Chapter 40: The Wisdom of the Ancients
After getting a definite answer from the person in charge of the coal mine, Zhou Cheng did not end his inspection of the coal mine, but went to another coal mine that was in operation.
The situation of this coal mine is roughly the same as the previous one. Both have achieved a high degree of automation and use a large number of machines.
After asking, Zhou Cheng got a similar answer again.
Even though this is a famous high-quality coal mine, it would be impossible to mine coal from it if we only used manpower and simple tools without using machinery.
Zhou Cheng also asked him another question.
"Are there any undiscovered coal mines on Earth that are relatively easy to mine?"
"If you're talking about undiscovered resources, then there are definitely some. Deep underground somewhere, there might be a massive coal mine with reserves of hundreds of billions of tons.
After all, it's hard to say what has happened after tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of years of biological accumulation and plate movement.
But if you say it is both unexplored and relatively easy to mine... then no.
Coal mines that are easy to mine would have already been mined cleanly. If coal mines were so easy to mine, why would we develop so many complex machines?
Zhou Cheng nodded.
After finishing the coal mining, Zhou Cheng and his team went to another place.
Similar to the Xishan Coal Culture Park, this is also a tourist attraction. The difference is that its theme is oil.
A history expert also came with them. Due to his own interests, this expert has a deep understanding of the history of ancient humans' extraction and utilization of oil, and focuses on studying related issues such as the impact of oil extraction and utilization on the development of human society.
In the dilapidated oil culture park, a group of people moved forward cautiously.
"Yes, this is it."
Entering an exhibition hall, the history expert pointed to some items on display in front of him with some emotion: "These are the tools our ancient ancestors used to extract oil."
Zhou Cheng saw some tools such as long-handled ladles, backpacks, iron pots, and ropes.
"In some places with rich oil reserves, oil may naturally seep out from the ground and accumulate into oil lakes. If there is water, the oil will float up and flow with the river.
After ancient people discovered the flammable properties of oil, they would use this long-handled ladle to collect it. After some simple processing, such as steaming and sedimentation, the quality of the oil could be improved.
After a brief introduction of the place, the group moved on to another place.
There is a well there.
“It’s an oil well.”
"In places with abundant oil reserves, where underground oil pressure is high, ancient people would dig an oil well just like they would dig a water well. The oil would then seep out like water, and they could just scoop it out," a history expert explained.
This really opened Zhou Cheng's eyes: "The ancients could also dig oil wells?"
"If you can dig a water well, you can dig an oil well. It's a very simple process; it relies entirely on the oil's natural seepage. Furthermore, underground oil reserves are far less abundant than groundwater reserves. Digging oil wells is very selective, and the ancients didn't have modern exploration methods, so the failure rate was very high."
Liu Yu asked, "Whether it's surface oil or oil wells, they all rely on the oil to seep out on its own. So, did the ancients have any more advanced oil extraction techniques?"
“Yes. There are real ones in this cultural park.”
The history expert seemed to be very familiar with this place and took Zhou Cheng and his party directly to another exhibition hall.
This exhibition hall was also already in disrepair. The floor tiles had long since broken and weeds had grown through the cracks.
There used to be a glass case in the middle of the exhibition hall, but the glass has been cracked. Inside the glass case, a wooden shelf can still be vaguely seen.
With a touch of emotion, the historian picked up the rotten wood from the ground and assembled it on the cracked wooden frame. He looked it over and said, "This is the drilling equipment used by the ancients. Using this equipment, the ancients could drill to a depth of 300 meters, much deeper than wells dug by hand."
Liu Yu was a little surprised: "The ancients could also drill wells?"
"Of course."
The history expert looked somewhat proud: "Don't underestimate the wisdom of the ancients. This technology, called percussion drilling, first appeared more than a thousand years ago.
Look, this is a suspension, pulled by oxen, horses or manpower, and connected to the suspension is a drill rod made of bamboo or wood.
An iron or steel drill bit is usually installed at the bottom of the drill pipe. The rotation of the upper suspension can drive the drill pipe to hit the bottom rock layer, breaking it, and then use a bamboo basket to dig out the gravel, and the oil well will be dug deeper and deeper.
Once you dig to a certain depth, the oil will seep out on its own, and then you can extract it just like pumping water."
At this moment, Zhou Cheng exclaimed sincerely: "Amazing, really amazing."
He really couldn't imagine that the ancients more than a thousand years ago could achieve such a level.
The history expert smiled and said, "There's something even more amazing. You should all know that some oil wells or salt wells produce large amounts of natural gas.
Natural gas is a fuel if used properly, but an explosive if used improperly.
The ancients discovered this property of natural gas and created a special device. Come here."
Zhou Cheng followed the history expert to another exhibition hall.
There was a vague remnant of a bamboo tube with an opening at the bottom connected to a well, and a bamboo pipe connected to the top.
The pipe was about several dozen meters long, with a gas lamp connected to the end.
"This thing is called a 'rinsing basin.' When natural gas gushes out of the well, it separates the water and gas in the basin. Then, the natural gas is transported out through bamboo pipes and used for lighting, burning fires, and so on."
Liu Yu was shocked and said, "Isn't this a natural gas pipeline?"
"right."
The history expert laughed and said, "Over a thousand years ago, the ancients already had natural gas pipelines. According to research, do you know how long the longest natural gas pipeline was at that time?"
He waved his arms and said in a slightly exaggerated tone: "More than 200 kilometers!
The pipe outlet has a switch and a safety valve, basically the same as our modern ones!"
"It's really, really, the wisdom of the ancients..."
Liu Yu sighed repeatedly.
After visiting the Oil Culture Park, the group did not leave until it was almost dark.
After resting for a night, the group arrived at a modern oil field and continued to visit and learn about the work.
"Nowadays, oil production is all mechanized and intelligent."
On the vast fields of the oil field, there are many beam-type oil pumping units working up and down as if they are kowtowing.
In the process of going up and down, the oil buried deep underground was pumped up.
But Zhou Cheng noticed that in addition to the working oil pumps, there were many more oil pumps that were not moving and seemed to have been idle.
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