"How is your steam engine research going?"
Seeing Li Meizhi, Zuo Mengeng couldn't help feeling that time flies by.
When this girl fled to Linqing with her parents, she was just a little baby with a sallow face and skinny muscles.
Unexpectedly, in a blink of an eye, they are both tall and graceful girls.
"Success is within reach."
Li Meizhi suddenly became lively when she mentioned the career she was working on, and her words were full of pride.
"Oh, tell me, how far have you achieved it?"
Although Zuo Mengeng has never seen the development of steam engines, he attaches great importance to them.
Li Meizhi followed Zuo Mengeng with her little hands behind her back and made a chirpy report.
"We have built a qualified cylinder body, and after testing, the pressure-bearing effect is very good."
Zuo Mengeng was quite pleased.
The first important thing in a steam engine is obviously the cylinder.
This is the core area where steam engines operate.
Not only must it be smooth enough to make the push rod operate smoothly, but it must also be able to withstand sufficient steam pressure.
Otherwise, if the cylinder explodes, it will not only fail to work, but also injure people.
He originally thought that Qin Luo and Li Meizhi would not be able to produce a qualified cylinder without ten or eight years of tinkering with steam engines.
Although he provided a lot of ideas.
Unexpectedly, these kids are so talented that they have already made a qualified cylinder.
"Tell me, how did you do it?"
Hearing him ask, Li Meizhi couldn't help but be more cautious.
"I said, Uncle Zuo is not allowed to be angry."
Zuo Mengeng was so funny.
"You girl! Your uncle, my heart is much broader than you think."
Li Meizhi then spoke cautiously.
"During the Chinese New Year, we went to see artillery exercises. 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 is bored out of one piece. I We thought, since the barrel made in this way is so strong that it can withstand even the barrel pressure of the gun, it should also be able to withstand the steam pressure. So, we went to Uncle Yang Gui for help and asked him We used a boring machine to boring a cylinder for us. The cylinder turned out to be perfect and is still intact even after being used."
Zuo Mengeng suddenly realized that he didn't expect this to be the case.
He also didn't know that the first qualified steam engine cylinder in history was made by Watt using a barrel boring machine after asking John Wilkinson for help.
Although the time was advanced by more than a hundred years, Shandong actually followed the same path.
There is no way, after all, the manufacturing of artillery is the most advanced craft of this era.
When other processes encounter difficulties, it is natural to seek breakthroughs and help from artillery manufacturing.
"Above Heaven"
Li Meizhi is worried that Zuo Mengeng will blame Yang Gui for this.
After all, the artillery factory was extremely important, but Yang Gui did private work for them and would be punished according to the rules.
Zuo Mengeng did not think of this.
Even if he remembered it, 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 requested many times and plans to retire from the artillery factory. How about letting him join your steam engine team? Yang Gui's knowledge is not up to par, but his skills are excellent. With him here, he should be able to help you a lot. "
Yang Gui is old.
The first craftsman in the camp was now gradually falling behind.
Just because he absorbs new knowledge too slowly, he cannot calculate or understand many things.
If it weren't for his superb craftsmanship, Yang Gui would be the kind of person who would be eliminated.
But now his apprentices have graduated one by one. They are young and powerful, and their skills are even better than their predecessors.
Yang Gui felt that he was redundant.
Anyway, he received the master craftsman's stipend and salary, and even if he retired, he would not have to worry about food and clothing, so he repeatedly proposed to abdicate in favor of others.
Originally, the big guy couldn't bear to let him go.
But Zuo Mengeng knew the progress of the steam engine, so he decided to ask Yang Gui to help, which could be regarded as using the remaining heat.
Li Meizhi didn't think much about it and was very happy when she heard this.
"That's great. With Uncle Yang Gui's help, many parts can be made."
These young people have lively minds and advanced ideas. Only my hands-on ability is a bit poor, which seriously hinders me.
Having the help of the mature and skilled Yang Gui is a great enhancement to their team.
"I don't have much time. If you still have any problems, please tell them all. See what I can do to help?"
After meeting Li Meizhi by chance, Zuo Mengeng decided to pay more attention to the steam engine group.
After all, this thing represents a new era.
If we want to truly realize industrialization, the steam engine is the foundation.
Even if he didn't say that, Li Meizhi actually had a lot of things he wanted to ask.
The concept of the steam engine was proposed by Zuo Mengeng. Although he never participated in the research and development, no one dared to doubt his role in the steam engine.
"Our experiments found that in order for the steam in the cylinder to do work, it must be condensed. But once it condenses, the temperature of the cylinder will drop and it needs to be reheated. We have tried many methods, but none of them are ideal."
A huge problem that plagues the steam engine team, but for Zuo Mengeng, it is simply outrageous.
Anyone in future generations who has driven a car or knows something about mechanics will immediately know how to solve it.
"Why don't you try to separate the condenser from the cylinder?"
Li Meizhi paused and was speechless. After a while, he suddenly hit his head with his embroidered fist.
"Oh, really, so stupid, so stupid!"
Zuo Mengeng laughed loudly, fearing that she would knock him silly.
"Are there any other problems?"
Li Meizhi became a lot more active.
She originally came to Zuo Menggeng to complain, but actually she had no expectations about whether Zuo Menggeng could solve the problem.
I didn’t expect that Zuo Mengeng would be so powerful once he opened his mouth.
Now she finally found her backbone, and another problem came one after another.
"Also, everything about the steam engine we made is good, but it leaks air. 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 significantly reduce the efficiency of the steam engine and create safety hazards.
But this is another problem within the scope of Zuo Mengeng.
He squatted down and used a branch to draw a small ring with a gap.
"Don't use fabric or glue. When you go back, you can make a small metal ring like this and put it on the screw. How about the effect?"
Zuo Mengeng knew that the sealing effect of this method was absolutely no problem.
Because this small metal ring that looks ordinary is called a piston ring.
It is the preferred means of sealing for many machines in later generations.
