After the sealing problem was solved, subsequent improvements to the steam engine became easier, and Li Zhi successfully made a condenser.
After the condenser was built, the force on the push rod was obviously much stronger. The wasted heat was saved, and the effect was immediate.
The next step is to use a bidirectional air intake cylinder, with air inlets on both sides of the piston. When hot steam is injected into the left side of the piston to perform work, the other side of the piston closes the air inlet and connects it to the condenser, thereby generating negative pressure.
Suction the piston. The gas on both sides of the piston works together to push in one direction, sucking the piston and increasing the output power.
Inspired by oil-soaked linen, Li Zhi used oil-soaked hemp rope to seal the connection between the push rod and the cylinder, and found that the effect was good. After the hemp rope was soaked in oil, it was very tight and quite elastic.
, because of the grease, the friction is small. After tying six layers of hemp rope on the push rod, the water vapor cannot be squeezed out.
Li Zhi came up with the wonderful idea of using oil-impregnated hemp ropes after being reminded by a craftsman. However, in the later generations before Li Zhi traveled through time, and actually until the 19th century, there were still many steam engines in the UK that used oil-impregnated hemp ropes.
It was sealed. The actual object is still preserved in British museums in later generations.
Li Zhi made a baffle on the two air inlets. Every time the baffle is slid, the two air inlets are alternately opened and closed, and are alternately connected to the boiler. This baffle is connected by an eccentric ring at the top of the slide rod.
Control, it switches automatically as the slider moves up and down.
Li Zhi rode to Fanjiazhuang every morning and rushed back to Tianjin in the evening. He worked hard in the two places and spent more than twenty days solving a series of minor problems before successfully building a Watt-type steam engine. The steam engine was very powerful.
At least it has the strength of five oxen.
Seeing that Li Zhi had made the Watt-type steam engine, the blacksmiths who participated in the trial production of the steam engine kept looking at the steam engine in admiration.
The combination of steel and flames turned it into something that could move, and it was so powerful. Although the craftsmen participated in the trial production, they only participated in part of the manufacturing. At this time, there were still many things that they did not understand.
Governor Li Zhi's skills were astonishing.
"Grand Governor, this strength is greater than a few cows!"
"The Governor is so amazing. This machine can be used in many places!"
"The Governor must be the reincarnation of Lu Ban!"
Li Zhi smiled and emphasized the confidentiality regulations to the craftsmen again.
Li Zhi planned to follow the same example and build two larger steam engines so that they could be mounted on ships and become the power source of the ships' paddle wheels.
A ship with a steam engine is a steamship, and it can go to sea no matter what the monsoon is. Using a ship that can go to sea in all seasons to do ocean trade, Li Zhi seemed to have seen a lot of money waving to him.
However, Li Zhi's two large ships are still under construction and will take more than three months to complete.
Li Zhi took the time to visit Wangjiawan these days and taught the shipwrights how to build ribs. The shipwrights were all old-fashioned and could easily solve the problem. They built dense ribs on both sides of the keel. In addition to laying the ribs, Li Zhi
The shipwrights were also asked to open twenty cannon ports on the side of the second deck as firing ports for the cannons.
When the pointed ship is built in three months, the steam engine can be put on board.
However, steam engines can do more than just ship engines, and can also provide power for many industries.
During this battle with the Tatars in Gyeonggi Province, Li Zhi was deeply aware of the lack of armor in his troops. Without the protection of armor, soldiers were extremely vulnerable to enemy bows and arrows, and they could be seriously injured even if they were hit by thrown bows and arrows.
Although a large amount of Qing army cotton armor and chain mail were seized, with the expansion of Li Zhi's troops, these captured armors may not be enough. Moreover, most of the captured armor is cotton armor. It is too hot to wear cotton armor in summer, causing heatstroke.
Li Zhi prepared to make a new type of armor by himself, using high-quality crucible steel as raw material, and using a steam engine to drive a forging hammer to forge steel breastplates, helmets and shoulder armors.
With steel breastplates, shoulder armors and helmets, Tatar bows and arrows are basically ineffective against Li Zhi's soldiers dozens of steps away. The armor-breaking ability of bows and arrows is extremely limited, in the face of armor forged from high-quality steel.
Especially powerless.
The forging hammer driven by the steam engine is also very simple. It is a big hammer supported by a long wooden handle lever, which moves up and down. The steam engine continuously presses the long wooden handle at one end, and the lever lifts the big hammer, and then clicks
It hits the forging in one fell swoop. Compared with the human forging hammer, the hammer driven by the steam engine is much stronger.
Such a forging hammer can increase the work efficiency of the forging blacksmith dozens of times.
Several newly recruited blacksmiths were not used to Li Zhi's inventions. When they saw the big hammer of several hundred kilograms being lifted up again and again by the steam engine and hitting the anvil heavily, they were dumbfounded.
"Is this an immortal spell?"
"Grand Governor, what kind of machine is this? Isn't it too powerful?"
Li Zhi smiled and said: "This is called a steam engine. It is the secret of my Fan family. You can't tell anyone about this machine. Anyone who leaks the secret will lose their head."
In fact, this steam engine is not afraid of leaks. Except for Li Zhi himself, other craftsmen may not understand the principle even if they dismantle the steam engine, let alone reproduce it. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty is currently in chaos and is interested in stealing Li Zhi's steam engine technology.
I'm afraid there are basically no people.
However, Li Zhi was used to keeping his skills secret, and subconsciously emphasized the confidentiality regulations to several forging craftsmen.
Hearing the words Li Zhi "lost his head", several craftsmen turned pale. Who is the Governor? Killing several craftsmen is like killing a chicken. The craftsmen were determined not to tell anyone about the steam engine.
, I can’t even say that even if I’m beaten to death.
Li Zhi looked at several craftsmen and asked: "With this steam engine, how many days can you forge a set of armor?"
Several craftsmen looked at the forging hammer, pondered for a while, and started discussing.
Finally, one of the leading craftsmen said: "With such a big hammer, any kind of steel can be easily forged, and a set of armor can be forged in just one day."
One set of armor a day is quite efficient. Li Zhi nodded.
Li Zhixin recruited thirty blacksmiths to make armor. It is estimated that these thirty blacksmiths, with the help of steam engine forging hammers, can make more than 10,000 sets of armor and helmets a year. Li Zhi also recruited fifteen handymen to manage the steam engine and add fuel to the steam engine.
Firewood, add water.
Of course, Li Zhi's steam engine has just been successfully developed, and now he only has one test model on hand. In the next few months, Li Zhi's steam engine team will increase manpower and work overtime to produce the Watt steam engine. Li Zhi put this
A steam engine with the same power as five oxen is called the No. 1 medium-sized steam engine, and forty units are to be produced. Thirty units are to be given to armor workshops, and ten units are in reserve.
So many steam engines can only be produced one by one, and it will take at least half a year to complete them all.
