The first one hundred and seventy-nine chapter three-cylinder cube power
Ann turned around the prototype two times and accurately said his first feeling.
"Really...small."
"But there is an indescribable beauty," Celine sank, "especially the dense pipes around it are just like tentacles."
Roland couldn’t help but laugh, the two observed The angles are completely different, and the conclusions obtained are particularly relevant, which can be said to succinctly express the characteristics of the new machine.
Compared with Anna’s first cast iron steam engine, the prototype prototype has been reduced by ten times, which is the reason for the great leap in processing technology, but the most important Or it saved the boiler.
The current steam engine without winter city has been developed to the fourth generation, but there is not much change in the boiler part - whether it is burning coke or firewood, or heavy oil A huge combustion chamber and steam generator are inevitable. Now, it is just a rectangular steel box that is one meter long, half a meter wide and less than twenty centimeters thick.
This box is also the core of the entire system.
Although simply put the cube and water in a container to achieve a fusion of combustion and evaporation, whether it is a nearly demanding sealing requirement, The pipeline casing that can withstand high pressure is not at the beginning of Bentham Town. In other words, even if you can get the relics of the radioactive family at that time, it is estimated that the role played can be no different from others.
The steel box is lined with three pieces of ceremonial cubes side by side, as a source of machine power, with a layer of lead on the bottom to block excess rays. The top of the clean shell is neatly arranged with more than ten heat pipes. After passing through the secondary water tank and the heat sink condenser, it returns from the bottom. The "heating-energy-cooling" cycle is completely closed and does not exchange with the outside world. Reliable enough, theoretically used to scrap and no need to add new thermal media.
Of course, this size is not the limit of the new steam engine.
Water is just the most accessible and cheapest thermal medium. If you switch to other more efficient media, such as liquid alkali metal, the volume at the same power is still Can do it even smaller.
It’s just that the prototype of the prototype is mainly proof of the feasibility of the project, and Roland finally resisted the impulse of one step. After all, in the event of a heat leak accident, if the alkali metal in the steam state is mixed with water vapor, I am afraid that the entire test site will be blown up.
The pipe that protrudes from the heating box can continuously transfer the heat generated by the Rubik's Cube until the secondary water tank is boiled. The next process is the same as that of the ordinary steam engine. Now, the technology that has not matured in Winter City is used.
The most appreciated part of Celine is the condensate tube evenly distributed on both sides of the body - in order to get a large enough heat dissipation area, each pipe Twisting and twisting, a hundred thousand turns back, said to be a tentacle does not violate.
If the active steam engine is stupid and black, this prototype can be called small and exquisite, especially the silver-white core box and those are enough The brown-red heat-conducting copper tube that reflects the human face is in harmony with each other, and its color and brightness are much more dazzling than its predecessors. Even a layman who knows nothing about the industry can tell the level at a glance.
On the technical point of view, it is enough to be worthy of the title of art.
"So...start?" Roland looked at the two.
Anny nodded and reached out on the joystick, "Come on."
Celine hesitated, and finally hanged the main must, gently placed on the hands of the king and the queen.
"Magic square steam engine principle prototype test, three, two, one, start--"
Companion With Roland's countdown, the joystick was pulled to the maximum limit, and the linkage mechanism pressed three Rubik's cube switches at the same time. The landmark new generation power source began its first operation.
"Oh... failed?" Looking at the unresponsive machine, Celine hesitated.
"No, let it burn for a while." Roland replied calmly.
After two minutes, the core box trembled slightly, and a "light" on the pipe also gave a soft yellow glow - that was A pressure gauge made of stickman's relics, which indicates that the pressure inside the tube is changing.
The heat transfer process was obviously much slower, and after waiting for nearly five minutes, the secondary tank finally rushed out of the steam and pushed the piston to run slowly.
With the gradual increase in the temperature inside the tube, the speed of the steam engine flywheel is also getting faster and faster, and it also drives the water pump of the condensing system - the main role of the latter is Increase the speed of fluid circulation within the tube and re-extract the reduced temperature heat transfer medium back into the core tank. At this point, the new machine completed a complete cycle and officially entered the operational state.
"It seems to be a good result," Anna said with a slight smile on her face. "It’s a slow start."
"This is also a common problem with steam engines," Roland nodded, and heat transfer took time. Even if it was replaced with a more efficient heat medium, it would be less than a fire. Internal combustion engine. In addition, since it is theoretically necessary to maintain a cycle of at least three water tanks, how much its volume is reduced is also much larger than that of an internal combustion engine. In addition, the consumption of uranium tablets by the ritual cubes is too fast, resulting in almost no practical value for this prototype.
but any industrial product is step by step.
As long as Cylon can solve the persistence problem, its distinct advantages can not be neglected - mature technology allows it to be put into production quickly, and the volume is small enough to be placed In most vehicles, the popularity will not increase the fuel burden and so on. Even if durability problems cannot be improved for a while, ships built on new power sources can save a lot of space for fuel and thus load more cargo or weapons.
After half an hour, the speed of the steam engine reached its limit, the whole body was shaking, and the hum of the exhaust vent became a sharp whistling sound. Obviously, the core box composed of the three Rubik's cubes has a little excess power for this steam engine. Roland pulls the operating lever back to the first gear, which is equivalent to closing the two Rubik's cubes before the prototype is stabilized again.
After that is a long reliability test.
This step will last for a week or so and is the easiest part of the problem. After all, the principle of the new machine is so simple that you want it to move and It is not difficult, it is difficult to run long-term and stable.
It’s a very tedious thing to keep in front of a steamer that is jingling, but it’s a decompression for Roland. means. Sitting with Anna in the yard, while chatting and paying attention to the dynamics of the prototype, it is like the time when the two first met, relaxed and peaceful.
I don’t know when, Celine quietly left the lab, leaving him and Anna alone in the yard.
The latter rested his head on his shoulder, and the noise of the machine seemed to be very far away.
"If it succeeds, can we move closer to the world you used to be?"
; "Well, it will be shortened a bit - know that the world has not yet implemented a similar technology."
"The one you said Can a four-wheeled car that people can control be realized?"
"You can, if you like, I can design a simple one for you. Try your hand."
"Okay!" Anna’s voice jumped a lot. "Yes, what is your name for this machine?" "
"Do you have a name?" Roland laughed.
"Of course." Her look is very serious.