On New Year's Eve, the family was at Qin Ye's parents' house, gathered around the roaring stove to prepare dinner. Outside, it was freezing cold, and the north wind howled through the windowpanes like wolves. Although there was a stove inside, it couldn't keep out the bone-chilling cold.
"This winter seems much colder than usual." Qin Zhenbang rubbed his hands together and added two more pieces of coal to the stove. "I heard from the cooks that our military region's coal reserves are being used up very quickly. If there are a few more heavy snowfalls, the logistics will be under a lot of pressure."
Qin Ye came out carrying a plate of freshly sliced cured meat, his face somewhat grave: "It's cold. During our daytime patrols, the wind feels like knives on our faces, and we can't even open our mouths. Several outposts on the mountain have reported that there isn't enough coal, and the soldiers have to sleep fully clothed at night because their blankets are freezing."
He Shumin looked worried and said, "How can this be? If people get frostbite, how can they stand guard and train?"
Su Tang listened from the side, her heart stirring slightly.
Heating problem...
In this era, especially in high-altitude and frigid regions like Tibet, this was indeed a major issue concerning people's livelihoods and even the fighting capacity of soldiers.
The old-fashioned boilers currently used for heating in military units and other organizations have the advantage of providing centralized heating, but their drawbacks are too obvious.
It has low thermal efficiency; if you burn ten pounds of coal, only three or four pounds of heat may actually be released into the house, while the rest will escape through the chimney.
Moreover, the pipelines are prone to blockage and bursting, making maintenance difficult. Most importantly, they consume too much coal. In extreme weather conditions, when coal cannot be transported, the entire system will be paralyzed.
Several 22nd-century civilian heating technology solutions flashed through her mind in an instant.
For example, the simplest solar thermal collector, or semiconductor materials that generate electricity using temperature differences... With her knowledge and technical reserves, these things are not difficult to manufacture. The difficulty lies in the fact that this era lacks a complete industrial chain, equipment, and materials.
Just as I was thinking this, the temperature suddenly dropped to minus thirty degrees Celsius overnight.
The next morning, Su Tang opened the door and was stunned by what she saw. The courtyard was covered with a thick layer of snow, and the red lanterns that had been hung up the day before were laden with icicles. She tried to pour a basin of water for washing her face into the courtyard, but before the water even hit the ground, it froze into ice beads in mid-air, clattering and popping onto the ground.
It's truly like water turning into ice the moment it's poured!
The military region's coal reserves were rapidly dwindling, forcing the implementation of a strict rationing system. Each household was allocated only a few blackened coal briquettes per day, and the stoves that were lit were barely functioning, emitting acrid smoke but producing little heat. The temperature inside and outside was almost the same, and the water in the water tanks had frozen solid, forming ice a good two fingers thick.
Li Xiumei's child, Xiaohuzi, was so cold that he cried loudly, his face turned red, and his hands were covered with frostbite.
Then something even worse happened.
Grandma Qin already suffered from chronic coldness and was most afraid of cold and dampness. This exposure to the cold caused her to cough and wheeze uncontrollably that night, and her condition rapidly worsened.
When Su Tang and Qin Ye arrived at the Qin family's courtyard, the house was in complete chaos. He Shumin was pacing anxiously, her eyes red. The stove inside was burning red-hot, but the heat was not enough to dispel the chill in the room; instead, it made the air dry and choking.
"Tangtang, come and see Grandma!" He Shumin saw Su Tang as if she had seen a savior.
Su Tang quickly walked to the bedside and saw Grandma Qin curled up in several thick quilts, still shivering. Her lips were frozen purple, her face was also a little bluish, and her breathing was rapid. Every cough seemed to be coughing up her lungs.
Su Tang reached out and touched her grandmother's forehead; it was burning hot. She then grabbed her wrist; the pulse was weak and the fingers were icy cold.
"It's the cold pathogen entering the body, triggering an old ailment in the lungs," Su Tang calmly concluded, though her heart was in turmoil.
She touched the icy cold wall and looked at the coal stove that was smoky but not very warm. A thought instantly formed in her mind: with the current heating method, let alone treating illness, her grandmother's body simply couldn't withstand it.
She had to do something.
Countless blueprints of 22nd-century civilian heating technology solutions flashed through Su Tang's mind, eventually settling on one particular blueprint.
It's a "thermal circulation furnace" with a relatively simple structure and undemanding material requirements, yet it boasts an astonishing thermal efficiency of over 95%. It generates maximum heat with minimal fuel, and produces little smoke and dust, making it safe and environmentally friendly.
The key point is that with the tools in her space and some basic materials available in this era, she could definitely build it!
Looking at her grandmother groaning in pain on the bed, and at her anxious in-laws and husband beside her.
Su Tang turned to Qin Zhenbang and He Shumin and said clearly, word by word, "Dad, Mom, don't worry. Ordinary treatments won't work; we need to address the root cause first."
She pointed to the half-dead coal stove: "This won't do. Give me half a day, and I'll build a new stove."
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