Chapter 11

The earthen brick kiln on the south bank of the Dàyú River continues to produce bricks day and night. However, it is no longer producing ordinary red bricks but rather refractory bricks. Given the massive demand for refractory bricks for upcoming projects such as iron and steel mills, the executive committee decided to build a new 20-chamber ring kiln next to the earthen brick kiln.

A ring kiln is a continuous production kiln where the flue gas produced during the firing process can preheat the bricks ahead. In a 20-chamber ring kiln, 4 chambers are used for firing, 7 for preheating, 5 for cooling, and the remaining 4 are for unloading bricks. As the flame moves between the chambers, continuous production is achieved, making it many times more efficient than small earthen kilns.

To this end, many projects that require bricks have been put on hold, except for a few that received special approval from the executive committee, to make way for the construction of the ring kiln.

Since the construction of the dam on the Dàyú River, the utilization of hydropower has been on the agenda.

First, there is the water-powered grinding mill used in the cement plant. This mill has a simple structure: a circular grinding plate with a central shaft, and a horizontal shaft above it with rollers at both ends. The central shaft is driven by a water wheel below, which in turn drives the rollers on the horizontal shaft to perform sliding friction, grinding the raw materials. Several of these water-powered grinding mills have been built downstream of the dam, capable of grinding 2 tons of powder in a day and night, significantly improving labor efficiency.

Next, the mechanical design department of the industrial bureau designed an ancient water-powered forge hammer. This forge hammer, driven by a water wheel, converts the circular motion of the water wheel into linear motion through a crank, lifting the hammer from a low position to a high position and then striking it down. The striking frequency can be adjusted through a gear system.

Braun Becker, a seasoned carpenter from Holstein, led a group of amateur carpenters to make the entire set of equipment, including the water wheel, drive shaft, eccentric wheel, crank, and gear system, all made of hardwood. The hammer itself was a scrapped old hammer found by Ma Jia from the scrap metal on a barge.

Since the water-powered forge hammer was built, a large number of workers from the cement plant and lime plant have been freed up. Its efficiency in crushing limestone is extremely high. However, while it is convenient to use, it also has many faults. The most prominent issue is the insufficient strength of the gear material. The wooden gears, limited by the material, have limited driving force and cannot lift a heavy hammer to a high position, and they often break. Of course, solving this problem is simple: just replace the wooden gears with iron or steel ones.

Speaking of this issue, we must mention Ma Jia, who is trying to make a graphite crucible for steelmaking. Since he obtained graphite, Ma Jia has been thinking about making a graphite crucible to smelt the shipload of scrap steel. He listed several common crucible formulas based on the information he found, and after careful consideration, he chose a formula for smelting high-carbon steel, which consists of 50% to 55% graphite, 38% to 40% refractory clay, and 5% to 15% aggregate.

After selecting the formula, he started making the mold, which has inner and outer layers made of wood. Ma Jia planned to make a 50# crucible, which can smelt 43 kilograms of iron at a time. After completing the mold, he mixed the graphite, refractory clay, and aggregate with water to form a clay-like material. He then laid the material at the bottom of the outer mold, placed the inner mold inside, filled the gap between the two molds with the material, and compacted it, completing a crucible blank.

After the crucible blank was completed, it needed to be dried slowly and then fired in a kiln. Ma Jia made five graphite crucibles at once, dried them, and then applied a layer of glaze to prevent oxidation before sending them into the kiln for firing.

While waiting for the crucibles to be fired, Ma Jia and his team of amateur designers carefully considered the design of the smelting furnace. The planned smelting furnace is made of refractory bricks, with a hearth at the bottom and a size that can accommodate 6 to 10 crucibles at a time. It uses anthracite for heating. The exhaust gas from combustion enters a grid-like heat storage chamber made of refractory bricks, heating the bricks to several hundred or even thousands of degrees, before being discharged through the flue.

Actually, using graphite crucibles for steelmaking could consider not building a heat storage chamber. Due to the special properties of graphite crucibles, the internal temperature can easily exceed 1600 degrees Celsius, the melting point of steel, during heating. However, considering the need to reduce energy consumption and the potential for future open-hearth steelmaking projects, Ma Jia included the heat storage chamber in the design.

This design requires the construction of two heat storage chambers, A and B. Each chamber is connected to the smelting furnace at one end and to the chimney via two pipes, A and B, at the other end. A third pipe, C, connects pipes A and B and is connected to a water-powered blower, with a valve at the connection point to control the airflow to either pipe.

When fresh air is blown into pipe A by the blower, it enters the smelting furnace to aid combustion. The high-temperature exhaust gas from the furnace enters heat storage chamber B, heating the dense grid of refractory bricks, and is then discharged through pipe B via the chimney. When the refractory bricks in chamber B are heated sufficiently, the valve is switched to blow fresh air into pipe B. The cold air is preheated in chamber B before entering the smelting furnace, significantly increasing the furnace temperature. The high-temperature exhaust gas then enters heat storage chamber A, heating the refractory bricks before being discharged through pipe A via the chimney. This cycle can be repeated, allowing the air entering the furnace to be fully preheated, significantly increasing the furnace temperature and making it possible to melt steel.

Since this project requires a large number of refractory bricks and ordinary red bricks, Ma Jia lobbied extensively in the executive committee, focusing on the beautiful prospects of steel production. With the support of Ma Qianzu, the project was finally approved by the executive committee.

A construction team of 30 people was split off from the ring kiln site, and the executive committee assigned 60 Swiss immigrants, forming a 90-person team to start construction at the steel plant. The steel plant is located on the north bank of the Dàyú River, facilitating the use of the river's abundant hydropower resources. The current factory is a simple wooden structure with a thatched roof, but given the current harsh conditions and the need to prioritize resources, it will be rebuilt with steel and concrete in the future.

At Ma Jia's request, the Swiss blacksmith Pierre first used a simple clay crucible to smelt some scrap iron and began making various tools urgently needed by the settlers, such as saws, axes, files, arrowheads, farm tools, iron rods, spoons, and crucible tongs.

The industrial sector is bustling, and the agricultural sector is also in full swing.

Jin Kela lingered in front of the newly built stables, cowsheds, sheep pens, and pigsties, looking at the livestock with a gentle gaze, making Zheng Bin, who followed him, feel a bit uneasy. It is now autumn in South America, and in about half a year, by October or November, these livestock will enter the breeding season and start reproducing. Given the excellent climate and natural conditions in the Uruguayan grasslands, the livestock population will grow rapidly.

The executive committee assigned about 20 Swiss immigrants to the newly established livestock bureau, mostly women, whose daily work involves taking care of the livestock and cleaning the pens. The manure from the livestock pens is cleared daily, both to maintain hygiene and because it is a valuable fertilizer for agriculture.

"Are the saplings ready? We'll organize people to plant them tomorrow," Jin Kela asked casually. "The soil here is rich in organic matter and potassium, so we don't even need to fertilize. Unfortunately, the Dutch didn't know how to preserve the saplings. There are fewer than 100 surviving apple, pear, peach, and grape saplings, which is really a pity."

"Commissioner Jin, what about the wheat seeds? When should we plant them?" Zheng Bin asked.

"What wheat seeds? Nonsense! The Dutch just bought a bunch of wheat, not seeds. With less than 1,000 kilograms of wheat, we can only plant about 60 to 70 acres. Forget it, let's take good care of these wheat fields this year and try to select some high-quality seeds. We'll expand planting next year," Jin Kela sighed and added, "The vegetables and leeks planted in the vegetable fields are almost ready to be transplanted. Remember to apply more fertilizer. When the yield increases and can stabilize the food supply, our agricultural department will have a big success."

"Okay, I'll organize the students to transplant them this afternoon," Zheng Bin said excitedly. Before the穿越, he and 60 of his classmates and teachers were on a collective tour on the Yunsheng No. 1, and they were fortunate or unfortunate enough to be transported here. These students are in their second year of high school, and most have been assigned to non-heavy labor tasks such as sanitation, fishing, and brick-making. A few have been assigned to the agricultural department to handle tasks like watering, fertilizing, and weeding. After several months of training, these students have become quite adept at their tasks.

"By the way, the Dutch also brought some potatoes. I checked them yesterday, and most have sprouted. Cut the sprouted parts with a knife and plant them in the fields on the west side that have been leveled. Don't get it wrong. This is a high-yield crop, and many Europeans in this era rely on it for survival," Jin Kela instructed. "In about half a month, the soybeans will be ready to harvest, with a yield of about 50 to 60 kilograms per acre."

Compared to the modern average yield of 150 to 200 kilograms per acre, the yield of the 1,000 acres of soybeans planted by the settlers is quite low. However, considering the lack of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and that it is their first year of planting, achieving this yield is already quite good, indicating that the soil is very fertile.