Master of Thermodynamics

Chapter 204: Hang up

This huge gantry crane is just a large piece of equipment just added by the shipyard.

The gantry crane is 25 meters high, which is equivalent to an 8-storey tall building and nearly 30 meters in length. It can be called a giant.

In the shipbuilding industry, the gantry crane is one of the most convenient and important tools. Any large workpiece can be easily lifted by it and transported to the designated location.

For example, if a component weighing several hundred kilograms is transported purely by humans, it may take several hours, but with a gantry crane, it can be done in just a few minutes, and the efficiency is more than 10 times higher.

As a mechanical dog, such an artifact that saves time and effort and can greatly increase the speed of shipbuilding, how could Renault not come out one?

So before deciding to modify the unfinished Haichao, Renault first decided to build a large gantry crane.

What material should be used for this giant crane?

Steel?

Do not!

Only the earth can do this. In another world, Renault has a better choice.

The giant crane is huge, and if steel is used, the consumption of steel is astonishing, at least 50 tons or more.

Although Renault developed the magic steelmaking method, the current shortage of manpower and transportation capacity, the supply of iron ore is completely unable to keep up, coupled with the lack of steel everywhere in the territory, it is temporarily unable to extract 50 tons of steel to build the gantry crane.

In addition, the super-long beam with a length of up to 30 meters is still the main load-bearing part. The ordinary steel is estimated to be choking and the star blue iron alloy must be used.

However, there are too few star blue irons in the territory, and it is really a waste of suspicion to use it on a big guy like a gantry crane.

The material that Renault intends to use is the trunk of a kind of arbor, which the civilians of the Tide Islands call "iron tree".

However, this iron tree is not an iron tree on the earth. The alien iron tree is a unique arbor on the major islands in the storm sea area. Its hardness is surprisingly strong, stronger than ordinary steel, which is why it is named "iron tree".

It is precisely because the iron tree is too hard to cut with an axe, the people of other worlds have no love for it.

From this point of view, the alien iron tree is much stronger than the plant of the same name that sells dog meat on the earth. The earth iron tree is only a kind of hardwood, and it can be cut very quickly with an axe.

The two iron trees also have something in common, that is, their growth rate is extremely slow, which is the main reason why iron trees are only found in storm waters.

Ya grows too slowly, and can't compete with other trees in other places.

But in the stormy sea with frequent storms, the trees that grew faster than it were cleaned up by the storm. On the contrary, the iron tree can survive the continuous storm and occupy a place on the island with its hard trunk and extremely large root system. .

In addition, after the iron tree is dry, the density is less than 1/6 of that of steel. The gantry crane built with it is not only stronger, but also much lighter than the steel gantry crane, and it will be lighter to operate.

It's not difficult to pull out this big hang, but it is difficult to find suitable iron trees and then transport them back.

Even though there are many iron trees in the Haichao Islands, iron trees over 30 meters are rare. Renault walked around the nearby islands for a long time before finding 5 iron trees that met the requirements.

Then it took a long time to cut the logs, ship and transport them, and send them to the shipyard. In order to lift the crane, it took a whole day to prepare the materials alone.

After the iron tree has been peeled and dried, the hoisting officially begins.

Relying on the [reverse heat conduction], the lifting process is very fast. It is enough to burn the trunk into the required shape and then assemble it. Renault only took half an hour to get it done.

Four of the shorter iron trunks are used as uprights, and the longest one is used as a beam.

Finally, two large bases and corresponding spreaders are installed on the gantry hoist, and a large shipbuilding equipment is released.

Four pairs of tall road wheels are installed on the base, and the metal wheels are also equipped with thick Nima rubber tires to facilitate the movement of the gantry crane.

Such an amazing body shape naturally made the gantry crane the highest and largest heavy equipment in the territory so far.

Anyone who enters the shipyard within 10 kilometers can see the gantry crane at a glance, because it is so eye-catching.

In fact, as soon as this gantry crane came out, it caused a sensation on Sairon Island, and the local residents ran in groups to see it the next day.

Even on Odin Island, many people came to take a look at the gantry crane, which made the clipper flights between the two islands sell a lot of tickets.

The price of a ferry ticket is 15 copper nars, and a total of 30 copper nars are round-trip, which is not cheap for most people. This shows the reputation of the gantry crane.

Of course, most people are not allowed to enter the shipyard and can only take a look at it from a distance.

In addition to the gantry cranes, the dock has also undergone a certain transformation, and the ground has been deliberately trimmed and covered with a thick layer of cement.

Compared with the original dock, the refurbished dock has one of the biggest differences-it is a dry dock.

In other words, there is no standing water in the dock.

This may sound like nothing, but in another world, it is very rare.

Considering that the built sailboat needs to be out of the dock, the ground of the dock must be lower than the sea level, or only slightly higher than the sea level, so that when the tide is high, there can be enough water depth in the dock to allow the sailboat to float.

This also brings another problem: water leakage.

The larger the dock, the more difficult it is to prevent side leakage, and the more difficult it is to drain water after a leak.

Because it can only be scooped by hand, but manually, you have to go to the year of the monkey?

Coupled with the frequent tides in other worlds, the tides rise several times a day, and there are naturally more water leaks.

No matter how good the leak prevention is, what should I do if it rains? What if the rain is still too heavy?

So most of the time, there is always more or less a layer of standing water in the dock.

In this case, working in the dock is equivalent to soaking in the water, and it takes more than ten hours to soak every day.

Will the shipbuilders feel comfortable?

Of course it's uncomfortable.

Will it be comfortable if my feet are soaked? Are you comfortable with rheumatism?

But in order to support the family, no matter how uncomfortable it is, I have to bear it.

There are real dry docks, but it depends on the face of God. If the sun is exposed for half a month, the dock will naturally dry out.

But in Master Renault's territory, as long as it doesn't rain, the dock will always be dry.

Because, the pump!

Where is the water leaking, give it a pipe, no, take a pipe.

One is not enough for two, the lord master is just that wayward.

The large-scale water pump driven by a 100-kilowatt magic motive can pump water at a speed far exceeding 100 hard-working workers to scoop water out of buckets.

On the first day the pump was pulled to the shipyard, watching the billowing sea water being pumped out of the dock, it instantly became the favorite of all shipbuilders, not one of them.

At this time in the dock, Renault and Elon were standing aside, watching the craftsmen operating the gantry crane and hoisting a heavy and large metal component into the hull, while chatting softly.

Renault watched a thick metal beam nearly 6 meters long being slowly put into the hull, and asked, "Elon, how many tons of heavy oil can the black oil distillation plant accumulate before going to'Midway Island'?"

Elon looked down for a moment and replied, "Your Excellency, due to the limitation of the black ice transportation capacity, the current distillation plant can only refine 120 tons of black oil per day."

"The production rate of heavy oil is 40%, and it can only produce about 50 tons per day, which is just over 100 barrels. At the current production rate, it is enough to accumulate 600 tons of heavy oil before setting off..."

Renault asked again: "If you want to travel back and forth to the Glow Mainland, how much heavy fuel should be prepared in advance on Midway Island?"

Elon quickly gave the number: "Midway Island is more than 740 nautical miles away from the mainland. With Odin's fuel consumption rate, an average of 0.12 tons of fuel needs to be burned per nautical mile when fully loaded..."

"According to this calculation, 90 tons of heavy oil are required for one-way trip, and a total of 180 tons for round trips. Taking into account the 20% safety redundancy, 220 tons of heavy oil is an ideal value..."

"Of course, this is an extreme situation that completely relies on the thermal engine to sail. If you use a safer half-sail sailing, the fuel consumption can be reduced to 60% of the original, that is, 130 tons..."

"If it is full sail, it can be lowered even more, but in the storm season, even if it is a multihull, we do not recommend using full sail..."

Renault frowned and turned his head to stare at Elon: "What if you use the Haichao? Have you calculated the relevant data?"

Elon’s response was extremely quick: “The modified Haichao has a larger tonnage, and its fuel consumption may rise to 0.15 tons of fuel oil per nautical mile. Based on this estimate, 160 tons of heavy fuel oil needs to be loaded in the fuel tank...”

Although the data is not ideal, Elon's performance has made Renault extremely satisfied.

Being able to answer the questions without hesitation shows that Elon is very familiar with these data, which also shows that he is a very dedicated and competent director of navigation.

Renault nodded approvingly at Elon: "Elon, good job!"

Elon immediately bowed respectfully and replied: "Your Excellency, this is what I should do..."

At this moment, a burly figure suddenly trot all the way, and Renault turned his head to look.

Lutherford!

Renault remembered that this guy, Elon's deputy, was also a very capable guy.

Seeing the Lord Lord look over, Lu Defu immediately quickened his pace. After running to Renault, he didn't even breathe, he bent down deeply and said, "Your Lord...all the components have been hoisted, you can lay the metal keel... …"