my scientific age

Chapter 307 Seamless steel pipe mill!

Inside the big cave.

"This is the final result of the departmental meeting of the Military Industry Bureau. Is it dangerous for the steel plant to be located in Yulin? If the Japanese army crosses the Yellow River from Guisui to the south through the Ping-Sui River and enters the Ikzhao League, we have almost no danger to defend. This is aimed at the Japanese army. The countermeasures against the bombing by planes are very good."

"I don't think it's a big problem. Yulin is indeed not as safe as Jingbian, but it has wide development potential and can be developed quickly. In the early stage, it develops in a low-key and high-speed way, and accumulates strength. In the mid-term, mass production of weapons and equipment will greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of the team."

The boss gave military considerations: "Look, Yu Hua talked about targets such as large-caliber machine guns, medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns and large-caliber howitzers in the meeting. With these advanced weapons and cement, we can be in Dingbian-Jingbian-Yulin -Shenmu builds a permanent line of defense, producing while fighting, the logistics supply line of the Japanese army is too long, and there is no railway support, so it cannot be consumed."

"Just follow this plan. Jingbian and Mizhi are too petty. I don't like it. If you want to do it, make it bigger. The Japanese army has a high degree of mechanization, and the logistics supply is very dependent on the railway line. If they attack the border areas, then I will give them to them. Good lesson, but, can the anti-aircraft machine guns, anti-aircraft guns and 105mm howitzers mentioned above be produced?"

"Judging from this latest production plan, it has fully covered steel, machinery manufacturing, electric power, transportation and other fields. I believe the top science and technology team can figure it out, but the problem is that the current financial situation is very tight, and there is still 100 million yuan left on the books. Silver dollars."

"Find a way to raise money. Now is the critical moment. After this difficulty is overcome, the future will be the road to prosperity."

……

Liushugou Arsenal, 6:30 pm.

As the sun sets in the west, the afterglow is sprinkled on this Loess Plateau, and the red clouds are as dazzling as flames.

Liushugou is surrounded by mountains on three sides, close to the Yanhe River, and the opposite side of the river is Yancheng. The terrain is long and narrow and looks like a jujube. One is that the terrain is dangerous and easy to defend, and the other is that Liushugou produces iron ore.

The Liushugou Iron Mine is a small-scale mine, with reserves estimated to be about 50 tons after preliminary exploration. It is a hematite type with a grade of only 30%. It is a "garbage mine" type among iron ores. The only advantage is semi-open-pit mining. , The iron ore is located at a depth of five meters underground and is mined by explosive blasting.

Today, Liushugou welcomed a group of special guests.

Chen Kang, Hu Zhigang from the Ordnance Engineering Department, Zhao Shu from the Public Works Department, and a group of people from the highest technology team, Lu Yuan from the General Affairs Department and Tang Ziqing from the Gunpowder Department did not come. After the meeting, they each left to deal with work affairs.

"Professor Zhuang, we are here. The available land area in Liushugou area is about 30 hectares. In addition to the central arsenal, there are also electric furnace steel plants, iron plants and coking plants that are centrally deployed here, which is convenient for overall management and efficient production. There is a small iron ore here with a grade of [-]%, which can meet the needs of iron ore smelting." The host, Chen Kang, led Professor Zhuang, Yu Hua and other guests to Liushugou, looking at the small factories located in the valley, His eyes were full of expectations, and he introduced it like a few treasures.

Today's Liushugou can be called a small industrial area. Except for the explosives factory and the sulfuric acid factory, all other factories are located in Liushugou.

After more than two months of hard construction by the Military Industry Bureau, Liushugou has changed from barren and barren to a prosperous scene today.

Of course, centralized deployment has both advantages and disadvantages. One is that it is not conducive to confidentiality, and the other is that it is not conducive to air defense. A single bombardment by Japanese aircraft can destroy the entire Liushugou Industrial Zone.

"Very good, how is the 2-ton blast furnace in the iron factory now?" Zhuang Qianding nodded, looking at the panorama of Liushugou with his eyes, affirming that he did not rush to the arsenal, but was concerned about the 2-ton blast furnace in the iron factory.

Zhao Shu, the person in charge of the Public Works Section, who was standing on the side, immediately replied: "The blast furnace has been completed, and it is about to start to make iron."

"Director Chen, can we go to the iron factory first?"

Hearing this answer, Zhuang Qianding nodded and turned his eyes to Chen Kang.

"Of course, you can come and go freely in all the factories in Liushugou." Chen Kang was slightly puzzled when he heard the words, but he did not refuse the request.

"Steel is the foundation of industrial development. It is very important whether the quality of pig iron smelted by this 2-ton blast furnace is qualified. If the pig iron smelted is unqualified, it can be improved as soon as possible." Seemingly seeing Chen Kang's doubts, Zhuang Qianding explained with a smile reason.

The group entered Liushugou, passed the central arsenal and a small electric furnace steel factory along the way, and soon came to the depths of Liushugou, which was planned as a mining and smelting area.

Right in front of the mine is the mine. Large expanses of rock are exposed. Hundreds of Red Army soldiers are holding iron picks and hammers. They are mining the light red rock-like iron ore that has been blasted by engineering. Get on the wheelbarrow, and then the transport workers will control the wheelbarrow to transport the iron ore. Like ants moving house, the ore is continuously sent to the entrance of a crusher and processed by the crusher.

Below the mining area, there are two open-air buildings, the iron factory on the left, erected a cylindrical blast furnace with a height of about two and a half meters, and three earth kilns are connected around it. More than a dozen Red Army soldiers wheeled sledgehammers, each hammering the small pieces. Ore smashed.

On the right side of the coke plant, the core equipment is a rotary coke oven that is tilted horizontally.

Due to the lack of a coke pusher and a series of industrial equipment, Yu Hua did not use a conventional coke oven design, but designed this small rotary coke oven based on the principle of a rotary kiln. After that, the rotary kiln starts slowly, and the coke leaves the rotary kiln like a mortar mixer.

Zhuang Qianding and Yu Hua carefully observed the whole process of mining and beneficiation, silently.

Chen Kang gave a look and motioned for Zhao Shu, the director of public works, to come forward.

"The entire mining and smelting area works in three shifts. The soldiers transport the iron ore to the crusher. After the crusher is processed, small pieces of ore are obtained, and then the fine ore is obtained by manual hammering. It is sintered in the sintering kiln, and our beneficiation efficiency is very low due to the use of manual methods in each link.”

Zhao Shu, the director of public works, came to the two and slowly explained the current mining situation and process of Liushugou Iron Mine: "This crusher is an old-fashioned piece of equipment seized during the Eastern Expedition. It crushes 40 tons of iron ore per hour."

In the whole smelting process, except for the iron ore crushing link, the rest of the links are all manual.

Manual transportation, manual hammering, manual washing, manual sintering... The industrial version of Liushugou mining and beneficiation is only about 0.1, which is infinitely close to the mining and beneficiation of the feudal era.

For this result, Zhuang Qianding, who had expected it for a long time, was not surprised. Looking at the young Red Army soldiers working hard like miners in the mining area, he fell into silence and sighed in his heart.

Miners in the United States operate excavators, crushers, ball mills and sintering machines for mining and beneficiation operations, while the soldiers in the base areas can only use iron picks and sledgehammers, just like the mining and beneficiation of the last century.

Such a low mining and beneficiation efficiency will seriously drag down the overall production efficiency and become the shortest board.

"Senior Zhao, can the blast furnace achieve continuous production?" Yu Hua carefully observed the entire mining and beneficiation process, erected it in his mind, gradually had an idea, and then turned his attention to the blast furnace erected in the iron factory and asked.

Whether it is continuous production or not is the core difference between modern blast furnaces and traditional home-made blast furnaces.

Most of the traditional blast furnaces are made one furnace at a time, and the production efficiency is extremely low. It is not easy to achieve a daily output of two tons. With the assistance of mechanical equipment and structural design, modern blast furnaces can continuously produce molten iron with the same production efficiency. An order of magnitude larger in volume than a conventional blast furnace.

In front of this 2-ton native blast furnace, if it is converted into a modern blast furnace, the daily output can soar to 20 tons!
"We are using the old local blast furnace, which cannot continuously produce molten iron. We can only finish this furnace and put the raw materials back into the next furnace." Zhao Shu shook his head and responded.

Well, the inability to continuously produce molten iron is another big problem.

Yu Hua took note of this and continued to ask, "What is the life span of the blast furnace?"

"About half a year, this blast furnace is mainly experimental. In order to make gray iron, the blast furnaces built in the past basically produce white iron. If gray iron is successfully made, five blast furnaces will be added in the future, so that the daily output of pig iron will reach 10 tons." Zhao Shu answered the question.

Using the number of blast furnaces to make up for the defects of single furnace output is a last resort. There is no way. Due to the lack of mechanical equipment and the backward structural design of blast furnaces, it is impossible to continuously produce molten iron with quality standards.

As for white iron, it is a kind of pig iron. Its metallographic structure is in the form of cementite, with high hardness and brittleness. It cannot be forged and turned. It has very little use. It is generally used as steelmaking and other cast iron materials. , the temperature of the tissue cools too fast after casting.

White iron cannot be used to manufacture mortar shells and grenade shells. Only gray cast iron with higher hardness and toughness can be used for turning processing as a material for parts such as mortars, grenades, cylinders, crankshafts and automobile wheels. .

"I'm done asking, thank you." Yu Hua had a general understanding of the problems in Liushugou Iron Works, nodded lightly, and thanked Zhao Shu.

Zhao Shu shook his head again and again: "Where is it, no thanks."

At this time, three figures in gray-blue military uniforms appeared in front of them. The three quickly ran over and stood three meters away from the crowd, with the leader straightening his back.

"Report to the heads, Liushugou Iron Works is organizing the first iron-smelting operation, please instruct!" The director of the factory, Martin, gave a military salute to Chen Kang and everyone, and reported loudly.

"Open the furnace and make iron as planned." Chen Kang raised his right hand and gave a military salute to give instructions.

"Yes." The factory manager Martin responded.

When the words fell, he turned and left, without asking the identity of Professor Zhuang and Yu Hua and other fresh faces.

Don't ask what you shouldn't ask, don't listen to what you shouldn't listen to, and keeping secrets is the most basic code of conduct as a soldier.

"Deputy team leader Yu, can you guide the ironmaking work of the iron factory? We are still blank about the smelting of gray cast iron." Zhao Shu said to Yu Hua, looking at the back of the factory director Martin quickly leaving.

"There are two main points in smelting gray cast iron. One is the cooling time, which should not be too fast. There should be enough time for the formation of graphite flakes during the solidification process of the molten iron. The second is inoculation treatment. Adding an inoculant will produce a large number of artificial crystals during the cooling process of the molten iron. nucleation, and promote the formation of nuclei and crystal grains of graphite, so as to obtain pearlitic gray cast iron with good mechanical properties." Yu Hua smiled and nodded, and then explained the smelting principle of gray cast iron from the perspective of metallurgy.

Chen Kang and Ordnance Engineering Section Chief Hu Zhigang showed curious eyes and listened to the knowledge explained by Yu Hua as quietly as students.

"It means that gray cast iron can be made by slowly solidifying and cooling the molten iron. What is the inoculant?" Zhao Shu was ignorant after listening to what Yu Hua explained.

Understood, but not fully understood.

The simple understanding is to slow down the solidification process of molten iron.

But what is this inoculant?
"Ferrosilicon is an inoculant. It takes about 3 kilograms of ferrosilicon to smelt one ton of gray cast iron."

Yu Hua didn't give a shit, and answered with a smile: "Use scrap steel, coke and quartz to smelt ferrosilicon through an electric furnace. The ratio is 1.78 for quartz, 0.89 for coke, and 0.22 for scrap. You can let the electric furnace steel mill smelt a furnace of ferrosilicon and send it over."

Scrap steel, coke, quartz, three kinds of raw materials can be seen everywhere. Although the industrial version of Liushugou Industrial Zone is not high, the industrial raw materials are relatively complete.

However, it should be noted that ferrosilicon and silicon steel are by no means the same thing. Most of ferrosilicon contains more than 50% silicon, and the carbon content is also the standard category of pig iron, while silicon steel is an iron-silicon alloy with a silicon content of about 3% to 5%. , the carbon content belongs to the standard steel range.

"Xiao Li, you go to the electric furnace steel factory immediately and let them smelt ferrosilicon according to this ratio." Zhao Wen looked serious, quickly took out the pen and paper he carried with him, wrote down the inoculant formula given by Yu Hua, and handed it over to the guards around him. Xiao Li.

"Yes!" Xiao Li took the inoculant formula and immediately turned around and ran to the electric furnace steel mill behind him.

"Yu Hua, do you want the iron factory to suspend the furnace for ironmaking and wait until the ferrosilicon is produced?" Chen Kang asked.

"There's no need for this. The time of adding ferrosilicon as an inoculant is before the molten iron is poured out of the furnace, and it will not affect the blast furnace ironmaking process. Professor, I think that we can take this opportunity to make gray cast iron inclined rolls and 60 mm mandrels. The core components of the seamless steel pipe rolling mill are done." Yu Hua shook his head, suddenly a flash of inspiration came up, he turned his eyes to Zhuang Qianding, and proposed: "In this way, the [-]mm mortar project of the Arsenal The biggest problem facing, even if solved."

The biggest problem faced by the Liushugou Arsenal [-]mm mortar project is actually very simple in nature. As long as the seamless steel pipe rolling mill is completed, seamless steel pipes can be produced.

And what is the core component of a seamless steel pipe mill?
Skew rolls and mandrels.

The rolling principle is roughly that the heated forged solid billet is aligned with the conical mandrel, and under the action of the skew roll and the plug, the two are contacted and forced to squeeze to carry out perforation.

Mandrel diameter = inner diameter of steel pipe.

As for the material of the skew rolls and mandrels, either cast iron or steel can be used.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, it is better to get the two components out first, why not kill two birds with one stone?
As soon as these words came out, Chen Kang was stunned.

The ordnance section chief Hu Zhigang and Zhao Shu, plus Zhao Zhangcheng, who was most concerned about the [-]mm mortar project, were all confused.

They couldn't believe what they heard.

Seamless steel pipe mill!

Lin Wan was slightly startled, but she wasn't too surprised, after all, she was already familiar with Yu Hua's style.

Hearing Yu Hua's words, Zhuang Qianding smiled slightly, nodded and said: "Yes, I have this idea, use the design of a two-roller skew rolling mill, cast four rolls and two [-]mm mandrels, and build two prototypes first. Ji, Section Chief Zhao, does the iron factory have a sand foundry?"

(End of this chapter)