91 Steam Engine and Diesel

The first department to make breakthrough progress was the mechanical group. The two leaders, Xiao Lang and Qin Shiqing, proudly showed everyone their latest progress, which shocked everyone.

——It was a preliminary design drawing of a reciprocating piston steam engine, and a small model was even made.

Among the mechanical major subjects, steam engine principles are part of the basic course content. As long as you study mechanical theory, it is impossible that you have not studied the drawing structure in this area during your student days. Xiao Lang remembers that he also drew the components of the Watt steam engine during his college days.

A full view of the accessories. Of course, I have long forgotten the specific content, but I still have some impression of the key contents such as the basic principles and general structure.

A rough impression is enough. Compared with those pioneers who trudged hard in the unknown fog in history, the biggest advantage of the time-travelers is that they know the direction of history - not only the history of humanities, but also the history of the development of science and technology. They

Know which construction methods will be historically proven to be successful, and which ideas will prove to be unsuccessful.

They don't need to try again and again and fail again and again. They just need to go straight forward along the successful path taken by their predecessors and directly pick the ripest fruits.

——The steam engine model designed by Xiao Lang is much more advanced than the Watt model in history. It directly uses a more mature double-action structure, which is the most commonly used drive type on trains and ships in later generations.

When he poured boiling water into the small model and heated it with pulverized coal until it boiled, everyone was surprised to see that the little steam engine really made a "whoosh" sound. It puffed out white steam while pushing the two wheels.

Only the parallel iron wheels rotate in a circular motion, just like the wheel of a train.

"Not bad...the boys are really not bad..."

Professor Li smiled and moved his face closer to take a closer look, but was immediately pulled back by Qin Shiqing:

"Be careful. Even though it's just a model, the steam is still very hot and can cause burns. "

"Now that we have the model, it probably won't take long to create the real thing, right?"

Wang Ruobin asked excitedly. He had already begun to imagine building a steam-driven ship... but Xiao Lang poured cold water on him directly:

"I'm afraid not. It's still very early - although there are no obstacles in technical design, our processes and materials can't keep up. "

Pointing at a certain component on the small steam engine that was still working snoringly from a distance, Xiao Lang began to explain:

"For example, I used a whole piece of brass to turn this crucial cylinder directly on an electric lathe. But the actual object is a big thing. It must be cast in a steel factory as a whole and formed in one go. The material also requires the use of

High temperature and high pressure resistant carbon steel. Others such as valves, gears, blades, etc., all need to be made very finely before they can be assembled. Using an electric lathe to process the model can ensure accuracy, but if it is replaced by casting..."

As he spoke, he turned his attention to the members of the steel team next to him. Engineer Huang Jiancheng, who was in charge of the steel team, smiled bitterly and shook his head:

"It's a pity. Our metal casting technology may not meet such high requirements. "

Xiao Lang had obviously guessed this answer a long time ago and was not disappointed. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders and continued:

"In addition, the sealing issue is also very important. Special rubber that can withstand high temperature and high pressure is not expected, but if there is no similar sealing filler, our machine will leak steam everywhere in a short time. This will greatly reduce the work efficiency and even make it impossible to maintain normal operation.

Operation..."

As soon as I said this, I heard the model making a series of weird noises, and then white steam was sprayed out from all the joints. The room was filled with white smoke for a while, mixed with an unpleasant smell.

The strange smell made everyone cough.

No wonder the mechanical team had stopped everyone at a distance before, not allowing everyone to get a closer look. It seemed that they had known this outcome.

"Well, it's like this...Fortunately, this is just a model. The amount of steam leaked is not large. But if this kind of failure occurs in a real object, all the nearby operators will be steamed. "

It was not until the water tank leaked that the boiler was extinguished. The machine automatically shut down. Xiao Lang walked over to clean up the mess, emptied the water tank, and then disassembled the small model and showed its internal structure to everyone.

"So, brothers, in the short term, we can only look at this model. However, now that we know the route, as long as we continue patiently, we will eventually achieve results. "

"About how long will it take?"

Others naturally asked this question. The two heads of the mechanical team looked at each other and spread their hands at the same time very cunningly:

"It depends on the overall level of our industry..."

This answer obviously does not satisfy everyone - the industrial group itself represents the highest industrial level of this group of people. Anyone who can play with machines has been incorporated into this department. All machine tools, motors and lamps are also given priority to satisfy them.

It's really outrageous to make excuses like this.

Noticing the looks from his companions around him, Xiao Lang had no choice but to add something more realistic:

"It will probably take about half a year to a year. We will simplify the design a little more, improve the craftsmanship and materials a little more, and put it all together, and we will probably be almost there..."

Following the mechanical team, within a few days, the chemical team also stepped forward to offer their treasures. They claimed that they could solve the Qionghai's fuel shortage problem.

When all members of the committee gathered at the chemistry team's site, Li Jingcheng and Wu Kun proudly took out two things and placed them in front of everyone: a gray and inconspicuous stone, and an unspectacular twig.

"What the hell is this?"

Most people didn't recognize it, but Dihuang Jiancheng, who was doing exploration, recognized the stone specimen:

"It's oil shale. Hainan Island is quite rich in oil shale resources, but the oil content is not very high... Can we fractionate crude oil from oil shale?"

Lao Huang's question made Li Jingcheng very unhappy. Although he liked to tinker with things in his spare time, after all, his job was in a refinery, so he was quite familiar with the petrochemical industry.

They didn't make any models, but directly moved in a full set of processing equipment - just a few big-bellied ceramic jars, a bunch of conduits rolled out of tinplate, plus some brackets and the like, and put them in the yard on the spot.

Set up your posture and do it live for everyone to see.

——Put the oil shale crushed into fine particles into a ceramic jar, plug the mouth of the jar with a plug with an air guide tube, and seal it with wet mud. Then, while heating the clay pot, keep turning the jar, as if making

A popcorn kind of operation.

As a result, the gas was quickly discharged from the air guide pipe, and after being cooled successively in collection tanks with different temperatures, it turned into a less clear oily substance.

Li Jingcheng said that four liquids should have been fractionated, but because the materials and tools are too crude, they can only get two mixed oils now. One is heavy diesel with a relatively high ignition point, which can be used as fuel for ships; the other

It is somewhere between light diesel and gasoline. It should be able to drive motorcycles or motorboats. If it doesn't work, it will definitely be fine to use it as an incendiary bomb.

The residue left in the jar is similar to asphalt. Asphalt shreds are an excellent material for roof repairs or shipbuilding. If the amount is large, they can also be used to pave roads. They are also widely used.

The biggest drawback of this local oil refining method is that it seriously pollutes the environment - Li Jingcheng, Wu Kun and others just gave a demonstration, but they already made half of the industrial zone base smell bad, and people kept rushing to the door to protest.

In this case, the chemistry team introduced another environmentally friendly alternative to the committee - the twig was a Phoebe twig.

A light brown oily liquid is secreted from the wood of Phoebe oleifera trees. It has a fragrant smell and is similar in color to kerosene. Wu Kun dipped some cotton in it and lit it for everyone to see: as soon as he put it next to the flame, it "boomed"

It explodes at once, and its combustion performance is similar to that of diesel.

Local people often collect the wood oil of Phoebe oleifera and use it to light lamps. They directly call this tree "Lamp Oil Tree". Phoebe oleifera grows quite a lot on Hainan Island. It is said that there is a forest near Lingao County where a large number of Phoebe oleifera grows.

Wild Phoebe.

There are two methods for extracting oil. One is to drill a hole about five centimeters into the trunk of a tree, insert it into a hollow bamboo tube, and put a bucket underneath to receive it. A big tree can produce seven or eight kilograms of oil after just one collection.

It will take a long time to harvest again, otherwise the tree will wither. A large Phoebe tree can collect 50 to 100 kilograms of oil in a year.

The other method is to cut down the tree directly, and oil will ooze from the heart of the tree, and you can collect twenty or thirty kilograms at a time. Of course, this method cannot be sustainable and is not recommended.

Using this kind of natural diesel is very environmentally friendly, but it also has its disadvantages - the quantity is too small. A mature tree can only provide less than 100 kilograms a year, and no matter how many wild Phoebe trees there are around Lingao City, there are only a few hundred trees at best.

, only a dozen or twenty tons a year, how many times can the Qionghai sail?

Some people have also thought about artificial planting, but according to Wu Nanhai's recollection, it will take at least four or five years for this kind of Phoebe to become useful. Even if it is planted now, it will take four years before it can become a forest. Water from afar cannot quench the thirst of the nearby. {Piao Astronomy Literature
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