Ming Zuo

Chapter 595 The Problem of the Steam Engine
"How is your steam engine research going?"

Seeing Li Meizhi, Zuo Menggeng couldn't help feeling that time flies and time flies.

When this girl fled with her parents and came to Linqing, she was just a sallow and emaciated doll.

Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, they were all slim young girls.

"Success is near."

When mentioning the career she was working on, Li Meizhi suddenly became lively, and her words were full of pride.

"Oh, tell me, how far have you all achieved?"

Although Zuo Menggeng has never been to the research and development of the steam engine, his attention to it is unparalleled.

Li Meizhi followed Zuo Menggeng with her little hands behind her back, chirping and reporting.

"We have already produced a qualified cylinder block, and after testing, the pressure bearing effect is very good."

Zuo Menggeng was quite pleased.

The first important thing in a steam engine is obviously the cylinder.

This is the core area where the steam engine operates.

Not only must it be smooth enough to make the putter run smoothly, but it must also be able to withstand a large enough steam pressure.

Otherwise, the cylinder will explode, which will not only fail to work, but also hurt people.

He originally thought that Qin Luo, Li Meizhi and the others had been tinkering with steam engines for ten or eight years, so they would not be able to produce qualified cylinders.

Although he has provided a lot of ideas.

Unexpectedly, this group of children is so powerful that they have already made a qualified cylinder.

"Tell me, how did you do it?"

Hearing his question, Li Meizhi couldn't help but be more careful.

"I told you, Uncle Zuo must not be angry."

Zuo Menggeng was amused.

"You girl! Your uncle and I have a wider heart than you think."

Only then did Li Meizhi speak cautiously.

"During the Chinese New Year, we went to watch the artillery exercise, and I found that the barrel of the artillery was very strong and smooth, so I asked. Uncle Jia told me that the reason why the barrel is like this is because it was bored out of one piece. I I thought about it, since the barrel made in this way is so strong that it can withstand the pressure of the gun, it should also be able to withstand the pressure of the steam. So we went to ask Uncle Yang Gui for help and asked him to He bored a cylinder for us with a boring machine. The cylinder turned out to be perfect, and it is still intact after use.”

Zuo Menggeng was stunned, he didn't expect this to happen.

He also didn't know that the first qualified steam engine cylinder in history was made by Watt with help from John Wilkinson using a barrel boring machine.

Although the time has been advanced by more than a hundred years, Shandong has actually taken the same path.

There is no way, after all, the manufacture of artillery is the top craftsmanship of this era.

When encountering difficulties in other crafts, it is only natural to seek breakthroughs and help from artillery manufacturing.

Li Meizhi was worried that Zuo Menggeng would blame Yang Gui for this.

After all, the artillery factory is extremely important, but Yang Gui did private work for them, and he would be punished according to the regulations.

Zuo Menggeng didn't think of it.

Even if he remembered, he wouldn't care.

Compared with a steam engine, a mere violation is nothing.

What he thought of was...

"It just so happens that Yang Gui has asked many times and plans to retire from the artillery factory. Why don't you let him join your steam engine team? Yang Gui's knowledge can't keep up, but his skills are top-notch. With him around, he should be able to help you a lot. "

Yang Gui is old.

The number one craftsman in the camp back then, is now gradually falling behind.

It's just because his speed of absorbing new knowledge is too slow, and he can't calculate or understand many things.

If it weren't for his exquisite craftsmanship, Yang Gui would belong to the kind of person who was eliminated.

But now all of his apprentices have also graduated from the teacher, they are young and vigorous, and their skills are even more outstanding.

Yang Gui felt that he was redundant.

Anyway, he received the allowance salary of the master craftsman, even if he retired, he would have no worries about food and clothing, so he repeatedly proposed to abdicate to make way for the virtuous.

Originally, the big guy still hated him.

But Zuo Menggeng knew the progress of the steam engine, so he decided to ask Yang Gui to help, which can be regarded as making use of the waste heat.

Li Meizhi didn't think so much, and was overjoyed to hear that.

"That's great. With the help of Uncle Yang Gui, many parts can be made."

These young people, their minds are lively and their thinking is advanced.Only his hands-on ability was a little weaker, which seriously hindered him.

With the help of Yang Gui, who is mature, prudent and skilled, it is a great enhancement to their group.

"I don't have much time. If you have any problems, let's talk about them together. See what I can help you with?"

After meeting Li Meizhi by chance, Zuo Menggeng decided to pay more attention to the steam engine group.

After all, this stuff means a whole new era.

To truly realize industrialization, the steam engine is the foundation.

Even if he doesn't say that, Li Meizhi actually has a lot of things she wants to ask.

The concept of the steam engine was proposed by Zuo Menggeng. Although he never participated in the research and development, no one dared to doubt his role in the steam engine.

"We found through experiments that if the steam in the cylinder wants to work, it must be condensed. But once condensed, the temperature of the cylinder will drop and it needs to be reheated. We have thought of many ways, but none of them are ideal."

It was a huge problem that plagued the steam engine team, but for Zuo Menggeng, it was simply outrageously simple.

Anyone in the future who has driven a car or knows something about machinery will immediately know how to solve it.

"Why don't you try to separate the condenser from the cylinder?"

Li Meizhi paused, tongue-tied.After a long while, he suddenly hit his head with an embroidery fist.

"Oh, really, stupid, stupid!"

Zuo Menggeng laughed out loud, afraid that she would make him stupid.

"Are there any other problems?"

Li Meizhi became more active.

She originally wanted to complain to Zuo Menggeng, but in fact, she didn't have any expectations about Zuo Menggeng's ability to solve the problem.

I didn't expect Zuo Menggeng to be so powerful when he didn't speak.

Now that she had found her backbone, another problem came one after another.

"Also, the steam engine we made is good in everything, except that there is an air leak. We used a lot of materials and thought of many ways, but the effect is not good."

Air leakage is definitely a taboo for steam engines, which will greatly reduce the efficiency of the steam engine and pose safety hazards.

But this is another difficult problem within Zuo Menggeng's scope.

He squatted down and drew a small ring with a gap with the branch.

"No fabric, no glue. When you go back, you make a small metal ring like this and put it on a screw. How does it work?"

Zuo Menggeng knew that the sealing effect of this method is absolutely no problem.

Because this small metal ring that looks ordinary is called a piston ring.

It is the first choice for many mechanical seals in later generations.

(End of this chapter)