Chapter 17: Chapter 17 Arc Discharge
Li Shiming held two black silicon carbide rods in his hands, which had taken him a full five days to make.
Due to limited conditions, he employed a rather primitive method of using buried sintering.
He had learned from the young servant Mo Yan that there was coal, which is also known as black stone, in a nearby mountain. Since coal generates toxic gases when burned, it is rarely used as fuel in this world.
It took five large carts of coal to successfully produce the two silicon carbide rods.
It was only because his consciousness was involved in the machine room that he could isolate the heat and harmful substances, otherwise he would not have dared to undertake such an operation in the machine room space.
However, given the current level of technology in this world, even if he disclosed the method of making silicon carbide rods, no one would be capable of producing them.
It was only because his consciousness was constantly monitoring the materials' changes in the machine room space that he was able to succeed.
His consciousness controlled several custom parts brought by the young servant Mo Yan and combined them with the heat-insulating materials he had fabricated, creating a peculiar piece of equipment.
Even professionals from his past life would not be able to discern its purpose.
Even if Li Shiming installed the two silicon carbide rods on it, it still wouldn't function as intended.
This was an electric arc furnace missing key components, notably a high-voltage power supply and an electronic control device.
Li Shiming was not lacking the knowledge to make high-voltage packages, capacitors, resistors, and other electronic components, but the problem was that the absence of basic materials was too great for him to begin.
The solution he came up with was simple: the uninterruptible power supply in the machine room could supply the high-voltage electricity the electric arc furnace needed with a slight adjustment to the commands. As for the electronic control aspect, the uninterruptible power supply could handle that as well.
The main reason for creating an electric arc furnace was for self-preservation. With the electric arc furnace, he could refine steel on his own. By using his consciousness to control the process in the machine room, he could shape the steel into any form and also ensure precision.
Moreover, with the electric arc furnace, he could easily process and produce most basic materials with temperatures ranging from 1,300 to nearly 2,000 degrees Celsius, depending on the level of electrical input.
With basic materials, many technological products from his previous world could be brought back into existence.
Of course, he wasn't in a hurry to process and produce basic materials. Before creating items for self-preservation, he needed to make the most critical item first.
Over these days, he had reduced electricity consumption, using his consciousness to drive the generator daily to replenish the power within the uninterruptible power supply. By today, he had fully charged it.
The accumulated electricity was intended for use with the electric arc furnace.
His consciousness pulled up the design, which had gone through several modifications, to its final form.
It was a steam engine, and the design included not only the steam engine blueprints but also an alloy composition table for the metals required for each part.
His consciousness used copper wires to direct the high-voltage electricity from the uninterruptible power supply into the two silicon carbide rods, which then generated a white hot light at extremely high temperatures between them.
Iron and other metals, already prepared, were controlled by his consciousness and fed into the electric arc furnace in sequence, turning into molten alloy steel.
The high temperatures inside the electric arc furnace had no effect on his consciousness. He monitored the condition of the molten alloy steel, and once he saw that it had formed properly, he disconnected the electric arc furnace from the uninterruptible power supply.
His consciousness lifted the molten alloy steel out of the electric arc furnace and shaped it into the required part in mid-air.
In the machine room space, his consciousness acted almost like a variety of high-precision machinery.
It was precisely the uniqueness of the machine room space that allowed him to fulfill his ideas according to his will.
After the first part cooled, he removed it from the machine room space.
Looking at the component in his hand, Li Shiming felt a surge of emotion, nearly moved to tears by the metallic texture reminiscent of his past life.
He had made many things before, but they did not follow the style of his previous world. This component was the first true display of past-life technology in this world.
Even this single part was beyond the capability of ordinary craftsmen to produce.
Not to mention a perfected alloy formula, it was the precision down to micrometers that ordinary craftsmen had no means to achieve.
Without a machine tool, only the so-called master craftsmen might have the ability to do this with their bare hands.
Li Shiming had never seen a master craftsman's ability, and even with his family background, he couldn't afford to have a master craftsman work for him.
He looked at the electricity consumption; the high-pressure conversion electrical load was still within controllable limits, so he didn't stop and continued to operate the electric arc furnace.
One by one, alloy components were manufactured. By the time the last piece was finished, ten days had passed and the Imperial Examination was just three days away.
The reason it took so many days was mainly due to the extensive time required to replenish the electricity, as the electric arc furnace consumed power exceedingly fast.
The electric arc furnace was somewhat small, requiring components like the flywheel and boiler to be made in segments and then welded together with an electric arc.
It was fortunate that his consciousness could perceive the interior of the parts within the machine room space, otherwise segment manufacturing would bring significant hidden risks.
All the troubles didn't stop his manufacturing process, and a steam engine now appeared within the machine room space.
He added water and coal to the steam engine, ignited the coal, and waited for the water temperature to rise. As it did, the flywheel began to turn slowly, and as the temperature continued to climb, the wheel turned faster and faster.
The flywheel drove the generator's rotor, which generated electricity as it turned.
The electricity flowed into the uninterruptible power supply, replenishing the consumed energy.
As long as there was water and coal, the electricity would be produced continuously.
Of course, the generator had also been modified. After creating the electric arc furnace, he used his consciousness to craft micrometer-level rollers, replacing the cowhide lubrication device on the generator and greatly increasing its efficiency.
The generated electricity was not only enough to support the operation of the electric arc furnace but also allowed the large server IBMz15 to operate without sleep, unleashing its full computing power without restrictions.
Li Shiming no longer needed to consume his own spirit, as long as he replenished coal and water periodically and regularly expelled the impurities and gases constrained within a fixed range in the machine room space.
During these days, he hadn't wasted any time in his cultivation. He had reached the peak of the first layer of the Five Elements Qi Absorption Technique and would soon be able to attempt breaking through to the second level.
He didn't know the pace of his own cultivation, but his body had swelled with a fair amount of Spiritual Energy, enough to barely start learning low-level Spells.
He planned to begin studying three types of Spells after the Imperial Examination, once he had reached the Qi Refining Second Level. These were the only three Spells available to him, without any other options.
Li Shiming's consciousness entered the large server IBMz15, activating all 190 CPUs, 40T of memory, and the full hard disk array cabinet.
Once connected with the large server IBMz15, he felt a wave of dizziness upon its full operation.
This was caused by the flood of data refreshes that his brain couldn't keep up with.
He couldn't help but give a wry smile, not having anticipated his inability to keep up with the computing speed of the large server IBMz15.
He adjusted the connection with the IBMz15, creating a buffer in the memory during the data exchange process with his brain, which finally resolved the issue.