Natural disaster at the beginning: I will lead the system to build a safe zone

After Shi Anan returned to Guangming Town, she was called over by the blacksmith.

This blacksmith is the same one who came from Changle Village before. His surname is also Li. Due to the high demand for iron products, Blacksmith Li has now hired more than a dozen people as apprentices. The current iron smelting workshop is quite large.

But what is worrying blacksmith Li now is not the people, but the iron smelting method that Shi Anan gave him.

"Miss Shi, I have carefully read the iron smelting method you gave me before, but I still don't quite understand pig iron, wrought iron and steel. Now I have also changed the fuel to coal, but no matter how many times I forge it, the iron I smelt is still not much different from before!" said blacksmith Li with a frown.

Shi Anan looked at him in confusion: "Did you burn the coal directly from the excavated mines?"

Blacksmith Li nodded and said, "Yes, coal is indeed more durable than firewood."

Shi Anan slapped his forehead and said, "Take me to the iron smelting furnace. Your condition is probably caused by the furnace temperature and temperature stability not meeting the standards."

"Hey, hey, okay, Miss Shi, please follow me!" Blacksmith Li took Shi Anan into the iron smelting workshop and walked towards the iron smelting furnace.

The current iron smelting furnace has been improved some time ago. Not only has a blast device been added, but the combustion raw materials have also been changed, so the temperature is up to standard. What Blacksmith Li said has not changed much. In fact, he already has the qualifications to smelt a hundred times of steel.

After all, "hundred-refined steel" is actually made by repeatedly forging wrought iron at high temperatures to remove impurities and increase the carbon content of the iron, making it harder, so it is called "hundred-refined steel". However, although it is called steel, it is not actually out of the category of iron, and it is not the steel that Shi Anan wants.

She pondered for a while and explained to Blacksmith Li: "Let me first tell you the difference between pig iron, wrought iron and steel that you can't tell apart."

"In fact, the difference between the three is mainly based on their carbon content. Pig iron has the highest carbon content, so it is also the hardest and most brittle. Wrought iron has the lowest carbon content and is also the softest. The iron that you can forge all the time is wrought iron, and steel is something in between the two."

"There are many steelmaking methods in the iron smelting plan I gave you. The hundred-fold steelmaking is actually what you are doing now, but you can see that the steel made in this way is actually only slightly better than before, and it is far from the standard we want."

"The steelmaking method is to hammer the raw iron into pieces and throw them into a heated furnace to form a semi-molten state, then stir-fry it to expel the carbon in the iron, and finally obtain steel."

"But the stir-frying method has a big problem, which is that it requires a lot of experience from the steelmaker. If the stir-frying process is not controlled in time, it is easy to lose a lot of carbon during the stirring, causing the pig iron to directly turn into wrought iron, and the process will have to be redone. Not only does it waste manpower and material resources, but it also adds a lot of steps in vain, so I personally don't recommend you to use this method."

When Shi Anan said this, she glanced at Li the blacksmith and found that he was listening carefully and understood. Then she continued:

"Among these steelmaking methods, the one that our technology can reach and is the most practical is the pouring steel method. Although the pouring steel method also requires a certain amount of experience, it is easier to control than frying steel."

"It is based on having both pig iron and wrought iron, and pouring the pig iron liquid into the wrought iron to make its carbon content uniform. When the steel pouring method is stirred and decarbonized, the impurities produced are finer and more evenly distributed. Although forging and slag removal are still required, the number of times will be reduced a lot, saving manpower."

"If we want to get a lot of molten pig iron, we have to modify this furnace."

Blacksmith Li asked with admiration: "Miss Shi, what do you think we should do?"

Shi Anan pointed to the furnace mouth of the iron smelting furnace and said, "First of all, there is the problem of the furnace mouth. Now you put the furnace mouth at the bottom without the slag outlet. This will cause too many impurities in the iron after you smelt the iron, so you have to raise the furnace mouth."

"The second point is the furnace temperature and temperature stability. You can indeed increase the furnace temperature and durability by burning coal, but there are also many impurities in the raw coal, which will also cause the pig iron liquid to be contaminated by impurities, so you can't use coal directly, but you have to use coke."

"Coal not only increases heat, but is also more resistant to burning, and can maintain furnace temperature for a longer time, thus improving stability. In addition, coke contains fewer impurities, so using coke can also reduce impurities in iron."

Hearing this, Blacksmith Li couldn't help but ask: "Then how do we get coke?"

"It's easier said than done to obtain coke. It mainly involves sifting out the impurities in the coal first, and then letting the coal burn for a few days to complete the coking process. This is more complicated to say, but don't worry. I'll let Li Changlin and Li Yan come and help you." Shi Anan explained. In fact, whether it is iron smelting or making coke, mathematics, physics and chemistry are indispensable. This time, it's just the right time for Li Changlin and others to put what they have learned into practice.

When Blacksmith Li heard that he had a helper, he smiled and nodded repeatedly: "That's good, that's good. I can barely understand what you said about iron smelting, but I am completely confused by the furnace and coke in the back."

Shi Anan smiled and said, "When the time comes, I will go back and draw a diagram of the furnace and ask them to bring it over. You can modify the iron smelting furnace according to the diagram.

. "

"Okay, okay, thank you for your hard work." Blacksmith Li said gratefully. He has been smelting iron for most of his life, and no one has ever told him the details about iron. Although he didn't quite understand some of the professional terms, he could understand some of it based on his actual experience.

"It's okay. I just want you to refine the right steel and iron as soon as possible. These things have many uses."

"Don't worry, Miss Shi. Once the iron-making furnace and coke are ready, I will immediately start smelting iron again according to your method. I will definitely be able to produce iron and steel that meet your requirements!" Blacksmith Li patted his chest and promised.

After instructing blacksmith Li, Shi Anan left the iron smelter. It must be said that it was still a bit hot to stay in the iron smelter in such weather.

As she was walking on the road, she suddenly heard a voice calling her from behind: "Miss Shi!"

Shi Anan looked back in confusion and saw a middle-aged man who was dressed quite elegantly. She couldn't remember who he was at once.

The middle-aged man walked up to her and saw her blank expression. He guessed that she must not have recognized him, so he smiled and greeted her: "Miss Shi, do you not remember Chen? We met before by the Qing Lake."

Shi Anan thought about it for a moment, and suddenly realized: "Master Chen?!"

Chen Huairen smiled and nodded.

Shi Anan said with an embarrassed look on her face: "I'm sorry, Master Chen, there have been too many things going on recently and my mind is a little confused. You have gained a lot of weight, I didn't recognize you at first glance!"

The person who came was Chen Huairen. After they parted by Qinghu Lake, Shi Anan only asked Yan Fei and the others to take their family with them when they returned to Guangming Town. Later, she was so busy that she really forgot about this person for a while.

In addition, after coming to Guangming Town, Mr. Chen has become much fatter than when I last saw him. He used to be skinny and his face was haggard and sallow, but now he has flesh on his cheeks and looks full of energy. He is like a completely different person.