Chapter 1307 - Song of Electricity (Part 7)

"The first industrial DC generator—one purpose-built for electroplating—didn't appear until 1844. The series connection of generators and motors wasn't achieved until 1873. Before that breakthrough, generators fed batteries, which then powered motors. As for the transition from permanent magnet excitation to self-excitation by electric current—Siemens published that in 1867. The modern drum-type armature was designed by Siemens's Alteneck in 1872. Compensating windings and laminated iron cores for motors didn't emerge until 1885. And the now-universal three-phase synchronous generation mode? That arrived only in 1887."

Faraday's multimedia presentation had captured everyone's attention. Though the assembled transmigrators possessed varying fragments of this knowledge, few had ever seen it synthesized so comprehensively.

"My point in laying out this history," he continued, "is that we have no need to retrace the original technology tree step by step. Take the motor we successfully trial-produced—it was manufactured from blueprints we brought with us: the Y-series three-phase squirrel-cage asynchronous motor from old-timeline national standards. This series can satisfy most of our workshops' current prime mover requirements. After all, a 10-ton electric crane only needs 15 kilowatts."

He proceeded to explain the types, functions, and principles of power equipment, then offered a general overview of transmission and distribution—all presented accessibly. The science and technology professionals in attendance could follow without drowning in excessive detail.

"Now, to return to my main point: there's a common misconception that everything electrical should fall under the Power sector's jurisdiction. But the power industry, as the name implies, parallels the machinery industry—the machinery industry manufactures machines; the power industry produces power. Power stations are ours, but generator manufacturing is not. It's properly a subcategory of the machinery industry." He paused, then added pointedly: "And while I'm digressing—our mechanical sector has a tendency to wallow in crude steampunk culture. We've got over a hundred transmigrators scattered across village-level machinery shops, working day after day as common fitters. What kind of nonsense is that? On mature production lines, we need to liberate transmigrators and deploy them where transmigrators are actually needed. When we tried to build an electric motor, we couldn't get heaven or earth to respond. When we wanted a machinery transmigrator to help, all we got were eye-rolls. I'm not saying this to build an empire—I'm saying this for everyone's future and tomorrow..."

"Ahem, ahem." Qian Liushi sensed things veering off course and coughed a warning. Faraday glared at him but relented. "Fine—any more and feelings will get hurt. The Executive Committee and Planning Commission have approved establishing a project team for power equipment production and development, jointly led by myself and Qian Liushi. I hope colleagues with stronger mechanical expertise will join us and help make our power equipment bigger and better, so we can enter the age of electrification as soon as possible."

"Let's pause Faraday's introduction there," Qian Liushi interjected, fearing his colleague might put his foot in his mouth again. "I'll continue the discussion. The Planning Commission has long wanted to switch our factories' prime movers from steam engines to electric motors. But delays in silicon steel production and various insulation and sealing materials have kept these plans purely verbal."

"Here's what I propose: first examine demand, then assess what we can provide. The projects currently requiring electricity are as follows—please add anything I've missed. Our most important work is satisfying the mandatory electrical needs of industrial enterprises: electrolysis and electroplating. Electrolysis in particular has high power consumption and significantly impacts the non-ferrous metals and chemical industries. We'll start there."

With this groundwork laid, the meeting finally found its footing. After extensive discussion, the transmigrators from the industrial sector formulated a rough plan for power equipment manufacturing and the direction of power development.

First priority: produce silicon steel. At the steel plant's current level, they could only manufacture hot-rolled sheets. Through continuous testing of hysteresis curves across various grades, they would sort out approximate specifications suitable for motors and transformers.

With a stable and reliable silicon steel supply, the next step would be to build a specialized motor workshop. Besides producing Y-series motors, they could mass-produce low-speed air-cooled permanent magnet generators under 100 kilowatts—brushless designs. These generators could be driven by steam engines, or by diesel engines if available in the future, or even by water turbines at small hydroelectric stations. Terminal voltage would be 400 volts. For this low-voltage class, mica sheets and mica paper would suffice for insulation. This generator series would be relatively lightweight and suitable for combat logistics centers, command posts, or construction sites. The combination of generators and motors would greatly improve efficiency over steam engines—provided Lingao's industrial system could supply diesel engines and fuel at scale. Otherwise, using gas power would discount these advantages.

As for transmission and distribution, the consensus among transmigrators from the mechanical and chemical sectors was sobering: too many technical hurdles remained, and too many links in the industrial chain were missing. Beyond the ability to barely produce various makeshift wires and cables, transformers, circuit breakers, and similar equipment were all difficult to manufacture. Secondary electrical equipment like ammeters and voltmeters posed difficulties that couldn't be overcome in the short term. The recommended approach was to expand capacity through self-supply power stations installed at chemical and smelting enterprises requiring large amounts of electricity, using steam engines to drive batches of low-speed air-cooled permanent magnet generators for on-site production and consumption.

The Power Work Conference concluded successfully. Afterward, Chang Kaishen hosted a banquet at the Farm Teahouse for Liu Tangmu, Faraday, Qian Liushi, and other key technical personnel, toasting their "hard work and perseverance." He also invited Dr. Zhong Lishi. Over the years, Faraday's group had achieved results in no small part thanks to the quiet support of the People's Committee Member for Science and Technology. Without it, Faraday would probably have long since jumped ship to the steel plant to pursue materials science.

Dr. Zhong rarely attended social gatherings among transmigrators, but he readily accepted this invitation. Minister Chang knew the doctor generally wouldn't refuse any occasion featuring fine cuisine, so he generously spent his circulation vouchers to prepare quite a few premium dishes typically reserved for guests.

Though the teahouse catered to transmigrators, its cooks weren't master chefs. Wu Nanhai had no intention of turning the place into a restaurant, so the naturalized cooks trained there specialized in pastries, desserts, and light meals. When actual banquets were required, master chefs came from the Commercial House Restaurant.

These master chefs had all been personally trained by several transmigrator "foodies" who knew how to eat and cook well. Among their specialties, the Nanbao roast duck recipe had been taught by Zhong Lishi himself. They excelled at preparing dishes suited to transmigrator palates.

The banquet was set beside the waterside window in the teahouse's annex building. Lingao's low latitude meant that by not yet March, the weather was already warm with flowers blooming. The tall windows stood open, and a gentle breeze wafted through.

The table was laden with local Lingao specialties: four hot dishes—braised spicy sea snail eyeballs, steamed crab with roe, stir-fried sipunculid worms, and pork belly with dried radish; two main courses—salt-and-pepper pig's trotters and roast Nanbao duck; vegetables of garlic-sautéed Duowen water spinach and scallion-braised baby taro; and two pastries—oil-fried shrimp and chive cakes and Lingao fried sesame balls.

The drinks were rice beer and Leizhou rum from the Farm Cooperative, naturally accompanied by kvass—that "national beverage."

By 1633 standards, when transmigrator living standards had improved substantially, this banquet qualified as luxurious. The pig's trotters with their tender meat and faint medicinal aroma, and the diced pork belly, made several attendees secretly swallow their saliva.

Host and guests raised glasses and drank heartily. Chang Kaishen toasted frequently, and soon everyone's faces were flushed.

Dr. Zhong, already somewhat tipsy, knew he should stop and steered the conversation toward academic journals.

"Your work on the electric motor was excellent," he said. "Record all the experimental data from this project. Later, everyone should summarize their respective parts, compile them together, and publish in the Core."

What Dr. Zhong called "the Core" was the first academic journal of this timeline: Nature and Science, organized by the Science and Technology Department and published by the Grand Library. Dr. Zhong served as editor-in-chief, with the most qualified professionals from the mechanical, metallurgical, chemical, and other departments—as well as specialists in electrical engineering, materials, precision instruments, and biology—serving as editors and reviewers. The journal documented the latest achievements and production results of the industrial departments, with emphasis on transmigrators' exploration and practice of "replicating" and "recreating" modern industry under existing conditions.

The publication of Nature and Science had to some extent replaced the science and technology section of the old internal forum. That section had gradually fallen fallow as the First Five-Year Plan deepened, departmental work became increasingly siloed, and everyone was busy with work by day and "homework" by night.

Many transmigrators were familiar with core journals from before D-Day. Though writing papers was tedious, a positive compensation system had made submissions fairly enthusiastic—particularly after the foreign maiden auctions made everyone increasingly value circulation vouchers. The magazine was published monthly and distributed free to every transmigrator. As an information supplement, it enabled professionals across different fields to stay current on other departments' work and quickly apply the latest technological developments. Besides one copy per transmigrator, additional copies were printed for the Grand Library, schools, and various enterprise reference rooms for naturalized technical personnel. Accordingly, submission guidelines explicitly stated that papers must not contain words like "old timeline" and absolutely must not mention old-timeline technology history.

(End of Chapter)