Chapter 179: Purifying Graphite

Zhang Zhimu followed Li Di and they came to the motor assembly workshop.

The motor is fully assembled and is being placed in the middle of the workshop. Ceramic knife switches, plugs and sockets, voltmeters and ammeters for motor indication, DC motors that automatically adjust voltages, and sliding variable resistors are all available according to Zhang Zhimu's requirements.

Li Di's comprehension ability made Zhang Zhimu very impressed. Since Zhang Zhimu finished telling them the principle of electromagnetism and the principle of motors, they have a further understanding of motors. Zhang Zhimu also knew that these people had done a lot of experiments with the hand-cranked motor, which greatly improved their understanding of the motor. So Zhang Zhimu told them the task of making a large motor, and they didn't think it was difficult. However, this time, compared with the small motor, the large motor still increases a little more difficult, and the commutation pole is added to the motor. This is not difficult for Li Di and them, after Zhang Zhimu's explanation, they quickly understood the role of the commutation pole.

In addition, insulating paper, Zhang Zhimu was afraid that the insulation was not good, so he replaced it with asbestos paper. Considering the problem of heat dissipation, the area of the heat sink is increased when the housing of the motor is cast.

What makes Zhang Zhimu the happiest is that Li Yunhe's ball bearings are used in motors. This is the first time that Yaogang has produced ball bearings. When Li Yunhe got the bearing for the first time, he said: "In the future, the accuracy of our machine tools will definitely be greatly improved." If all our carriages were equipped with bearings, it would be a big deal. ”

After Zhang Zhimu saw that the motors and accessories were very well prepared, he was very satisfied and said, "You can contact Li Yunhe, and now you can install it with their steam engine." ”

Seeing that Zhang Zhimu had already checked and passed their motors, Li Di and the others were all very happy. Zhang Zhimu also knew that these people didn't have much rest during the Spring Festival, and almost all of them spent time in the workshop. When he came to the workshop, Zhang Zhimu saw many new faces, which made Zhang Zhimu very happy. Because a large number of people will need to work on electricity in the future, now is the time to lay the foundation, and the application of electricity will be greatly popularized in the future. Thinking of this, Zhang Zhimu suddenly thought of electric lights, but there are many conditions for incandescent lamps now. However, Zhang Zhimu thought about it again, before Edison understood the incandescent lamp, people used arc lamps, so it was better for me to make an arc lamp first. This can also increase the impression of electricity in everyone's mind.

Considering the problem of noise, Li Yunhe arranged the steam engine and generator for power generation to be a little farther away from the kiln post. Zhang Zhimu was also very satisfied with this arrangement, and was even more pleased that Li Yunhe had considered the issue in a comprehensive way.

After arranging Li Di and Li Yunhe, when he returned to the office, Zhang Zhimu was not drawing the picture of the mortar fuse, but asked Yang Yulin to inform Qingfengzi and his apprentice and let them come over.

Zhang Zhimu wants to purify graphite first, because there are too many impurities in natural graphite, and if it is not purified, it is barely used to make crucibles with low requirements, and it is not possible to do anything else. Zhang Zhimu has never purified graphite, but when he was in chemistry class, when he listened to the teacher talking about the importance of acid and alkali, he casually said that graphite is not pure to be calcined with alkali and together, washed with water after cooling, and then washed with water after pickling, and then washed with water and dried. The reason is that the impurities in the graphite are first reacted with alkali, such as silicate, aluminosilicate, quartz and other components to chemically react with sodium hydroxide to generate soluble sodium silicate or acid-soluble sodium silicate, and then wash it with water to remove it to achieve the purpose of desiliconization; Another part of impurities, such as metal oxides, are still retained in graphite after alkali melting, and the desiliconized products are leached with acid to convert the metal oxides into soluble metal compounds, while the impurities such as carbonates in graphite and the acid-soluble compounds formed in the alkali leaching process react with the acid and enter the liquid phase, and then separate from graphite through filtration and washing. Graphite is chemically inert and stable, it is insoluble in organic solvents and inorganic solvents, and does not react with lye; In addition to nitric acid, concentrated sulfuric acid and other strong oxidizing acids, it does not react with many acids, especially the ability to resist; Below 6000°C, it does not react with water and water vapor. As a result, the properties of graphite remain unchanged during the purification process.

This kind of work Zhang Zhimu is ready to hand over to Qingfengzi and them to do, it is graphite that is not only used to make arc lamps, but also electrochemical electrodes. Graphite is also used for sealing the rotating drive shaft of the marine propeller that will be used soon, so graphite must be purified as soon as possible.

Yang Yulin replied that Qingfengzi's people are all on the smelter now, and they will have someone to come over tomorrow. This made Zhang Zhimu think of making a telephone again. With telephones, it's much easier for everyone to keep in touch with each other. But things have to come one by one.

Zhang Zhimu had no choice but to calm himself down. He told himself that the importance of this mortar was much more important than anything else. With it, the combat effectiveness of the Yaogang army will be greatly improved. And with the existing technology, the kiln gang made mortars without any technical obstacles. It's just that this insurance fuse takes a bit of effort.

How to do this fuse made Zhang Zhimu think about it a lot. In my previous life, I read some magazines and online information, but I didn't think of designing my own fuze at that time, that is, I took a general look at it and knew a little bit about the principle of **** fuse. I had no choice but to design it myself first, and then experiment and improve.

Finally, the fuze designed by Zhang Zhimu was designed according to the kind of fuze used in the earliest life in the previous life.

It is a firing pin that is stuck by a steel ball, and the steel ball is held up by a moving steel column next to it. This movable steel column is held up by a spring. When the shell is fired out of the muzzle, the moving steel column is subjected to an inertial force, this inertial force compresses the spring, the steel column leaves its original position, and releases the steel ball that it is holding upon, and the released steel ball slides away along an inclined track under the action of inertial force to unlock the firing pin. At this time, the firing pin also compresses the spring that supports it under the action of inertial force. When the shell leaves the muzzle, there is no pressure to fire **, and the firing pin has no inertial force, and the firing pin pops out to the top of the fuse under the impetus of the spring, and at the same time unlocks a transverse spring, which pushes the firing pin to the position where the firing pin left, facing the firing pin.

In the process of moving upward, the firing pin is also accompanied by reciprocating rotation around the axis, and the collision and friction between the groove wall and the guide pin make the rising speed of the inertial cylinder be significantly attenuated, thereby prolonging the time for lifting the fuse, and making the fuse get a certain safety distance from the muzzle. When the shell flies in an external trajectory, it will move forward under the action of crawling force and enter the hole on the axis of the support, so that it will lock in the ready position. In this way, when the fuze body collides with the target, the ** seat will not translate under the action of lateral inertial force, which will cause the failure of the fuse.

When touching the target, under the action of the target's reaction force, the firing pin moves down to poke **, detonates the detonating charge and the explosive charge, and then detonates the projectile.

Finally, the design of the fuse was completed. Next, it is necessary to design mortar shells, barrels, etc.

As a military fan in his previous life, Zhang Zhimu is no stranger to artillery bombardment. Every time I went to the military museum, I carefully observed the mortars. What's more, in online magazines, I don't miss reading these materials.

However, Zhang Zhimu is ultimately responsible for tens of thousands of people in the kiln, and it is difficult to have continuous time to design.

It's not, Li Yunhe is here again.

Seeing Li Yunhe come in with a smile again, Zhang Zhimu asked, "If you don't go to build a power plant with Li Di and them, what are you doing here?" ”

Li Yunhe and Zhang Zhimu are very familiar with each other, and they speak casually, "I don't need to do the affairs of the power plant myself, I just arrange someone to take care of it." I'm going to ask you to see a good thing today. ”

Zhang Zhimu asked Li Yunhe what a good thing was, Li Yunhe didn't say, he said that you will know if you go.

Zhang Zhimu knew that Li Yunhe, they must have successfully developed something. Li Yunhe didn't say, he didn't ask, and followed him to a workshop. Now there are many production workshops in Yaogang, and it is difficult to find a place for those who are not familiar with the situation.

As soon as Zhang Zhimu followed Li Yunhe into the workshop, the workers in the workshop surrounded him, and their faces were full of joy. It turned out that Li Yunhe and their hydraulic press were successful, and since there was no hydraulic oil yet, Zhang Zhimu told them to use water to make hydraulic fluids first.

Li Yunhe pointed to the hydraulic press and said, "Using this thing to punch our gun barrel is much faster than our old method, and the quality is good." After speaking, Li Yunhe instructed the workers to rush the barrel of a gun in front of Zhang Zhimu.

Zhang Zhimu looked at this hydraulic press and thought in his heart that with it, he could also use it to pull rifling in the future. But what makes Zhang Zhimu even more pleased is the creativity of these people. Just tell them some theories and things they've seen before, and they'll be able to build machines. This is something Zhang Zhimu didn't expect, it seems that as long as he tells them his thoughts and directions, if it is not necessary, he will not have to do everything. It seems that the wisdom of these skilled craftsmen should not be underestimated.

Seeing that Zhang Zhimu was very happy and praised them, Li Yunhe pointed to a pile of parts next to him and said: "That one is an air hammer, and with it in the future, we don't have to use a big hammer to forge parts blanks." Zhang Zhimu pointed to the hydraulic press and said, "Large pieces can be forged by him." In this way, the material of the blank will be better. ”

Li Yunhe said: "When we can use electric motors, many things will be easier to handle." ”

Suddenly it occurred to him that he would have to build cannons in the future, and that larger hydraulic presses would be needed at that time, Zhang Zhimu said: "This hydraulic press group should not be disbanded, let them continue to study larger hydraulic presses, and the goal is 50 tons or 100 tons of hydraulic presses." In the future, we will build cannons, and we will need larger hydraulic presses. ”

Li Yunhe felt that this was already a big machine, but he didn't expect Zhang Zhimu to make it bigger, and asked: "The blank of our ship's crankshaft can be pressed by this guy, do you still use a bigger one?" ”

Zhang Zhimu said with a smile: "You just wait, fifty tons, one hundred tons are not enough, and you will have to build a 10,000-ton hydraulic press in the future." Let's take our time to gain experience. ”

For the 10,000-ton hydraulic press, Li Yunhe really has no concept. However, he heard Zhang Zhimu say that he wanted to slowly accumulate experience, so he didn't say any more.

Zhang Zhimu's mortar was not designed, and Lu Chengxiang came over and asked Zhang Zhimu to go to the copper and lead mines he bought a year ago before he went to Taiyue Mountain to get silver.

There was no way, Zhang Zhimu had to come to the mine to have a look.

When he came to the two mines, Zhang Zhimu naturally wanted to make some exciting speeches and paint a bright future for everyone. Fortunately, people nowadays are simple-minded, and it is easy to mobilize everyone's enthusiasm.

After Zhang Zhimu visited these two mines, he found that the methods they used for mineral processing were no different from those Zhang Zhimu had seen in his previous life, but now they are all done by hand by people, and in his previous life, they were just selected by machinery.

Zhang Zhimu saw that the living conditions of the two miners were already better than those of the smelter, and that the conditions of the new team were developing in a better direction after a period of hard work. Zhang Zhimu fully affirmed the work of the new team, and at the same time told them that the current scale of production is not enough, and it is necessary to expand production capacity. Sun Renyun was a little worried and said: "If the production capacity expands too quickly, I am afraid that the sales will not be able to keep up, and it will not be good to form a backlog, so it is better to develop slowly." ”

Zhang Zhimu knew that Sun Renyun was a serious person, and his worries were justified. But he didn't know that Yaogang now needs a lot of copper and lead to develop both electricity and rifled guns, but Zhang Zhimu didn't want to say too much, so he told Sun Renyun: "Sun Mine Chief, you can rest assured and boldly expand production, at present, your production capacity may not be able to catch up with Yaogang's own needs, so you don't have to worry about sales." ”

When Sun Renyun heard Zhang Zhimu like this, he was relieved. However, Sun Renyun said another thing that made Zhang Zhimu feel very annoying. That is, the government collects taxes, and in addition to collecting all kinds of other obvious silver, and not only the local government has to collect tax silver, but also the mine supervisors of the imperial court have to collect a share.

Zhang Zhimu said: "According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, how much silver should be paid in half, because we have the holy purpose of the imperial court, so don't care." If anyone comes to collect the money again, tell them that the owner of the mine is Zhang Zhimu of the kiln, and let them come to me and ask me for the silver. You say that the men below can't be the master. ”

As soon as Sun Renyun and the others heard Zhang Zhimu say this, they all breathed a sigh of relief. They are afraid that the government will put the mine in prison, and they are already afraid that something will go wrong. It is no wonder that they, the notorious mine supervision system of the Ming Dynasty, have been abolished for many years. But the Ming Dynasty knew that this was a piece of fat, and the eunuchs of the imperial court would still change the law and blackmail these miners in various names. And the local governments did not dare to help them, which also made them more unscrupulous. They knew that the emperor was very short of silver, and as long as they could bring back some silver to the court, the court would turn a blind eye. But how did the emperor know that if these people brought back a tael of silver to the court, they would leave ten taels of silver for themselves. As a result, the four industries withered, and the people were not able to make a living.

Before leaving, Zhang Zhimu did not forget to pull back a cart of copper ore and lead ore back. Because zinc ore is generally easy to associate with lead ore and copper ore, Zhang Zhimu wants to go back and see if these ores contain zinc.

As soon as she returned to the kiln, Yang Yulin said: "Qingfengzi's master and apprentice heard that you were looking for them, so they came from the smelter. But they came, and you left. There's no way, the chemical plant over there is busy, Qingfengzi will go back first, and his apprentice Li Shoutan will stay and wait for you. ”

Just as he was saying that Li Shoutan was coming, it turned out that he saw Lu Chengxiang and others returning to the kiln, and knew that Zhang Zhimu must have returned.

After Zhang Zhimu gave up his seat to Li Shoutan, he asked: "Can you produce sulfuric acid in large quantities over there?" ”

Li Shoutan said: "It has already begun, but the pollution is somewhat serious, and we are thinking about how to solve these problems." And there are too many iron oxides, I don't know what to do. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Those are all good things, let's put them in the kiln." That thing will prevent rust when applied to the surface of steel, and at the worst it can be used as paint. ”

Li Shoutan thought to himself that those things were not easy to put and occupy space, so it was better to get them to the kiln as soon as possible, and said, "As long as they don't occupy our place, it's okay." ”

Zhang Zhimu looked at the time to get to the point, and said: "I asked you to come over this time, because there is a task to be handed over to you, and this is also something that needs to be done by chemical methods." ”

Li Shoutan knew that Zhang Zhimu would definitely have something important to come over with, and said, "My master and I thought of it, there must be something wrong with you coming to us." Just let me wait for you here. What are you talking about? ”

Zhang Zhimu knew that this Qingfengzi nominally let Li Shoutan be in charge of the chemical plant, but in fact, the power was still in the hands of Qingfengzi, but the masters and apprentices had already entered the state and started to engage in chemical production.

Zhang Zhimu said: "I want you to be responsible for purifying graphite. Graphite contains too many impurities, which need to be purified by special methods. You should first crush the graphite and filter out the impurities by flotation, so that most of the mixed impurities can be removed; Then it is mixed with caustic soda and calcined, and then washed and dried with water, so that it reacts with impurities such as caustic soda and graphite to produce water-soluble substances, and this part of the impurities is removed after washing; Finally, the graphite is pickled and then washed with water, this step is to react with acid and metal oxides in graphite to form water-soluble gold compounds, and the acid-soluble compounds formed after alkali leaching can also be reacted with acid into the liquid phase, and then separated from graphite by filtration and washing. ”

Li Shoutan seemed to understand what he didn't understand, and kept taking notes on what Zhang Zhimu said, when he suddenly asked: "Doesn't graphite react with acid and alkali?" ”

Zhang Zhimu knew that Li Shoutan was a person who loved to use his brain, and he said: "Your question is very good, the reason why we do this is because the graphite itself is very stable and does not react with acid and alkali, so we can use this method to purify graphite." ”

Li Shoutan put down the pen in his hand and asked, "What can graphite be used for besides making pencils?" ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "The use of graphite is too great. I'm going to use graphite for carbon arc lamps soon, and I'm going to use graphite as electrodes for our electrochemistry in the future. It is used for the shaft seals of our marine propellers. ”

Li Shoutan couldn't fully understand what Zhang Zhimu said, but he already knew that graphite was very important. Li Shoutan said: "I'll take a few people to do this job here in the kiln, what to use is still convenient here." ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "If you want to use anything, you can just find Li Yunhe." ”

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