Chapter 1090 Stainless Steel and Phenol
Chromium has a certain probability of being associated with lead ore, called chrome-lead ore, and it may also be associated with iron ore, called chromite. The mineral resources here in Xingang County are mainly a huge magnetite, and there are also some associated lead and silver mines.
In other words, this mine in Xingang County not only has iron, silver and lead, but now chromium has also been discovered!
In fact, this situation is also very common. Generally, there are no single minerals in nature. Most of them are associated minerals. When determining what kind of mineral a mine is, you only need to see which mineral component is the most in it. For associated minerals, there are hundreds or eighty kinds of associated minerals in a mine, which is nothing strange.
Luo Chong can say with certainty that there must be many other minerals in the magnetite in Xingang County, but with the current chemical level of the Han tribe, it is impossible to separate them from it.
And even if it is separated, there is no technology to identify what metal it is.
This situation had actually occurred at the mint on the lake island, but the mint was located deep in the swamp and had been kept highly confidential. In addition, they had never taken this situation seriously, which led to the news being exposed until now.
From the beginning, when these people were smelting lead ore, the melting point of lead was very low, only two or three hundred degrees, while the melting point of chromium was more than 1,800 degrees, which was about two hundred degrees higher than the melting point of iron. Therefore, every time the ore was put into the lead furnace, the lead liquid would flow out quickly, and the associated chromium ore was directly discharged as slag.
Although sometimes there are some small pieces of metal chromium in the form of a single substance, it is still because people do not pay attention to it, and the hardness of chromium is very high, far from being comparable to soft metals such as lead, so people can easily distinguish it from lead, so they pay even less attention to it, and some people even think it is iron ore mixed in.
After all, the collection point of lead ore is originally around the magnetite, so it is normal for this situation to occur.
So it was delayed until a few days ago, when Luo Chong ordered to search for new metals around the existing iron mines, the talents of the mint suddenly realized that the chromium ore in the slag might be the unknown new metal mentioned by the leader, so they finally reported it.
At this point, it is meaningless to dwell on the fault of the mint. It is better to focus on the things at hand, especially the brewery. Luo Chong does not want to wait for a few months until he moves to the south, and there is still a brewery in Liuyang County holding him back.
When it was confirmed that there was suspected chromium metal in the mint, Luo Chong immediately ordered the guards around him to collect specimens from the mint, and then send them to the chemical group of the comprehensive research institute for testing, and send them to a part of Xingang County, asking them to find the corresponding ore in the lead mining area according to the specimens, and then bring them back to try smelting.
With the order personally issued by the leader Luo Chong, the execution strength was still very high. The tasks assigned by Luo Chong were quickly carried out. The Comprehensive Research Institute began to organize personnel to conduct tests, purification, and analysis of the various chemical properties of chromium.
On the other hand, in Xingang County, they acted faster, especially the group of people responsible for the development of the brewery production line. When they heard from others that there was a metal that could improve the properties of steel, making it corrosion-resistant, oxidation-resistant, and rust-proof, and that this metal had always been around them, they immediately became excited.
Dali was responsible for the daily operations of Xingang County. After receiving the order from the guards, he immediately organized people to run to the lead mining area with chromium ore and chromium metal in hand to search.
Based on the previous mining area analysis, they quickly identified the mining area rich in metallic chromium, and then began to have people mine and store it separately that day.
After collecting enough materials for a furnace, Dali had people restart a blast furnace and prepare for smelting.
According to the news from the leader, the leader guessed that the melting point of this metal might be higher than that of copper and iron, so they should pay attention to the temperature problem. Therefore, Dali asked people to add two sets of heat storage chambers and steam-powered blowers to the blast furnace, so as to prepare for smelting.
Grind the ore, prepare the charge, put in coke for preheating, and put in chromium ore after the temperature is raised. The lead in it will soon melt and be discharged, and then continue to heat and melt the remaining metal chromium. After several rounds of slag discharge and feeding, the metal chromium in the first furnace was finally smelted and cast into small pieces of chromium ingots.
At the same time, the test results from the Comprehensive Research Institute were finally sent over, proving that the chemical properties of this metal are indeed relatively stable, not easy to oxidize, not easy to be corroded by acids and alkalis, and more heat-resistant than ordinary carbon steel. In addition, the hardness of this metal is also very high.
The suggestion given by the Comprehensive Research Institute is that if possible, you can try to use this metal to make lathe alloy cutting tools in the future. The effect should be better than molybdenum steel. After all, this metal is hard enough.
With the first batch of chromium and the test data, Luo Chong's "conjecture" was correct. Therefore, the work of melting stainless steel began soon.
According to Luo Chong's suggestion, the brewery's brewing utensils must be resistant to high temperatures, so a batch of stainless steel containing molybdenum was simply processed. The molybdenum used was not too much. The stainless steel was melted with a mixture of 15% chromium, 5% molybdenum, and 80% carbon steel.
The steel mill in Dali quickly melted the first batch of stainless steel according to the ratio given by Luo Chong, but the stainless steel actually produced was not the same as the stainless steel in Luo Chong's impression.
In Luo Chong's memory, stainless steel should be radiant and can be used as a mirror. The brightness is very high, but the stainless steel produced here in Xingang County does not have such a visual effect. It feels gray and the reflectivity is not that high. It was not
until these steels were polished by the grinding wheel that they finally bloomed with the dazzling brilliance that Luo Chong was familiar with.
"Wow! This stainless steel is really bright, it feels better than the copper mirror we used before. If our tribe didn't have silver-plated glass mirrors now, I would think that stainless steel is the best material for mirrors!" Dali said in shock when he saw the polished stainless steel.
Luo Chong also nodded with satisfaction, "The most important thing is that this stainless steel is definitely very useful in the food industry. Dali, your steel mill will open a furnace specifically for refining stainless steel. In the next few years, our Han tribe will actively develop the food industry. The brewery is just the first project, and there will be many more to come.
"Even if we can't use up so much steel for the time being, we can use this stainless steel to produce some civilian utensils, such as tea mugs, lunch boxes, washbasins, plates, bowls, spoons and other kitchen utensils and cooking utensils. There will definitely be a big market for them, and there will be no worries about no one wanting them."
Dali kept nodding his head and began to imagine all kinds of things made of stainless steel. If stainless steel basins could replace the wooden basins that are widely used in every household, and if the price is not too expensive, many people would definitely buy them.
After all, how heavy is a stainless steel basin? How heavy is a wooden basin made of solid wood?
Is there any need to consider how to choose?
Lin Fei interrupted and said, "Chief, since stainless steel is so good, can it be used in the manufacture of weapons and equipment, especially the anti-rust feature, which is good for weapons and equipment that need to withstand various harsh environments." Lin Fei also began to actively put forward his own suggestions.
Luo Chong thought about it for a while, and then said, "Forget about the firearms. If we need to develop a special sniper rifle or a heavy barrel in the future, we can consider it. But it should be a good idea to use stainless steel for the cannon.
"Hasn't our mortar started trial production yet? Then we can use stainless steel to make it. But the ratio still needs to be adjusted. If we are making mortars, the hardness and heat resistance of the steel must be improved. So it is best to increase the ratio of molybdenum and chromium to 15% for the stainless steel used to make the gun body.
"It happens that both of you are here now, and you are close to each other. Let the two of you negotiate and solve this matter. See if you can produce a separate furnace of such steel for making cannons.
"And Lin Fei, in order to save these precious steel materials and avoid too much waste, you'd better get them a new seamless steel pipe rolling mill at the beginning, otherwise they can only be cast into steel columns and then turned with lathes and boring machines, which will waste a lot of steel.
"But if the direct use of seamless steel pipes will damage the performance of the artillery, it is better to turn it than to use seamless steel pipes. Remember, performance parameters should be put first."
Dali and Lin Fei nodded repeatedly, saying that they knew about this.
Speaking of weapons, Luo Chong thought for a while and mentioned another thing.
"By the way, there is another thing I want to tell you two first, which is about the research and development of weapon projects. Many of the comprehensive projects this time are about the research and development of explosives, but our existing double-shot propellant is not suitable for use as explosives. Double-shot propellant is only suitable as a gunpowder propellant, but not suitable for blasting. The same is true for the existing granular black gunpowder. The explosive power is too small.
"So I plan to let the Comprehensive Research Institute develop a new type of yellow explosive called picric acid. This explosive has a certain degree of corrosiveness, but it is very powerful, and it also has the effect of adhesion and combustion. The high temperature generated may be twice the melting point of steel, and the flame released will not be extinguished when it comes into contact with water. It can continue to burn even in water. This kind of explosive must be paid attention to during the loading operation, and it must not corrode the ammunition shell that is in direct contact with it.
"My opinion is that all metal parts that need to come into contact with this new type of gunpowder must be painted or waxed to create a protective layer.
"In addition, with the exception of previously developed guns, all explosive weapons must be moved to a research and development location to prevent accidents. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, your entire research institute may be blown up.
"Also, I plan to do your later research on explosives and the refining of this new type of gunpowder on the island in the middle of the lake. There are still many empty islands in the middle of the lake. When the time comes, I will pick out three for you to use, one for research, one for a gunpowder factory, and the last one as an experimental site. Although this is a little troublesome, it is absolutely safe.
"When the time comes, I will have people choose the specific location. As for the gunpowder factory and the explosives research institute, you will still need to help with the construction. In particular, the gunpowder factory must be built. "
The two men were shocked when they heard this. The leader actually made such a powerful new type of gunpowder? Not only is the explosive power stronger than granular black gunpowder, it can also have the effect of attached combustion, and the temperature can reach twice the melting point of steel?!
If the various characteristics of the new gunpowder can reach this parameter, doesn't it mean that even a house made of iron can be blown up by this kind of artillery shell?
Even if it can't be blown up, the high-temperature flames released from it are enough to burn the iron house, right?
In fact, this is indeed the case. In Luo Chong's previous life, picric acid was first used in the military field in the West. Before that, it had always been used as a yellow dye in the textile printing and dyeing industry.
What was unexpected was that since this thing began to enter the military field, its explosive power has become even stronger. Later, after this thing was spotted by the bad guys in Jiaobenji, many spies were sent to try every means to get it, and finally developed their "Shimose Gunpowder".
And this picric acid gunpowder named "Shimose Gunpowder" was used for the first time in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. The opening shot of the Japanese Combined Fleet Even if the flower bombs did not hit the ships of the Beiyang Fleet, as long as they exploded near the ships, the intense high-temperature combustion caused by them would pose a great danger to the warships.
This high-temperature flame would not go out in the sea water, but would cause considerable damage to the ironclad ships. Its power can be imagined.
However, the production of picric acid was not a whim of Luo Chong, or intentional, but a huge helplessness.
Because there was no technology for synthesizing ammonia, the Han tribe could not make any high-tech gunpowder now. Even TNT, which was eliminated during World War II, could not be made by the Han tribe, because the main raw material of TNT came from petroleum, that is, the "toluene" in trinitrotoluene.
Picric acid was different. The scientific name of picric acid was trinitrotoluene, and the most important phenol came from coal.
The Han tribe had a lot of coal, and it was actually extracted from coal tar. It happened that the Han tribe also had a coking plant and the ability to fractionate coal tar. It was no problem to provide enough phenol to make picric acid, at least in a short period of time.
(End of this chapter)
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