Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 271 Technology is Productivity

"It's all here." Xiao Gui took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over. It was densely packed with a detailed list of the goods delivered.Chang Shide looked through it, and the materials allocated were really dazzling, from boilers, steam engines, cement, bricks and tiles to thermometers, pH test papers, test vessels... many things he did not expect to apply for were also listed on it—— Think more thoughtfully than him.

"This ship is newly built. It is quite suitable to transport such a large item. I was worried about how to transport the steam engine and boiler."

"Hehe, this is Mr. Wen's latest design." Xiao Gui laughed, "What's it called—a large flat-deck barge with shallow water and fat offshore. Mr. Wen originally planned to build a container with an all-wood structure, which can be regarded as an earthen container ship. After calculation, I found out that it is not practical to use wood as a container—it is heavy and not strong. If the container is not made, the ship has already been built, so it is simply finished.”

"Didn't Lingao pile up a lot of containers?"

"Ma Dugong regards them as treasures, and he doesn't even approve that the Ministry of Metallurgy wants to dismantle them and return them to the furnace for steelmaking. He also specially takes care of them to do a good job of rust prevention." Xiao Gui said.

As they were talking, Wenxiu came in to report that the migrant workers had been organized. Because this time the goods contained steam engines and boilers, there was a huge demand for labor, so all the strong men in the entire South China farm were mobilized, and 200 people were hired nearby. many people.A huge team of migrant workers was formed, carrying countless levers, ropes, rolling logs and other handling equipment.Wen Tong was more worried about the boiler and steam engine. The main structures of these two pieces of equipment had to be transported as a whole.

"Let's start unloading."

A group of workers in blue short coats, short hair and rattan hats got off the boat. Their strange attire caused a lot of discussion among the spectators.Carrying green bags, these people unloaded iron pipes, iron plates and sacks of iron parts from the ship, and quickly built a platform with these things on the stone revetment, and then continued to use them on the platform. The iron pipes were connected, pulleys and iron chains were installed, and then under the command of these workers, migrant workers came up, some lined up to pull the iron chains, and some grabbed the ropes on the large cargo.Someone climbed onto the stage, holding a small red and green flag in his hand, so hundreds of migrant workers and workers began to pull the iron chains and ropes under the rhythmic blowing of the whistle and the waving of the small flag. The huge monster was hoisted tremblingly like this.A group of migrant workers rotated the crane platform under the command of Haozi. With the rotation of the boom, the goods slowly moved from the air to the dock, and then slowly fell on the prepared rolling logs.There was a burst of exclamation from the watching crowd.

It is very challenging to transport sugar factory equipment to South China Sugar Factory.Hai'an Port is only about ten kilometers away from Nanmentang, where the South China Sugar Factory is located, outside Xuwen County.Ordinary machinery and materials are carried on shoulders or carried by bullock carts.Large-scale equipment can only be pushed forward slowly by rolling logs.The difficulty can be imagined.In order to facilitate passage, a team of migrant workers is responsible for opening the road ahead, leveling the ground, and filling potholes.The migrant workers traveled more than ten kilometers on the road for four full days before transporting the large equipment to the sugar factory.The people who came with the boat also quietly came to the sugar factory and lived in the courtyard prepared for them.

The horizontal steam engine shipped this time is the Mozi Type [-]. Although the horsepower has not increased, it is more efficient than the Type [-] in terms of steam utilization. The Industrial Committee is quite satisfied with the performance of the Mozi Type [-], and has decided to put it into batches Manufactured, this one sent to Leizhou is the No. [-] mass-produced machine.

Apart from these devices, the rarest thing was the many long boxes, which the three-person team couldn't wait to check upon arrival. The words "fragile" and "handle with care" were painted on the boxes.When they were transported, they were all carried on the shoulders by manpower instead of ox carts.Opening the box, the inside was stuffed with straw rope and dried seaweed. After opening it layer by layer, both Wen Tong and Chang Shide praised Lingao's industrial department from the bottom of their hearts.

Inside the case are glass pipes and ceramic pipes of various calibers.These pipes will be used in areas with special needs.Used to replace cast iron pipes that are more prone to corrosion.

"Too powerful—" Wen Tong was speechless.

"It's nothing, practice makes perfect. Besides, these pipes are not only made for you, they are used in more places in the chemical plant. This batch can only be regarded as a trial production."

The power workshop of the future sugar factory is located by the river for the convenience of water.In addition to leveling the foundation on a large scale to facilitate the installation of equipment, Merlin also organized the construction of a water reservoir to treat boiler water.The masons were recruited to build a chimney of such height that they had never built before, and it was of such a size that all the local masons could not be called upon.Chang Shide also bought all the bricks and tiles in the local brick kiln in one go. Now the only brick kiln in the county is working overtime to fire bricks and tiles to supply the needs of the construction site.

The three-roller juicer that Wentong ordered arrived smoothly. With the help of a huge database, it didn't take much to design and manufacture this machine.The machinery factory just has some opinions on the consumption of too much steel for the press roller.Wen Tong took a look, and the machine looked no worse than the old equipment he saw.

"However, the strength of many parts inside is problematic, so the service life is not easy to say." Xiao Gui said that although some key connecting parts, gear transmission parts and the like are manufactured, they are limited by the material properties and are durable. sex is relatively poor.

"It doesn't matter, I brought a lot of spare parts this time." Chen Tianxiong didn't take it seriously, "If it breaks, just replace it. It's the first time to make something, and the quality is almost unavoidable."

In addition to the juice extractor, there are also rotary knives and crushers specially used for crushing and tearing sugarcane. The crushed sugarcane has a much higher rate of juice than directly sending the sugarcane into the squeezing roller by the soil method.

One month later, the plant and equipment installation of the sugar factory was finally declared complete.The boiler was ignited successfully once, and the steam engine started running.For the first time, billowing black smoke symbolizing modern industry rose from the sky above Xuwen.This semi-mechanized machine sugar factory unique in this time and space has finally started mass production.It has a daily crushing capacity of 70 tons of sugarcane, and has workshops for cane cutting, pressing, and sugar boiling.Except for the sugar cooking workshop, which continues to use the old-fashioned manual operation method, other workshops use machinery.The sugar cooking workshop does not use fire at all, but is directly heated by steam from the boiler.

The soaring chimneys and steel sugarcane presses of the South China factory - surprised many locals.When they heard that the sugar factory continued to process sugarcane on their behalf, many sugarcane farmers did not hesitate to send sugarcane from afar, just to open their eyes and see how the sugar factory under the new method works.After the bundles of sugarcane are transported back to the sugar factory located at the south gate of Xuwen County by ox carts, they are first processed mechanically: the sugarcane is first leveled and cut by a cane knife, and then the sugarcane is torn by a crusher.The crusher is very particular, because the sugar of sugarcane is stored in the "cane pith", and the crusher only crushes according to the fiber direction of the sugarcane, so as not to break the "cane pith" during the crushing process, resulting in the loss of cane juice .

The crushed sugarcane is transported into baskets by manpower to the feeding port of the press.The three-roll press can produce 70% of the juice at one time, while the modern general sugar factory uses several three-roll machines or multi-roll machines for continuous pressing, and some of them need fifteen rolls to complete.The juice yield is as high as 90%.

Travelers do not have such mechanical conditions, so they use the repeated pressing method.After the first pressing, the bagasse is not discarded, but piled aside, and after all the raw cane is squeezed, it is re-passed through the pressing machine.Although it is quite manpower-intensive, the benefits obtained are still considerable.

The sugarcane juice squeezed out by the press is first sent to the iron heater, where the sugarcane juice flows while being heated by high-temperature steam, and then passes through the cement ashing tank, where lime is added for clarification, and finally passed through Ceramic and glass pipes lead to settling tanks, where the resulting impurities settle, and the clarified sugarcane juice goes into a cooking pot where it continues to be heated with steam to extract the sugar.The method of removing molasses still uses the technology of tiles, but the scale has been upgraded. More than [-] tiles are lined up in the sugar cooking workshop.

With the support of Lingao's thermometer, PH test paper and other test equipment, Wentong finally mastered the temperature and the amount of ash added in each stage of boiling sugar after many times of practice and trial and error. A series of data, and formulate the corresponding production process.The sugar cookers didn't take his set of things seriously at first—they all mastered this technique with the help of long-term practical experience after working with the master for many years, and their mastery was very general.So he was skeptical about this new set of gadgets, and even prepared to see his boss make a fool of himself.

But relying on glass tubes, pieces of paper, and some inexplicable pots and jars, the owner not only cooked sugar, but also made no mistakes in each pot, and even the amount of sugar produced was almost the same!This is a devastating blow to the self-confidence of the sugar cooker-the most skilled sugar cooker in this county and this prefecture can't do this!

Seeing the fearful and adoring eyes of the sugar cookers, Wen Tong was both proud and a little bit disappointed: why our science and technology have always been empirical.Doesn't anyone want to explore its principles and formulate standards?

The implementation of this method has greatly reduced the waste in the sugar cooking process.Moreover, Wen Tong used this to formulate a stricter assessment system for the control of wastage rate-since the production factors are all controllable, the only factor that produces excess wastage is the lack of responsibility of the sugar cookers.From this day on, people who were originally called "masters" in the sugar cooking workshop have become "workers".

This entire process is much more efficient and convenient than the traditional craft of Tutangliao.The scene of large-scale and semi-mechanized production of sugar cane and sucrose left everyone in the area stunned.

The surprise was only secondary. When the sugarcane farmers found out that their sugar cane was processed by this factory, the amount of sugar produced was [-]/[-] more than that of ordinary tutangliao, and the sugar factory still continued to carry out the processing and charged [-]% When the low fee standard.Suddenly all the sugarcane farmers in Xuwen went crazy. No matter how far or near they were, carts and boats were everywhere to deliver sugarcane for processing. There was a long queue at the gate of the factory. The enthusiasm remained undiminished. In the end, a whole ship of sugarcane was even transported from Haikang, and after landing in Haian, it was sent to the South China factory by ox cart for processing.Because there were too many people coming, it was inevitable that there would be disorder, so Liao Dahua had no choice but to call the yamen to maintain order and suppress the situation.The chimney belching black smoke, making a huge roar, and the steel rollers that swallowed a huge amount of sugar cane obviously left a deep impression on Mr. Dianshi, but his fear of machinery is far greater than his curiosity, and he is always careful far away.

When Wen Tong got the first day's figures, he knew that the profits far exceeded expectations.Especially in contract processing, a considerable part of the extra sugarcane juice is in the pockets of the South China Sugar Factory, and this part of the profit is obtained at zero cost.Not to mention the extra molasses and bagasse from processing are all to their benefit.Cane farmers do not need these by-products, but South China sugar mills are useful.

If the equipment is better, the 97-roller machine, combined with the water immersion method, the [-]% extrusion rate is not a dream.Wen Tongxin thought, the profit potential that can be tapped here is really not small.

Wen Tong even began to consider whether it was necessary to maintain the existence of the other four Tutangliao.It seems that driven by interests, ordinary people will not be afraid of the distance and difficulty of the road.At least Xuwen's Tutangliao can be closed and only Haikang's can be kept.

Mei Lin and the others who came to assist were also beaming with joy. Seeing the prosperity of the sugar factory, everyone felt sincerely happy—this is another growth point for foreign trade.Naturally, there were some problems when the whole set of equipment was in operation. Once, the pipe at the boiler interface was ruptured and leaked, and several times, the gears and connecting parts of the juice extractor were damaged, which once affected the production. However, after Chen Tianxiong and After Xiao Gui's emergency repairs, it quickly returned to normal.Another task of Xiao Gui is to train a few qualified boiler workers for the sugar factory. Boiler burning is a very serious job, and if you don't pay attention, you will harm others and yourself, not to mention that the boiler is a fake product.

Chen Tianxiong was not in a hurry. Although he also had the task of training maintenance technicians, he was on a long-term business trip and would not go back for a while. He had enough time to take care of his apprentices.Wen Tong suggested that after the opening of the school for the children of the sugar factory, then according to the learning situation, select apprentices from the older children aged [-] or [-].

However, this Chen Tianxiong's actions caught Chang Shide's attention. In addition to regularly inspecting the machine three times a day, he often talked with members of the special investigation team in the yard, and sometimes changed into local clothes to make Wei Under the guidance of the bodyguards, he went out.Obviously, Chen Tianxiong is not just here to maintain the machine, nine out of ten he is also an intelligence agent.

(End of this chapter)