Kai Fu Han

Chapter 393 A Generation of Steam Engines
"You have made a great contribution this time." Liu Xinqi patted Wu Chengye on the shoulder and praised him.I sighed sincerely that using the four-star general card on Wu Chengye was very valuable. His invention directly accelerated the industrialization process of Xinghan League by several years, even more than ten years.

"Onlookers know, I just came up with this idea. The master craftsman of the Ministry of Industry can invent a machine that uses steam to generate continuous and stable power, which is a real ingenuity." Wu Chengye did not dare to be greedy. When I saw the steam engine prototype, I was deeply shocked.

In addition to the poor sealing and air leakage in the cylinder, the steam engine displayed in front of Wu Chengye for the first time had fully demonstrated its power.

"After the steam engine is finalized, I will reward all the meritorious people together, and you will all be indispensable. Now, let us build the real first-generation steam engine as soon as possible and test the performance in all aspects."

Because the cylinder, connecting rod, flywheel, etc. are all ready-made, only the piston was damaged due to previous experiments. It took some time to make a new piston, and it also took some time to forge the piston rings.On the third day, October [-], the steam engine that Liu Xinqi thought could be used was finally born.

"Let's boil the water."

The water in the boiler is rapidly heated by the burning coal, and soon reaches the boiling temperature. The high-temperature steam enters the cylinder along the steel pipe and begins to accumulate pressure.

As the pressure increases, a very small stream of steam will be exposed at each connection. This is unavoidable and harmless. You can just build a layer of shell to block it later.

As the pressure in the cylinder gradually increases, the piston is slowly pushed and then blocked by the brake lever.

When the pressure is insufficient, even if the piston is pushed to its maximum stroke, the flywheel will not form an inertial force and will not drive the piston back, so the pressure needs to continue to be increased.

There was no suitable pressure gauge, so it was necessary to make a comprehensive judgment based on experience and time. Another half-quarter of an hour passed.

"That's it, release the brake lever." Liu Xinqi ordered.

A craftsman stepped forward and pulled the switch. The brake mechanism enabled by the lever principle was easily opened. The piston lost its restraint and rushed forward. When it reached its maximum stroke, the high-pressure steam in the cylinder rushed out along the air hole at the top of the cylinder, and was The trachea guides the person to rush to higher places.

The air pressure in the cylinder decreases, and the flywheel rotates, driving the connecting rod to push the piston to retract again. Because the space in the cylinder decreases, the air pressure increases accordingly. After reaching the limit, the piston is pushed forward again.

The cycle goes back and forth, and the flywheel is driven to spin faster and faster.

"Success!!" Liu Xinqi shouted excitedly when he saw that there was no steam exposed from the front and rear of the cylinder.

"Success!!" Everyone shouted loudly.

"We succeeded!!"

……

The research site was a sea of ​​joy.

Fortunately, there are still some people with some sense.

"Quickly, connect the water pump!" Liu Zhimu ordered.

"Yes!"

When the steam engine was first developed in later generations, it was to drive the water pump and discharge the accumulated water in the mine, so Liu Xinqi arranged for people to build the water pump early. The manufacture of the water pump was much simpler than that of the steam engine.

After receiving the order, the craftsman stepped forward and operated. The rapidly rotating gear in front of the flywheel was connected to the steam engine, and the power was output to the water pump.

No water came out.

"Add water to the water tank." Liu Zhimu continued to order.

The water that had been prepared long ago was quickly added in, which acted as a seal, and the water underneath began to be pumped up continuously.

"We succeeded!!"

……

The atmosphere at the scene reached its peak from this moment.

Everyone was very excited when they saw that what they had studied for so long could finally be put to use. Some craftsmen could not help crying with joy. "Congratulations!" Liu Xinqi said to Liu Zhimu.

"It's time to congratulate you." Liu Zhimu replied.

"Then let us congratulate the Han Alliance!"

"Long live the Xinghan League!!"

Only with the birth of this mature steam engine could Xinghan League truly enter the industrial age.

Although Liu Xinqi kept talking about "industrial products" in the past, he knew in his heart that he just gathered people together and exerted a joint force, and he also relied on soldiers in particular.

The birth of this steam engine truly represents that humans have mastered the power of machinery. Human abilities will be amplified by machinery several, dozens, hundreds, or tens of thousands of times.

On October [-], the front page of "People's Daily" published the news that the steam engine had been invented.

It introduces in detail the principle of the steam engine, the role it will play, its importance to the prosperity of the Han League, etc. There is simply no limit to the praise of this machine.

These were all instructed by Liu Xinqi in order to increase the confidence of the people of the Xinghan League and pave the way for the westward strategy next year.

On October [-], Liu Xinqi came to the research institute again and listened to Liu Zhimu's report on the problems discovered during the past few days of operation of the steam engine.

"After these few days of operation, I found that the output power of the steam engine is in a certain proportion to the heating degree of the boiler. In this case, if it is installed on a ship in the future, power adjustment will be a big problem." Liu Zhimu said.

"This problem can be easily solved by changing gears and adjusting power output." Liu Xinqi replied.

The principle of the transmission is briefly explained: high power at low speed, low power at high speed.

"After several days of operation, we found that the piston rings are worn out very quickly. Is there any way to solve it?"

Liu Xinqi knew that engine oil was used to increase lubrication in later generations of internal combustion engines, but with the current manufacturing level, it was simply impossible to create a lubrication system that could operate normally.

"Then make more spare parts and replace them if they are worn out."

"The production of this piston ring is too difficult. Currently, only craftsmen who have received immortal skills can make it, and the output will be very limited." Liu Zhimu said.

Liu Xinqi understands that the precision requirements for piston rings are too high. Before there were good processing machine tools, manual production was indeed too difficult and the requirements for personal quality were too high.

Open the system's main page and take out all the remaining two-star and three-star general cards, a total of 144.

"I'll give you these immortal talismans. They are all second-level immortal talismans and above. Use them to expand the craftsman team of the Ministry of Industry." Liu Xinqi handed the general card to Liu Zhimu.

"Thank you, leader. With these talismans, all problems will be gone." Liu Zhimu happily took it.

"Don't be complacent with the status quo. There are still many areas for improvement in this steam engine, such as size, shape, etc. We also need to adjust the way the steam engine outputs kinetic energy according to various usage conditions and make various models and versions."

Liu Zhimu nodded after hearing this and carefully wrote down Liu Xinqi's suggestions.

"In addition to these, the performance of various materials can also be better. Just like the wear problem you mentioned before, find a way to use whale oil to increase the lubrication between the piston ring and the cylinder wall, and the wear will naturally be reduced."

　Thank you book friend 20180306145541517 and Xingxuan Crystal for your full support.

　　Thank you Xingxuan Crystal book friends for your monthly support.

　　Thank you to book friends such as Mysterious Tianwei and Longhan Tianyuan for their continued support.

　　I would also like to thank some book friends who have subscribed to the original version. Maybe because of my poor writing, everyone did not insist on following it, but every one of your subscriptions is a support for me. Thank you.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)