I want to be emperor

After the establishment of the five power supply companies under the Ministry of Industry, when preparing to build urban industrial power grids, they initially gave priority to using alternating current for power generation, transmission, and power supply.

After all, compared to direct current, alternating current has the natural advantage of long-distance transmission...it consumes less cables and is low-cost. Well, at least with current technology.

Under different technical conditions and application conditions, AC or DC power actually have different effects. For example, after the 21st century, DC power will be widely used in high-voltage transmission systems. At this time, high-voltage DC power will have smaller losses and lower costs.

In fact, there is no good or bad distinction between direct current and alternating current. There are only distinctions that are more suitable under different technical conditions.

In terms of the current technical conditions of the empire, there is no doubt that alternating current is more suitable than direct current as a power grid power generation and power supply method.

However, there are currently no AC generators, motors, corresponding AC transformers and other power grid equipment on the market... Li's Electric Company, which engages in AC, has just begun to invest in corresponding research and development. God knows what they can come up with that can be used. mass-produced products.

This time may be three to five years, or it may be more than ten years... or even longer.

Another very important reason is that the basic patents related to DC are in the hands of three major electrical companies. These three major electrical companies all have relatively complete DC-related patent authorizations through mutual cross-licensing.

But what about AC?

No one noticed this thing in the early days, and the patents were relatively scattered. Later, Lee Lee Steel Company entered the electrical field. Through its own investment in research and development, large-scale mergers and acquisitions of other small and medium-sized electrical companies and other basic alternating current patents.

In the end, most of the basic patents related to alternating current are in hand, and many of them are exclusively held alternating current patents... In other words, no matter who wants to develop alternating current products and put them into commercial applications, they must obtain Licensed by Lee Electric Company.

More importantly, Li's Electric Company has never thought about licensing it to outsiders... The five major power supply companies have tried to invest in obtaining their patent licenses, but they have all been rejected without exception.

Li's Electric Company has great ambitions. It wants to completely monopolize the entire AC field. Although the local power grid cannot be established, the same goes for selling AC equipment at high prices.

It's just that in this way, the five major power supply companies simply stop developing AC networks... Otherwise, they will be limited to the only supplier, and there will be very big potential troubles in the future. The most important thing is that Li's Electric Company will not even have one. There are no mass-produced samples of AC equipment yet... not even drawings, but they are already selling things at sky-high prices.

This clearly requires the five major power supply companies to pay for research and development first, and then sell it to them at a high price after the research and development is completed...

Although the five major power supply companies currently have nothing except money and official seals... but the people in charge are not stupid. If they really want to do this, then the five major power supply companies will not be the power supply companies of the Ministry of Industry, but Lee Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. of subsidiaries.

After all, the balls are being held.

So we simply gave up AC power and switched to DC power networks, whose technology is relatively mature and there are a large number of mature products available for adoption.

In this way, the first experimental power supply network can be quickly built. A large number of the empire's senior officials, especially His Majesty, are waiting for the empire's first large-scale power supply network.

If DC power is used, including planning to build large-scale thermal power plants and establishing a transmission network, it is estimated that the initial shape can be completed in one year and relatively good results can be achieved within three years.

As for alternating current, according to the R&D plan given by Li's Electric Company, it would be good to see samples of alternating current generators within three years. Large-scale supply is estimated to take five years. Plus the construction time of the power grid, there is little to say about the shape of the entire power grid. It will also be seven or eight years later.

This is still talking about everything going well.

If it doesn't go well, the estimated time will be more than ten years.

Therefore, after summing up various considerations, the five major power supply network companies finally chose DC technology to build the power grid.

As for alternating current, they actually haven't given up...

Although most of the core basic patents for alternating current are currently in the hands of Lee Electric Company, patents have a time limit.

Most new utility patents last for fifteen years, while some invention patents last for twenty years.

But alternating current... is not a new invention, and there is actually no patent on alternating current itself.

Because the Royal Institute of Technology learned about the phenomenon of alternating current in the laboratory more than 20 years ago... and alternating current itself is not a product or invention, and there is no way to register a patent.

What can really be patented is the corresponding equipment that generates and uses alternating current, such as alternating current generators and alternating current motors.

The AC generator was also developed by the Royal Institute of Technology, and the patent for the AC generator was registered in the 31st year of Chengshun.

However, this patent has been covered in dust for a long time, because there were basically no commercial applications of alternating current... It was not until Li's Electric Company spent money to purchase this patent for an alternating current generator in the 43rd year of Chengshun that commercial applications of alternating current really took off. Get on the countertop.

And this core AC generator patent will expire in the 51st year of Chengshun, only five years ago!

Of course, the many alternating current patents owned by Lee's Electric Company are not limited to these few core patents, but there are actually many other patents.

After all, the core AC generator patent can only allow you to create the most basic AC generator. It is just a laboratory product at first glance, and it is still far away from practical use and mass production.

The AC generator currently being developed by Li's Electric Company is actually a brand-new industrial product that combines dozens or hundreds of various patents. It is completely different from the AC generator in the early laboratory.

But again... patents will expire, especially the patents used in the AC generators of Li's Electric Company, which are new utility patents, and the patent protection period is only fifteen years... The most important thing is, Whether it is new utility patents or invention patents, most of them were acquired by them...

Lee's Electric Company itself was formed by Lee's Steel, which spent a lot of money to acquire more than a dozen electrical appliance companies and the electrical research and development companies of other companies.

This means that many core basic patents owned by Li's Electric Company will expire in at least two to three years and no more than ten years.

This means that other companies will be able to use these technologies to produce AC generators without restrictions after ten years.

Of course...this does not take into account the many new technologies that Li's Electric Company will acquire in research and development in the next ten years.

The idea of ​​the five major power supply companies is very simple... AC power is not mature now anyway, so I might as well wait ten or eight years until the corresponding patents on AC equipment expire before engaging in AC power.

At the same time, in order to prevent the AC equipment technology obtained in ten years from falling too far behind, the five major power supply companies will definitely join forces with the three major electrical companies to conduct research and development of AC technology within this decade.

Even if they are conducting research and development based on the existing technology of Li's Electric Company... there is no need to worry about violating patents, because they are not planning to put alternating current into commercial applications for ten years.

The Imperial Patent Law stipulates that personal use, scientific research, and experimental purposes are not considered patent infringement!

Although the empire's patent laws are very strict, the patent laws mainly cover the use of other people's patents for commercial purposes, such as production, sales, offering for sale, and imports.

But in the field of scientific research, there is no such thing as a patent. Scientific researchers can use whatever technology they like without the approval of the patent holder... This is to encourage and support scientific research and avoid the development of scientific and technological progress caused by patents. restricted. At the same time, it does not constitute patent infringement if an individual makes and uses someone else's patent... provided it is not used for commercial purposes.

This means that even the three major electrical companies can actually study a lot of patented technologies for alternating current equipment in Li's Electric Company... Of course, before these patents expire, they can only be used for research and cannot be commercialized.

However, when these patents expire one after another, for example ten years later, the three major electrical companies will be able to launch these technology products for commercial application.

At the same time, within ten years Li's Electric Company will conduct research under the existing technical conditions and develop more new technologies, which will be used together at that time... It does not mean that the AC products of the three major electrical companies will definitely be better than the ones in ten years. Lee's Electric Company's products are poor.

This is the calculation of the five major power supply companies... I will use DC power first, and wait ten or eight years for AC equipment to mature. At the same time, many core patents for AC equipment have expired. After the three major electrical companies also developed AC products, AC equipment After there is sufficient market competition, you can purchase the corresponding AC products yourself and start building a large-scale AC power grid!

Now... let's build a small DC power grid to practice. The most important thing is to let the empire's top officials, especially His Majesty, see the empire's first power grid successfully completed and put into operation in a short period of time.

Against the background of this era, a large number of workers and construction equipment gathered in an open space on the outskirts of Jinling City!

These construction workers will build the Chu Empire on the outskirts of Jinling City, which will also be the first large-scale thermal power plant in human history.

Also involved in the construction of this thermal power plant is Tianjin Machinery Company... It is said that Tianjin Machinery Company has invested heavily in research and development in recent years, but the results obtained... to be precise, the results that can be applied to business are very large. few.

Newly developed in forty-six years, it is known as the era-defining six-expansion steam engine... This piece of crap seems good and seems to be quite advanced, but in fact, it is not worth the gain or even usable... This thing is just a technology demonstration prototype. , because the steam pressure required is very high, and currently the empire does not have the corresponding technology to provide such high ultra-high pressure steam...

Finally, it must be made clear that the name of the so-called six-expansion steam engine they created is purely a deceptive name... because strictly speaking, this thing is actually a four-expansion six-cylinder steam engine, which is four expansion cylinders plus two A steam engine combined with a working fluid cylinder.

It's just that in order to confuse laymen, Tianjin Machinery Company deliberately blurred the concept and directly called it a six-expansion steam engine.

Even so, this crap thing actually has no actual use value... The steam pressure required is too high, the cost is too high, but the benefits obtained are not matched.

Judging from the current basic technology of the Dachu Empire, in fact, a steam engine with three expansion cylinders and four cylinders is basically enough. There is no need to build more expansion cylinders... You must know that until the mid-20th century, steam engines also Basically, they are just three-expansion and four-cylinder steam engines... Unless there are special purposes, there are rarely four-expansion, six-cylinder or more multi-cylinder steam engines.

It's not that it can't be done, but it's not necessary... With this basic technology, it would be great if you could just build a steam turbine instead of having to deal with the reciprocating steam engine.

No one wants the four-expansion six-cylinder steam engine now produced by Tianjin Machinery Company... Even the super-large luxury ocean liner, which has a huge demand for steam engine power and has always been at the forefront of technology, no one wants this crap! Maintenance is too troublesome and the failure rate is too high.

If you want to use this thing, you might as well simply pile up a few more three-expansion four-cylinder steam engines and get a few more boilers!

Tianjin Machinery Company is now encountering a very embarrassing problem. It finally came up with a four-expansion six-cylinder steam engine, and it also claimed to be a so-called six-expansion steam engine... but no one wanted it.

There is no other way but to go back and continue to build the so-called four-expansion steam engine... Their four-expansion steam engine is actually a three-expansion steam engine, but there is an extra low-pressure cylinder behind the three expansion cylinders... This thing is actually the same thing as the advanced three-expansion four-cylinder steam engine from Dangtu Machinery Company and Guangzhou Machinery Company... It's just that Tianjin Machinery Company insists on calling its own steam engine a four-cylinder steam engine, and no one else can control it!

After failing to make breakthroughs in the field of super multi-bar steam engines, Tianjin Machinery Company felt that research and development difficulties and market competition were difficult, so it turned its attention to the industrial field, especially the recently popular electrical field.

To generate electricity, this generator can only be driven by a steam engine at this stage.

So taking advantage of this trend, they launched a variety of steam engines for power generation with different specifications, using their accumulated technical advantages in the development of ultra-high-pressure multi-expansion steam engines. The main focus is ultra-high pressure, high thermal efficiency, and the ability to use less energy. Coal generates more electricity.

Relying on this, Tianjin Machinery Company's steam engines for power generation are selling very well. When many manufacturers purchase electrification equipment, they will purchase their steam engines for power generation.

This time, preparations were made for the construction of a thermal power plant on the outskirts of Jinling City. This was the first large-scale professional power plant in the Chu Empire. Its scale and power generation capacity were not comparable to those of small power plants used by enterprises for their own use.

Those small power plants used by enterprises for their own use often generate only a few kilowatts, or no more than tens of kilowatts. Currently, no one has one with hundreds of kilowatts.

However, the Jinling Suburban Thermal Power Plant is planned to supply power to Jinling City. In addition to lighting, it is also planning to supply power to the railcars under construction of the Jinling Tramway Company. It will also supply power to a few enterprises in Jinling City, such as Jinling City. Arsenal... These companies have received relevant administrative orders. For the sake of the air environment in the capital, they are encouraged to use electric motor equipment to replace the steam engines used by the companies in the past.

Therefore, the designed power generation capacity of Jinling Suburban Thermal Power Plant is relatively large. The power generation capacity of the first phase of the project is expected to reach 1,500 kilowatts. This is still the most basic first phase of the project, and there will be several subsequent phases.

More importantly, this power plant can be seen as a demonstration power plant at a glance. The five major power supplies will definitely refer to this power plant when building power plants in other places... including its use of various equipment.

Therefore, Tianjin Machinery Company is determined to obtain the steam engine equipment used in this power plant. It has produced top-notch advanced products at a price close to cost price, and has sent a large number of technical personnel to participate in preliminary commissioning and cooperate with power generation. Machine installation and debugging.

After such a complete set, Tianjin Machinery Company's first phase project of this thermal power plant, let alone making money, suffered a huge loss.

However, what Tianjin Machinery Company considers is not the gains and losses of one order at a time. What they value more is the teaching effect of this thermal power plant... What they want is a huge order for steam engine equipment that will be needed by thermal power plants around the world in the future!

Under such circumstances, Tianjin Machinery Company was also deeply involved in the construction of the thermal power plant on the outskirts of Jinling. It had been involved from the plant design stage, and it also paid for it out of its own pocket.

This has also made the construction of the thermal power plant on the outskirts of Jinling very rapid... It is expected that it will be completed and start generating electricity by early Chengshun 47.

At the same time, at that time, a 110-volt DC power supply network within a few kilometers of the surrounding area could also be built... The reason why it is 110 volts is a technical problem. The current power generation and power supply equipment technology is like this, and it cannot be higher. Voltage.

And for the sake of safety, it is actually mainly to avoid outsiders gossiping and objecting... Therefore, in the first urban power supply network in the Dachu Empire, the cables were not mounted on wire poles, but were buried directly underground using buried pipes. .

The five major power supply companies were very careful for this first experimental power supply network and eliminated any possible accidents in advance to ensure that the power grid was successfully completed and put into use.

This is directly related to the future of the five major power grid companies and the Minister of Industry, Zuo Shilang, who is responsible for the field of electrification... When things are done, the big bosses above are happy, and His Majesty is also happy after seeing it, then the credit will be obtained in minutes. Promotion is expected.

If things go wrong... I'm sorry, although I won't be dismissed from office, I basically can't expect to go any further in this life. There is a high probability that I will be transferred to an idle department for retirement.

There are many officials who want to be promoted and make a fortune, but if you fail to seize the opportunity given to you by the superiors, you will lose the face of your boss and make the boss unhappy, how can you still hope to get promoted?

This... is actually one of the reasons why the five major power supply companies gave up the AC solution of Li's Electric Company in the first place.

AC technology is risky, unknown and uncontrollable, and it takes too long to develop.

This group of people from the Ministry of Industry did not dare to take the risk.

I don't even want to wait that long.

It will take seven, eight or even ten years to build an AC power grid. The empire can afford to wait, but they can't afford to wait either...

There are only a few decades in life,

And how many decades can there be on the career path?