The next day, everyone first gathered at the small pier of Lakeheart Town, and then took a small boat to the location of the iron factory.
In addition to the people in the castle hall yesterday, Old Ford, Hansel from Government Affairs Council, Schroeder, Bryce and others from the army were also present.
They entered a tributary of the Ves River. As the boat moved forward, the water became more and more turbulent, and gradually they saw a small dock with Inner Guard Soldiers stationed on it. After boarding the pier, we followed the path into a valley. The valley was full of trees and it was difficult to see what was going on inside.
After receiving the report from Sentinel, Gaye Berns ran out on horseback to greet them.
"Okay, Berns, without further ado, let's get straight to the point."
"Uh... yes, Lord Greiman."
Berns was slightly uneasy and led Paul and others to "Iron Smelting Plant" which was still under construction in the valley.
Just like Area 51 before, there are many sentries here. Internal Guard Unit leads ferocious military dogs on patrol, giving it a sense of splendor.
Although it is said to be the "first furnace of molten iron", Berns and the craftsmen have already gone through many tests. Otherwise, they would not dare to notify Paul to visit. Wouldn't it be embarrassing if the Earl's trip was in vain?
Gradually, the sound of splashing water was heard. After walking through the dense woods, a waterfall appeared in front of everyone's eyes. On the river in front of the waterfall, a building directly crossed the small river, covering nearly 10 meters of the river.
Paul asked, "That building on the river is...?"
"The water wheel room, the power of the blower is output from here."
Paul was a little surprised. Is it necessary to be so exaggerated? It directly covered the river surface.
There are openings in the wall of the water wheel room, and transmission chains extend from the openings and into another building by the river.
Berns introduced to Paul, "There is a blower regulator installed in that house."
"Take me to the water wheel room first and take a look."
Berns led Paul into the water wheel room, while the others were stopped outside by the guards.
The scene inside was an eye-opener for Paul.
He previously thought that Berns could produce a water-driven device, which was the common Waterwheel that he usually knew. Because it was used for blowing air, the transmission device would be more complicated at most.
But I didn't expect this device to be so "powerful", at least visually.
I saw several large water drains placed in the center of the room, with the river flowing rapidly underneath them. These water drains almost filled the indoor water surface.
Driven by the water flow, the water row rotates slowly, continuously transmitting power through the transmission chain.
"To facilitate maintenance, we built houses on the river to prevent these drainages from being eroded by the external environment."
It can be seen that Berns takes great care of his creation. The interior of the water wheel room is very elegant. The floor is paved with stone slabs. In order to facilitate maintenance personnel, steps, railings, and walkways across the river are also built.
But what Paul is most concerned about is its performance.
"Berns, how much power can these... these 'water rows' produce?"
"75 horsepower, you know the word 'horsepower' right? It can produce at least 75 horsepower per second."
The two walked out of the water wheel room as they talked, and the others who stayed outside immediately followed.
Berns brought them to the iron-making Blast Furnace. The craftsmen stood next to Blast Furnace, waiting for the molten iron to be made. When they saw Paul arriving, they all saluted.
Although it is already winter, the energy emitted by Blast Furnace still makes the surroundings billow with heat, giving everyone who has just approached a feeling of ice and fire.
In addition to the iron-making craftsmen, there are two people here - Herman and Malo from the Area 51 Ordnance Factory. They are responsible for the research and development of muskets and Artillery respectively. Those who formulate firearms They no longer need to personally participate in the manufacturing. Naturally, their craftsmen are responsible for the production. The Navy even assigned some craftsmen to build a second ordnance factory near Franklin Harbor. The two's main job now is to try various improvements on firearms and cannons.
As for what the two of them are doing here, it is naturally to evaluate the impact of the new iron-making method on weapons production.
Female Advisor Laddie knows a little about iron-making. She has never seen such a tall furnace before. She couldn't help but sigh, "Wouldn't it be troublesome to dismantle and rebuild such a furnace over and over again?"
Paul said proudly, "You didn't know this. This furnace can be reused, and it can be used continuously. The ore and fuel are added from the top, and the molten iron is released from the bottom. Then the ore and fuel are added from the top, and the molten iron is released from the bottom... continuously and continuously."
"Ahem! Of course, this is only theoretical. How long it can be used is actually limited by the fire resistance of the furnace material. The current one is just a test product, but I believe that with the summary and improvement of the refractory material ratio, this Blast Furnace will be able to continue to work for a long time. I estimate that a furnace can produce more than ten tons of iron."
"A dozen tons?"
Those who know nothing about iron-making are indifferent to this, but those who know something about this industry are frightened by the numbers Paul said. This is too exaggerated. No wonder the Lord said yesterday that he would monopolize the steel supply of Northwest Bay.
Hansel even covered his mouth with his hands. He was shocked at first, and then ecstatic inside.
The novel gadgets the lord had come up with before made everyone less suspicious of his words.
In fact, Paul was just bragging a bit. He had no idea how much iron a Blast Furnace could smelt. The specific value can only be known in future practice.
The leader responsible for managing this group of iron-making craftsmen is named Conrad, and he is also an old craftsman who has served Greiman Family before. He held a piece of iron nail and ran to Paul with a smile on his face.
"Lord Greiman, take a look, this is the pig iron smelted in our previous experiment."
Paul took the iron ingot and looked at it several times.
While everyone was attracted by Blast Furnace, he pulled Conrad aside and asked quietly, "Kandra, did your experiment go well? Did you encounter any difficulties?"
Conrad answered honestly, "The biggest difficulty is the manufacture of refractory materials. Those disposable furnaces in the past could not use this. Later, we used hard clay as the main raw material to get a little better. Uh... To be honest with you, Lord Earl, in fact, we have not found the best formula and production method until now."
Paul encouraged him. "This thing can only be achieved through continuous accumulation of experience. Don't stop here."
"Please rest assured that we will continue to improve."
At this time, someone at Blast Furnace shouted, "Molten iron is coming out!"
Paul's attention was immediately attracted, and he turned and ran towards Blast Furnace.
I'm really sorry, everyone, I didn't write the two chapters that were promised, and this chapter was released early in the morning. It's just that I don't know anything about iron-making. I looked for some information on the Internet. The more I read, the more I felt that it was a big pitfall. It was not as simple as I thought before, so I didn't dare to start writing. Sigh... If I had known this, I should have started preparing during the day.