Super Chief

Chapter 213: Burn cement

"Boss, what is cement? Is it a mixture of mud and water? But wouldn't it become..." David Adion thought for a long time and couldn't describe how a mixture of mud and water should be. what is it call.

"It's not a mixture of mud and water, it's a dry powder to be precise. This powder will become like mud when it encounters water, but it will harden within tens of hours. After hardening, it will After the solid is very, very hard, just like rock. This kind of powder with this characteristic, I call it cement." Shixiong patted his head and explained. Only then did he realize that the word cement seems to have not yet appeared.

   Hearing Shixiong's explanation, Brother Li, who had never said anything, seemed to think of something. He asked, "Boss, is this kind of thing you are talking about burnt out of limestone containing clay and volcanic ash?"

Shixiong hesitated. He didn’t know the cement formula at this time, but he knew that about ten years ago, a British engineer did research on mixing limestone containing clay and volcanic ash and firing it together. The fired thing is very similar to modern cement.

   The engineer's research laid the theoretical foundation for modern cement.

   So Shi Xiong nodded and said, "Almost, what, Bill, do you know this thing?"

Bill Gates nodded thoughtfully: "If the kind of powder you are talking about has that characteristic, I think the kind of thing I've seen before should be the cement you said. But when I was in England, The kind of thing I have seen is not called cement, but hydraulic lime."

After a pause, Brother Gai continued to explain: "Before I came to the UK, my father had a friend who was a construction engineer. His name was James Smeighton. He was very knowledgeable about some building materials. I remember it was about Nine years ago, when Mary hadn’t been born, Mr. Smeighton came up with a study, which I said was mixed with clay-containing limestone and volcanic ash, calcined, then ground into a powder, and finally The thing that comes out can be quickly set with water, and the object after the setting is extremely hard, no different from rock. Mr. Smeton named this powdery thing hydraulic lime."

   Hearing what Brother Li said, Shixiong knew that the hydraulic lime he had made by Mr. Smeton was actually cement, but it was not as perfect as the later modern cement.

   In fact, cement was invented a long time ago, and it can be traced back to ancient Rome.

  In the ancient Roman period, the ancient Romans began to use a mixture of lime and volcanic ash in their buildings. The concrete made by cementing gravel with it was hardened and not only had higher strength, but also resisted the erosion of fresh water or salt water.

   But the prototype or theoretical basis of modern cement, it seems that the construction engineer named Smeton really came out of it. I didn't expect this Smeton engineer to be a good friend of brother Li's father.

   Shixiong asked Brother Li happily: "Bill, have you seen Mr. Smeton burn cement? Or do you know how to burn this thing?"

   This question is just a casual question by Shi Xiong. Although the family conditions of Brother Li's family were not very good at that time, he was still a nobleman at any rate. Even a down-and-out nobleman was also a nobleman. How could a nobleman do this kind of work of burning cement?

   But surprises sometimes come so suddenly.

"Yes, the brick kiln made by Mr. Smeton at the time for making hydraulic lime is not far from my house, so I often see Mr. Smeton and his workers firing such things. Son, you know, I was actually obsessed with alchemy at that time. I think this kind of magical powder seems to have a certain impetus for my alchemy, so when I was fine at that time, I went over and helped a lot. Times..."

   "Do you mean you can burn this kind of thing?" Shi Xiong asked in surprise.

"Burn, it will burn." Brother Li grabbed the back of his head, "But I don't know the proportions of the raw materials inside. Mr. Smeton didn't tell me the specific proportions of the ingredients. I can't burn them without this. Come out."

"Haha, it's easy. You don't know the ratio of raw materials, I know. Bill, if I tell you to make cement, oh, it's the ratio of raw materials to make this hydraulic lime, can you burn it for me? What do I want?"

   Brother Li scratched his scalp again, grabbed a large piece of "snowflakes", hesitated a little and said, "I'll try it, I think it should be okay."

"Okay, it's settled! Jean, Jack, how many manpower you two need, I will equip you, and I will prepare all the raw materials you need." Shixiong decided on these two things, "I This will arrange the personnel and raw materials for you..."

   Ishikuma really didn't expect that he just asked these two things casually, and it turned out that Agusta and Brother Li would both do it. Although Brother Li is still not able to burn real cement, it is really nothing. As long as the ratio of raw materials and raw materials is adjusted, it is much easier to make cement than to make steel.

Moreover, I have the raw material ratio for burning glass and burning cement. Agusta and Lili know how to make it. This saves myself a lot of time and energy. They are responsible for making glass. And firing cement, there may be problems like this at the beginning, but given them time, they will definitely get these two things out.

   Ishikuma stood up and was about to leave, and Agustagh grabbed him.

   "Boss, you haven't told me about the decolorizer..."

   Seeing Agusta's pitiful appearance, Shi Xiong couldn't help but be amused.

   Although glass in this era has become popular, most of the fired glass has colors, especially blue and green. The main reason for this phenomenon is that iron ions are incorporated into the glass during the firing process, which causes the glass to change color.

Most of the crucibles used for firing glass contain iron oxide, and the iron pipes used for glass blowing contain iron oxide. Therefore, after iron ions are incorporated into the glass liquid, if no decolorizing agent is added, the glass will inevitably turn blue or green.

The main function of the decolorizer is to replace the iron ions in the glass liquid with colorless high-valent iron oxides, so that the fired glass will no longer show the unsightly blue or green color. This process is a chemical replacement. the process of.

   "Okay! Do you know something like arsenic?"

   Agusta nodded. He is an alchemist who is relatively proficient in medicine, and he naturally knows arsenic. Arsenic is not only a commonly used poison in China, but also in Europe. And arsenic is the main ingredient of arsenic...

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