Wild North America 1846

Chapter 202 Texaco Petroleum Company

Foreign aggression is settled, and internal affairs are settled.

Recalling the bumpy and difficult journey since the 5th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Li Cha's heart is still difficult to calm down. If it weren't for the power of the prestige system plug-in, he would definitely not be able to make it to where he is today.

If there is no superman's personal force, Li Cha would not be fair to Lin Zhanyuan, the young master of the Agreement Hall, or he would have been bloody on the streets at the gunpoint of the killer hired by John Sutter, and there would be no future.

The Great Tang Kingdom was born out of nowhere. Rooted in the North American plains, it struggled hard in the ensuing storm and finally survived and developed into a towering tree.

Without the blessing of the system, without the 800 pairs of bulletproof breastplates produced by the system store, without the skills and high-end equipment endowed by the system, Li Cha didn't know how many times he died in the hail of bullets, let alone others?

Today
As the society of Datang Kingdom entered the track of rapid development, operating in accordance with market principles and the underlying laws of social division of labor, the prestige system's contribution to the entire kingdom has been very small, and in many cases it can be ignored.

Li Cha opened the prestige system panel to browse, and looked at the progress of the list of "Ten Million People Know Prestige Tasks", the displayed value is 783.55 million/1000 million, and the progress of the task is 78.36%, which is not completed.

He sighed softly, then turned off the system panel.

In today's era of poor information exchange, if you want to complete the "millions of people know the prestige task" is extremely difficult, you can only take time to do it slowly.

nothing else
The vast majority of European immigrants who have immigrated to the United States in recent years do not know who "Devil King Richard" is.

There are 400 million black slaves in the southern United States. How many black slaves who can read and write know the "devil king Richard" who shook North America?
I'm afraid this number is pitifully small. Most of the black slaves don't know a single character. They live in dire straits and high-intensity labor every day. How can they care about the "devil king Richard"?
The literacy rate of Americans in today's era is pitifully low, not even 1/10. If it hadn't been for the war between Tang and Mo, Li Cha's prestige task would have hovered below 500 million for a long time, and the annual growth rate would be hundreds of thousands Looks like less than 100 million.

This number is almost the same as the average annual population growth of the Datang Kingdom plus some spillover effects.

If you put the time in 2~3 years, it is very difficult to complete this prestige task, but it is not hopeless.

After getting rid of the messy thoughts, Li Cha put his mind on the high pile of documents in the imperial case again, and began to concentrate on processing.

Early 1852
After more than a year of preparation, the University of California invested and built by the Datang royal family began to enroll students at the end of last year. This comprehensive university is located about 10 kilometers west of Fangcaodi, and has brought together many prestigious universities from Europe and the Datang Kingdom. Scholars are the highest institutions of learning in the Tang Kingdom today.

A series of colleges and universities such as Chang'an Lecture Hall, Los Angeles Institute of Technology, and Taoyuan School of Administration were also established successively, forming the preliminary higher education system of the Tang Kingdom.

In the royal family's holding industry, there are five companies with the most dazzling performance, namely Texaco Petroleum Company, American River Gold Rush Company, Molenci Mining Company and General Heavy Industry Holding Company, and Grape Valley Light Industry Company. These five companies have developed into An industrial giant that affects the economic performance of the Tang Kingdom.

First of all, let me talk about the Texaco Oil Company, which was just a royal holding oil company established after the discovery of rich oil and gas resources in California and North Dakota in late 1849.

The company was founded

It was valued by King Richard, and it mobilized elite soldiers and a large amount of funds to promote the development and utilization of resources. It imported various oil drilling equipment and three sets of oil refining equipment from Europe, catching up with and surpassing France in oil development and utilization, becoming a It is an advanced country in the petrochemical industry after Russia and the United Kingdom.

In 1850 when it started, Texaco Petroleum Company produced and processed 78 tons of kerosene, which was warmly welcomed once it was put on the market, which triggered a boom in the sales of kerosene lamps.

After its initial success, 1851 was the year Texaco hit the ground running.

His Majesty the King personally intervened in the research and development of petroleum refining and chemical equipment. Domestic iron and steel companies vigorously cooperated with the development of large-scale reactors and other related refining and chemical equipment. In May 1851, a major success was achieved, and the new equipment was put into production smoothly.

As an important equipment in petroleum refining, the design of the reactor imported from Europe is seriously unreasonable, the output is small, and the refining capacity is poor, the separated petroleum products are single, and it has the characteristics of one pot for one pot.

That is to say, the petroleum raw materials entering the reaction kettle must be cleaned of residual impurities such as asphalt, heavy oil, etc. after refining in one pot before proceeding to the next pot.

The newly designed reactor has undergone a revolutionary improvement. It is no longer a round and bulky equipment like a pot, but a circular high tower. Using the principle of different boiling points of various components in petroleum, various components are prepared through heating and reaction. chemical products.

Gasoline, diesel, kerosene, lubricating oil and heavy oil have different boiling points. After being heated at high temperature, a well-defined petroleum product is formed in a tall tower-shaped reactor.

After reaching the boiling point, kerosene is the lightest on the top, diesel is in the middle, lubricating oil is on the bottom, and the bottom is heavy oil, which is then condensed and transported to oil tanks for storage through pipelines and transported in barrels.

Such oil refining equipment is 50 years more advanced than the current ridiculous and cumbersome oil refining equipment, and has the prototype of large-scale oil liquefaction equipment for later generations.

The technical principles are the same, but there is a process gap, design gap and production capacity gap in petroleum cracking equipment, and it takes time to slowly settle and polish.

Needless to say

This is Li Cha who couldn't help but opened the golden finger. He exchanged the blueprint of the oil production equipment in the United States at the end of the 19th century from the system store. After in-depth research, he personally directed a group of engineers to develop and produce it.

This set of equipment is ahead of today's petrochemical technology in the world. Although it is quite similar, compared with the original oil production equipment, its production capacity has been reduced by more than 6%, and there are still many shortcomings that need to be improved in practice in the future. .

Even so
Texaco Petroleum Company has become the most powerful oil company with the strongest oil production capacity, the most advanced production technology, and the most powerful oil company in the world today because of the new oil refining equipment put into production.

In June 1851, the first month after the new equipment was put into production, 6 tons of kerosene were produced, exceeding 1% of the previous year's output.

In July, 7 tons of kerosene were produced, and the output increased by more than 855%.

In August, the production of kerosene was 8 tons, double that of June.

In September, 9 tons of kerosene were produced, and further progress was made.

In October, the monthly production of kerosene exceeded 10 tons for the first time, reaching 2000 tons.

In November, 11 tons of kerosene were produced, a slight increase.

In December, 12 tons of kerosene were produced, and the output continued to increase.

After being put into trial production, the new petroleum refining and chemical equipment has been continuously explored, summarized, and improved the production process and methods, and the production capacity has increased rapidly visible to the naked eye.

The huge increase in production has enabled kerosene, a popular product that is just in demand, to be able to be exported, and it is quickly sold to the United States and European countries, becoming a new pillar industry for Datang Kingdom's exports.

The massive export of kerosene and lubricating oil products has rapidly driven the development of the cooperage industry in the Tang Kingdom. The strong demand has led to the emergence of dozens of hundreds of cooperage factories and cooperage workshops across the country, and has also fully driven Seattle, Vancouver, etc. The forest covers a wide area, and the northern region rich in timber has developed economically.

Shiploads of empty wooden barrels traveled from the north to the south, filled with kerosene and lubricating oil at the refinery in California, and exported to the United States and European countries in exchange for huge amounts of pounds, francs, and Spanish gold. Pesos, Marks, Guilders and Dollars.

in these countries

The strong demand for kerosene is as much as you want, and the more the better.

Aristocratic palaces can be brightly lit to sing and sing at night, middle-class families can light more kerosene lamps, the master has his own quiet moments in the study, the mistress watches over the children in the bright living room, and the young master is in another room Flirt with the maid.

Thousands of bars in the British Isles don’t need to light up a few more lights. Families at the bottom of society can also light a lamp at night, and have a heart-warming dinner surrounded by warm lights.

and before that

Poor families even have to eat in the dark at night, and the sound of chewing in the dark is far from warm.

Human beings' need for light is a hard demand of society. In the dark night, only a candle can dispel the darkness, so that people can feel peaceful and warm.

Before this
Europeans still use soybean oil or olive oil with a history of thousands of years for lighting. In the era of low productivity and no chemical fertilizers, and in the era of manual pressing of soybean oil, soybean oil is doomed to be expensive.

Families at the bottom of society could not afford soybean oil or olive oil, let alone for lighting.

The emergence of kerosene, which entered the market at only 1/3 of the price of soybean oil and 1/7 of the price of olive oil, quickly won the recognition of consumers in Europe and the United States, aroused the consumption enthusiasm of ordinary families, and the sales volume skyrocketed Lift.

Let's put it this way, as many sales as there are.

In just seven months in 1851, the Texaco Oil Company produced more than 7 tons (about 1 barrels) of kerosene, and its sales reached an astonishing 7 million Tang yuan (note; the value is equivalent to US dollars), and the net profit exceeded One million Tang Yuan.

on the basis of

Texaco Petroleum Company is ready to throw off its arms and do a big job. It has ordered 4 sets of improved tower-type petroleum refining equipment from Changan Petroleum Equipment Company. Later, it reserves the priority to purchase 8 sets of production equipment to further expand production capacity.

The production target of Texaco Petroleum Company this year is to produce more than 10 tons of kerosene, with a profit of more than 7 million yuan, and to increase production capacity and profit by more than [-] times.

By next year, it will double this year's figure, maintain a rapid growth momentum of 200% to 300%, and fully occupy the European and American refining and chemical markets.

In addition to the main product kerosene, lubricating oil and gasoline produced by Texaco Petroleum Company have also gradually opened up sales, becoming one of the indispensable bulk products in the social economy.

The industrialized United Kingdom is the most important market for lubricating oil, with an annual demand of more than 4500 tons and a steep demand curve, with a market growth rate of more than 200%.

Gasoline has not found its application market. In the original history, it was dumped into the sea as waste. It was not until the invention of the gasoline engine at the end of this century that gasoline was used on a small scale.

different now

As cheap combustion-supporting products, petroleum refineries pour gasoline and diesel oil on the coal, and after sufficient stirring, it can help the coal burn more violently and have more firepower.

As an excellent combustion accelerant, the Kingdom of Datang developed a gasoline stove, which was widely used for burning wasteland and reclamation in the western pioneers.

As an excellent solvent, gasoline is further used in the production of rubber, paint and grease, broadening the scope of use.

In the laboratory of the University of California, the research and development of the gasoline engine sponsored by Texaco, following the working principle of the steam turbine, is advancing step by step.

In Li Cha's view, those large amounts of gasoline and diesel that are dumped because they are not used in vain not only pollute the environment, but are also a waste of money.

Therefore, by supporting the University of California and the Los Angeles Institute of Technology to carry out the research and development of gasoline engines, diesel engines and marine steam turbines respectively, it will greatly improve the industrial development process of this world line.

Actually

Today, on the golden immigration route across the North Pacific Ocean, the old-fashioned steam turbine transport ships used by the Datang Kingdom have already added heavy oil tanks to the fuel tanks.

Its purpose is to add heavy oil when burning coal, which can make the steam turbine run more efficiently and have stronger power, greatly saving coal and cost.

Because heavy oil is so cheap that it is almost free, hundreds of steam ships in Datang Kingdom have improved and installed heavy oil tanks in the shipyard one after another, and used coal to add heavy oil to burn boilers.

Thus

This makes heavy oil the second most popular product after kerosene, because it is cheap and large, suitable for medium and large ships, and can save costs significantly.

As a by-product of refining, lubricating oil ranks third.

The final dregs of petroleum refining are petroleum bitumen, a viscous substance that has been used in road construction for hundreds of years, so nothing goes to waste.

In California, the first asphalt road is the 43-kilometer road from the oil refinery to the port. After it was completed, it was favored for its flatness, durability, high quality and low price, and was widely used in road construction.

According to the planning of the Ministry of Communications;

Datang Kingdom will use 5 to 10 years to harden and asphalt the main roads in the country, which will greatly enhance the transportation capacity of horse-drawn carriages, and the increase will be between 50% and 80%.

Invisibly, this is equivalent to the transportation of tens of thousands of horse-drawn carriages, which plays an inestimable and important role in the overall economic development.

Due to the constraints of the times, the Ministry of Communications has not yet realized the importance of asphalt roads to urban traffic construction. In the cities of the Tang Kingdom, stone roads and dirt roads are still the main ones.

Li Cha also had no intention of reminding him that he believed that with the popularization of asphalt roads across the country, sooner or later, these people in the Ministry of Communications would deeply realize that asphalt roads have incomparable advantages over stone roads.

The bright rise of Texaco Petroleum Company has dealt a devastating blow to the newly emerging world petrochemical industry. Petroleum refineries in Britain, France and the United States have closed down and went bankrupt, and the whole industry is in a terrible storm.

Compared with the kerosene refining capacity with an annual production capacity of less than [-] tons, the oil refining equipment developed by Datang Kingdom Texaco Petroleum Company is hundreds of times more efficient, and the corresponding refining costs can be diluted to the minimum.

In this way, the development of the petroleum refining industry in other countries will be blocked.

This gap is too far, and it is not a star, how can we compete?

It doesn't matter to Britain and France, because they didn't have much oil resources in the first place. The small amount of oil field production discovered in the colonies, the cost of refining by themselves is high, and it is better to import a large amount of kerosene.

The United States is miserable. The United States has discovered a large number of oil fields with rich reserves in Texas. However, due to the serious backwardness of technology and the high cost of mining and refining, it has become a mess, and almost all of them have shut down.

(End of this chapter)