Although Tianjin Machinery Company has not yet produced a large steam engine, and the price is extremely expensive, Zhenjiang Heavy Machinery Company, which has a strong demand for large steam engines, still signed a pre-purchase agreement with Tianjin Machinery Company without hesitation.
The steam engine has proven its practicality in coal mines. Even people in the industry have heard that there are many problems with the steam pumps running in the mines of Chizhou Coal Mining Company, but everyone knows that this is the first time that this thing has been actually used. The problem Mostly normal.
It is not mainly about the core components. If there is a problem with the overall design of the steam engine, then some problems are nothing.
No, Dangtu Machinery Company has announced to the outside world that they will complete and freeze the design of the second-generation steam engine in October. The scheduled models are 16-horsepower and 32-horsepower, with pumping water conservancy, industrial We use power conversion and transportation packages and accept reservations at the same time.
This means that Dangtu Machinery Company believes that after the first-generation small-scale trial production, there are no problems with the core design and main processes. After correcting many minor problems, it can be mass-produced and put into the market.
This undoubtedly gives the outside world great confidence.
This confidence has also benefited Tianjin Machinery Company, which has not yet produced even a steam engine.
Dangtu Machinery Company has proven the practical application possibility of steam engines, and the technical information obtained by Tianjin Machinery Company is the same as that of Dangtu Machinery Company. In terms of technology research and development, funds and supporting supply chain, it is no better than Dangtu Machinery. No matter how different the company is, theoretically speaking, there will be no problems if Tianjin Machinery Company develops steam engines.
And the most important thing is... currently only Tianjin Machinery Company has a large-scale steam engine R&D project with hundreds of horsepower. Dangtu Machinery Company does not have one, and Guangzhou Machinery Company also does not have one.
In other words, Zhenjiang Heavy Machinery Company actually has no choice...
At present, the main strength of Dangtu Machinery Company is concentrated on 16-horsepower steam engines, with an additional 32-horsepower steam engine, and its main focus is on steam pumps used in mining.
As for the Guangzhou Machinery Company, they have also devoted their main research efforts to sixteen-horsepower steam engines. They also focus on steam water pumps, but they also research small steam engines with smaller horsepower, that is, eight or even four horsepower. Small steam engines to meet the needs of the market for small steam engines, well, it is the market for small steam engines, not the low-end market.
In the current steam engine market, there is no such thing as low-end!
As for steam engines with more than 32 horsepower, that is, those with fifty, sixty or even larger horses, currently only Tianjin Machinery Company is working on them. Their main steam engines are concentrated on 32-horsepower steam engines, and their secondary focus is on research and development. A large steam engine estimated to be between fifty and sixty horsepower.
As for the steam engine with hundreds of horsepower, because the technology is too difficult, well, the main reason is that the cylinder is too big and difficult to process, so their solution is to connect multiple steam engines in series, and get more power by working together. High horsepower.
Well, in fact, their large steam engines between fifty and sixty horses are also prepared to do this.
After all, there are only three ways to increase the horsepower of a steam engine: increasing the cylinder volume, increasing the steam pressure, and increasing the number of cylinders.
The first two are currently unfeasible.
The first one is to increase the cylinder volume. This is the simplest to say, but in fact it is very difficult to implement, because how are the cylinders processed these days?
It is processed using a large boring machine. To be precise, it uses more of the experience of defense companies in producing large-caliber naval guns.
To put it bluntly, the processing of this kind of large parts will be a troublesome thing even in the 21st century. Every increase in processing capacity of a certain size or weight means an overall improvement in basic industry.
Considering the cost issue, the current large-scale production of cylinders with about 32 horsepower is basically the limit of the Dachu Empire's large-size parts processing capabilities.
If it's any bigger, then some extreme methods will have to be used, and the cost will soar in an instant to the point where you will be stunned. Except for special fields such as scientific experiment research and development, no one will be stupid enough to use such extreme methods to process large objects. The volumetric cylinder is then made into a steam engine for factory use...the cost is too exaggerated.
In addition to increasing the cylinder volume, the second method is to increase the steam pressure.
This is also easy to say, but actually more difficult to do...
If the cylinder volume is as large as the industrial level of the Chu Empire, we can grit our teeth and build a larger cylinder regardless of the cost, and then use it for special needs, such as in the field of scientific research.
But to increase the pressure of the steam engine... there is no way, not even the explosion of a small universe... because behind the steam pressure is a series of the most basic technological research and development of materials, precision processing, etc.
Again, any field involving materials is a sinkhole... If it works, it works, if it doesn't, it doesn't work. And if you can't solve the problem quickly, even if you spend money on research and development regardless of the cost, it depends on God. Give face or not.
To give you face, just do a random experiment, and you will come up with a very awesome new material.
If God doesn't give you face, even if you try thousands of tests, they will all be rubbish.
Materials research and development, especially before the advent of computational materials in the 21st century, whether materials research and development can be successful depends purely on luck...
Due to limitations in materials and processing techniques, the Dachu Empire has not been able to produce a steam engine with higher pressure for the time being. Neither the materials nor the processing level can reach this level.
The pressure of the steam engines currently developed by the Da Chu Empire is only between 0.1 and 0.13 MPa. The specific number depends on the technical level of the manufacturer.
The test product developed by the Royal Institute of Technology Steam Engine Research Institute can achieve 0.13 MPa and continue to operate reliably for a long time.
This is talking about the steam pressure in normal operation, not the ultimate pressure. If it is the ultimate pressure, the Royal Institute of Technology can achieve a little over MPa in the test, but this kind of extreme test data is of little use in practical applications. Use it, because if you dare to use such a high steam pressure in actual applications, the cylinder will explode in minutes. Let me show you...
The core technology of the steam engines produced by the three major steam engine companies comes from the Royal Institute of Technology, and they themselves are temporarily unable to improve the core technology.
Therefore, the steam pressures of the core engines of the three major steam engine manufacturers are all consistent, and the gap between them is not large, that is, between 0.1 and 0.11, even 0.13 MPa is impossible to achieve.
There is still a big difference between industrial mass production and experimental products.
Therefore, obtaining greater horsepower by increasing steam pressure is not feasible with the current Da Chu Empire technology.
By the way, the steam engines used in early trains or ships had steam pressures between 0.3 MPa and 0.5 MPa. In the later nineteenth century terms, they were high-pressure steam engines. The steam engines before that were classified as low-pressure steam engines. , the Watt steam engine is a typical low-pressure steam engine.
If the steam pressure cannot reach this level, then if you want to achieve high horsepower, you can only increase the size and weight of the steam engine, use larger cylinders and more cylinders to obtain the corresponding horsepower. If it is an industrial machine fixed on the ground, There is nothing wrong with the steam engine. At most, it consumes more energy and is more troublesome to maintain. However, it is not feasible for transportation.
Excessive dead weight will cause the steam engine to be unable to drive itself... let alone pull goods and people.
Perhaps, a professional term for aeroengines can be used to describe it here: thrust-to-weight ratio.
That is, the ratio between the engine's own weight and its power. The greater the thrust-to-weight ratio, the better the maneuverability. When the thrust-to-weight ratio is small enough, the aircraft will not be able to fly!
Although trains and ships do not fly in the sky, they can still use this concept to a certain extent!
For steam engines used in trains and ships, under the weight and volume restrictions, the bigger the power, the better, and there is a lower limit. If the lower limit cannot be reached, then there is no hope that it can be used as transportation power.
Today, the steam engines of the Dachu Empire have not even touched this lower limit...
Of course, the high-horsepower steam engine required by Zhenjiang Heavy Machinery Company has no requirements on weight and volume. Anyway, this thing is for use in the factory... and there is no need to move it.
If that doesn't work, they could even build a dedicated factory for steam engines.
Even if the finished product is too large to be transported, the parts can be transported separately and then installed after arriving at the destination.
When the weight and volume requirements were not high, engineers from Tianjin Machinery Company took on their challenge: to develop and produce a steam unit with a power of more than 100 horsepower.
The reason why it is said to be a set of units, not a steam engine... is because they plan to use the combined output of multiple boilers and multiple cylinders to obtain greater horsepower.
To put it bluntly, it means putting multiple steam engines together and then doing work together.
Of course, how to coordinate multiple boilers and cylinders to work together is also a very difficult research project, but it is much easier than studying to increase the cylinder diameter and increase the steam pressure, which is nothing more than the difficulty of the mechanical design itself.
This design plan of Tianjin Machinery Company has also been recognized by Zhenjiang Heavy Machinery Company.
In terms of mechanical design, Zhenjiang Heavy Machinery Company is also an expert. Although they are not involved in the design of various finished machinery, they are the main component suppliers of those large-scale machinery and equipment. They are even employees of Dangtu Machinery Company. Steam engines supply some parts.
They will probably have to provide some of the subsequent parts for this large steam engine themselves.
Strictly speaking, Zhenjiang Heavy Machinery Company is also involved in a series of R&D and production of steam engines. It only provides some parts and components, and it is not the only parts supplier. If the three major machinery companies are willing, they can always find other suppliers. Machinery company to replace.
Take Daye Heavy Machinery Company for example. This company is truly the leader in the field of processing super-large parts in the Dachu Empire.
The cylinders used in the early steam engines of Dangtu Machinery Company were ordered from them. However, after Dangtu Machinery Company's self-built cylinder factory was completed and put into production, they were not outsourced but produced in-house.
In addition, Daye Heavy Machinery Company not only produces civilian products, but also military products... For the time being, they can only supply the core ultra-large steel parts for iron-ribbed wooden hull ships, and Zhenjiang Heavy Machinery Company cannot.
Then it was also an artillery processing plant... Although when the plant was originally planned, the Ministry of Industry did not actually use this project as an artillery factory.
However, as the plant's technical capabilities continue to improve, and the processing of large-caliber artillery becomes more and more complex and difficult, especially after the launch of the mild steel large-caliber naval gun project last year, the Navy found that a domestic Among the numerous artillery factories, none could process the barrel of the proposed 200 mm caliber ship-borne howitzer.
After searching around, I finally found that Daye Heavy Machinery Company, which was not an artillery factory, had this capability.
Then they discovered that the technical capabilities of this factory were very impressive. They could produce 200mm-caliber mild steel howitzers and 170mm-caliber mild steel cannons. As for other smaller cannons or howitzers, just It's extremely simple.
In the end, Daye Heavy Machinery Company inexplicably turned into an artillery processing factory, and then received a bunch of orders for barrel processing of 170mm cannons for naval battleships' main guns and other large-caliber artillery.
This made several major weapons companies lose face. It is said that the general office of Hantian Weapons Company next door caught the owner of his own heavy artillery factory and scolded him for a long time...
Hantian Weapons Company, which owns Hantian Gun Factory, Hantian Artillery Factory and other national defense factories located in Daye Industrial Zone, is the largest company in the Chu Empire and has the best technology, especially the top heavy artillery technology. In the field of heavy artillery, they were surpassed by a group of rough guys from next door, Daye Heavy Machinery Company, who usually only make big iron lumps...
As a result, for this series of artillery today, Daye Heavy Machinery Company produces the barrels, and Hantian Weapons Company produces the gun mounts and supporting shells... In other words, Hantian Weapons Company has become a handyman.
The general office of Hantian Weapons Company is going to be pissed to death...
Damn, as the empire's top heavy artillery production supplier, he actually worked for a company next door that catered to the civilian market... Even though both parties belonged to the Ministry of Industry and could barely be considered a family, it was a total loss of face.
It is rumored that the top management of Hantian Weapons Company has made great determination to break through the manufacturing technology of large-caliber soft steel gun barrels within a limited time at any cost, regain its leadership position in the field of heavy artillery, and avenge its previous shame.
And in order to further save face, they also made plans to use more top-notch production lines and various processing equipment. They not only want to make 170 mm mild steel cannons, but also process 200 mm mild steel cannons, and even make larger ones in the future. The mild steel cannon.
It doesn’t matter whether we want the Navy in the future, but we must at least boast about our awesomeness first: I am the most awesome one.
It is not easy to surpass the production capacity of Daye Heavy Machinery Company. At least relying on the current hydraulic machinery and equipment is hopeless. The hydraulic equipment of Daye Heavy Machinery Company has basically reached the limit. Here, It's hard to surpass them in one field.
Under such circumstances, Hantian Weapons Company also set its sights on steam engines. They were not interested in those small and medium-horsepower steam engines. Anyway, the power was not very good, and water-powered equipment could be used. They were eyeing high-horsepower steam engines. , which is a series of high-horsepower steam engines of Tianjin Machinery Company.
From a professional perspective, the processing of large-caliber artillery is the processing of large-sized iron parts.
The biggest difficulty is how to obtain a mild steel pipe that is several meters long, has a balanced mass, and does not have many gaps, bubbles, or impurities inside, and then drills and expands the diameter of the mild steel barrel.
It sounds simple and simple, but in fact it is not easy... From casting to forging and subsequent drilling, each of these processes challenges the extreme capabilities of the Dachu Empire's industrial base.
Among them, stable and reliable power is indispensable!
This is why they approached Tianjin Machinery Company to order a high-horsepower steam engine.
Then Tianjin Machinery Company discovered that...the thirty-two-horsepower steam engine that it originally invested heavily in research and development did not have a single pre-order for the time being. Instead, it had received many sets of high-horsepower steam engines as a secondary research and development project. Order.
Zhenjiang Heavy Machinery Company has orders for three sets, one steam unit with hundreds of horsepower and two sets of 55-horsepower steam engines.
Now Hantian Weapons Company has also placed orders for two sets of steam engines with hundreds of horsepower and five sets of 55-horsepower steam engines in one go.
They misjudged the urgent need for large-power steam engines from large domestic machinery companies. Even if they were expensive, even if a set of large steam engines cost tens of thousands of dollars, and even if they didn’t even have a prototype and were still in the process of research and development, they They all signed the pre-order contract without hesitation.
Even part of the pre-order deposit was given directly.
The market for large-scale industrial steam engines is larger than they imagined!
Yes, in the industrial world today, although steam engines have high purchase prices and high usage prices, most industries cannot afford steam engines, such as the most typical textile industry.
Su Qin Textile Company has been paying attention to steam engines for a long time, but in the end they did not order steam engines. This is because the price and gross profit of the textile industry cannot support the use of steam engines.
However, in some special industries, especially the machinery industry with high value-added products, the purchase and use costs of steam engines are not so sensitive.
For example, artillery!
Take Hantian Weapons Company as an example. The artillery they produce is mainly Army standard field guns and Navy large-caliber naval guns.
And a 170mm mild steel ship-borne cannon costs several thousand Chu Yuan!
The navy purchases a very large number of artillery pieces, especially 170mm cannons, which are the standard main artillery of the battleships of the Da Chu Empire Navy. The third-class battleships are equipped with twenty-six guns, and the first-class battleships are equipped with thirty guns.
The Navy has to start construction of several battleships every year, which adds up to the purchase of dozens of 170mm cannons.
This is only a 170mm naval gun. In addition, the Navy also purchases large quantities of 150mm cannons, 130mm cannons, 115mm cannons, and 100mm naval guns every year, and equips them extensively on various warships, especially battleships, cruisers and frigates.
Even armed merchant ships are commonly equipped with 115mm naval guns and 100mm naval guns.
High value-added products such as artillery are enough for these weapons companies to purchase expensive steam engines for production.
Before this, in fact, all the advanced technologies in the Chu Empire had been concentrated in the defense industry, that is, in the hands of several major weapons companies.
These weapons companies have long represented the top industrial production capabilities of the Chu Empire. However, in the past few years, because there was no threat of external war, the military's willingness to upgrade was not so strong. At the same time, some arrogance was added to it, so that Han Tian Arsenal, represented by weapons companies, failed to keep up with technological changes in time.
So far, in some fields, a series of top-notch technologies represented by Daye Heavy Machinery Company have been surpassed by machinery companies facing the market.
But now... Hantian Weapons Company has realized the crisis and has begun to work hard and spend a lot of money to build the country's leading steam engine-powered weapons production line.
And this, in turn, increased the stimulation to the steam engine industry!
Seeing that the market prospects are excellent, Tianjin Machinery Company has stepped up its research on high-horsepower steam engines without further ado, striving to produce a prototype by the end of the year and put it into mass production next year.
In addition, the small steam engines that Guangzhou Machinery Company specializes in have also gained a certain market. Although the power of small steam engines is not large, it is difficult to replace water-powered equipment and the cost is also high.
But just like those mining companies that cannot use hydraulic equipment, there are many factories that cannot use hydraulic equipment, or have higher requirements for power stability, etc.
Hydropower is limited by changes in water flow, and the power output is actually a process of continuous change. Even if there are various methods to limit the power and maintain the power within a value as much as possible, there will still be subtle changes.
But a steam engine doesn't have this kind of trouble. As long as the cylinder pressure is set properly, its power output is extremely stable.
Finally, in some northern areas where there is a lack of water flow, capital cannot use water power in these places. In the past, it was either manual or stored power to build small factories locally for local production, or simply transport goods from distant places for sale.
But now, some small steam engines can also be used in these places and serve as a source of power for local factories.
At the same time, the price of small steam engines is not that expensive. For example, the price of an eight-horsepower steam engine is only more than a thousand yuan.
(End of chapter)
