Chapter 344 - Energy Usage

The metallurgical department's coking plant also produced coal gas, but that output was consumed almost entirely by metallurgy and metal processing operations, with nothing to spare for other departments. Distance compounded the problem. Laying gas pipelines with adequate sealing for long-distance transmission, manufacturing gas storage tanks—these exceeded the transmigrators' current industrial capabilities. Consequently, Wang Luobin had designed the industrial and agricultural coal gas furnace with local utilization as its fundamental premise.

Wang Luobin possessed extensive coal gas furnace documentation, especially materials on indigenous methods, which could only be described as wildly imaginative. But he distrusted these sources. Indigenous coal gas furnaces had proliferated during the Great Leap Forward, accompanied by extravagant claims—yet they had vanished without trace once the campaign ended. Clearly, there were problems with economy, safety, or practicality. He had experienced countless similar "technology promotions" during his rural years: biogas digesters, indigenous solar cookers... All had either disappeared or limped along in semi-functional states.

Experience had taught him that promoting new technology required attention to multiple factors. Economy and practicality were paramount; neither could be sacrificed.

Therefore, in selecting and designing the coal gas generator, he discarded everything too "indigenous" and made the design as "modern" as possible within the constraints of the Transmigration Group's industrial capability—ensuring effective, reliable application.

For the food processing factory, he chose a flat-suction circular furnace: 1.5 meters in diameter, 3.5 meters tall. Using a blower for air supply, this furnace featured a large hearth, uniform distribution of air and fuel, high gasification intensity, and could gasify sixty kilograms of coal per hour. Required materials—refractory bricks, red bricks, cement, and cast iron—were all producible by the industrial department. Sealing employed a water seal: simple and safe. The most difficult component was the check valve—a cast iron piece presenting almost no manufacturing challenge.

After production, the coal gas first passed through a brick-built cyclone dust collector, then was water-washed to remove tar and particulates. The clean gas, cooled after washing, was supplied to the diesel engine. Wastewater from the washing process, containing substantial tar, was recovered and treated by the chemical department.

A high-power steam generator was also installed inside the furnace, utilizing gasification heat to produce steam during operation. This addressed part of the food processing factory's steam requirements.

For ventilation and to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, the coal gas furnace was positioned under an open shed. The furnace itself, the blower, and the diesel engine were consolidated into a power workshop. The gas-driven diesel powered a belt driving a horizontal shaft, from which additional belts connected to machinery flywheels. This twenty-two-horsepower Changchai engine met all the food processing factory's power requirements—including the blower that kept the coal gas furnace operational.

The furnace ignited successfully on the first attempt, burning coal from Leizhou. After winning the sugar war, the Leizhou Sugar Industry Company had pressed its advantage, seizing Master Zhu's shipping firm following his family's demise. Besides transporting sugar to Guangzhou and Lingao, a dozen large vessels now also carried coal—purchased through Chang Shide's network from local sources and nearby Gaozhou and Lianzhou. This coal was relatively low quality, but that made it ideal for gasification.

Another advantage of the coal gas furnace was its low operator skill requirements. There was no real technique involved—just strict adherence to procedures. Fuel loading wasn't strenuous work either, unlike the constant coal-shoveling demanded by boilers. Wu Nanhai selected an old man in his fifties from Bairen Commune's semi-labor force to manage the furnace. Though elderly in appearance, the man retained his strength, possessed sharp senses, and remained mentally acute.

At the moment of ignition, Wang Luobin personally hand-cranked the diesel engine to life. After several coughs, it settled into a steady "chug-chug" rhythm—indistinguishable from diesel-fueled operation.

Wang Luobin designated the food processing factory's coal gas furnace as the demonstration model for the technology.

Huang Dashan particularly appreciated the coal gas project. Coal gas provided high calorific value and stable heat generation—ideal for precise temperature control. Fermentation and enzyme decomposition had demanding temperature requirements.

The food processing factory's coal gas furnace substantially reduced the farm's biogas consumption. The factory had previously been a major biogas consumer, and biogas digester production was notoriously unstable. One of Wu Nanhai's persistent headaches was that regardless of digester design or capacity, gas supply fluctuations—sometimes outright stoppages—occurred regularly. Emergency fuel deliveries had become routine.

Wang Luobin personally monitored the furnace for half a day, observing combustion behavior. Satisfied that everything was functioning normally, he instructed Mo Xiaoan: "Hang birdcages in this shed and the nearby workshops. Keep a few birds."

"What for?"

"As alarms—to warn of carbon monoxide. Birds have much lower carbon monoxide tolerance than humans. They'll provide early warning of leaks."

"Is that necessary? Coal gas smells so strong when it leaks—impossible to miss..."

Wang Luobin fixed the Minister of Light Industry with a level gaze. "Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless. That smell is added artificially."

"Understood, understood." Mo Xiaoan was sweating—he had just made a fool of himself. "I'll arrange it immediately."

Wang Luobin toured the food factory. He now faced an important task: estimating the Transmigration Group's total energy usage to coordinate the various prime movers and energy sources currently in service—improving utilization efficiency.

Among the prime movers currently deployed, electric motors represented the largest category, powered by two generating stations and scattered wind turbines.

Electric energy was clean and convenient; electric motors operated stably—naturally the first choice for prime movers. However, an internal Industrial and Energy Committee assessment had concluded that self-manufacturing electric motors and related power equipment—generators, transformers, converters, cables—presented formidable difficulties. The primary challenge was materials, particularly the silicon steel sheets used in motors. These were far beyond indigenous manufacturing capabilities. Given the Transmigration Group's industrial level, fabricating equipment wasn't difficult; the difficulty lay in raw materials that could only come from transported reserves. Once depleted, there was no replenishment. Accounting for replacement parts and repairs, these materials required careful conservation. Until these problems were solved, electricity was clearly not the primary development direction.

Beyond electric motors, there were steam engines. Since the machinery factory had begun mass-producing the fifty-horsepower Mozi Type II, this engine had gradually spread throughout the settlement. Steam engines had the worst efficiency but required low technical sophistication. Boilers could burn various fuels. For the immediate future, steam would remain the transmigrators' primary power source.

Diesel and gasoline engines depended on petroleum fuel from transported reserves. Their gradual "gasification" now opened broad application prospects. Though the internal combustion engines on hand produced relatively modest power output, their advantages—compact size, light weight, convenient mobility—far exceeded the cumbersome steam engine-plus-boiler combination. Coal gas generators could be scaled large or small, configured flexibly, and imposed minimal fuel constraints.

Promoting coal gas generators was merely one component of Wang Luobin's broader plan. He also intended to improve fuel utilization through deep processing and combustion device modifications.

The transmigrators used a remarkable variety of fuels. Beyond transported petroleum products and biogas from digesters, coal represented the largest category—essential for everything from steam engine boilers to cafeteria cooking fires. Next came various wood scraps, sawdust, and straw. Different fuels possessed different calorific values and served different applications. Wang Luobin proposed that fuel distribution—previously arbitrary and unsystematic—should be centralized. He recommended establishing a Fuel Factory. Except for biogas, all fuels would undergo uniform preprocessing before distribution to consuming departments.

This Fuel Factory would initially operate a simple coal processing workshop while also incorporating the existing wood dry-distillation kilns.

The coal processing workshop would wash incoming coal. Coal from Hong Gai and Guangdong was all mined by indigenous methods, contaminated with substantial impurities. Quality varied as well; mixing high-ash and low-ash coal indiscriminately and burning them together in boilers was enormously wasteful.

Washing removed impurities from raw coal, after which high-quality and low-quality coal could be sorted. Gangue was extracted. Crushing coal according to specific applications could dramatically improve utilization efficiency.

Wood fuels—except for sawdust and materials unsuitable for dry distillation—would no longer be burned directly. Instead, they would enter dry-distillation kilns for conversion to charcoal, improving combustion efficiency, reducing pollution, and recovering wood tar. Waste heat from the kilns would power evaporators, producing steam for Bopu's factories.

Beyond coking coal, fuel coal and charcoal would be converted to standard coal equivalents for distribution to departments—enabling accurate tracking of each department's fuel consumption.

Straw and husk fuels would remain under Agricultural Committee control. Regarding husks specifically, Wang Luobin advised against using them as fuel for now. Their high silicon dioxide content caused substantial pollution when burned, and effective utilization required specialized equipment.

For the numerous stoves currently in use—in cafeterias, factories, and dormitories—Wang Luobin planned comprehensive investigation and registration, excluding only biogas stoves. Stove types would be standardized, and inefficient simple stoves that wasted fuel and heat would be dismantled. Simultaneously, honeycomb briquette use would be mandated. Manufacturing these briquettes was straightforward: coal dust remaining after screening was ground fine, mixed proportionally with yellow earth, and pressed with a simple hand-operated briquette machine. Two or three workers could produce several thousand daily—sufficient to meet demand.