The instructive conversation between the two was not heard by anyone else, and Ji Wusheng didn't care about their actions, but ran back and forth to check whether all the preparations were in place.

The ignition ceremony officially began at 8 o'clock in the morning, and Ji Wusheng had already prepared seven or eight furnace drills dipped in tar and burned red. After Zhan Wuya's simple speech, Wen Desi, Zhan Wuya, and the other four veterans selected by lottery after signing up started to poke into the hearth from each vent. The dried shavings immediately burn. Enthusiastic applause and cheers immediately erupted among the elders and naturalized people who were watching around the blast furnace, especially the patriarchs, each of whom was deeply aware of the significance of the ignition of the blast furnace.

"Open the tuyere, slag outlet and taphole all to ventilate the blast furnace." Ji Wusheng didn't have time to express his celebration, and commanded the workers loudly. Wearing steelmaker's goggles, he watched the fire in the tuyere, where the firewood was already lit by the burning of shavings. The first step in ignition has been successful, and the burning of the firewood will gradually draw the coke away.

Black smoke came out of the top and opening of the blast furnace. There was a commotion among the onlookers. A few of the elders who had spared their lives were already retreating.

"It doesn't matter, it's the smoke from when the wood burns." Ji silently shouted loudly, saying that he turned his head to take care of Engineer Li, "From now on, you are staring at the furnace, and the tuyere, slag outlet and tapping port are all open." Don't send air and let the blast furnace burn on its own. When the smoke turns white, you come to me again."

At the beginning, only the blast furnace was allowed to burn freely without air supply, in order to prevent the firewood from burning out in advance, resulting in the coke failing to ignite or igniting insufficiently.

Ji Wusheng arranged all the work in front of the furnace and checked the condition of the entire workshop. The veterans in the workshop gradually dispersed, leaving only a small number of veterans from the industrial mouth, Zhan Wuya and Wu De from the Planning Institute.

"After the No. 1 blast furnace is put into operation, when are you going to light the open-hearth?" Wude asked.

"After the first furnace of pig iron. Come to my office and talk. Ji Wusheng built a small room in the blast furnace workshop as an office. He often has to work on-site and Jishu to guide, so each workshop has to prepare such a small room.

"To tell you the truth, I haven't ever had an open hearth." Ji Wusheng tidied up the table he had just sent, "The ones I've seen in steel companies are all electric arc furnaces, at least oxygen converters. I'm not very sure about making steel directly from concentrate powder - we're still going the old way, let's go through the mature process I have mastered first. ”

Ji Wusheng's idea is that the first steelmaking of open-hearth furnaces mainly uses pig iron ingots, and then adds some open-hearth ore. It's safer that way.

"There is also the need to set up a special chemical laboratory for steel plants, coke, iron ore, limestone...... All of these have to be analyzed for chemical composition, and of course, the carbon content of molten iron has to be analyzed. Laboratories are indispensable - the blast furnaces of the earth and blast furnaces of the great steelmaking are equipped with laboratories. ”

This request can only be made to the Planning Institute, and the laboratory needs to be approved. Some of the equipment and instruments in the laboratory require special production, and some require the use of controlled items - such as 1/1000 scales, microscopes, fans for making fume hoods, platinum crucibles, ......

These are either not currently self-produced by Lingao, or they are very valuable. Zuihou did not have a suitable chemical analyst among the indigenous people, and professionals had to be selected from among the elders to serve as chemical analysts.

After D-Day, the Group established a number of laboratories, but mainly in the direction of biological research. The only laboratories used for industrial production are those directly under the Ministry of Chemical Industry and the analytical laboratory located in the Mayuan Salt Factory. Cement plants and steel plants all need chemical experiments to analyze the composition of raw materials and finished products.

"If you want to refine special steel and alloy steel, it is wishful thinking to not have a laboratory." Ji Wusheng said emphatically.

"Not only steel mills, but also cement factories are in urgent need of a laboratory. ”

Wu De pondered for a moment: "It stands to reason that this is a reasonable request. However, we do not have enough reserves for some key equipment, and there are not many veterans who are willing to engage in chemical analysis full-time. He thought that Mo Xiao'an had also mentioned the configuration of the laboratory to him a few days ago.

Zuihou suggested that a central laboratory for the industry should be set up in each of the two systems of heavy industry and light industry. It is configured according to high standards, and is specially responsible for the experimental analysis work in the system.

"Okay." After listening to Wu De's idea, Ji Wusheng felt that this was also a compromise solution, "But Ma Yuan is 12 kilometers away from Bairen, and the time on the road is too long." It is too late to analyze molten iron and slag materials. ”

"The laboratory of the Heavy Industry Outlet will be located in the Ma Yuan Industrial Zone, which is our heavy industry area of the future. Including a modern cement plant. Wu De was generous: "In addition, I will help you build a simple laboratory in the steel factory, as long as you don't dislike the poor equipment." ”

"Okay, as long as it works."

"The cement plant built in the Ma Yuan Industrial Zone can make use of the by-products of the steel plant's production nearby: waste heat, waste gases and waste residue. The large quantities of slag and slag produced by steelmaking and ironmaking are good raw materials for making cement - not just for paving roads or as fertilizer. This new version of the cement plant Jihua was built with more advanced technological equipment. The commissioning of the steel plant has opened up the possibility of manufacturing large-scale equipment in the Lingao industrial system.

Zhan Wuya is very excited: "Steel and cement must not be increased tenfold, and our capital is getting bigger and bigger." Now I'm going to take care of the welding problem. ”

"If you want me to say, our industrial layout should be rushed out of Lingao as soon as possible -- there is a shortage of water in this place, and there are great constraints." Wu De recently participated in an internal seminar held by an executive committee, which included about 50 professionals from all walks of life, including not only jishu personnel, but also veterans familiar with the local and human environment. A discussion was held on the future industrial layout.

The consensus reached by everyone is that Lingao and Danzhou are not places for large-scale industry -- there has always been a shortage of water in the northwest of Qiong, and historically, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, a series of reservoirs such as the continuous construction of water collection facilities, the excavation of irrigation canals, and the construction of the Songtao Reservoir have basically met the water needs of modern Lingao's industrial and agricultural production and the people's daily life. However, Lingao in the old time and space was not an industrial county, and the industrial output value of Lingao was very low even in the 21st century.

However, at present, Hainan Island under the control of the crossing group is not very stable, and the supply of machinery and equipment, construction materials and workers cannot keep up.

"If you want me to say: Weishenme will not move the light industry system to Guangdong?" Zhan Wuya said, "The Pearl River Delta is rich in all kinds of agricultural products, coal and raw materials are guaranteed, water resources are available in the Pearl River, and labor is abundant. The products we produce can be sold locally. It can even attract private capital to join. Guangzhou station in Guangzhou to build a winery, mirror assembly plant is not very successful? ”

After Ji Wusheng sent away a group of elders from Zuihou, he went back to the office to take a nap. At noon, the maid brought him lunch, which woke him up. He hurriedly ate a lunch, and went around the workshop again, where Foreman Li was still guarding the stove, observing the fire from time to time.

"How?"

"The firewood is running out." Engineer Li reported, "The smoke has begun to fade. ”

As he spoke, someone pushed a trolley and brought lunch to the workers in the blast furnace workshop -- large portions of rice and fried rice noodles packed in lunch boxes, each containing 500 grams. Today is the day of igniting the fire, and it is more sumptuous as usual, and according to Ji Wusheng's instructions, an extra fried fish steak was added to each worker.

The workers ate right in front of the stove. Dozens of people chatted while eating, and Ji Wusheng took this opportunity to talk about some concepts such as chemical reactions in blast furnace ironmaking. The workers were very interested in iron-making jishu and would ask many questions whenever they had the opportunity - the patriarchs advocated the study of jishu, and the importance of jishu workers promoted the enthusiasm of the workers to learn jishu.

And the patriarchs have a pre-emptive jishu, which invisibly breaks the bad habit of keeping secrets between craftsmen in the original handicraft era - in front of the elders' jishu, any traditional secret skills are like scum.

Explaining the redox reaction is quite difficult for workers who don't even have a primary school education, and Ji Wusheng tries to explain it in a plain sense - he also expects to select enough jishu backbones from this group of workers to disperse to various workshops - you must know that he is now barely enough to get together the team of No. 1 blast furnace and No. 1 open hearth. There were more than 100 workers in one blast furnace alone in three shifts -- the operators of the second blast furnace did not know where.

"The chief is smoking" As soon as the noon class ended, the workers who went to see the fire shouted loudly.

"Okay, prepare to send the wind" Ji Wusheng hurriedly put on his sunglasses, the black smoke had completely disappeared, and now there was white smoke, which showed that the firewood was basically burned out, and the coke had been completely directed. He observed, and the burning condition was very good.

"Start sending half wind" With his order, the workers quickly opened the gearbox lever to let the power on the roof shaft be transmitted to the blower drive shaft. The blower started to run with a loud roar.

Blowers powered by steam engines are not as efficient as electric ones, but they are much more powerful than those powered by manpower, animal power, water power, or wind power -- and a blast furnace of this scale is not something that a traditional handicraft power system can provide.

Ji Wusheng stared at the flames in the furnace with all his attention, although it was only half a wind, but the firepower in the blast furnace immediately made a qualitative leap. The flame in the furnace gradually turned white, a sign of increasing temperature.

"Close the slag outlet," Ji Wusheng shouted loudly, "Prepare to get ash."