The Power of Metal
1925 and 1926 seemed to shoot by so fast. I mean, it basically was me hopping over the entirety of the country, mostly with many trips to Europe and America. I basically established the foundations of my corporations.
Now Where to Start. Uh, Steel, I guess.
Evelyn found out her parents were trying to sell off the tooling factories. She kicked up a stink, and it felt rather nice to buy the several factories. In fact, I had been looking for a similar company to buy in Bristol but couldn't find any going cheap. £80,000 was worth it. I fully intended on buying Charlie's Family Company, Owen Shipyards, when they either went bankrupt or sold out, which was going to happen soon enough. Since I'd never heard of them.
So a new corporation was founded called the Ashowar Group (Ashburnn, Owen, and Warring). Totally not an evil corporation, I swear. It then owned the entirety of Albion Chemicals, Ashburn Foundries, and Ashburn Tooling. I also founded several other companies, though they would only start to function slowly. Namely, Britannic Shipping, Cardiff Automotive, The Bristol Aeroplane Company, Shire Pharmaceuticals, The Jameson Mining Company, Jameson Oil, Lakshmi Land Holdings, Victoria's Secret, Ashowar Textiles, British Airways, IHG (Imperial Home Goods), Penguin Publishing, Lego Toys, OAC (Oxford Agricultural Company), and Blackrock.
There would be others, but these were all either needed immediately or would be taken eventually. Now I would usually feel guilty about stealing names, but I'm already stealing inventions, so…
I also acquired a steel mill in Sheffield for £12,000. Quite the steal actually. Which I then incorporated into Ashburn Tooling.
You see, I had many plans, primarily just to flood the market with products that would be invented over the next century, but in order to do that I needed higher quality and higher volume production, and in order to achieve that I needed better machining. It was basically a chicken or egg paradox.
I needed better machining, but in order for me to get that better machining, I needed said better machines. So we would just have to jerry-rig better machines, which would make better machines, which would make better machines, and so on.
To start, we needed better steel. Now early tool steels were invented just before the Great War, but they're not quite good enough. Hence why I bought a steel mill.
Over the next few weeks I spent my time hopping between Manchester and Sheffield. The first step was to source better quality coke and pig iron as well as high-quality tungsten, chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, and cobalt.
All this is so expensive that I'm contemplating going into mining as well. Fuck. I don't want to form a monopoly, but reality is making it damn hard not to.
Next was to improve the actual steelmaking process.
The Bessemer process, while revolutionary for its time, has limitations in its control over steel quality and alloying precision. By refining operational techniques, enhancing materials, and adopting supplementary technologies, I was confident I could drastically improve quality.
The first step was to introduce pre-treatment of the pig iron by adding manganese to molten pig iron in a pre-treatment ladle to reduce sulphur content, a critical impurity that weakens steel. We then add lime and fluorite as fluxes to bind with and remove phosphorus.
It took some time, but with the use of preheated air to maintain consistent temperatures and optimising the positioning of said tuyeres (air nozzles), it helped ensure even oxygen distribution throughout the molten iron. After much experimentation, we developed a dual-slag process to remove an initial slag layer midway through the blow to extract early impurities, then allow secondary slag to refine the steel further.
We then began introducing alloying elements at the end of the blow to prevent oxidation losses as well as began experimenting with different specialised ladles to mix alloying elements homogeneously before casting, which still needs work.
We improved ladle design first by switching over to dolomite to survive the heat, applying a layer of alumina to reduce wear and tear, and incorporating a chute into the ladle to allow for the gradual introduction of alloying elements, which took ages to come up with a design that stopped it all clumping inside the chute.
We also introduce strict maintenance on all parts and machines, as well as retrained workers. We introduced a wet chemical analysis that is done every 5-10 mins during a batch where a tiny portion of the steel is taken off, cooled quickly, and dissolved in hydrochloric and nitric acid, which converts the metals into ions.
It is then split into several samples to react with chemicals that are compared on a colorimeter to what they should look like. It is allowed to oxidise normally to measure carbon content, mixed with potassium periodate to measure manganese levels, which turns the liquid purple; mixed with ammonium molybdate to check for phosphorus, turning yellow; and to test sulphur levels. We precipitate sulphurr as barium sulphatee using barium chloride, then weigh the precipitate to determine sulphurr content.
We also began work on larger converter vessels powered by steam-based motors to allow for larger batches as well as incorporating dolomite into the metal.
We began training workers to be able to make decisions on the fly as well as documenting each blow, including raw material composition, air pressure settings, and final steel properties.
We also changed around alloy percentages to find better mixes. More tungsten meant more durability, while more chromium meant more shock resistance.
It was going to take years to improve it fully, but we were slowly making progress. Bear in mind this took over two years, though I was only involved in the background.
At the tooling company we also began developing lathes, milling machines, spindle moulders, routers, and grinders equipped with the new tool steel and ball bearings for smoother and faster operation as well as experimenting with early hydraulics.
We then equipped the factory with micrometres, callipers, and dial indicators for precise measurements. Developed a standard operating procedure (SOP) for regular calibration of these instruments. Designed and implemented assembly-line techniques for higher efficiency in repetitive tasks. Began Training workers in batch manufacturing to minimise waste and maximise output. Developed a rigorous training program covering metallurgy, machining techniques, and quality control. And finally instituted workplace safety standards, including protective equipment and machine guarding.
We overhired workers who show initiative while being decently smart. They would then be trained and educated in-house. These people would later be the backbone I would use to train more workers at new factories.
I also opened an alumina mill in Leicester. Current bauxite refinement was subpar at best and used an absolute shitload of energy. I got them to start working on heat integration, where excess heat is reintroduced to the system, cutting back on energy loss.
Using newer and better reaction chambers as well as experimenting with temperature, pressure, and chemical amounts, it was lowered and improved further. The traditional Bayer process uses sodium hydroxide to dissolve the bauxite. Advances were eventually made in minimising sodium use, making the process more environmentally friendly and cost-effective. Better equipment means higher temperatures and pressures as well as higher concentrations of sodium hydroxide. Getting it right means less and less wasted chemicals.
We also began experimenting with ways to recycle the sodium hydroxide as well as less intense methods, though that was doubtful.
Red mud, which is the highly toxic runoff of alumina production, was dealt with by me introducing membrane filtration as well as alkaline neutralisation. After that it could be used as a bulking agent in concrete.
Next was the refinement of aluminium from alumina through the Hall-Heroult process. This could further be improved with modular and scalable cell designs and improved cathodes and electrolytes. Like a porous graphite cathode that has ceramic linings and a nickel titanium coating.
Improvements in furnaces from our steel mill would eventually trickle over as well, meaning bigger and more consistent batches.
I also set up a laboratory to experiment with alloys.
Since pure aluminium was great for electrical conductors, heat exchangers, reflectors, and food and chemical processing equipment due to its non-reactivity. There was so much more I could do with it.
Mix it with primarily copper and its high strength but lower corrosion resistance. Perfect for aircraft and high-performance components.
Mix it primarily with manganese, and you get a metal that has good corrosion resistance, especially in industrial atmospheres. Moderate strength and excellent formability. Perfect for Roofing sheets, Cooking utensils, Air conditioning coils and Chemical equipment.
Mix it primarily with silicon and you get a metal which has Excellent fluidity, wear resistance, and low expansion, and despite its Lower strength than other aluminum alloys its perfect for automotive components and welding applications.
Mix it with magnesium, and you get metal that has excellent corrosion resistance, especially in marine environments. Good weldability, moderate strength, and excellent workability. Perfect for Marine environments boats and cables, Pressure vessels, Architectural applications like windows and doors, moveable structures like tents. Car panels.
Mix it with zinc, and you get a less corrosion-resistant metal but something light enough to be used in an armoured vehicle. It is also good enough for bicycles, sports equipment, and landing gear.
Mix it with lithium and titanium to get a hard to work with but almost indestructible material that has next to no corrosion. Used in the most stressed parts of aerospace.
Aluminium truly was the god metal. Sure, iron and bronze came first; aluminium was here to stay.
Not just aluminium but also nickel-based Inconel superalloys, high-strength stainless steel, cobalt alloys, metal matrix composites, and additive manufacturing alloys. I knew the rough composition that scientists would need to work with. Eventually I could have all these space-age materials. It would just take time and money.