Siheyuan: Craftsmen of a Great Country

Chapter 280 The converter steelmaking experiment begins

After spending a while in the Sangang machine tool production workshop and chatting in Yang Weimin's office, the morning passed like this.

After lunch in the afternoon, Jiang Chen went straight to the converter.

It was originally planned to start the converter steelmaking experiment on Monday morning, but Jiang Chen had something to do and adjusted it to start in the afternoon.

Anyway, he had already made it clear to Zhou Xinjian about the general situation of the assembly line. He would not accompany people from the Ministry of Industry to visit in the afternoon.

When Jiang Chen came to the blast furnace, everyone who participated in the experiment was already waiting here.

Seeing Jiang Chen, Su Changming said: "Director Jiang, you are here! The molten iron has melted and all the materials are ready. You can start the experiment at any time."

"The furnace charge and molten iron are prepared according to the output of five tons of steel."

Lu Yuehua said: "Director Jiang, I have prepared and stored the oxygen in advance and can use it at any time."

"And the oxygen purity can be adjusted instantly according to demand."

When Jiang Chen first proposed this idea, he was opposed to it.

What I'm afraid of is that if an accident happens, try to make the loss controllable.

Converter steelmaking uses the principle that elements such as carbon, silicon, manganese, and iron in molten iron are oxidized by oxygen and release a large amount of heat, allowing the heat generated by the reaction to maintain high temperatures in the furnace.

Now for the first experiment, he participated in it expecting the worst.

Jiang Chen was stunned: "What is this?"

This converter steel-making is an area they have never been exposed to, but they have heard that this converter steel-making is too brutal and violent, and cannot be tamed by flower growers.

The reaction rate is fast, and the furnace body is closed and the heat is not easily lost. There is no need to add external heat sources to achieve the purpose of steelmaking.

Other workers at the Shijingshan Steelmaking Plant retreated, leaving only three steelmaking workers and Su Changming.

Su Changming said: "It's better to be prepared."

A 200-ton furnace generally produces about 30 tons of steel, but for safety reasons, the amount will be controlled within a relatively low range during the experiment.

Even privately, he has reduced the number of people participating in the experiment to the minimum, and selected only steel mill workers who have adult sons at home.

Unknown things are often scary.

Su Changming walked up to Jiang Chen and handed him a stack of paper: "Director Jiang, please keep these things for your safekeeping for the time being, but don't read the contents for the time being. If anything happens, you can open it again."

Su Changming turned around and said: "Please ask a few leaders and unrelated personnel to push it outside the safe area."

But Jiang Chen was confident, and if the development was successful, it would be of great significance, so he participated without hesitation and did his best to make preparations.

The temperature can easily reach 1600°C, which exceeds the melting point of steel. It is always guaranteed that the steel becomes liquid in the furnace during the smelting process.

But because it reacts quickly, it is relatively violent. If it is not controlled properly, accidents can easily occur.

Lu Yuehua said: "Gong Su, didn't we agree that you are responsible for making steel and I am responsible for controlling oxygen?"

Jiang nodded: "Thank you for your hard work! Let's start now."

Su Changming laughed: "It's nothing, just something my brothers wrote casually."

Jiang Chen was silent in his heart and roughly guessed what it was: "Actually, it's not that big of a deal."

"If I retreat, who will control the oxygen supply?"

Su Changming said: "Here I come, I have been asking you about oxygen operation these days. One is to prepare for actual production in the future, and the other is to prepare for now."

"Teacher Lu, don't worry, I can control the oxygen input."

Jiang Chen said: "Gong Su, I admire your dedication. But as long as safety precautions and pre-operation inspections are done, there will be no danger."

"Taking a step back, with the current volume of five tons, even if some unexpected situations occur, it will not cause too much trouble to the converter we built, let alone endanger life safety." In the steel process, there are several points where safety accidents are most likely to occur.

First, there is water remaining in the furnace. When it comes into contact with high-temperature molten material, it will vaporize rapidly and cause the volume to expand rapidly, which is prone to explosion.

The second is explosions and splashes caused by chemical reactions in the furnace, the most important of which is carbon monoxide. Too much furnace charge, or the temperature is high or low enough, can easily cause this situation.

The third is the use of oxygen. The most common thing is that the oxygen gun pressure is insufficient, causing negative pressure gas to flow back into the oxygen tube and causing an explosion.

Jiang Chen has emphasized these three situations and other situations that may cause risks many times.

And everyone must make thorough inspections, tests and adequate preparations in advance.

From yesterday to this morning, Lu Yuehua and others have been conducting various tests, even on weekends.

Su Changming said: "I know that Director Jiang has always emphasized safety issues. This experiment has been tested many times. There is basically no risk."

"But don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the unexpected. Both of you are the future of flower growers and are irreplaceable. If something happens, it will be a huge loss that is difficult to make up for."

"We are a bunch of rough guys. Even if something happens to us, we don't have to worry. There are plenty of people who can replace us."

Seeing the sincerity of what he said, Jiang Chen stopped insisting, waved his hand and said: "Sure, I listen to you, let's stay a little further away."

Who said he really cherished his life?

Although this experiment is theoretically safe, who can predict unexpected situations in advance.

Su Changming watched the two people push away a distance and said, "Shall we start?"

Jiang Chen nodded: "Let's get started. You are close and familiar with the people involved in the operation. You will be the on-site command."

"We can just put forward opinions in due course according to the situation."

Su Changming nodded: "Okay!"

Su Changming returned to the converter, stood at the oxygen supply control area, and said:

"The first experiment of converter steelmaking of Sansteel Group is ready to begin. Equipment, materials and other precautions will be checked again. Any problems will be reported within three minutes."

The people who participated in the experiment immediately got busy and checked carefully again.

If you say you are not afraid, that would be a lie.

After all, it is something unknown, and the steel mill has also spoken about the risks of the converter.

Just thinking about the rewards of the successful experiment, coupled with their sense of mission and dedication, they did not look back.

Flower growers never lack heroes, they just lack a stage for heroes.

Three minutes passed quickly, and no one reported any abnormality.

Su Changming continued to issue instructions: "Prepare the molten iron!"

Molten iron is molten pig iron made from melted pig iron, with a temperature of around 1300 degrees.

A worker controlled the motor and lifted a bucket of molten iron through a pulley, standing firmly half a bucket above the tilted converter body.

Scrap steel and other furnace materials have been accurately weighed and added to the furnace in advance.

Su Changming gave the next order: "Pour the molten iron."

As soon as the worker pulled the rope in his hand, the bucket containing molten iron began to tilt, and the red and hot molten iron flowed into the converter.

Like a red waterfall.

(End of this chapter)