expression was the same as that of Yu Changhong just now.

They all embody the lofty spirit and always keep their responsibilities in mind.

"Now, test whether the amount of steam can meet the demand." Yu Changhong said.

Just now, the generated steam was held in the steam generator, and the pressure would of course increase rapidly. Now, by opening the channel and letting the generated steam flow away, the continuous generation of steam can be tested.

"The pressure has dropped to [-] MPa!"

"The pressure has dropped to [-] MPa!"

"The steam pressure has stabilized!"

"Flow data, two tons per minute!"

It stably produces two tons of steam per minute, which is 120 tons per hour, which has reached the design index!

"If this kind of boiler is installed on 051, only one is enough!" Yu Changhong sighed.

"However, if it is installed on a larger warship, it will not be enough." Qin Tao said: "This is just the beginning. After this batch of eight boilers is produced, we will continue to improve. "

"It's still improved? It's already improved a lot compared to the prototype!" Wang Yanwei was a little surprised.

Its prototype can only produce 115 tons of steam per hour, and the pressure is only 6.4 MPa. The boiler of our side has used a more advanced design, especially better refractory bricks, to achieve the improvement. Now, Mr. Qin still not satisfied?
"Now it can only drive a [-]-ton warship. If we have an [-]-ton warship in the future, what will we use to drive it?" Qin Tao said.

The boiler used on the Kitty Hawk has a production capacity of 120 tons per hour, but the pressure can be stabilized at 8 MPa, and the temperature can reach a maximum of 580 degrees. There is still a gap in the performance of our current boiler.

"A warship of [-] tons?" Obviously, both of them were shocked by Qin Tao's words. Isn't that a super aircraft carrier like the Kitty Hawk?

"Our power system not only needs to drive this kind of warship to reach a speed of [-] knots, but also has excess steam to drive a stronger generator. In the future, the power supply demand of our warship will also increase. Many, in addition to the auxiliary engine, the main engine must also be strong. In short, continue to increase the temperature and pressure, and let's do it!"

Speaking of this, Qin Tao thought of something again: "Of course, safety comes first."

Not only is the displacement getting larger and larger, but also the power required will continue to increase. After all, electromagnetic ejection will be used in the future. What if there is not enough power generation capacity?
"Boss Qin is right, we will continue to research more advanced marine boilers in the future!" Yu Changhong said.

These eight boilers are not the end, but just the beginning, and there will be more demands in the future!At this time, Yu Changhong was also quite excited.

After watching the boiler test, Qin Tao came to the production workshop again, where some equipment required by the nuclear power plant is being assembled.

"At the beginning, when the country was developing nuclear submarines, a large number of factories across the country were supporting them, and our factory also produced many parts." Yu Changhong was very happy: "Now, we have received a new production task, and our factory attaches great importance to it. We must ensure quality and quantity to successfully complete this production task.”

"That's right. As a leader in the industry, your Bingcheng Boiler Factory really has a few brushes. This time it's an eye-opener for us." Qin Tao is very satisfied: "After the test of that boiler is completed, your follow-up production You must also ensure the quality and quantity, I am waiting for your products in Mingzhou."

"President Qin, please rest assured!"

Even if the inspection of the boiler factory was over, when Qin Tao returned to Huating, he came to the machinery factory immediately.

The former Huating No. [-] Water Pump Factory has now developed into the most advanced complex curved surface product processing first factory in China. In terms of marine propellers, it has almost monopolized the production of all variable pitch propellers.

When Qin Tao walked in, the factory director Zhao Changshui and others greeted him.

"Mr. Qin, please rest assured. After receiving the drawings, we immediately adjusted the machine and redesigned the program. At present, we have started processing the first propeller."

Large aircraft carriers are all four-axis propulsion, which means that four propellers are required, and the size of the propellers varies according to the ship type and speed.

The propeller of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier has a diameter of up to 6.4 meters. The displacement of the Dongfang Haicheng is not that large, and the diameter does not need to be particularly large. About five meters is enough.

The machine Qin Tao brought back is still working, its cutting knives are constantly flying, and golden metal wires fly out along the knives.

If it is a fixed-pitch propeller, then when cutting, it is the cutting of the entire propeller. For example, the propeller of a submarine is processed in this way. However, the variable-pitch propeller is different. Its propeller is originally installed on the propeller hoop. , when it is produced now, it is only necessary to produce the blades separately.

"The construction period may be advanced, so our processing speed should be faster." Qin Tao said.

It may take three months for those electric tools to complete the derusting and other operations, and the next step is to install the power system. The progress of the propeller cannot be delayed.

"Well, next month, we will install a second multi-axis linkage CNC machine tool." Zhao Changshui said: "After that machine is installed in place, our processing speed will continue to increase."

Second?
Qin Tao looked at Zhao Changshui suspiciously.

"Let's ask Lao Luo to talk about this."

Lao Luo?

Qin Tao looked at another person in surprise: Luo Wenzhong.

Luo Wenzhong is not from their Mingzhou Group, he is from the machine tool factory. When the water jet propulsion was manufactured, the water pump factory purchased an experimental multi-axis linkage CNC machine tool from China. The personnel, who are resident in the water pump factory, can be regarded as old acquaintances.

The purpose of his coming here is to improve their CNC machine tools through continuous use, and finally make the products mature and move from experiment to market.

A few years have passed, especially the Toshiba machine tool that I got from Lao Maozi, which must have given Luo Wenzhong and the others more inspiration, so they may have matured these technologies!
"Mr. Qin, thanks to the equipment you got, we have helped maintain it together in the past few years, and we have understood the principle of this machine. Now, our machine tool factory has begun to imitate the same type of machine equipment. "Luo Wenzhong said: "Your order is the first imitation product of our factory. We are looking forward to its arrival and can speed up the production here. Of course, I will continue to stay here to help deal with the problems encountered in production. problem."

Qin Tao nodded.

It's not easy. Multi-axis linkage CNC machine tools are high-tech products, and they are embargoed abroad. It is really not easy for our side to get to where we are today.

"By the way, where's Polustat?" Qin Tao asked.

When the machine tool had just returned to China, Qin Taoshun brought this man along with him. Only with him was he able to maintain the machine well, otherwise no one would use it.

Now, why didn't you see this old friend?

"I'm still playing games." Zhao Changshui said, "He came here for a while when processing this kind of propeller. After the program was written, he left."

"Still playing games? Isn't he tired?" Qin Tao was also surprised.

"How come, he is like that, he should never get tired of playing for a lifetime." Zhao Changshui said: "Our factory also tries to meet all his conditions. Now the computer he uses to play games is still a new model last year."

Qin Tao nodded, and then thought of something: "Do we still need to write complicated programs?"

"Yes, this machine is still needed. However, the machine produced by our machine tool factory has been improved and adopted our domestic control system. Its biggest feature is that it can recognize CAD drawings and then automatically generate processing programs." Luo Wenzhong said: "This can greatly simplify our processing work and truly realize digital processing."

The charm of digitalization has already been manifested. In the field of aviation, it is already a trend to draw directly on the computer, and then transfer the design drawings to the CNC machine tools and directly process them into parts. There is no need for paper drawings in the whole process.

Now, domestic CNC machine tools are also being improved. They can recognize drawings and write processing programs, which greatly simplifies operations.

Qin Tao nodded: "Yes, but in order to develop our industry in the future, we must have our own drawing software. We cannot be controlled by others in these fields."

CAD will be famous all over the world, but in China, in many professional fields, foreign software cannot be used. In this regard, we must develop our own.

Luo Wenzhong nodded: "Yes, we can't be controlled by others. However, our machine tool factory does not have this ability. If there is similar software in China, we can provide it. Let our machine tool software read out the relevant drawings."

Qin Tao nodded.

"For us, this is just the beginning. In order to better complete the processing tasks of the propeller, the number of axes of the machine tool has to be increased. We are already studying the principle of the seven-axis five-linkage CNC machine tool. In the future, our CNC machine tool Technology will not be worse than foreign countries, but only better." Luo Wenzhong continued.

"Yeah, imitation is just the beginning. We need to improve on the basis of imitation." Qin Tao nodded: "In the future, not only will there be seven-axis five-linkage, but the volume will also be larger to meet the needs of larger-diameter propellers. processing needs."

"We will work hard." Luo Wenzhong expressed his determination.

The processing of the machine is still going on.

Aircraft carrier propellers and submarines have different needs. As long as the five-blade propeller is enough, but it is very wide, and a processed blade can weigh several tons or even dozens of tons. After assembly, the entire propeller will have tens of tons or even hundreds of tons. . (It is said that the propeller of Nimitz is only four or five hundred tons? I personally feel that it is unlikely.)
"Mr. Qin, do you have time to take a look at the lift fan project?" Zhao Changshui continued to ask.

Among the research and development projects of J-31A, Mingzhou Group undertook the most difficult lift fan project above, after all, only Mingzhou Group has this kind of processing capability.

In the blink of an eye, one or two years have passed. How is the progress of their research and development?

Qin Tao became interested: "Of course I have time, let's take a look!"

In order for this aircraft to succeed, it is necessary to overcome the difficulties of the lift fan project, which is definitely a major challenge for domestic technology.

How is this project going?
With such doubts, Qin Tao and others entered the R&D workshop.

Since Huating No. [-] Water Pump Factory got back on the right track, it also began to pay more attention to research and development. They transformed the original large warehouse into a research and development workshop. High-tech corporate feel.

There are rows of computers and various test benches. When Qin Tao walked over, Wang Jinbao greeted him.

"President Qin, you came at the right time, and we can finally report good news to you."

good news?
Qin Tao was delighted when he heard it: "What good news?"

"After our hard work, we have finally overcome the difficulty of the drive shaft. Now, we have been able to manufacture a drive shaft for qualified lift fans."

The requirements for this transmission shaft are not simple. It needs to have a speed of several thousand revolutions per minute, and at the same time, it must transmit tens of thousands of horsepower. Specifically, it is similar to the power output by the four diesel engines of 054, but it must not Use 054 drive shaft.

Things for airplanes must be extremely light!
"Really? What material did you use to make it?" Qin Tao asked curiously.

"Titanium alloy."

This answer somewhat exceeded Qin Tao's expectations.

In the field of aerospace, a large amount of titanium alloys are indeed used. After all, this kind of thing is light in weight and high in strength, and it is an excellent substitute for aluminum alloy materials.

However, its high yield does not necessarily mean that the torsional strength is also high.

"We are using the transmission shaft material of the aero-engine." Wang Jinbao said: "We learned that the engine used by the Su-27 fighter plane uses titanium alloy for the low-pressure turbine shaft, so we contacted Lao Maozi and introduced this After our precision machining, this kind of blank really meets the requirements, although the cost is high, but as you said, let’s work it out first, let’s put the price aside.”

Only then did Qin Tao suddenly realize that there are drive shafts in aircraft engines, and it is absolutely no problem to use this material for drive shafts!As long as the precision machining capability is achieved, this difficulty can be overcome.

It's okay to be more expensive, let's solve the problem of availability first.

"Where are the friction plates and conical wheels?" Qin Tao continued to ask.

The transmission shaft is a difficulty, and there are many other difficulties. The clutch must be durable. After all, the lift fan must be able to cut off the power at any time, and it will not work all the time. The power transmission route is different, and the bevel gear is also needed to change the direction.

As for the main structure of the lift fan, there is nothing difficult about it. It can be understood as a simple aero engine, which can be achieved by domestic technology.

"We are still researching these. We have found a domestic manufacturer of automobile clutches. The best clutch discs they produce can only withstand [-] horsepower, and there is no progress yet." Wang Jinbao said.

The transmission shaft is solved, but the difficulties of the clutch and bevel gear are still in sight.

"We heard that Porsche's PDK gearbox uses special friction lining materials, so we have contacted them and want to experiment with their friction linings."

Qin Tao quickly shook his head: "We build airplanes, we can't use cars."

A car engine with a thousand horsepower is quite unnatural, and two thousand horsepower is enough to support it. What needs to be transmitted by one's own side is tens of thousands of horsepower. The car's clutch plate, no matter how strong it is, will not work.

"It doesn't work on the car? Then there is no clutch on the plane!" Wang Jinbao was very embarrassed.

"There is no clutch on the plane, but there are brake pads on the plane. Contact our domestic unit that develops composite brake pads and work with them!" Qin Tao said.

This cannot be blamed on Wang Jinbao's lack of knowledge. After all, he is a technician in a water pump factory. Later, with Qin Tao's encouragement, he began to take on the leading role and bravely undertake various research and development tasks. He is already very good. He knows nothing about the aviation industry. Know.

Qin Tao gave the project to Wang Jinbao, and Wang Jinbao worked hard to study it. He was able to overcome the difficulty of the drive shaft because it is used in the aviation industry, but what about the clutch?I've never heard of an airplane with a clutch.

So, he tried to find a way from the car.

He would never think of the brake pads of the plane.

Brake pads and clutch pads have one thing in common, that is, they all work by friction!
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(End of this chapter)