mchenry-crisis.org Chapter 176 Liu Guangtian Offers Advice, Upgrading the Technology
Chapter 176 Liu Guangtian Offers Advice, Upgrading the Technology
In early winter of 1983, the first cold rain of the year fell for three days in Zhangcheng. In the forging workshop of Chenqing Hardware Manufacturing Joint Venture, the roaring furnace fire could not dispel the chill seeping in through the cracks in the upper windows. Liu Guangtian, wrapped in his newly issued blue work jacket, had been squatting beside the No. 3 forging furnace for more than two hours. The simple thermometer made of rolled-up sheet metal in his hand was hot from the furnace fire, but he was oblivious to it, his eyes fixed on the pale blue flames overflowing from the furnace mouth.
"Director Liu, take a break! This batch of steel billets needs to be heated for another ten minutes before it can be forged. You haven't had breakfast yet." Young technician Xiao Zhou ran over carrying an enamel mug filled with steaming corn porridge. "Director Lin specially asked the canteen to save this for you, and he even added half a spoonful of brown sugar."
Liu Guangtian straightened up, a slight ache emanating from his lower back. He took the enamel mug, his calloused fingertips rubbing against the dents on the rim—it was an old mug Lin Chen had used at the steel rolling mill, now passed down to a key technical worker. "Thanks, Xiao Zhou," he said, taking a sip of the hot porridge, the warmth sliding from his throat to his stomach, but his gaze returned to the forging furnace. "Look at this furnace temperature. It needs to reach 1200 degrees Celsius to meet the forging requirements, but at least 20% of the heat is lost through the furnace walls. It's such a waste."
Following his gaze, Xiao Zhou saw that the steel plates on the outside of the forging furnace were glowing red-hot, and the scorching heat could be felt just a few steps away. "Isn't this always been the case? It's the same in the forging workshops of state-owned factories. The hotter the fire, the better. Who cares about waste?" He scratched his head, feeling that Liu Guangtian was making a mountain out of a molehill. "Our factory is doing well now, do we really need to worry about fuel costs?"
Liu Guangtian shook his head, pulled a small, worn-out notebook from his pocket, and flipped through the densely filled records inside: "Look, last month we forged 32 tons of steel, consuming 4.8 tons of coke, an average of 150 kilograms of coke per ton. When I was in the steel rolling mill, the old master taught me a rudimentary method of 'waste heat recycling,' but the equipment was too poor back then to be widely adopted. Now that we have new equipment, maybe we can make use of this waste heat."
He squatted down and drew a sketch on the ground with chalk: "Furnace No. 3 is a newly renovated reverberatory furnace. The furnace wall has three layers of refractory bricks. We will add a layer of spiral heat-conducting pipes on the inside of the furnace wall, and send cold air in from the end of the pipe. After being heated by the furnace wall, it will be sent into the preheating chamber from the pipe opening. In this way, the steel billet can be preheated to more than 300 degrees before entering the forging furnace, and the coke consumption of the forging furnace will definitely be reduced."
Xiao Zhou's eyes lit up: "That's a great idea! If it works, we can save a lot on coke every month. But the heat pipe needs to be made of high-temperature resistant steel, right? Do we have any in our warehouse?"
"There's a batch of heat-resistant alloy pipes imported from West Germany in the warehouse. They were originally intended for use in repairing grinding machines, and the specifications are just right." Liu Guangtian put away his notebook and strode towards the workshop office. "I'll draw up detailed drawings now and ask Director Lin for permission to modify them." His steps were light, and he even forgot about the soreness in his back—after working in the steel rolling mill for more than ten years, no one had ever seriously listened to his technical ideas. Now, here, every idea had the potential to be realized.
Lin Chen was in his office checking the payment status of foreign trade orders with Su Qing when Liu Guangtian burst in carrying a stack of drawings, his face covered in chalk dust. He couldn't help but laugh and stand up: "Guangtian, judging by your appearance, you've made a big discovery?"
Liu Guangtian spread the blueprints on his desk, pointing to the structural diagram: "Brother Lin, Sister Su, look at this 'waste heat utilization forging method.' Our forging furnace wastes a lot of waste heat. If we add a heat pipe system to guide the waste heat to the preheating chamber, preheating the steel billets before they enter the furnace, we can save at least 15% of coke. I calculated that if we forge 30 tons of steel per month, we can save 450 kilograms of coke. At the current price of 0.2 yuan per kilogram, that's 90 yuan per month, and 1080 yuan per year!"
Su Qing picked up her calculator, her fingers flying across the keyboard: "It's not that simple. By saving on coke, and once the furnace temperature stabilizes, the forging pass rate of the steel billets will also improve. Currently, our pass rate is 92%. If the preheating is more uniform, it can reach at least 95%, reducing the scrap rate by 3%, and saving over 300 yuan in steel costs each month. That adds up to nearly 5000 yuan a year." She looked up at Lin Chen, her eyes full of approval, "This plan is feasible and worth investing in."
Lin Chen didn't immediately respond, but instead picked up the blueprints and examined them carefully. He noticed that Liu Guangtian had drawn three different angles at the interface of the heat pipe and also marked the model of the sealing material: "You've considered the sealing issue? Ordinary gaskets will melt at high temperatures, but this silicon nitride gasket has a very precise model."
"Yes, Brother Lin, I've seen similar sealing devices at the steel rolling mill, and I specifically noted down the model number." Liu Guangtian scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly. "I just don't know if they have this kind of sealing gasket in the warehouse. If not, I'll have to go to the hardware market in Guangzhou to find it."
"Don't worry about that. When we imported the grinding machines last time, the supplier sent a batch of silicon nitride gaskets, which I had Guangfu store separately in the precision parts area." Lin Chen made the decision. "We'll proceed with the renovation according to this plan. I'll assign two technicians as assistants, and the logistics department will fully cooperate in purchasing materials. We'll complete the renovation and debugging within a week." He paused, then added, "During the renovation, the workshop can use the No. 1 backup furnace first. We can't let it affect the delivery schedule of foreign trade orders."
After receiving approval, Liu Guangtian immediately began the renovation work. He took Xiao Zhou and another technician, Xiao Li, to the warehousing department to collect materials from Liu Guangfu. Liu Guangfu had already neatly arranged the heat-resistant alloy pipes, sealing gaskets, and fixing brackets on the shelves, with a material requisition register next to them: "Brother, I looked at your drawings and specially picked out alloy pipes with a wall thickness of 5 mm for you, which is 0.5 mm thicker than required by the drawings, making them more durable."
"Guangfu is so thoughtful." Liu Guangtian patted his younger brother's shoulder, picked up an alloy tube and weighed it in his hand. "This tube is of good quality; it should last for three to five years."
The renovation work was more complicated than expected. A problem arose on the very first day: the refractory bricks of the forging furnace wall had hardened, and drilling holes to install heat pipes was risky; the slightest mistake could shatter the bricks. Liu Guangtian squatted by the furnace, pondering for a long time. He then asked Xiao Zhou to borrow a small diamond drill from the machine repair shop and applied a layer of refractory mud to the drilling area to reduce the impact of vibration on the bricks. He personally operated the drill, his palms sweating profusely, and only breathed a sigh of relief when the drill bit successfully pierced the furnace wall.
Su Qing would come to the workshop every day to check on the progress. Seeing that Liu Guangtian and the other two were covered in grease and hadn't even had lunch, she specially asked the canteen to make braised pork and egg drop soup and bring them to the workshop: "Everyone, eat first. Health is the foundation of everything. Director Lin said that after the transformation is successful, you will receive a special bonus."
Liu Guangtian wolfed down his food, muttering, "Sister Su, look at this joint. I think we need to add another clamp, otherwise it might loosen under high temperatures." Su Qing looked in the direction he was pointing, took out her notebook, and wrote it down: "I'll have the purchasing department buy stainless steel clamps this afternoon. I promise it won't delay your construction."
On the evening of the fourth day, after the last heat pipe was welded, Liu Guangtian pressed the air supply button for the preheating chamber. Compressed air entered the forging furnace wall through the heat pipe, and after being heated by residual heat, it was ejected from the air outlet of the preheating chamber. The thermometer showed that the air outlet temperature had reached 320 degrees Celsius. "It's done!" Xiao Zhou shouted excitedly, and the workers in the workshop all gathered around and applauded.
Lin Chen also arrived at the workshop. Looking at the steel billets gradually heating up in the preheating chamber, he said to Liu Guangtian, "Tomorrow we will officially start trial production. We will use steel billets of the same specifications and the same forging process to compare the fuel consumption and pass rate before and after the modification."
Early the next morning, trial production officially began. Liu Guangtian personally operated the forging furnace, feeding the preheated steel billets to 350 degrees Celsius into the furnace. What normally takes 20 minutes to reach 1200 degrees Celsius, this time took only 15 minutes. When the first forged bearing blank was removed, the quality inspector measured it with calipers and loudly reported: "Dimensional accuracy is qualified, and surface smoothness is better than standard!"
After a full day of trial production, the statistics were presented to Lin Chen and Su Qing: the modified No. 3 furnace consumed only 382.5 kg of coke to forge 3 tons of steel, averaging 127.5 kg per ton, a 15% reduction compared to before the modification; the pass rate reached 96%, an increase of 4 percentage points. Holding the accounting sheet, the workshop director's hands trembled with excitement: "Director Lin, Director Liu, this modification is a huge success! According to these figures, we can save 5.4 tons of coke annually, worth 1080 yuan, and reduce scrap losses by more than 6000 yuan, totaling over 7000 yuan!"
Lin Chen immediately decided to hold a factory-wide commendation meeting. At the meeting, he personally handed Liu Guangtian a gold-embossed "Technological Innovation Pioneer" trophy and a 500 yuan bonus: "Guangtian has only been with our factory for a month, and he has already made such a great contribution. This 500 yuan bonus is a reward for you. More importantly, the factory has decided to establish a technical innovation team, with you as the team leader. From now on, you will be in charge of all the factory's technical transformation projects."
Liu Guangtian accepted the trophy and prize money, his eyes instantly reddening. Looking at his fellow workers below the stage, and then at Lin Chen and Su Qing standing smiling beside him, his voice choked with emotion: "I've worked in the steel rolling mill for fifteen years, rising from a first-grade worker to a fifth-grade worker, and I've never received such recognition before. Back when Brother Lin was in the courtyard, guiding me in forging techniques, I felt there was hope for the future with him. Now I understand that this isn't just a factory, but a place where we craftsmen realize our value."
He paused, then raised the trophy: "This honor doesn't belong to me alone, it belongs to Xiao Zhou, Xiao Li, and all the workers in the workshop. In the future, I will definitely lead the technical innovation team to study hard and make Chenqing Hardware's technology more and more advanced, and make everyone's wages higher and higher!" Thunderous applause rang out from below the stage, and even Uncle Wang, the usually most silent old technician, clapped his hands vigorously, his eyes full of approval.
After the commendation meeting, Liu Guangtian was even more motivated. He led the technical innovation team to study optimization solutions for other processes. He found that the forging press machine in the workshop took half an hour to change the mold each time, so he designed a quick mold changing device, using hydraulic jacks instead of manual bolt fixing, reducing the mold changing time to 10 minutes; seeing that the workers were inefficient in manually grinding bearing blanks, he drew on the principle of grinding machines to make a simple semi-automatic grinding machine, which increased efficiency threefold.
Su Qing meticulously recorded the benefits of these technological innovations in her ledger. At the end of the month, during the accounting, she discovered that the factory's production costs had decreased by 12% compared to the previous month, while output had increased by 15%. She took the ledger to Lin Chen and said with a smile, "Guang Tian truly lives up to his reputation as a key technical expert. With him here, our production costs can be reduced even further. By the way, Mr. Chen, a foreign trade businessman from Guangzhou, heard about our technological upgrade and wants to come and inspect it, saying he wants to increase his order volume."
"Great, this is a good opportunity to let Boss Chen see our new equipment." Lin Chen looked out the window at Liu Guangtian, who was adjusting the new grinding machine, and felt a surge of emotion. He recalled the days in the courtyard house when Liu Guangtian was a boy being beaten and scolded by his father, and now he had grown into a capable technical leader. Perhaps this was the meaning of his rebirth—not only to change his own destiny, but also to lead those who deserve help to forge their own path in this era of change.
On the day Mr. Chen came to inspect the project, he made a special trip to visit the renovated forging workshop. When he saw the steel billets being heated by waste heat in the preheating chamber, and listened to Liu Guangtian's detailed explanation of the principles and benefits of the "waste heat utilization forging method," he gave a thumbs up: "Director Lin, your technological innovation is truly remarkable! In Hong Kong, only large manufacturers invest in the research and development of such energy-saving technologies. I'm here today to increase my monthly order volume from 3000 sets to 5000 sets. I wonder if you can deliver on time?"
"No problem!" Lin Chen replied confidently. "Our technological innovations have increased production by 15%, and with the new grinding machine in operation, we can fully meet the demand for 5000 sets. Moreover, because of the reduced costs, we can offer you an additional 2% discount."
Overjoyed, Boss Chen signed a new supply contract on the spot. After seeing Boss Chen off, Liu Guangtian approached Lin Chen and handed him a new research and development plan: "Brother Lin, I want to develop a fully automated forging production line, using electric motors to drive forging presses, and combining it with our waste heat preheating device, which could increase output by at least 50%. However, this requires a significant investment, including purchasing new motors and control systems."
Lin Chen took the research and development plan and examined it carefully. The plan detailed the equipment models, procurement costs, development cycle, and expected benefits, even listing potential technical challenges. He looked up at Liu Guangtian and saw that this former teenager's eyes were filled with a dedication to technology and aspirations for the future. "This plan is excellent," Lin Chen patted him on the shoulder. "The factory will fully support you. Leave the funding and procurement to me and Su Qing; you just focus on the research and development."
That evening, Liu Guangtian returned home and told his wife, Xiulian, about developing a fully automated forging production line. Xiulian was sewing clothes for their child when she heard this and smiled, saying, "You, your eyes always light up when you talk about technology. But Brother Lin and Sister Su trust you so much, you must do your best. By the way, Mom called today and said Dad's condition has stabilized and we have enough money for medicine, so don't worry about things at home."
Liu Guangtian walked to the window and looked at the lights in the direction of the factory. There lay his business, his boss who trusted him, and his coworkers who had fought alongside him. He remembered what Lin Chen had told him back in the courtyard house: "Earning a living with your skills is more reliable than anything else." Now, he not only supported his family with his skills but was also leading a group of people in research and development, realizing even greater value.
He turned and picked up his pen, adding a sentence at the end of the research and development plan: "Technology as the foundation, integrity as the cornerstone." This is not only his requirement for himself, but also the creed that Chenqing Hardware has upheld all along. In this golden age of reform and opening up, Chenqing Hardware is like a ship setting sail, and he, Lin Chen, Su Qing, and all the workers are the helmsmen of this ship, forging ahead towards a wider ocean.