Chapter 297： It's a bit like the most primitive blast furnace

Compared with burning ore, burning clay does not require extreme high temperatures. It only requires charcoal and wood to be burned together to achieve a low-temperature smoldering environment of 700 degrees. It only takes four hours to complete the low-temperature ceramics. And this kind of low-temperature smoldering pottery is the craftsmanship of the potters of the Ross tribe, and it is also the craft of annealing glassware. After all, glass and pottery are mainly composed of silica.

A brand new bonfire rises quickly, and it is brighter than other bonfires.

Because, in the core of the flame, it is a brand new stove, which is changing from wet soil to a hard clay stove.

This furnace can be built higher, more refractory ore is piled in the inner chamber, and the clay furnace wall is made thicker, and the hole for the bladder blower is processed, and a hole for hot metal must be drilled.

In this way, a small pre-Qin blast furnace was completed. It looks simple and has excellent performance. The kind of blast furnace can already smelt pig iron.

Of course, the new furnace owned by Kawei is more primitive. It is not a blast furnace at all. No matter how the air is supplied, it cannot breed a stable high temperature environment of 1200°C. It has reached the limit of 1100°C, and at this temperature, it is impossible to smelt pig iron, only energy can produce tin bronze water.

Rurik was very tired. Although the woodcuts had been built, he just couldn't stand the strong smell of fresh pine trees. Before the smell dissipated, he still rested in the long boat, and most of the other children did the same.

Compared with those who are particular about it, a large group of Ross Warriors are not so particular about accommodation. They just made a bedding and sleep comfortably by the campfire, and before they went to bed, many people ran to the river and scrubbed their sweat-stained bodies with the river water. Of course, this scrub was done with soap, and they gave it to themselves. Perfect cleaning.

Even some people who brought a change of clothes gave the dirty clothes to the Corvin women and asked them to wash them for themselves. Here, the women of the Iron Squirrel Tribe, although they are weak, are now really in charge of the logistics of the builders.

They are the ones who cook and cut the fish, they are the ones who collect the firewood, and they are still the ones who wash the clothes. This division of labor really supports the construction of settlements, but these tribal women are not so willing. They are very willing to wash the clothes of their people, but when they think of washing the Ross soldiers, the feeling of disgust persists. They can say that Rurik is a person worthy of respect and trust, and other Ross people are doubtful.

Rurik fell asleep in hiding on the ship, and few people remained awake in the entire construction site.

There are some dangling people, they actually get up to go to the toilet.

Kawei was completely excited by his inner expectations. He kept his spirits excited, staring at the burning bonfire, and the smell of the burned earth, he felt it was a strange fragrance.

In a place invisible to the naked eye, the stove is undergoing drastic chemical changes.

In the inner chamber, a high temperature environment has formed. It is of course impossible to melt iron, let alone the chromium contained in it. However, the silicate with a content of 31% in the ore has melted and began to penetrate into the clay, and finally merged with the pottered clay, becoming a kind of high-temperature substance.

After all, he couldn't resist exhaustion, and Cavie fell asleep in confusion.

The sky was gradually blue, and some early women had the task of cooking, and their noise suddenly awakened Kawei.

The young and promising blacksmith got up, and he was pleased to see that his furnace was completed!

Even if it had been smoked into a dark luster, and violently wiped off some of the carbonized ashes on the surface with a linen cloth, what Kawei saw was the color he expected.

In fact, these clays have been burned into "blue bricks". They seem to have a pale blue gray. There are already a lot of glass crystals inside, and the whole is integrated.

The furnace was still hot, and through the touch of the long iron tongs, Kawei was pleased to notice that the ore in the inner chamber had completed the transformation into refractory bricks.

This also proves another extremely important thing: the local ore can be completely processed by traditional methods.

Kawei was completely confident, and seeing Rurik's cautious attitude, he was also a little bit worried. Until now, his worries have disappeared.

A young man yelled in excitement, and the continuous roar awakened many people.

Rurik was also awakened.

"Damn it! Don't let people rest early in the morning?!"

He held the small head with his left hand, removed the arm that Seporava was resting on his neck, and then pulled out the right arm that Carlotta was holding.

Rurik sat upright, poked his little head out of the colorfully decorated shield mounted on the side of the ship, and saw a shaggy guy jumping around the black stove with excitement, just like a samurai. Man wizard is dancing.

"Oh, it's you! Kawei! Did you make it?!" Rurik staggered and quickly jumped off the long ship that was deliberately stranded.

He quickly came up with the answer, and it was the answer he most desired.

The excited Kawei doesn't care about the dignity of Relic. He put his excited hands on the boy's shoulders, shaking wildly while saying: "The furnace is successful! We can smelt now! We want to win!"

Kawei’s excitement is actually a bit scary. Ruriek hurriedly broke free and responded with an excited smile: "You calm me down. Now that it's successful, you will smelt it for me. I want to see the sponge iron return sooner." There are iron ingots! It would be great if you could make an axe for me."

"Okay!" Kawei said nothing, as a doer, he immediately took action.

A great smelting began, but it was not paid attention to at the beginning.

After all, it is iron smelting. It is the work of a blacksmith. Ordinary Ross warriors don't care about this. What they are most passionate about is to fight and rob the enemy's wealth to fatten themselves. What iron tools will not be available by then?

People who are good at plunder cannot feel the hardships of blacksmiths, nor can they feel the joy of smelting.

Seeing that the not amazing ore finally turned into a tool in his hand, the sense of accomplishment really made Kawei fascinated.

It's as if I saw my child fall to the ground.

Kawei first puts burning charcoal in the hearth, and then throws in a large number of branches.

This is the first step in smelting, that is, "warming the stove".

Out of experience, he wants to preheat a relatively high temperature environment for the furnace. He quickly carried the bladder blower he was carrying and pointed the blower at the air inlet at the bottom of the stove. As he began to work hard to manipulate it, a very raging flame sprang from the top of the stove, just like a roaring fire dragon!

Rurik and his young guys watched with gusto. Everyone stopped to watch and thought about giving the blacksmith some help.

Perhaps the current situation fully shows people's worship of flame from the depths of the soul!

A powerful force in the dark was urging Rurik to add a handful of firewood to the already violently burning furnace.

The terracotta stove has become a fiery existence. It has been baked desperately by Kawei for a long time. Its hard clay shell has been so hot that it can easily bake the oatmeal. A piece of fresh meat is put on it and it is quickly cooked.

Even in his blacksmith's shop, Kawei didn't dare to touch the stove with his bare hands. It was really hot for him. When he touched it, the skin on his fingers was instantly burnt white, which is the so-called ripeness.

Based on this principle, Kawei prepared some fresh fish for experiment.

He stood on a bracket made of wood that was temporarily available everywhere, and was pieced together around the stove. The wooden sticks picked up the fish and observed the blanching process to judge whether the stove was qualified.

His technique is obviously weaker than that of his father Clavasson. If the old blacksmith stood here, he would just stand by the stove and feel the heat, then look at the flames from the stove top, and immediately estimate a temperature.

Kawei felt that the time was right, and a large amount of ore was thrown in.

The ore hit the burning charcoal block, and it was like a tyrannical dragon for a moment. Rurik knew that he could not help Kawei effectively now. He and the guys, as spectators, admired the process of throwing ore like fuel on a fire.

Those who can really help are the little blacksmith Kamnier and ten other blacksmith apprentices.

So far, smelting has reached its most critical moment.

In their daily work, Kawei and Cravason realized that only by making the furnace hotter can they complete the smelting better. These are nothing more than their empirical talk, until Rurik throws out his magical "atomic theory".

With the strong arm muscles that have been trained for a long time in ironing and rowing, Kawei can control his bladder blower very well. A large number of charcoal blocks were constantly thrown into the furnace by his blacksmith apprentices, and he was desperately inflating, and every time he blew fiercely, the furnace also spewed a lot of red flames.

What a long process! Rurik tried his best to keep an eye on it, having to say that the whole process of smelting was becoming a little boring.

Until Rurik noticed that the flames that spurted out were not red, but bright yellow!

"The real high-temperature flame should be blue! They use the current technology and equipment to reach the blue flame, at most they can only reach the white flame. He creates a special yellow flame close to the white flame, doesn't it mean that the furnace temperature is already very high? !"

Rurik is no longer just a spectator.

He walked into Kawei and stood very close to the stove. He saw Kamnier who was barely smiling at him, and Kawei who had thrown away his linen shirt and his arms covered in sweat with his naked muscles.

Kawei seemed to be trapped in an uninhabited state, and he was doing his job with his head stuffed, as if tirelessly.

Rurik coughed twice before he caught his attention.

"The flame is almost white! Kawei."

"Really?" Kawei glanced up at the blazing flames. "It's yellow. Rurik, I don't know what white flames are."

"No! Only when the highest temperature is reached, the true white flame will be born. When the white flame is reached, most of the iron ore will be completely melted, and you can cast iron with a glance like smelting and casting bronze."

This remark of Rurik was understood by Kawei as a very well-meaning prospect.

Man, I can't imagine things I haven't seen. Kawei has never seen the so-called "real white flame", let alone what it will mean.

"Just like that, can the ore inside turn into sponge iron?" Rurik asked again.

"Definitely, it just takes time. You know..." Kawei shook his head vigorously, and a lot of the sweat from his hair was thrown directly onto Rurik's face.

Rurik even reached out his hand and licked it again and again, feeling a strong umami taste. Seeing this man fighting hard, he was happy that he had such a doer under his command, but he regretted that there were too few doers.

"How long do you need?!"

It's a sharp question, and Kawei can't worry about getting tired: "I think, when the sun reaches the sky, the work should come to an end. You know, my lord, there is a unique substance in these ores."

"Well, please continue."

What else can I do? Rurik could only sit and wait.

It seems that it is just a one-man show by a brawny Kawei. Could it be that a smelting will tire him down?

Do not! You are not alone in the battle! Not alone!

Rurik sat up abruptly, and after a while, he called over a dozen mercenaries who were able to find all-out logging.

Kawei was already showing fatigue. He didn't want mercenaries who didn't understand or disdain to smelt iron to participate in his great work. However, the pain of weakening his arms finally controlled his mind.

More than a dozen mercenaries began to demonstrate their strength. They frantically manipulated the blower, and the skin swelled and collapsed, and the gushing furnace flames surged to the extreme, as if the stove was a dragon egg, and a young fire dragon was about to fly into the blue sky.

Kawei was able to take a breather, and he drank directly from the rushing clean river water and washed his hair with the river water.

He was sitting on the wood next to Rurik, with his hands on his knees, and the look of panting was really heartbreaking.

"Did you know? Rurik, I think my chest is about to burst."

"Your lungs are very painful." Rurik replied calmly, seemingly not caring about Kawei.

"Yes, it's painful. Maybe it's just that I put too much ore, my ambition is too big, I just want to smelt more in one breath, and I almost fought for it."

"Your work will be fruitful. Now tell you, what do you think of your stove?!"

"It's so good." Cavy was happy, and his pain eased a lot.

Rurik still changed his face and stared at the stove: "What I just said was not a mere imagination. Kawei, I think we should build a bigger and taller stove! We need to use brand new bladder blowers and at least install eight. , Let a group of strong men manipulate. In this way, the temperature reached by the furnace can completely melt the ore."

For this imagination, Kawei could not forget the first time he heard it. "You... forget it. I don't doubt it. I just want to ask if we can make it. Rurik, you must be blessed by Thor. If you think it is possible, we should build a bigger furnace. ."

A bigger stove? Rurik smiled: "It's called a blast furnace. The furnace will have to undergo a lot of renovations. I tell you! Then the charcoal will mix with the sponge iron and become like a bronze liquid. You can cast them, but There is too much carbon in it. You already understand my element table. You should understand that it is because of too much carbon that iron ore can completely melt. The objects cast in this way are definitely not suitable for weapons, but they can be used as tools. ."

Kawei heard it almost like a fantasy, but he touched on the "list of elements" and the new theory of interpreting the world. Since many theories are completely consistent with the reality, he increasingly trusts this theory, so he is right Rurik's explanation he chose to believe.

The idea is this kind of idea. As long as a larger furnace is made, with a better temperature-locking structure, and more air is injected, the iron ore can be melted in the form of alloy substances.

Rurik actually noticed Based on the available materials, he can build a blast furnace, because the towering furnace of Kawei already has a bit of blast furnace meaning.

What he really lacks is a high-efficiency blower that pumps oxygen. As for the blower, he thought of a few things.

A pair of azure eyes couldn't help but see the nearby river, which was caused by melting ice and turned into a torrential river in summer.

The electric blower is also a fan! As long as it can drive a bearing to rotate wildly, its driving force can be an electric motor, of course, it can also be a waterwheel!

Waterwheel? ! that is not……

Thinking of the Milanese at the end of the fourteenth century began to use water power to move and forge on a large scale, they quickly created a group of "iron cans" fighters. Thinking of this, Rurik felt that he needed to recreate it. In the final analysis, the waterwheel technology is not complicated, it is just a mechanical transmission mechanism with a few wooden shafts and wooden gears. Because it does not require high mechanical strength, it does not even need an advanced bearing system, and it has a great tolerance for mechanical structure. . Now, Lurik has moved the water tanker to alleviate the dilemma of labor shortage in Ayron Orava Fort, and silently regards it as an urgently needed project in the development plan.