"Young Master! You haven't slept for two nights? Then you should go and rest! We'll talk about the ironworks later! "
After recovering from his shock, Faubert finally 'caught' the other layer of meaning in Han Yuxi's words. It was also the most important layer of meaning. He hurriedly said to Li Zexuan.
Li Zexuan shook his head and said, "Of course not, I did take a nap halfway through! Let's not talk about this first. Faubert, you should take a look at the blueprint first. If there's anything wrong, we can discuss it together. The ironworks must be put on the agenda as soon as possible! "
"Then … Okay!"
Seeing that Li Zexuan was so insistent, Faubert knew that he could not persuade him otherwise. He lowered his head and began to look at the blueprint.
Li Zexuan's blueprint was placed in a very particular order. First, the overall structure, then the specific structure. Faubert first saw the overall layout of the ironworks in the future, then the overall structure of each part, and then the specific structure of some of the key components.
As he flipped through the blueprint page by page, a huge ironworks with a style completely different from this era gradually appeared in Faubert's mind (After doing engineering for a lifetime, Faubert still had the ability to visualize through drawings). A towering iron furnace stood in the middle of the factory. Pipes extended out from the furnace like the roots of an old tree, densely entrenched in the surroundings. Two large chimneys towered into the clouds, as if they wished they could reach the clouds. They were constantly spewing thick smoke into the sky. The various machines in the workshop rumbled incessantly!
Faubert was extremely shocked. Clearly, Li Zexuan's ironworks was not a small scale. Its scale was definitely one of the largest in the entire Tang Empire! But why did this steelmaking method feel so familiar to him?
"Young Master! Why does this look a little like a shaft furnace? "
Faubert suddenly remembered and asked.
China was the first country in the world to use shaft furnaces to make iron. In ancient times, our country mainly used shaft furnaces to smelt pig iron. The iron shaft furnace was developed from the copper shaft furnace. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the method of smelting pig iron with a shaft furnace appeared. However, this method was not fully popularized until the Northern Song Dynasty.
Shaft furnace smelting was an economical and effective method of smelting iron. Material was loaded from the top and air was blown from the bottom to form the relative movement of the furnace material falling and the gas rising. The high-temperature gas produced by the combustion passes through the layer of material and ascends to transfer the heat to the furnace material. The carbon monoxide contained in it also had a reduction effect on iron oxide. In this way, the heat and chemical energy of combustion could be fully utilized. The lower layer of the furnace material was gradually reduced and melted, while the upper layer of the furnace material was slowly lowered from the top of the furnace. The furnace material was preheated to a higher temperature.
Blast furnace ironmaking was born out of shaft furnace ironmaking. However, due to certain structural optimizations, the efficiency and quality of blast furnace ironmaking were far superior to shaft furnace ironmaking!
Li Zexuan said with a smile, "This is not completely a shaft furnace. Faubert, if you look carefully, you should be able to tell the difference! I call this furnace a blast furnace! "
Faubert closed his eyes and pondered for a moment. Then he opened his eyes and said, "There are indeed many differences! But this old man doesn't know whether these differences are good or bad! "
Li Zexuan confidently said, "Of course they are good!"
With that, he pointed to a drawing and said, "For example, the air inlet of this blast furnace. Before it enters the furnace, I put it together. There is a fire pool below that is separated from the air inlet. It contains coal. Before the air enters the furnace, it will be heated to a very, very hot temperature. It can even directly melt iron! In this way, the efficiency of smelting iron will be greatly improved! "
Air preheating was the most critical step in modern steel production to improve the efficiency of smelting iron. High air temperature was also one of the main technical characteristics of modern blast furnace ironmaking.
First of all, the heat required by blast furnace smelting was partly from the combustion heat released by the fuel in the furnace, and partly from the physical heat brought in by the high-temperature hot air. The more heat brought into the blast furnace by the hot air, the less fuel combustion heat was required, and the lower the fuel consumption. Therefore, increasing the air temperature could significantly reduce the fuel consumption and production cost.
In addition, increasing the air temperature could also help to increase the theoretical combustion temperature in front of the tuyere. This would increase the temperature in the convoluted area of the tuyere and increase the heat in the furnace. This would help to increase the combustion rate of the pulverized coal, increase the amount of coal injected, and further reduce the coke ratio.
Therefore, air preheating was the key technology for the blast furnace to achieve large scale coal injection. It was also an important technological advancement in the history of blast furnace ironmaking. In Li Zexuan's impression, no one in the world had mastered this technology before the industrial revolution.
Faubert seemed to understand something. He thoughtfully nodded and said, "What young master said seems to make sense. Maybe we can give it a try!"
Li Zexuan laughed and said, "Actually, the benefits of this blast furnace are more than this. Faubert, you will slowly realize it in the future! Now, the most important thing is to build this ironmaking factory! As for the interior of the furnace, I intend to use the white earth ores from Shuo Zhou to make the refractory material. We will wait for Xiao Bing to transport the earth back! Faubert, your main task now is to look at the blueprints and see if there are any problems with the ironmaking factory. "
Li Zexuan did not intend to build the first blast furnace on a large scale. The effective volume of the blast furnace on the blueprints was only about 100 cubic meters. In modern society, the world's largest effective volume blast furnace was Shagang Huasheng's blast furnace in China. The effective volume was 5,860 cubic meters, and the annual production of steel was close to 30 million tons!
So, his ironmaking factory was only a small workshop in modern times! But in ancient times, it was definitely a giant!
"Hmm … … There should not be any big problems. At most, it will be a little troublesome! I will gather the craftsmen to plan this as soon as possible. Young master, you should have a good rest first. Don't tire yourself out! "
Faubert looked at the blueprints again and said after pondering for a long time.
Li Zexuan finally heaved a sigh of relief. In fact, compared to most transmigrators, he was definitely considered lucky. This was because he had a workshop and had many excellent craftsmen by his side. Many new ideas, he only needed to draw out the blueprints, and the craftsmen behind him would think of ways to realize his ideas. He only needed to spend a little effort to draw the blueprints!
"Haha! Thank you for your concern, Faubert. My body is still fine! But you should also take care of your body! Don't tire yourself out! "
Li Zexuan smiled warmly and said.
Faubert shook his head and got up. "Young master, you don't have to worry about me. My old bones are getting stronger the more I move. If I lie in bed all day, I will fall sick. Young master, you should rest first! I will go back to the workshop to make arrangements! "
Li Zexuan hurriedly got up to send him off.
After a moment, Faubert disappeared from the sight of the couple. Han Yuxi said, "Hubby, why aren't you resting? Do you want me to find … …"
Before she could finish the words, Li Zexuan had already covered her mouth with his hand. "Hey! You! What nonsense are you talking about? Let's go! Let's go back. Sleeping alone is better than sleeping! Haha! "
"Hmm … … No way!"
… …
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