Chp15:Construction Again

The earthen brick kiln on the south bank of Dayu River continues to operate day and night, but now it is not producing ordinary red bricks, but refractory bricks. Given the significant future demand for refractory bricks in the construction of iron and steel plants, the Executive Committee decided to build a 20-door rotary kiln beside the earthen brick kiln.

A rotary kiln is a continuous production brick kiln, where the smoke produced during the process preheats the bricks in the kiln ahead. In a 20-door rotary kiln, four doors are roasting bricks, seven doors are preheating, five doors are cooling, and the remaining four doors are in the process of brick production. By continuously moving the flames between the doors, the kiln achieves constant production, increasing efficiency far beyond that of the small earthen kilns. To accommodate the construction of the rotary kiln, many other brick-related projects, except for a few specifically approved by the Executive Committee, have been suspended.

With the completion of the dam on the Dayu River, water resource utilization has become a priority. The first project to make use of this new resource is the hydraulic mill at the cement plant. The mill's structure is simple: a circular grinding disc at the bottom, a central axis in the center of the disc, a horizontal axis above, and rollers at each end of the horizontal axis. The water wheel at the base drives the central axis, which then moves the rollers, performing sliding friction to grind raw materials into fine powder. The cement plant has built several such mills downstream of the dam, each capable of grinding two tons of powder per day, greatly enhancing labor efficiency.

Following this success, the Mechanical Design Department of the Industrial Bureau developed an ancient hydraulic forging hammer. This hammer converts the circular motion of the water wheel into the linear motion of a connecting rod through a crank, raising the forging hammer and then allowing it to fall. The frequency of strikes can be adjusted using a gear set.

Braun Beck, a senior carpenter from Holstein, and a team of time-traveling carpenters built a complete set of equipment, including the water wheel, transmission shaft, eccentric wheel, crank, connecting rod, and gear set—all crafted from hardwood. The hammer itself, however, was a salvaged piece, found by Ma Jia among scrap steel from a barge.

The introduction of the hydraulic forging hammer has liberated workers from the cement and lime plants, as it is highly efficient for crushing limestone. However, while the hammer is convenient, it has several flaws. The most significant issue is the insufficient material strength of the wooden gears. The wooden gears are limited in their ability to withstand the heavy force required to raise the forging hammer. As a result, they are prone to damage. Fortunately, this issue can be easily addressed by replacing the wooden gears with iron or steel, which would provide much greater durability.

Ma Jia's efforts to create a graphite crucible for steelmaking stemmed from the newfound availability of graphite. He had long been considering using it to refine the scrap steel from the ship. After researching common crucible formulas, he selected one suited for smelting high-carbon steel, where graphite makes up 50-55%, refractory clay accounts for 38-40%, and aggregate comprises 5-15%.

With the formula in hand, Ma Jia proceeded to make the mold. The mold consisted of two layers—inner and outer—crafted from wood. He planned to make a 50# crucible, capable of smelting 43 kg of iron at a time. After preparing the mold, he mixed graphite, refractory clay, and aggregate with water to create a mud mixture. The outer mold's bottom was lined with the mixture, and the inner mold was placed inside it. The gap between the two molds was filled with the mud and compacted, creating a crucible blank.

Once the blank was completed, it was dried with a slow fire before being glazed to prevent oxidation. Then, the crucible was sent to the kiln for firing. Ma Jia produced five crucibles at once, ensuring they were all adequately prepared for the next step in the steelmaking process.

While the crucibles were being fired, Ma Jia and his team focused on designing the smelting furnace. They envisioned a furnace made of refractory bricks, large enough to accommodate 6-10 crucibles at a time. The furnace would be fueled by anthracite. The exhaust gas from combustion would enter a grid-like regenerator made of refractory bricks, which would heat the bricks to extremely high temperatures before being vented through a chimney.

Ma Jia's decision to include a regenerator in the design was based on his desire to reduce energy consumption. Although the graphite crucibles would reach temperatures above the melting point of steel (1600°C) without one, he considered the future potential of open-hearth steelmaking and thus took energy efficiency into account.

The design included two regenerators—A and B—connected to the smelting furnace and made of thick refractory bricks. These regenerators would allow for a continuous cycle of preheating and cooling. The exhaust gases from the furnace would enter one regenerator, heating the bricks, while fresh air was blown into the other regenerator to assist combustion. This air would help preheat the furnace, raising its temperature and improving the efficiency of steel smelting.

The entire system would be controlled via a hydraulic blower and a series of valves, ensuring that fresh air could be directed to the appropriate regenerator. By cycling the temperature between the two regenerators, Ma Jia aimed to significantly increase the temperature inside the smelting furnace, making it capable of melting steel more effectively while optimizing fuel use. This innovative design not only addressed energy concerns but also paved the way for more efficient steel production.

Ma Jia's lobbying efforts for the steelmaking project finally bore fruit after he described to the Executive Committee the promising picture of the future of steelmaking. With the support of Ma Qianzu, the project was approved with great difficulty by the Executive Committee. The construction team working on the wheel kiln field was newly assigned 30 people, while the Executive Committee allocated another 60 Swiss immigrants to form a steelmaking project construction team. The 90-person team entered the steelmaking workshop and began construction the next day.

The steelmaking workshop was built on the north bank of the Dayu River to take advantage of the river's abundant water resources. The factory building was still a primitive wooden thatched shed, but given the current difficult conditions, resources needed to be used where they were most needed. Once materials became less scarce in the future, efforts would be made to convert it into a reinforced concrete factory.

At Ma Jia's request, Pierre, a Swiss blacksmith, used a simple clay crucible to melt part of the scrap iron and began forging various tools urgently needed by the time travelers, such as saws, axes, files, arrowheads, farm tools, iron chisels, spoons, and crucible tongs.

The industrial sector was thriving, and agriculture was also progressing.

Jin Kela lingered in front of the newly built horse shed, cattle shed, sheep pen, and pig pen. He gazed at the livestock with tender eyes, as if looking at his own relatives, which made Zheng Bin, who was following him, shudder.

It was already autumn in South America. In just half a year, by October and November, these livestock would enter their estrus period and begin to reproduce. With the excellent climate and natural conditions on the Uruguayan grasslands, these livestock populations were expected to grow exponentially.

The Executive Committee assigned about twenty Swiss immigrants to the newly established Animal Husbandry Bureau, most of whom were women. Their daily work involved taking care of the livestock in the sheds and cleaning them regularly. Cleaning the livestock sheds served two purposes: maintaining hygiene and collecting manure, which was a valuable fertilizer for agricultural production.

"Are the saplings ready? We will organize people to plant them tomorrow," Jin Kela asked casually. "The soil here is high in organic matter and rich in potassium, so we don't even need to apply fertilizer. It's a pity the Dutch didn't know how to preserve the saplings. Less than a hundred apple, pear, peach, and grape saplings survived. What a pity. Truly a pity."

"Commissioner Jin, what should we do with those wheat seeds? When should we plant them?" Zheng Bin asked.

"What wheat seeds? Nonsense! The Dutch just gave us some regular wheat, not proper seeds. There's only about 1,000 kilograms, enough to plant 60 to 70 mu. Forget it. Let's take care of these wheat fields this year, try to select some good varieties, and expand planting next year," Jin Kela sighed. He continued, "The green vegetables and leeks we planted earlier can now be transplanted. Apply more fertilizer. Once the yield increases and we have a stable supply for the table, our agricultural department will have succeeded."

"Understood! I'll organize my classmates to help with transplanting this afternoon," Zheng Bin said excitedly. Before the crossing, he and his classmates had been on a group tour aboard the Yunsheng No. 1 when they unexpectedly found themselves here. Now, after months of training, these students, most of whom were in their second year of high school, had become capable workers, taking on tasks such as sanitation, epidemic prevention, fishing, and brick-making. Some were even involved in farm work, like watering, fertilizing, and weeding.

"Oh, one more thing—the Dutch brought some potatoes this time. I checked them yesterday; most have sprouted. Cut off the sprouted parts and plant them in the fields on the west side. Don't mess this up. Potatoes are high-yield crops and a staple for many Europeans of this era," Jin Kela instructed.

"Yes, sir! We'll handle it carefully," Zheng Bin assured him.

Jin Kela added, "In more than half a month, the soybeans will be ready for harvest. The yield per mu will be about 50 to 60 kilograms."

Compared to the modern average yield of 150-200 kilograms per mu, the yield from the 1,000 mu of soybeans planted by the time travelers seemed modest. However, considering they had no fertilizers or pesticides and this was their first planting season, achieving such a yield demonstrated the fertility of the soil.

"It's a good start, sir," Zheng Bin said, his enthusiasm evident.

Jin Kela nodded in agreement. "Yes, the foundation is set. We're making progress."