Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 272 Deepening the Roots ([-])

Hu Laosan is a dry, middle-aged man with no good looks.He was a blacksmith, a native of Southern Zhili, and the first batch of immigrants from the Ming Dynasty.I came to the east bank several years ago. At first, I learned how to make steel in the steelmaking workshop (graphite crucible steelmaking) belonging to the Dayuhe Arsenal. Later, I participated in the first technical transformation of the steelmaking workshop (expanding the melting room, improved regenerator).His learning ability seems to be good. During this period of time, his professional level has been greatly improved, which has also aroused the favor and attention of the leaders.

When the Pingan Iron and Steel Factory was being built, he was spotted by the vest, and he was transferred to the factory.After several years of experience, he can be regarded as a veteran of the factory after being the factory manager for two terms. Now he has mixed up to the level of a technician, and he also has a group of apprentices under him.Usually, the Iron and Steel Plant Vocational School sometimes invites him to give some lectures. At least in Ping'an Iron and Steel Plant, he can be regarded as the number one person.

Seeing Gao Xiaogang asking him for questioning, Hu Laosan quickly stood up and said: "I asked the coking plant about this question. They couldn't help it. The main reason is that Ping'an Coal Mine has not been able to produce suitable coking coal, which led to coking. When coking in the factory, the sulfur content of the coal itself is too high. After the coke with high sulfur content is sent to the ironmaking workshop, some workers may not have high professional quality and do not know how to increase the furnace temperature for desulfurization. As a result, some batches of iron The sulfur content is too high and the brittleness is high. At present, we have strengthened vocational training for employees and implemented regular assessments. Take the job back."

In fact, when it comes to the coking plant, this is also a long-standing and difficult enterprise that once caused the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Government Administration Council great headaches and worries.At the beginning, this plant was set up entirely to support Pingan Iron and Steel Plant, that is, to provide Pingan Iron and Steel Plant with a sufficient amount of coke for ironmaking.However, several technicians from the chemical industry department later proposed the comprehensive utilization of coal tar gas in the process of coal coking, that is, to use existing technical means to refine and process the coal tar gas produced in the process of coal carbonization, and then use The components with different boiling points are separated and purified to obtain useful substances, such as pitch, benzene, aniline, etc.After all, according to the original design, it is a pity that these coal tar gases are directly discharged into the atmosphere.It can be said that it will not only cause a lot of pollution, but also waste a large amount of useful material components therein.

Later, the Government Affairs Council listened to their opinions, and then organized a group of Erdao Dao technicians who had almost no knowledge of coal chemical industry to start changing the design, using the existing crude technical means and equipment to try to recover coal tar.

But the process went terribly from the start.The gas from the coal carbonization kiln was originally designed to pass through a flat cast iron pipeline to another device, but during this process, a large amount of rapidly condensed asphalt components accumulated on the lower part of the inner wall of the pipeline, causing pipeline blockage.After discovering the problem, the technicians suddenly realized that they had to change the design again, dismantling the original pipeline and placing it vertically, so that even if the asphalt condensed, it would fall to the bottom of the pipeline due to the influence of gravity.At the same time, a movable device is installed at the bottom to regularly drop the asphalt accumulated at the bottom of the pipeline to the next layer so that workers can collect it.

After solving the problem of collecting the simplest bitumen, these people began to recover other important components (benzene, aniline, etc.) in coal tar gas separately according to their different boiling points.It’s just that this process is extremely complicated. Although the technicians have perfectly used the distillation and crystallization method to separate components such as asphalt, benzene, and aniline under laboratory conditions, they have encountered repeated failures in the actual large-scale industrial production attempts.

First, the scale of the mercury thermometer made by the Henan Glass Factory was inaccurate, which wasted a lot of time and energy.Later, after the problem of the thermometer was solved, everyone struggled with the layout and design of the pipelines for a long time. Finally, they reluctantly started to condense and collect in order from high to low according to the different boiling points of each component, and adopted secondary heating in the actual collection. In order to better extract the various components.

The material components obtained after collection are generally relatively complicated, and the subsequent purification and removal of impurities is also a headache. The technicians still have not come up with a convincing plan for everyone.There are many proposals proposed by everyone, but limited by the existing technical conditions and material basis, they all have various deficiencies.

The last question is the trickiest.At present, both gas pipelines and condensing equipment, due to their large size, are all cast iron pipelines and equipment cast in one piece.Due to the lack of anti-corrosion measures, coal tar gas has serious corrosion on these pipelines and equipment.In other words, if the anti-corrosion problem cannot be effectively solved, the service life of these pipelines and equipment will be greatly shortened.When the equipment needs to be replaced due to serious corrosion, it is not only time-consuming and laborious, but also quite uneconomical from an economic point of view.

So later someone suggested whether it is possible to use ceramic pipes and equipment, but then the problem came again. There is no one who can fire ceramics in the cross-travel crowd, and it is still an extremely large ceramic equipment. This problem seems to have to wait until the future. It was possible to solve the problem only after Daming got some craftsmen who made ceramics.

After distillation and purification, the residual gas (the main component is crude gas) is transported to the boiler rooms of the neighboring Pingan Iron and Steel Plant, the First Machinery Plant, and the North Armory Factory through medium-distance pipelines to provide them with a high-quality gas when burning boilers. Fuel, after all, you can't just discharge the gas in vain, that's purely a prodigal act.

All in all, the extraction of various important components in coal tar in coking plants is still in its infancy. Although the extracted components can be barely used, it has to be said that they are not very pure. The technology is still relatively rough and primitive, and further work is needed. Research, improve.Moreover, the progress of the research and utilization of various components in coal tar is also very slow. At present, only the industrial use of dyes has been studied.

The superiors are certainly not very satisfied with the progress they have made so far.Therefore, at the beginning of this year, the Coal Chemical Industry Department of the Institute of Chemistry, Academy of Natural Sciences, under the direction of the Government Administration Council, set up a special coal tar department. Under the laboratory conditions, the research on the deep processing of the main components of coal tar, such as benzene and aniline, is carried out, and strives to make a breakthrough as soon as possible.

Of course, these research projects are still in their infancy, and it is estimated that it will be impossible to come up with results in a few years.However, we can't stop doing technology because it is difficult. As one of the few chemical raw materials that can be obtained on a large scale in the East Coast Republic (the other is potassium nitrate obtained by local nitrate production), we must not squeeze out all its value. That would be a real pity.

The topic is far away, let us turn our attention back to the meeting room of Pingan Iron and Steel Works.

Hearing what Hu Laosan said, Gao Xiaogang thought for a while before saying: "The lack of suitable coking coal is a matter of national conditions, and we can't be too demanding. Therefore, how to do a good job of desulfurization in ironmaking under the condition of this kind of coke currently in use Work is what we will focus on. Recently, I tried to get Changshanbao Iron Mine to start a project. The iron ore to be mined is first calcined to remove crystal water and part of the sulfur. I think it should It would be nice, at least it would improve the grade of the iron ore and reduce the sulfur content. Of course, that’s for later, let’s not talk about it for now.”

"The last question is about the iron ore particles being too coarse." Gao Xiaogang pondered for a while, and then said: "This problem has already begun to be solved. I sent Deputy Factory Manager Zhong to find the Changshan Mining Bureau Director Qi, ask them to strengthen quality management and strictly prohibit the export of unqualified iron ore. Of course, we must also strengthen our own management, and conduct strict and repeated sampling inspections on the iron ore shipped to ensure that the particles are all in It is within the scope of our requirements. Li Ming, you are responsible for this matter, and don’t make trouble for me. A while ago, your ore quality control department was in a mess. If there is another problem this time, you are ready to be slapped to the bottom Let's burn the boiler in the workshop."

"I understand." Li Mingcheng nodded in trepidation and said.He was also one of the first batch of immigrants from the Ming Dynasty. He was a blacksmith and is now a technician in an iron workshop.

After talking about a few things, Gao Xiaogang turned his head and said to his secretary: "Secretary Shen, in a while you will carefully sort out a copy of the minutes of the meeting, then print it out, and hand it over to all technicians above the third-level craftsman in the whole factory. Study and discuss. In addition, everyone is required to work together to put forward some good suggestions on production. If the suggestions are of certain value, I will not be stingy with rewards. Well, the meeting is over now, and everyone should hurry back to their jobs.”

A group of people in the meeting room immediately started packing their notebooks after hearing the words, and then walked out of the meeting room one after another.Gao Xiaogang sat silently on the chair, looking at the roof, but his thoughts slowly drifted away: the steel plant is the basic sector of the national economy, every move involves all aspects of the national industrial system, and there is no room for sloppy.As the director of the Pingan Iron and Steel Plant, if it is not done well, it will be reviled by thousands of people; but if it is done well, it is very easy to make political achievements, because the leaders of the central government have been watching this side all the time.

After all, steel is the foundation of a country's industry.Doing a good job in the steel industry is the most important thing to stabilize the country's industrial foundation. What Gao Xiaogang has to do now is to strengthen the foundation of the country's industry!

(End of this chapter)