Steam pumps, magical machines, can have powerful power by "boiling water", but Li Yuan has never understood how this thing pumps the lake water to a high place by boiling water.

When using this machine to pump water, the lifting height is about two or three meters. If the pumping height has a higher demand, you need to pump water step by step.

Along the hillside of the lake, a reservoir like steps is built. Each reservoir has a water pump to pump water to a higher level pool.

When you reach the top-level large pool, the lake water flows through the elevated sink to the smelting area, pushing the water wheels one by one.

When Li Yuan saw these roaring pumps for the first time, he couldn't believe his eyes. The official from the Ironmaking Institute introduced him to the operating principle of the steam pump, which he could not understand at all.

In general, this is similar to boiling water in a kettle. The boiling water will turn into steam and rush out from the mouth of the pot. If a paper windmill is placed at the mouth of the pot, the paper windmill will be driven by steam.

The principle of a steam pump is similar to that, except that the kettle has become a "boiler", the paper windmill has become a "piston" and some "impeller". The steam-powered steam pump is constantly "reciprocating" and can then "pump water".

As of the principle before "pumping", that is, steam pushing the impeller, Li Yuan could understand it at least because he came into contact with a kettle in daily life, but he couldn't understand the "pumping principle" of the water pump.

What does "condensation", "vacuum", "cylinder" and "piston" mean when craftsmen talk about? With Li Yuan's knowledge, it is really impossible to understand.

Of course, as an official, Li Yuan didn't need to figure out this kind of technical problem. He just needed to know that using this kind of machine could pump water, but he had a question in his mind, and he was unwilling to let it go if he didn't figure it out.

Since the steam burned from the boiler can drive the impeller to rotate, why not directly push the runner of the water discharge or the water wheel of the hydraulic forging hammer?

Isn’t this more direct? Why do you need to add extra “water pumping” and “water transfer”?

Faced with Li Yuan’s questions, the official’s answer was also very direct, that is, “can’t do it.”

The core device of the steam pump is a boiler that generates steam, called "steam boiler". The continuous operation time of the steam boiler is limited, and the pipeline that transports steam is also limited. "Overload operation" will cause the boiler to explode and the pipeline to explode.

If the boiler is boiled for a long time, thick scale will form on the inner wall of the boiler. If it is not cleaned in time, it will easily lead to the boiler explosion.

To push the runner of the water discharge or the wheel of the forging hammer, this requires increasing the "steam pressure", which means that the pressure inside the boiler and in the pipelines is very high. With the current process level, there is no "pressure-resistant" boiler body.

It took several years to make a "high-pressure boiler" that could not be used to push the wheel of the hydraulic forging hammer, while the boiler that could barely be made but could not run for a long time, which was embarrassing.

The water drainage must constantly blow the iron-smelting blast furnace, and must not "strike" halfway.

Even if you occasionally make a barely useful boiler, it may explode at any time during operation, which is very dangerous, so the craftsmen can only make steam pumps, and they also need to install several at the same time, take turns to rest and run in turns.

If the operation is not done properly, this steam pump will explode.

When Li Yuan heard that the boiler would explode, he felt a little embarrassed on the spot. If he turned around and left immediately, it means that "Eunuch Li" was afraid of death and was as timid as a mouse, but if he didn't leave, what if he was blown to death?

He was still young and didn't want to die because if he died, his wife was so young, his son was young, and his mother would do what should he do?

Although Li Yuan felt that he was not a coward, he had to die on the battlefield even if he wanted to die, but ended up dying from a boiler explosion. What is this?

However, the officer's next explanation made Li Yuan feel much more determined. The steam pump put into use in Daye Ironmaking is a safe model determined after countless trial runs and will not explode so easily.

On the step-type reservoir, each step is equipped with a sufficient number of pumps, which can allow all pumps to be rested and repaired in time while pumping water continuously in general.

As long as the boiler operates strictly according to the "operating procedures", there will be absolutely no problem.

Now, Li Yuan watched the water pumping machine close up again, and couldn't help but sigh at the magic of the power of the mechanical force.

Steam pumps are not only used to lift lake water, impact water wheels, and provide power, but also used to pump water in mines, solving the problem of permeability of mine channels and greatly increasing the amount of ore output. They are really a good thing.

The disadvantage is that it consumes a lot of coal, and it requires multiple water pumps to operate in turn to ensure normal water pumping needs, which leads to the cost of using steam pumps that is too high and has a large limit and cannot be promoted.

Li Yuan had thought of using a water pump to pump water to irrigate the farmland, or pumping water to drain water when it was flooded, but when he saw the cost of use, he was shocked and sweating.

Even if the fuel burned by the steam pump is firewood, not coal, it is a considerable expense to achieve the effect of pumping water to irrigate the farmland or pumping and draining water, and it may not be able to bear it, let alone small households.

Only in Daye, which produces coal, can there be a relatively convenient source of coal burning. Daye Iron Manufacturing has made huge profits by selling iron materials, iron products and iron ore, and can use this magical steam pump on a large scale without going into bankruptcy.

In other words, today's steam pumps can only be used on a large scale in coal-producing areas or places where coal is easy to obtain, but they cannot be used elsewhere.

It is precisely because of this that the steam pump that Daye iron-making spent a lot of money to "main" also bears an important task, which is to supply water to Daye City.

The lake water lifted to the reservoir halfway up the hillside by a water pump is transported elsewhere through an elevated sink. In addition to being used to push the water wheel, it is also transported to Daye City, solving the water use problem of residents.

This is the so-called "gathering water". The hot water shops in the city provide residents with a large amount of cheap and clean drinking water, coupled with various sewage drainage ditches, effectively reducing the chance of epidemic outbreaks.

Turning back to the smelting area, Li Yuan looked at several newly invested "new iron smelting blast furnaces" and asked: "How much iron production can be reached this year?"

The official's answer was very straightforward: "I am back to you, it's autumn now. As of the beginning of the month, the iron production of Daye Iron Manufacturing Institute has been close to the total output for the whole year last year."

"So fast?" Li Yuan was a little surprised, "So the total output this year?"

"It must be steadily over four million pounds!"

......

In Daye City next to "Flame Mountain", on the streets filled with di stores, merchants flocked to each other. They each entered the shops, bargained with the shopkeeper, settled the payment, and then brought baskets of iron and iron materials that had just arrived at the store to the carriage parked outside the door.

These ironware and iron materials have just been made, and the residual heat is still there.

The Daye Ironmaking Institute has amazing iron smelting capabilities. It is produced every day with iron products and iron tools. It is then swept away by the merchants who flock to it, and there is no need to worry about selling it.

Iron products, such as curved plows, hoes, shovels, pickaxes, sickles, kitchen knives, hatchets, iron pots and shovels, are urgently needed by all regions. Merchants purchase goods in Daye and turn to other places to make moves, and profits are rolling.

In addition, there are iron products such as scissors, awls, pliers, hooks and even iron nails, iron needles, fish hooks, etc., which also have no worries about sales.

Especially iron nails and iron needles, don’t look at the cheap price, but the advantage is that they have small profits but quick turnover. The peddlers walking in the country carry loads to sell various daily necessities. They can support their families by relying on the profits of iron needles, iron nails and fish hooks.

Making iron needles according to traditional crafts is both troublesome and troublesome. The needle making workshops in Daye Ironmaking Station use new craftsmanship to make needles. A workshop with ten workers can make more than 30,000 needles a day.

This is an amazing output, but the combined output of several workshops still cannot meet the strong "market demand".

This is the case with small iron needles, iron nails, fish hooks, and large curved plows and other agricultural tools.

Merchants from all over the world bought large quantities of farm tools such as curved plows, shovels, hoes, sickles, etc., and then rented them to local farmers during the busy farming period, which made a considerable profit. Now, land is being opened and planted in various places, and there is a great demand for iron farm tools.

In addition to farm tools, there is also an iron product that is also very popular, that is, the iron pot.

Iron pot is a new type of cooking utensil originated from Huangzhou. It can realize the "fried" cooking method. The fried dishes have a unique flavor. Cooking food with an iron pot is obviously more cost-effective than cooking utensils such as casseroles.

With the improvement of iron-making capacity of Daye Ironmaking Institute (Daye Supervision) and the rapid increase in iron production, the price of iron products has dropped year by year. Therefore, if ordinary people grit their teeth, they can still buy a durable iron pot.

It is precisely because of this that iron pots are one of the best-selling products of Daye Ironmaking Institute. However, there are many workshops that produce iron pots, and not all are named "Daye Iron Pot".

Daye Ironmaking Institute is jointly organized by the government and the people, and is mainly divided into three parts: mining, smelting, forging/casting. Some smelting owners/furnace owners in the smelting part are private people, while most of the workshop owners in the casting/forging part are private people.

Each workshop has its own font size and makes its own "signature products" and attracts a large number of repeat customers with high quality and low price iron products. Therefore, the iron products produced by Daye Iron Manufacturing have become well-known in recent years.

In addition, the government lifted the iron ban, just like the salt industry, allowing private mining and smelting, and the sale of iron products was not restricted. Therefore, the profits of Daye Ironmaking Institute increased year by year and the iron tax that was too numerous to believe.

Li Yuan, who had been inspecting this place, saw the crowded street of Didian, looking at the bustling crowds and smiling faces, feeling touched.

Although Daye is smoky and dusty, it makes everyone who arrives here feel vigorous and vibrant. The roaring steam pumps seem to have a magical power, which makes people feel excited.
Chapter completed!