The ditches and ditches in East Frisia were proceeding in an orderly manner, with the participation of more than 10,000 coolies. In addition, there was no shortage of food in Marin, and things went very smoothly.
When the engineering team has dug a ditch and connected the main river, Marin will immediately invite craftsmen, set up a Dutch windmill, and start pumping the water from the swamp lake on the edge of the ditch into the ditch, draining it to the main river, and pouring it into the ditch. the sea.
However, recently, the cannon craftsman Old John and the gun craftsmen jointly put forward their opinions. They asked Marin to build a high-level reservoir to facilitate their use of hydraulic forging hammers.
Because East Frisia is a small country by the sea, all the rivers are downstream here, the water level difference is too low to drive the hydraulic forging hammer, and the conditions on Bitssel Island are not good.
For this reason, there is only one way, and that is to artificially build high-level reservoirs. The water in the river is first pumped into the high-level reservoir, and then through the gate, the water is lowered to drive the hydraulic forging hammer.
Because the number of blacksmiths is large and the scale is large. Therefore, the reservoir to be built cannot be small. Otherwise, hydraulic forging hammer craftsmen are not enough.
In desperation, Marin had to arrange for the construction of the reservoir. But these days, building a reservoir is very troublesome. Generally speaking, it is relatively simple to build a reservoir based on a valley, as long as the mouth of the valley is blocked to form a reservoir. But it is very difficult to build high-level reservoirs on the plains. Because, the four sides of the reservoir are all artificial. And in order to be strong, a lot of stones are needed...
Therefore, building a large reservoir on flat ground is no less than building the walls of a small city. But Marin had to repair it again. After all, he really wanted to develop the industry. In the foundry industry, there is a great demand for hydraulic forging hammers. Therefore, Marin not only wants to build a reservoir, but also a large reservoir.
As for pumping water from a low level to a high level, it is very simple. Just build a few more Dutch windmills and keep pumping water. The most critical thing is that a large amount of stone is needed around the reservoir.
Obviously, there is no stone in East Frisia. If you want stone, you have to go to nearby commercial centers such as Hamburg and Bremen to buy it. These places are commodity distribution centers, and stone materials are also abundant. That is, the price is more expensive. On average, a well-processed stone costs 0.2 Finney. 10 stones are worth a day's wages for a commoner.
In fact, the stone itself is not worth much, but the craftsman's wages are. When a stone is quarried from a deep mountain, the wages of the quarry workers must be paid first, and then the porter who transports the stone also needs money. Then, the craftsmen who process the stone also need money. Finally, merchants who transport stones for sale also want to make a profit. Then, a worthless stone, through the hands of many people, becomes 0.2 Finney. At the same time, the price of a brick is less than 0.1 Finney, which is also very expensive. However, the stone was transported from the mountains, and the freight was added. Moreover, the stone was stronger than bricks. Therefore, stone is twice as expensive as brick.
In the end, Marin thought about it and decided to build a high-level reservoir with a size of one square kilometer. In order to save costs, it is better to use bricks for the rest of the site, except for the surrounding foundations and "walls" that are made of stone. Because bricks are cheap. You know, this is a reservoir of 1 square kilometer, and the bricks and stones needed are also amazing. Not only the surrounding area needs to be fenced, but also the bottom of the reservoir should be paved with bricks to avoid serious water seepage in the reservoir.
However, whether it is piled up with stones or bricks, water leakage is inevitable. Unless, the gaps between stones or bricks are closed with cement...
"Yeah, why did I forget about the cement?" Marin slapped his head and immediately made another decision...
Marin is very familiar with the cement formula. The simplest cement is Portland cement, which is limestone and clay in a ratio of 3 to 1. However, the cement of this formula is of average quality. Therefore, in the later cement, the limestone remained unchanged, but the clay was replaced by materials containing other metal components such as iron ore, bauxite, and various slags to improve the quality of the cement.
Moreover, Marin, who has played in the cement factory in the town before, knows that a very important part of firing cement is to add fluorite. Adding fluorite can greatly reduce the temperature required for cement firing. Its effect is similar to that of adding sodium carbonate when firing glass, in that it lowers the firing temperature.
If you don't know the secret of adding fluorite, it will be very difficult to sinter cement. Because the temperature of firing cement is often over a thousand degrees. If fluorite is not added, it can only be achieved by using coal with high calorific value and high-temperature equipment such as steelmaking furnaces.
If you want to use ordinary vertical kiln to burn cement, unless you use coal as fuel, otherwise, if you don’t add fluorite, if you use firewood as fuel, it will be difficult to reach the required high temperature.
Marin scoffed at the stories in those novels where the clay kiln was casually used, and the 3:1 formula of limestone and clay was used to easily make cement. Earth kilns use firewood as fuel, and the high temperature of hundreds of degrees cannot be reached at all. If you don't use fluorite, you can't even try to burn it successfully. Unless you use coal directly as fuel, like the British who invented cement in the 19th century. Even in the first half of the 20th century, cement plants generally added fluorspar as a catalyst. Only in the late 20th century, due to the promotion of environmental protection and advanced equipment, fluorite was gradually eliminated. The equipment in the 20th century needs to add fluorite. You can use firewood to burn qualified cement casually in an ancient earthen kiln. Marin is also drunk...
The cement plants of later generations, because fluorite contains fluorine, are prone to pollution. Therefore, fluorite was gradually abandoned. However, that is also because the firing equipment of later generations can easily obtain enough high temperature, so fluorite can be discarded.
Moreover, firing cement does not have high requirements for fluorite, and high-purity fluorite is not required. Any purity fluorite can be used, and the dosage is not large. Fluorite is now readily available in Hamburg and Bremen.
Therefore, Marin intends to start firing ordinary cement. Moreover, knowing the secret of adding fluorite, even if other people know the main formula of cement, it is difficult to burn qualified cement. Unless, they use high-quality coal with a high calorific value as fuel.
The benefits of cement are needless to say, the reservoirs of later generations are all made of cement. However, ordinary cement is not resistant to water. Building a reservoir is naturally unusable.
But as it happens, Marin knew that fly ash cement is a kind of cement suitable for building reservoirs. In fact, slag cement is usually used to build reservoirs and dams. However, Marin didn't know what slag to use, and he didn't know how to calculate it. What's more, Marin does not have large steel plants and metallurgical plants, and lacks slag.
However, Marin has a lot of things like fly ash. Fly ash is the residual ash left after the coal is burned. Don't have too much of this thing in the Marin Boiled Salt Center. I don't know how to deal with it.
It just so happens that now he wants to build a reservoir, and fly ash cement is the best choice for building reservoirs and wharves. Mainly, Marin doesn't know the formula of those slag cements anymore. He knows about fly ash cement, because the cement factory in their town produces this kind of cement. As far as he knows, fly ash cement is limestone, fly ash, plus a small amount of gypsum and fluorite, ground and fired in a shaft kiln. He doesn't know the specific formula, but he knows that the amount of fly ash should not exceed 40% and not less than 20%. Both gypsum and fluorspar are in small amounts and are auxiliary. For the rest, you can try a few times to find the best ratio.
After thinking about it, Marin selected a group of serfs who could fire bricks among his own serfs. In a remote place, he built a brick-burning shaft kiln and began to try to burn fly ash cement.
In fact, because Marin knew the secret of adding fluorite, he was not worried about the failure of cement firing at all. What he wants to try now is the best ratio of cement. After all, he only knew that the content of fly ash accounted for 20% to 40% of the total, but he did not know the specific ratio. There are also small amounts of gypsum and fluorite, and the exact amount is unknown. After all, who the hell knew that he was going to time travel in the future? If he had known earlier, he would have inquired about the specific ratio when he went to the cement factory in the town when he was in junior high school...
And because he planned to burn fly ash cement, Marin decided—not to buy stones, but only bricks. After all, you can buy bricks for half the price. Then, buy some raw materials such as limestone, fluorite, and gypsum. However, the procurement of these raw materials is handled by different people, and each person is only responsible for purchasing one item, especially fluorite, which needs to be purchased separately to prevent buyers from getting all the formula materials. It's not that Marin doesn't trust his subordinates, but after Marin produces cement, others will definitely go to the place where he purchases raw materials to inquire. If one of Marin's subordinates let one person purchase all the formulas, those who inquire about the news can easily get the corresponding formulas. And to buy separately, different people are responsible for different material procurement, even inquiring about it is very difficult. Moreover, fluorite and gypsum are not eye-catching because of their small quantities, and Marin plans to let his subordinates buy them quietly, so it is difficult for others to know...
Bricks and cement are as strong as ordinary stones. Moreover, the cement fills the gaps, which can fully avoid water seepage and leakage. This is very important for the reservoir...
However, even if it is to buy bricks and build a high-level reservoir with a size of one square kilometer, the investment is huge, which is a bit scary. After calculation, it takes millions of gold coins to build a reservoir of one square kilometer...
Marin was so scared that he almost fell to the ground. After that, he immediately lowered the standard, reducing the area of one square kilometer to 0.2 square kilometers, which was reduced by 5 times. If this is the case, it will cost nearly 200,000 gold coins, which makes Marin extremely painful... Fortunately, he plans to use cement and bricks. If stone is used, even a small reservoir of 0.2 square kilometers will cost 400,000 gold coins, which is scary. a bit...
It's no wonder that even if a reservoir is built in later generations, it is still a water-retaining dam, and only one or two sides need to be repaired. In other directions, use a small amount of material. Malinxiu's plain high-level reservoir needs to be repaired on all sides, and the foundation has to be laid. It's no wonder that the investment is not large...
If it weren't for his firm support for the development of industry, Marin would almost be scared back by this huge investment. But for the development of industry, Marin still gritted his teeth and built this high-cost plain high-level reservoir, so that craftsmen can use hydraulic forging hammers on a large scale...