The Troublesome Hero Among the Heroes

A new day is approaching. Professor Erbach left the house in great spirits after breakfast. It is hard to see that he slipped under the chair after drinking a few hours ago.

In front of the Academy’s cafeteria, Nicholas and several professors are discussing academic issues. There are a few large noble-looking people nearby pretending to understand what they are talking about.

After a while, more and more bigwigs gathered here, and the Principal was the last to be there.

Professor Erbach didn't say anything, and with a wave of his hand, he led the people who had been waiting for him to the secret workshop area.

After putting on protective clothing and filter masks, those who have already invested in electrolytic aluminum are: for the first time, the big guys who cooperate with Shield Bridge Academy have seen the legendary equipment that can produce cheap aluminum for the first time.

The electrolytic cell present in front of everyone is buried underneath. The inner dimensions are 5 meters long, 2 meters wide, and more than 1 meter deep. The outermost layer is a basin made of steel plate, and the middle is the latest one made by Charles. Insulation bricks are lined with refractory bricks for steelmaking furnaces, and the bottom is covered with black cathode carbon blocks made of graphite.

At this time, Biqi, who was in charge of this experiment, explained to investors that in a place invisible to naked eye, several cathode steel rods passed through the trough and extended to the DC magic array in the next power room.

On the ground part is a cover with a trapezoidal cross-section. These cover panels made of double-layer thin steel plates are filled with insulation materials. The side cover panels can be opened like windows to clean up the slag.

There is a raised groove on the top of the cover, and the exhaust gas is drawn from here and discharged into the absorption device in the treatment room next door.

There are three steel pillars with thick human legs standing next to the exhaust pipe. Next to the steel pillars are the anode steel rods from the power room insulated with ceramic plates. You can see through the open side cover. The bottom end of the steel column is inserted into a large graphite anode carbon block.

It is reasonable to say that these steel columns that hold the anode carbon block can move up and down, but Charles and the professors will not be able to think of a safe and reliable method for a while, so they can only continue to study.

Four large funnels connected to the hood stand between these steel columns. One side of these hoppers is equipped with a transparent glass strip for people to observe the remaining material, and the top has a conveying to the outside. belt.

After Biqi introduced the electrolysis cell, she took everyone to the console at the corner.

As a leading student in the core field of the Shield Bridge Academy, Leo is responsible for the research and development of the console. The chubby Senior Sister is wearing a white protective suit today. From a distance, he thought it was a Michelin tire. The mascot is refined.

There is a large row of pointer instrument panels on the console, which display data such as temperature, liquid level, voltage and current at various positions in the electrolyzer. Below the instrument panel are switches for feeding, current adjustment, and emergency stop.

A bunch of investors don’t know how to deal with it. This console looks like a very difficult to deal with.

Nicolas thought about it and asked her: "Leo, can this set of equipment automatically feed in a fixed amount?"

Leo immediately replied: "Now we can do it regularly. Feeding, but the quantitative technology is still immature, but it is enough."

Nicola asked: "How is the timing control realized? Is the accumulation of errors caused by a long running time? It is Mechanical or magic power?"

The time control problem of the magic brain core has always been a big problem. In the past, the demon race used fuzzy timing, and the error will accumulate a lot over time.

Leo found out that she met someone who knows how to do it. She replied: "Our Academy invented a synthetic crystal that vibrates violently when the magic power is input. When the magic power is input, the vibration frequency remains the same. , The amplitude changes with the size of the magic power. We count the number of vibrations to calculate the time."

Nicolas nodded, planning to wait for Charles to come back and let him buy this technology.

At this time, Professor Erbach has carefully read the electrolytic cell start-up checklist, and a thick stack of checklists shows that all parts are ready.

"It's time to start." He said to Biqi, who presided over the work at first, "It's up to you to control it."

Biqi agreed without hesitation. , She would not let go of this novelty.

Leo, who was discussing the console with Nikola, was driven away, and Biqi suddenly loudly roared: "Ready to feed, close the cover, everyone retreats outside the red line!"

Several investors who approached the electrolytic cell to see the novelty were invited away by the students, and then the cover was closed one by one, leaving only two as observation ports.

As the feed switch was pressed, the white powder in the three hoppers suddenly "rumbled" into the electrolytic cell, and suddenly there was a white mist inside.

Then two students in full protective clothing jumped down with tools to flatten the raw materials, and then hurriedly climbed out.

Alston I and Ji Shijun looked at each other, which is different from what they had heard before.

According to the process, the electrolytic cell must first be roasted and started, generally by generating heat through current to melt cryolite and other materials. Now it seems that this electrolytic cell does not seem to do it like this.

Then an unscientific scene appeared. Several students pushed a few four-wheeled carts over. The cart was loaded with a large box, and the metal tube protruding from the box came from the small door reserved on the cover. Reached in there, and then began to spray flames of magical elements into it.

On the console side, the pointer on the temperature dashboard slowly rose a small notch.

About half an hour later, an investor asked Biqi: "How long will this step last?"

Biqi replied: "Now the electrolyzer is using each hour for approximately The temperature rises at a rate of 25°C, and it is expected to reach 300°C after 11 hours. The temperature will continue to rise after 3 hours, and finally reach about 950°C after almost 3 days, and then the material can be cut."

" For a long time?" the investor asked, "Can't you hurry up?"

"Do you treat it as a boiled egg, you can cook it in a few minutes?" Biqi replied angrily, "If the temperature rises Too fast, the whole electrolytic cell will collapse on the spot."

"It will take 20 days for the steel furnace to ignite. You and the dwarf can complain about it."

The silent He Dou Dagger suddenly said: "Because of the contribution I made under the guidance of my god, the opening time has been shortened to twelve days."

"Okay." Bi Odd has nothing to say.

Now there is nothing good to see. Professor Erbach will take everyone to the side to visit the exhaust gas treatment room, the power room and the original Material Storehouse room.

In the warehouse, packs of "aluminium ore powder", cryolite powder and other fluoride salts are piled up neat and tidy.

After obtaining the consent of the Principal, He Doudagger jumped up to take out a bag of "aluminum ore powder", opened it and lightly picked out a little with his finger.

Other investors have learned a lot, and they have taken a little powder to study.

These powders are very thin, as white as snow, without a strange smell.

He Dou Dagger asked Professor Erbach expressionlessly: "This is the ore powder for direct aluminum smelting? It is very pure!"

Professor Erbach replied: "These mineral powders are provided by Charles, is there any problem?"

He Dou Dagger then asked a question that investors are very concerned about: "Did he say the price?"

The people around suddenly became nervous. The price of "aluminum ore powder" is very important, and it is related to the final profit margin.

According to their estimates, if the price of aluminum can be reduced to half that of silver, then this business is worth doing.

Then the refined aluminum ore powder must be at most half the price of refined silver ore.

The cost of silver ore exceeds 70% of pure silver.

Professor Erbach took a deep breath and said solemnly: "Listen well, everyone, but let me remind you, please be mentally prepared."

All around sounded for a while. In response to the voice of swallowed saliva, many people heart startled, I am afraid that the price of aluminum is higher than their psychological expectations.

Seeing that everyone’s attention is focused on him, Professor Erbach said seriously: “The price of these refined aluminum ore powder is ten times that of standard iron ore. Refined half a ton of aluminum."

The people around suddenly calmed down, and their brains started to calculate.

10 tons of iron ore can buy about 2 tons of pig iron.

If you buy 1 ton of refined aluminum ore powder with the money, you can get 0.5 ton of aluminum. After deducting the cost of equipment depreciation, other raw materials, energy, and labor, you can get 0.25 ton of aluminum. aluminum.

According to this algorithm, the ex-factory price of aluminum is 8 times that of pig iron. How about 15 to 20 times the error and loss?

How many times the price of silver is that of pig iron?

At this time, someone asked: "How much is the output of this concentrate?"

If the output is small, then there is a lot of room for operation.

Professor Erbach thought for a while and said, "I remember Charles said that although the mine is easy to dig, it is difficult to find. He also found some in his territory, Montenegro, by accident."