In fact, it is not possible to build a reservoir with only cement bricks. With the combination of cement and bricks, only private houses can be built at most. Speaking of building a reservoir wall or something, it is still necessary to add steel bars to the cement. Otherwise, the dam is not strong enough and it is easy to burst.
If it is to build a small reservoir with low water pressure, bamboo can actually be used instead of steel bars as bones. But the sad thing is that Marin has hardly seen bamboo in Europe...
Yes, there is no bamboo in Europe...
More precisely, at least so far, there is no bamboo in Europe. Only after the European powers opened the door to China did they introduce bamboo as an ornamental plant.
The toughness of bamboo is good, and it is also very important as the bones of concrete. The reeds with the same shape are too brittle and easy to break, so they are not suitable for the reinforcement of concrete. Unless, it is a shabby project.
In fact, in addition to steel bars and bamboo, asbestos can also be used as the bones of concrete. However, Marin didn't know how to use asbestos as concrete ribs... Moreover, asbestos is also quite expensive in Europe right now...
In desperation, Marin found that the steel problem still had to be solved...
Not to mention using steel bars as bones, at least, iron bars must be used as bones, right? Otherwise, this reservoir would really be a tofu project. If the high-level reservoir bursts its banks, the surrounding area will suffer bad luck.
Therefore, Marin had to find a way to solve the steel bar problem. Therefore, an iron-making blast furnace cannot escape...
To engage in iron-making blast furnaces, it is necessary to solve the problem of refractory materials. Refractory materials are mainly divided into three categories—aluminum-containing series, magnesium-calcium series and pure quartz sand series.
However, there is a lack of aluminum mines in Europe, and aluminum-containing refractory bricks are difficult to obtain, so we can only choose calcium-magnesium series and pure quartz sand series. Among them, in the calcium magnesium series, dolomite is a natural refractory material.
However, whether it is high-purity quartz sand or dolomite, the price is not cheap. Even speaking, dolomite is more expensive. However, the use of pure quartz sand refractory bricks has many problems, so it is better to use more expensive dolomite. After all, when Marin's later generations visited a certain steel factory, the engineer in the factory introduced that their steelmaking furnace used dolomite as the lining of the furnace wall.
In the end, Marin decided to use dolomite as the refractory material for the blast furnace, and then sent someone to buy it...
Because dolomite is expensive, and considering that the demand for steel is not so great. What's more, the source of iron ore is difficult... In the end, Marin only plans to build a small blast furnace that produces 5 tons of iron per day.
The next step is to consider where to purchase iron ore. For now, the most famous iron ore producing area in Germany is the Lorraine Iron Mine. However, although the Lorraine Iron Mine is large, it has many problems. For example, the grade of Lorraine iron ore is low, with an average iron content of only 30% or more. Moreover, the content of sulfur and phosphorus exceeds the standard.
Therefore, when the French beat the British to fight for hegemony at sea in later generations, because of the high sulfur and phosphorus content of the Lorraine iron ore, and because they did not know how to use the reverberatory furnace, the French heavy artillery often exploded in the early days. So, in the naval battle, the French lost to the British. Even, at that time, gunners on French warships were a high-risk occupation. Because, no one knows when the gunner will be killed by the explosion of his own artillery...
Until the middle and late 19th century, with the development of steel technology, the French began to use slagging agents such as quicklime to remove sulfur and phosphorus in steel, and used modern steelmaking furnaces, which greatly improved the performance of artillery. Then France rose to become the world's second colonial empire after Britain. Of course, it was still a bit late at that time. Many good colonies in the world had already been almost snatched by Britain. The French can only go to Africa and the South Pacific to grab some not-so-good colonies.
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Of course, what Marin wants to get now is just steel bars for construction, and sulfur and phosphorus are not a big problem. But the biggest problem is not the quality of iron ore, but political issues...
Speaking of which, the current Duke of Lorraine, René II, is actually the enemy of Maximilian I. Because, it was René II who, in 1477, led Swiss mercenaries to kill Maximilian I's father-in-law Charles the Bold in the Battle of Nancy.
Therefore, trading with the Principality of Lorraine is not giving the emperor face. Therefore, Marin can only rule out the possibility of buying iron ore from the Principality of Lorraine.
Originally, Marin planned to buy iron ore from the UK. After all, although the grade of British iron ore is also average, its sulfur and phosphorus content is relatively low. This is also an important reason why British artillery has long outperformed France.
However, if Marin buys British iron ore, it is tantamount to sending money to King Henry VII to support Henry VII. And Marin is currently seeking to mess up Britain, how can he send money to Henry VII? Therefore, the purchase of iron ore from the UK was also rejected.
In fact, the best iron ore in Europe comes from northern Sweden. Sweden's iron ore reserves are large, high-grade, and of high quality. It is an excellent raw material for making artillery.
However, the Swedish iron mines are located in the northern part of Sweden, near the Arctic Circle, and there are no people living there yet, let alone the development of iron mines. Therefore, Swedish iron ore should also be excluded.
Then, in the end, the only thing left is the iron mines in the Principality of Luxembourg. The laterite area on the Gutland Plain in the south of the Principality of Luxembourg is a famous iron ore area with reserves of hundreds of millions of tons.
Although the grade of Luxembourg iron ore is not high, it is only a little higher than that of Lorraine iron ore, and its sulfur and phosphorus content is relatively high. But this is not a problem, because Marin knows how to use limestone to remove sulfur and phosphorus.
Moreover, Marin also made up his mind-in the future, he will import British iron ingots with relatively low sulfur and phosphorus content from the United Kingdom as raw materials for casting cannons. In other respects, steel produced from Luxembourg iron ore is still used.
Moreover, the current Duke of Luxembourg is the son of Maximilian I, the handsome king Philip. Buying Luxembourg iron ore is tantamount to sending money to Prince Philip. And giving money to Prince Philip is equivalent to giving money to Maximilian I in disguise. This is very "politically correct".
As for the coke needed for the blast furnace, it is not a problem. Coincidentally, the Hamle coal mine of Mr. Adler's family is a bituminous coal mine. At that time, several ships of bituminous coal from the Hamle Coal Mine will be brought over, coke will be made in a sealed furnace, and the air will be isolated and heated to about 1000 degrees to obtain coke, coke oven gas and other chemical products (kerosene can be extracted, and even phenol can be extracted and other chemical products). The coke oven gas produced in the coking process is also a high-quality fuel for steelmaking open hearth...
After all the problems were solved, Marin officially started to build the steel plant. Among them, build a 5-ton small blast furnace; a 2-ton open hearth furnace; a coke oven, and other supporting equipment and pipelines...
Among them, the coke oven will collect coke oven gas through pipes and valves, and then lead to the open hearth furnace as an important fuel for the regenerator to increase the temperature of the open hearth furnace.
Then, in order to successfully build these equipment, especially to ensure that the coke oven gas does not leak out of the pipeline, Marin personally discussed and revised the plan with Leonardo Da Vinci and other master craftsmen of this era, and strived for the smooth completion of the iron and steel plant. Putting into production...
In addition, Marin also sent people to Ghent to request Prince Philip to purchase a large amount of Luxembourg iron ore. Faced with Marin's move to send money, Prince Philip was naturally very willing.
Moreover, the iron ore in Luxembourg is very easy to dig. Because, many of the Luxembourg iron mines are located on the plains, and the red soil can be dug directly with a pickaxe, which is much easier than digging stones in the mountains.
After the red soil is dug, it is washed to remove rotting impurities and soluble matter, and then dried in the sun before being loaded on a ship. It passes through the Moselle River, a tributary of the Rhine River in Luxembourg, and first enters the main road of the Rhine River in the northeast, and then It is very convenient to transport to the mouth of the Rhine and then to East Frisia...