latelenovela Chapter 22 Cement and Steel Plants
Chapter 22 Cement and Steel Plants
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Liu Ye's most pressing wish is to create his own firearms. However, Li Fu has not yet returned from Guangzhou to purchase pig iron, so Liang Xiaoming has to start making cement first.
The vertical kiln for firing cement was built near Lijia Village. As Liang Xiaoming requested, it was a vertical kiln similar to the one for firing lime, but larger in size.
The basic materials for making cement are limestone and clay, both of which are readily available. According to his recollection, Liang Xiaoming directed the villagers to put limestone and clay into a vertical kiln for calcination. After the limestone was calcined into clinker, it was ground into powder. As for the ratio, he didn't remember it very clearly, but for the time being, it was mixed in a 4:1 ratio.
Perhaps due to incorrect proportions, the fired product didn't look like cement at all; after drying, it resembled lime slurry mixed with mud. Liu Ye was quite disappointed and said to Liang Xiaoming, "Mingzi, this doesn't look like cement."
Liang Xiaoming didn't have time to worry about how he addressed him. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "No rush. It's probably because the proportions are wrong. Too much clay won't harden, and too little will lack stickiness. Let's try again."
He experimented with several mixing ratios, trying 3:2, 5:3, and 3:1 ratios of lime to clay, finally concluding that 3:1 was the optimal one. Next, it was air-dried, and after that, water was added to form a mud-like consistency. Once hardened, it resembled the color of common building stones and bridge stones, and was quite hard.
Liu Ye, who was observing the demonstration on site, exclaimed: "A revolutionary cement has been born!"
"This is close to low-grade cement, but it doesn't seem hard enough. Real Portland cement should be as hard as rock after hardening. Is it missing some additives?" Liang Xiaoming was puzzled.
Liu Ye tapped the iron rod a few times, finding it to be quite hard. He said nonchalantly, "This is pretty good. It's more than enough to build a port, and it can also be used to repair city walls."
"If I remember correctly, it seems that slag from iron smelting needs to be added. Let's use this cement as a temporary measure. Once we develop the iron ore mine and smelt our own iron, we can try adding the slag." Liang Xiaoming was not discouraged; on the contrary, he was more determined to overcome the technical difficulties.
“Very good, we’ll take small steps and improve as we go. We’ll use this semi-finished product for the dock construction first.” Liu Ye thought for a moment, “We’ll transfer Li Ergou over to help you set up the framework of the cement workshop, and he’ll be in charge of it.”
The cement work was showing initial results, and Liu Ye slipped away home. He'd been under a lot of work pressure lately and needed Tang Yu's comfort. He was growing to like her more and more.
The next day, Li Ergou rushed over: "Master, I was just looking for you! Li Fu is back, with several large ships. I heard that the people and things you requested have been loaded and transported back!"
This was good news, and Liu Ye was invigorated.
Upon arriving at Bofu Wharf, they could see four cargo ships, each with a displacement of nearly 100 tons, unloading cargo. Li Fu saw Liu Ye and jogged over.
"Sir, I have fulfilled my mission and brought back what you requested and the people you asked for."
Liu Ye glanced at Li Fu; he was quite tanned and looked rather haggard, clearly having suffered some hardships while traveling around Guangzhou. He encouraged him, "You've worked hard; you've done a great job this time, and the master will remember your kindness!"
Li Fulian said it was the right thing to do. He introduced the results of the trip to Liu Ye: 20,000 catties of pig iron, 2,000 catties of brass, 500 catties of saltpeter, 200 catties of sulfur, 52 iron smelting craftsmen, 45 apprentices, 41 blacksmiths, and 63 apprentices.
The purchase of these supplies, along with the resettlement allowances given to the craftsmen, consumed most of the spoils from Tangjiazhuang. This was only possible because Li Fu had connections with the government; otherwise, even with money, it wouldn't have been possible—pig iron, brass, saltpeter, and sulfur were all prohibited from being traded privately by the government.
With these resources and craftsmen, the framework for the steel mill and arsenal could be set up. Now, money was flowing out like water, and the more they earned, the more they spent. Liu Ye was calculating the funds needed for the major factories and had to find a way to increase new profit points before the balance of income and expenditure became unbalanced, so as to change the current situation where expenditures exceeded income. Even if the shipyard was built, it would be impossible to establish a maritime trade route immediately, and there were still many difficulties and competitors to face.
Liang Xiaoming threw himself into the construction of the steel plant without hesitation. As for the arsenal, it could only officially begin operation after the steel plant went into production.
With three major projects—a shipyard, a dock, and a steel plant—launching simultaneously, Liu Ye is now spinning like a top.
According to Liu Ye's original plan, the first project was low-carbon steel. After producing qualified low-carbon steel, the flintlock musket production line of the arsenal would be started. As for the gray cast iron needed to cast cannons, it would be included in the second phase of the steel plant's plan. If small-caliber cannons were needed, annealing would be used to deal with them first.
In July of this year, the infrastructure of the first phase of the Bairentan Steel Plant was completed, and a blast furnace resembling that of the early days of the People's Republic of China, a steelmaking furnace similar to a modern open-hearth furnace, and a large stoking furnace stood on the banks of the Wenlan River.
Considering the use of water power, Liang Xiaoming chose a location near Bai Ren Tan—which later became a famous scenic spot in Lingao—which is also the origin of the steel plant's name. The blast furnace in the first phase of the project was prepared for refining iron ore to obtain pig iron in the future. Currently, the purchased pig iron is directly used to smelt wrought iron, that is, low-carbon steel, in the steelmaking furnace, while the annealing furnace is prepared for annealing and casting small cannons in the future.
Because there was no coke, the steelmaking furnace used the Pudlin process—a medieval method of smelting wrought iron for large-scale production, which is in principle the same as the ancient Chinese frying process, also known as the stirring process.
The Pudlin furnace is similar in structure to an open-hearth steelmaking furnace, except that it lacks a lower regenerator. The long flame formed after fuel combustion is sent into the furnace, where the pig iron is heated by the reflection from the furnace top. Due to the excess oxygen in the flame and the large amount of oxygen in the furnace bottom, the carbon and phosphorus in the pig iron are removed by oxidation.
However, the furnace temperature is not high enough when using charcoal as fuel, so the metal cannot melt into a liquid and remains in a semi-solid state. It is necessary to use steel rods to stir it manually to keep the smelting going. Stirring allows the solution in the whole furnace to come into contact with air, thereby making decarburization more thorough and reducing the carbon content to the range of steel and wrought iron.
The Pudellene process was the main production method before the advent of modern steelmaking processes, and it once reached a considerable production scale. However, due to the high technical requirements for controlling decarburization and the extremely harsh working conditions in the semi-solid smelting environment—stirring workers were not only baked by high temperatures, affecting their health, but also prone to safety accidents—the Pudellene process was quickly phased out after the more advanced Bessemmel process was developed.
However, in 17th-century Lingao, this backward 18th-century production technology was already quite advanced. As for the human rights of the mixing workers, Liu Ye and Liang Xiaoming chose to ignore it, as they couldn't care less about that at the moment.
Although he was an engineer from a military industry background, this was the first time he had used ancient methods to make steel. The Pudlin process is similar in principle to the ancient Chinese steelmaking process. The key is the control of the decarburization temperature. If the decarburization is insufficient, it is still pig iron. If the carbon content is too low, it becomes pure iron. Only when it is in between can it be steel.