Legend of the Planet Builder

Chapter 52 - 52 52 Plasma Furnace

?Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Plasma Furnace Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Plasma Furnace “Mr. He, we have been anxiously waiting for your arrival,” Qiu Yang greeted him alongside Baosan’s management and technicians outside the factory.

“Hello Mr. Qiu,” He Xingzhou shook his hand and briefly stated, “The melting furnace has already been preliminarily tested at our research institute. We can proceed with trial production here.”

“That’s excellent!” Qiu Yang instructed his assistant: “Hurry up and get the workers together, let’s get the furnace installed!”

He also whispered to He Xingzhou, “Mr. He, there are a few technical experts from Japan who’d like to observe. Would that be alright?”

Before He Xingzhou could answer, he proactively explained, “They are all from Sakura Steel Company. We import two million tons of specialized steel from them each year. Recently, they have been raising the price of specialized steel.”

“If they realize that we can also produce specialized steel, the price will come down quickly.”

He Xingzhou nodded, “No problem, even if they dismantle my equipment, they won’t be able to figure out how it’s made. They can’t see anything during the melting process, so let them have a look.”

“Great, I’ll go call them over now, to take them down a notch!” Qiu Yang then sent for Nishikawa Kenta and others.

In the factory area, workers under the guidance of the experts from the research institute, transported and installed the plasma furnace.

It was a huge piece of equipment, consisting of several large components, such as the plasma generator, the melting furnace, the refining room, the water-cooling crystal room, and so on.

Installing these components took several hours.

Throughout this process, He Xingzhou oversaw the entire operation, while Baosan’s technical experts were learning on the side.

Only after they had finished installation did they allow the experts from Sakura Steel Company to enter.

“Is this their production plasma furnace?” Nishikawa Kenta closely inspected the new equipment in the melting workshop but from the outside, nothing about it stood out.

The difference in this equipment mainly lay in the internal structural design.

The other Japanese experts also exchanged glances, most wearing expressions of doubt.

Before they came, they had discussed it.

Led by Nishikawa Kenta, the experts were stubborn in their belief that this so-called plasma furnace couldn’t produce specialized steel with superior performance!

“Nagata-san, keep an eye on them, don’t let them pull any tricks,” Nishikawa Kenta instructed one of the experts, tasking him with watching the feed and discharge ports.

To ensure these people weren’t switching out the steel being melted.

“Hi,” Nagata Yuusuke, with a serious face, closely followed the production line workers to check the raw materials.

After a while, Nagata Yuusuke came back, reporting, “There’s no issue with the materials.”

“We can start now,” said He Xingzhou, while Ding Yue had already set up the camera to record a video for him.

Facing the camera, He Xingzhou explained, “Ladies and gentlemen, we are now in one of Baosan Steel Co., Ltd.’s steel melting workshops, testing our plasma melting furnace for producing specialized steel. Let’s begin the melting process!”

The camera focused on the feed port, as a large amount of raw material was loaded into the melting chamber of the furnace.

He Xingzhou started the furnace, and the experts fell silent, observing the instrument panel.

At this moment, electric current entered the plasma generator, heating the mixture of gases inside to produce plasma.

The plasma began to generate electricity, forming an arc. When the arc is compressed by external airflow, the walls of the device, or an external magnetic field, causing the arc column to narrow and the temperature to rise, a concentrated arc is created.

The compressed arc begins to melt the raw materials, which are then melted by the plasma flame in a very short time, for various refining and purification processes.

“In just three minutes, the power has already surpassed that of our existing high-temperature arc furnaces!” Qiu Yang said excitedly, watching the numbers on the instrument panel climb rapidly, already reaching the top level in the world.

Just looking at the power meter, Nishikawa Kenta and other Japanese experts’ expressions became grave. With this power, it would be difficult for the plasma furnace’s melting effect to be anything short of impressive!

Soon, the plasma furnace’s first melting process was completed, and the raw materials had been melted into a metallic liquid.

At this point, the special steel smelting wasn’t finished yet. A second remelting was necessary to further remove impurities and add the required elements, such as carbon, necessary alloy metals, and so on.

The special steel they were to melt this time was an ultra-pure bearing steel. It could be used to manufacture bearings for car engines and electric motors and could also be used for tanks, airplanes, and on aircraft carriers!

This type of steel can currently only be produced by a few countries in the world, such as the USA, Germany, and Japan!

Previously, Shen Zhou had always been dependent on imports, and often times, it was difficult to purchase even with money!

Everyone waited patiently, as the furnace reaction process remained stable. As time passed, the technicians from He Xingzhou’s team and the executives from Baosan Steel Co., Ltd. slowly relaxed.

The melting process continued without issue, which suggested that the equipment’s safety and stability were satisfactory. They only had to wait for the final testing of the special steel’s properties!

“Nishikawa-kun, this equipment seems quite extraordinary,” Nagata Yuusuke whispered to Nishikawa Kenta, sensing that something was off.

The plasma furnace had been operating at an extremely high power for half a day, and the metal liquid had undergone a second furnace melting. Operators had added the prepared alloy materials, and in the Water-cooling Crystal Room, the special steel was already beginning to take shape!

“Patience is necessary. Simply melting the metal doesn’t prove anything; we still need to test the properties of the product,” Nishikawa Kenta said, though he was starting to feel unsure himself.

“It’s out, the first batch of products!” At the outlet, several samples of the special steel had already been melted by the plasma furnace.

Their smooth surfaces reflected a metallic sheen, the steel’s color conveying a sense of “power,” as if it were the Ruyi Jingu Bang itself!

“Test it immediately!” Qiu Yang couldn’t wait to say, “Ladies and gentlemen, experts, Mr. Nishikawa, shall we join?”

“Let’s go and test the performance!” Baosan’s executives and a group of experts crowded into the testing area.

Nagata Yuusuke, fearing they might falsify the results, personally participated in the testing.

They needed to test the steel’s strength, stiffness, toughness, plasticity, and corrosion resistance, among other properties.

“@He Xingzhou, have the results for the steel material testing come out yet?” Xuanwu Executive Officer inquired eagerly through the chat group.

He and He Hongwei had been closely following this matter; if they were able to manufacture special steel and other advanced metals themselves, it would herald a significant advancement in the production of military weapons and equipment!

“Soon, just wait a bit longer,” He Xingzhou replied.

In the testing area, the samples were undergoing various tests, with the data being recorded in the computer system.

Finally, all the test items were completed, and a final test report was printed by the printer.

He Xingzhou was the first to get his hands on the test report, and as expected, all the indicators perfectly met the requirements for ultra-pure bearing steel; the steel from this smelting belonged to the top class of special steels!

His expression was calm, as this was expected, but the crowd around him watched him nervously, waiting for him to announce the results.