The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 124 Industrial Basics
Feng Guohui carefully visited the self-developed blast furnace steelmaking equipment. Compared with the imported equipment produced in the UK, the main body of the steelmaking blast furnace looked larger, larger, and thicker.

Especially at the junction of the upper and lower hemispherical furnace bodies, the cast connection residues as thick as an arm are very obvious, highlighting the impression that there is sufficient margin, and it is very strong anyway.

It is also reflected in the introduction

The volume of the second set of self-developed steelmaking blast furnaces is obviously larger than that imported from the UK. This is reflected in the fact that the upper and lower hemispheric walls of the steel blast furnace are thicker. The furnace is filled with more high-temperature resistant materials and is thicker. The volume of the furnace is larger than that imported from England. The blast furnace equipment is 26% higher.

Therefore, each furnace can refine more molten steel, the air inlet steel pipe is thickened and enlarged, and the layout of pipe fittings is optimized to make it more reasonable.

The experience and lessons gained in the production of imported blast furnaces are also reflected in the improvement of the second set of blast furnaces.

This virtually enhances production efficiency.

The second set of steel-making blast furnace equipment has been ignited and put into trial operation so far. The whole set of equipment is stable, reliable and operating well. After the first month of trial production, the production efficiency is increasing rapidly, and the daily output is increasing.

It won't be long before the designed production capacity of 3000 tons per month will be reached.

some of

The high-temperature molten steel refined in the blast furnace is opened through the furnace door below, and the orange-red high-temperature molten steel will flow into the molten steel ladle. Once it is full, it will be transported away immediately.

For example, the production process of transferring high-temperature ladles.

The inner wall of the gun barrel is smoother and the size uniformity error is small.

After that, after annealing, cold drawing and other processes, seamless steel pipes of varying thicknesses can be made. Such high-quality seamless steel pipes are the best material for producing flintlock rifle barrels.

Hot-rolling equipment capable of producing gun barrels is being produced in the casting workshop. Its principle is the same as that of producing seamless steel pipes, except that the billet is heavier and larger, and the corresponding size of the hot-rolling equipment is much larger.

Gun barrels produced by hot rolling equipment have a more uniform texture, better quality, and fewer possible defects than cast gun barrels.

Two workers work together to take out the high-temperature steel billet that has just been shaped through iron tongs and send it to the self-developed rolling machine.

After entering the hot pressing workshop, high-temperature molten steel is poured into the mold to cool, forming red 60-pound long steel billets.

At this moment

The high-temperature molten steel ladle passes through the steel carriage set up in front of the blast furnace and is hoisted on the rails for transportation.

High-temperature steel billets are shaped like dough blocks in high-temperature rolling equipment.

The steam machinery controls the up and down movement of the steel wire cable and can pull the steel crane to lift the high-temperature molten steel ladle into the hot rolling workshop, casting workshop or other workshops.

Scooping out the molten steel from the molten steel ladle is purely manual work, and is performed by workers with large iron spoons. This is true whether it is in the casting shop or the hot rolling shop, which is extremely physically demanding.

The smelting capacity is about 2400 tons of wrought iron and more than 600 tons of steel.

After walking around the production workshop, the high temperature and the smell of steel workers' sweat mingled together, and Feng Guohui soon broke out in sweat.

In the production of steel plants, a lot of heavy manual labor is required, much of which is solved by steam machinery.

This kind of process is already very advanced in today's world.

Feng Guohui reached out and touched the long round steel pipes. These steel pipes with uniform surfaces are produced by the hot-rolling equipment developed by Tieshan Iron and Steel Works, which fully reflects the ingenuity of the Chinese.

The thinner ones can be used to make gun barrels, and the thicker ones can be used to make steel hoop gun barrels, which are very suitable for mass production.

Through the extrusion of more than ten pairs of rollers, the high-temperature steel billet is turned into a round shape, and then during forward extrusion, it is inserted into a pointed steel rod to form a 3.8-meter-long steel pipe.

With the existing capabilities of the steel plant, one furnace of high-quality molten steel can be smelted to produce 3600 high-quality gun barrels. This is the embodiment of the strong military capabilities of the steel industry.

Seeing the fiery labor scene of steel workers, he couldn't help but feel filled with pride.

Thousands of workers are busy producing in the workshop, and now more and more steel products can be produced, such as iron wire, rebar, steel plate, various L-shaped, H-shaped, I-shaped steel materials, large equipment castings, gears, There are many varieties of special-shaped components, etc.

After the iron wire leaves the factory through the galvanizing process, it is transported to the barbed wire factory by horse-drawn carriage, where it can be made into barbed wire mesh, various wire fences, and mesh sheets, which are widely used in all aspects of social life.

Thin steel plates can be made into shovels, various iron pots, pots, doors, and are widely used in buildings and bridges.

Medium-thick steel plates are used to manufacture large steel components and bridge steel parts, and are indispensable raw materials for the development of the shipbuilding industry.

Relying on the steel factory, Tieshan Town has successively developed a gun manufacturing factory, a farm tool factory, a steel wire and cable factory, a pot factory, a steel accessory factory, an anchor chain factory, various casting factories, and many steel handicraft workshops. The products are sold far away. The entire Nanyang region.

Even the British and French purchased large quantities of various steel products for use in colonial land reclamation, bridge building, road paving and other construction projects.

The monthly output value of the entire Tieshan Iron and Steel Plant is about more than 30 silver dollars, but the added value of the industry driven by its downstream products far exceeds this figure, creating nearly jobs.

This has become the basis for the population and economic development of Tieshan Town. The commissioning of the second set of steelmaking blast furnace equipment will add another fuel to the economic development of Tieshan Town.

After leaving the steel factory, Feng Guohui looked up at the sky and said to Lu Zhenchao, the mayor of Tieshan beside him;
"Brother Zhenchao, looking at the gloomy sky, it looks like there will be another heavy rain. The coke and iron ore stockyards of the steel plant cannot be stacked in the open, and greenhouses need to be built to protect them from wind and rain."

"Commander, please rest assured that the warehouse now has enough steel-making raw materials for a week. The I-beam beams produced in the next step will be used first to build the yard greenhouse." "As long as you have a plan, the steel plant is The leader in the industrial development of Tieshan Town will prepare for the production of the third set of steelmaking blast furnace equipment in the first half of the year and strive to put it into use in September. "

"Commander, can you use so much steel?"

"Hahaha... Don't worry. The shipyard has a strong ability to use steel. The No. 3 blast furnace focuses on producing high-quality medium-thick steel plates to meet the urgent needs of the shipyard. Let alone tens of thousands of tons of steel plates, no matter how much, they will be used up. ”

"Since there is a provenance, I feel relieved."

Although Lu Zhencao is a very talented person and manages the prosperous Tieshan Town in an orderly manner, he is still a bit petty.

You can't blame him, after all, the annual output of tens of thousands of tons was suddenly increased, which made everyone feel a little numb.

There was no problem in organizing production with all his strength, but sales made him uncertain.

Lu Zhencao didn't know that building an iron ship often requires hundreds of thousands of tons of steel, and tens of thousands of tons of steel is nothing at all.

Feng Guohui knew what he was worried about, but he didn't explain too much.

The shipyard has begun to produce 600-ton coastal cargo ships. It will be led by skilled British shipyard workers in the early stage, mainly to train shipyard workers who are mainly Chinese. The first iron ship has already been put on the slipway.

This 600-ton coastal cargo ship alone required more than 370 tons of various specifications of steel and took about one and a half months to build.

The construction work of No. 2 slipway is also under preparation, and a 600-ton coastal cargo ship will be launched soon.

After the experience of building several cargo ships in the early stage, many HCG trainees became familiar with the construction process and technology, and gradually became independent and took on the construction work of larger tonnage ships.

A few months later
The construction work plans of 1,500-ton and 3,000-ton cargo ships will be gradually put into the slipway and will become the main ship types built by the shipyard in the future.

The construction of these thousand-ton ships often consumes one to two thousand tons of steel. Coupled with the use of some bridge components, tens of thousands of tons of new steel production capacity can be easily consumed.

The Navy has recently purchased several sail cargo ships from Malacca. The next step will be to lay thin iron armor on the surface of the sail cargo ships to achieve strong resistance to artillery damage.

This is the fastest way to form maritime combat effectiveness. 32 silver dollars have been allocated for this purpose, and it is planned to purchase no less than 5 sail cargo ships for modification.

Due to cost considerations, ordinary sail cargo ships have thin side planks and often use cheaper wood such as red pine. Their durability and ability to withstand gunfire damage are far less than those of warships.

After laying the iron armor, the defense will increase by leaps and bounds.

In Feng Guohui's heart, he was always worried about the interference of Great Powers such as Britain and France in the situation in the East Indies.

Therefore, strengthening maritime military power as soon as possible has become another priority for current development. The important time node is from the end of June to July this year.

Until then

Feng Guohui hoped that armored sailing warships could join the navy so that the Nanyang Navy could compete head-on with the Royal Dutch Detachment and try to avoid sea routes being blocked.

Today, the spice trade and steel products have become the two major products exported by the Nanyang Army. The next step will be grain, sugar, oil and other agricultural products, which will be exported in large quantities to earn trade profits.

Instead, it requires the navy to open sea lanes to prevent foreign trade from being affected by the war.

Feng Guohui and Mayor Lu Zhengchao were walking and chatting, followed by a large group of people. Heavily armed guards separated the excited crowd.

As long as Feng Guohui waves his hand, there will be cheers.

Now Feng Guohui is located in the heavy industrial zone below Tieshan Town, with the steel plant as the core, surrounded by some downstream enterprises of the steel plant, such as foundries, sand foundry, plate coiling plants and other enterprises.

On the reserved land adjacent to the steel plant, extensive construction work is being carried out to build the second phase of the factory building, bury railroad tracks, and build warehouses and office facilities in preparation for the commissioning of the No. 3 and No. 4 blast furnaces.

The broad avenue at the entrance of the steel plant leads all the way to Tieshan Town. There are quite a lot of mules, horses and carts passing along the way. It is the core main road.

Those grain and food processing enterprises, such as rice mills, oil mills, sugar mills, clothing factories and other light industries are all located in the upper reaches of Tieshan Town and are not mixed together.

When Feng Guohui's inspection was about to end, he left the rolling plate factory with everyone and was about to return.

I saw several long horse-drawn heavy rail cars loaded with new Chinese immigrants, walking along the railway tracks in the direction of Tieshan Town.

The new Chinese immigrants observed everything around them with curious eyes. Many people talked to each other affectionately and excitedly. Everything in Tieshan Town felt novel to them.

Many residents in the town will smile heartily when they see all this.

maybe a few months ago

When they first arrived here, they were equally excited and novel looking at the tall factory buildings and neat streets, especially those dazzling factories that they couldn't get enough of.

Today's new immigrants repeat this process and they will only feel proud and proud.

Because all the achievements of Tieshan Town since its development are inseparable from the hard work of local residents, who are the protagonists here.

(End of this chapter)