I am an industrial worker during the War of Resistance

Chapter 4 Burning sulfuric acid is a very dangerous job.
On the eighth day, Chen Changzai was finally able to get out of bed and walk on his own.

When Wang Ling let go of his hand, she suddenly felt a pang of pain in her heart.

She felt as if she had lost something.

Unable to hold back her tears any longer, they flowed slowly from her eyes like a stream that had overcome some obstacle.

“I can walk now, Wang Ling. Look, I can walk by myself, hahaha, are you happy?”

"Look, I can walk by myself now."

Chen Chang was excitedly talking as he walked, but he didn't see Wang Ling behind him covering her mouth, tears falling drop by drop.

After walking a dozen steps, Chen Changzai turned around and saw Wang Ling crying.

He asked, "Wang Ling, why are you crying? Are you happy for me?"
"Look, I can walk now, that's really something to be happy about."

Wang Ling didn't speak, but just covered her mouth and nodded repeatedly.

The older women standing in the courtyard, some were smiling, while others seemed to have figured something out and just sighed softly.

Girls' feelings are always poetry.

But the poems are not all romantic; they are also full of bittersweet experiences.

After Chen Changzai was able to walk on his own, he once again summoned Regiment Commander Chen and the Political Commissar.

"Uncle Chen, Uncle Liu, can you get some zinc powder?"

"Zinc powder? What is that?"

Chen and Liu asked with some confusion.

"It's a metal similar to lead that was added to copper coins when they were made in ancient times."

In ancient times it was also called Japanese lead, which is something slightly inferior to lead, that's roughly the idea.

The most important ingredient for making TNT explosives is sulfuric acid.

Without sulfuric acid, none of the subsequent ingredients could be prepared.

However, manufacturing sulfuric acid is extremely dangerous for the workers involved.

The toxic gases produced during the manufacture of sulfuric acid can be inhaled by humans.

Even mild cases can result in severe injuries and lifelong lung disease.

In severe cases, the person will die in a short time.

I need to get my hands on zinc powder to make gas masks. Wearing a gas mask can reduce the danger by at least 80%.

"You can make gas masks too?" Political Commissar Liu asked in surprise.

"Actually, gas masks are made by burning hardwood charcoal, such as apple or jujube wood, into charcoal, and then heating and activating it together with zinc powder in a certain proportion."

Then use hydrochloric acid to remove impurities, wash with clean water and dry before use.

However, sulfuric acid is still needed in this process.

Without sulfuric acid, everything is nonsense.

Alright, gentlemen.

You guys should also try to get me some zinc powder.

Before that, I used other methods to get some simple activated carbon.

This is not as good as adding zinc powder.

But it's still usable.

At least if everyone pays more attention, there will be some preventative measures.

"Xiao Chen, don't worry, I'll find a way to get everything you asked for. As for the zinc powder, I'll figure something out."

"Since that thing was used hundreds of years ago when copper coins were minted, I refuse to believe I can't get my hands on it."

Commander Chen said with absolute certainty.

Political Commissar Liu nodded frequently.

Before making these things, Chen Chang first asked Wang Ling and the older women at the hospital to help him make a face mask using a lot of thick cotton cloth.

Then they bothered Commander Chen and his men to find a way to get some glass mirrors.

Eyeglass lenses are ground to create texture during the manufacturing process.

Grinding out a flat lens is too troublesome; it's better to use a mirror and grind off the coating on the back. It's definitely not suitable for making flat lenses for eyeglasses.

However, it's still usable as a protective lens.

As for professional protective goggles, we'll talk about that later when we have the opportunity.

While others were making preliminary preparations, Chen Changzai was burning activated charcoal.

Even in later generations, activated carbon remains the only widely used filtration material for making gas masks.

Now there is no zinc powder, and even if there were zinc powder, there is no way to clean the sulfuric acid.

Therefore, the only option for now is to produce steam-activated carbon to deal with the problem.

This thing isn't too difficult.

Simply simmer fruitwood charcoal, crushed into small pieces, in an iron kettle, and then spray in an appropriate amount of water at a suitable temperature.

The pore structure of charcoal is altered by the action of steam.

This simple method of making activated carbon is now complete.

The rest is just crushing and shaping. Break them into small particles, wrap them in gauze, and then put them into a filter.

This ensures breathability while also filtering out toxic gases from the air.

After everyone had been busy for two days.

Ten simple gas masks were thus produced.

Thick cotton cloth soaked in concentrated alkaline water made from baking soda was placed on a light wood frame, fitted with protective goggles made from polished mirrors and a pig snout-filtered breathing channel.

This thing doesn't look good on me, and it feels really stuffy.

However, it can at least block a lot of harmful gases.

Wearing this while at work, especially during dangerous procedures, can be life-saving.

However, since there is no rubber, don't expect to achieve a very good level of protection.

Furthermore, it must be soaked in concentrated alkaline water before use.

It's already quite an achievement to be able to do this now.

This is already the best protection against poison available here.

When Chen Chang was manufacturing gas masks.

Commander Chen and his men have already fired a lot of ceramic jars and pipes, as well as leak-proof wooden sinks, according to the blueprints given by Chen Changzai a few days ago.

Chen Changzai could only draw up blueprints in advance and ask Commander Chen and the others to help find people to do it.

If you let him do it alone, he'll be exhausted, and he won't be able to produce anything in such a short time. After all, this is not a job that one person can do alone.

Moreover, there are many procedures required to make explosives in the shortest possible time.

The raw materials for manufacturing sulfuric acid and nitric acid alone are not something he can handle on his own.

Today, the simple gas mask is finally finished.

The real work should then begin.

I followed the work process written by Chen Changzai.

He first went to a newly dug earthen kiln.

This is an earthen kiln for burning coke.

However, the smoke vent of this earthen kiln was led out by a ceramic pipe.

The flue gas outlet of the ceramic pipe was introduced into a wooden water trough when the coal was dry-distilled to produce coke.

The exhaust gas from the coke kiln is introduced into a water tank. The solid matter in the exhaust gas that solidifies and settles to the bottom when it comes into contact with water is coal tar.

And this is one of the main raw materials for manufacturing TNT.

Commander Chen and his team recruited several experienced kiln workers who were monitoring the kiln's temperature. When they felt the temperature was almost right, they began to seal the kiln and smolder the coal.

Only a small vent was left on the entire kiln to direct the flue gas into the water tank.

Before long, a lot of black sediment settled in the tank; this was coal tar.

In order to obtain high-temperature coal tar, the dry distillation kiln was dug out from a mound of earth.

Because the soil layer is thick enough, it has strong heat retention properties.

Beside the kiln, the master craftsman said to Chen Changzai, "Young Master Chen, the temperature inside the kiln has now reached at least the temperature required to fire pottery."

According to you, this should be over 900 degrees Celsius, around 1000 degrees Celsius.

Although we've never burned coal or coke, we've certainly made pottery.

Chen Changzai also accompanied the kiln master to observe the color of the kiln fire.

Then I saw that the coal tar that had settled in the tank was dark black, which meant it was already high-temperature coal tar.

So he said to the kiln masters, “Uncles, look at this dark black coal tar in the water tank.”

That means what's coming out now is high-temperature coal tar.

If they turn brown, it means the temperature is not high enough.

If it turns from brown to dark black, it means the temperature is too low.

That is, coal tar is dark black at the lowest temperature, brown at the medium temperature, and deep black at the high temperature.

For us, the best explosives are deep black.

"We'll need a few uncles to keep an eye on this temperature."

"Don't worry, Mr. Chen, we will definitely do what you asked for."

This is something that will enable us to win battles; we can't afford to be careless.

After bidding farewell to several veteran kiln workers, Chen Changzai...

Then we arrived at the place where sulfuric acid was burned.

There was no one around this place.

The wind is blowing from the north, so everyone has gone to the upwind side of the sulfuric acid production site, while the downwind side is uninhabited wilderness.

Chen Changzai used the cylinder tower method to burn sulfuric acid this time.

This was a solution devised by our predecessors during extremely difficult times.

Since there was no lead chamber, a large earthenware jar was used instead.

Through blast furnace firing, the soldiers brought pyrite from the north of their garrison, to the place where Chen Changzai had seen it before.

Now all the ores have been ground into powder, and the powder is boiling inside the first set of ceramic towers.

This is because the heat waves inside the cylinder surge during dry burning.

Since we don't have sulfuric acid or nitric acid, we have to make do with what we have. We heat sulfuric acid and saltpeter together to produce a gaseous reaction, and then we can get a dilute sulfuric acid with more impurities first.

The entire process of manufacturing sulfuric acid generally consists of three steps: gas preparation, reaction to form acid, and sulfuric acid concentration.

However, this process requires very precise operation and the establishment of strict operating procedures.

Chen Changzai rose from technician to vice president of production.

The safety planning and system development for operational procedures are very rigorous.

Because he knew that any carelessness or operational error would result in the loss of more than just these earthenware jars and pots.

The people most likely to lose are those following behind him.

During this period, Regiment Commander Chen and Political Commissar Liu searched the entire regiment and even applied to headquarters to find more than thirty soldiers who had attended middle school and had some knowledge of chemistry.

They were the students following behind Chen Changzai.

When Chen Changzai met them, the first thing he said to them was: "You must always remember one thing."

In the chemical industry, every rule is bought with human lives.

So never think you're smart enough to challenge these rules.

You challenge these rules, and all they give you in return is death.

He had to instill the lessons of these rules into the minds of those who followed him from the very beginning.

Because the rules he established based on the current reality were all part of the safety rules he memorized in later generations.

Every single one of these rules and regulations was bought with lives.

Based on the current realities of traditional production methods, Chen Changzai also temporarily formulated some rules suitable for the current situation.

The students following behind Chen Changzai were of varying ages.

However, their discipline was beyond question. They all knew the safety production rules set by Chen Changzai by heart.

When the first vat of sulfuric acid was unloaded from the end of this long, simple sulfuric acid refining production line.

Chen Chang conducted a small experiment on the spot for all those who followed him.

A small piece of pigskin, a small piece of wood, and a small piece of cotton cloth.

When everyone saw the three test samples, in small bowls filled with sulfuric acid, bubbling at varying speeds, turning black, and carbonizing...

Everyone gulped.

Only then did they truly understand what the young teacher in front of them had told them.

He was telling everyone that the human body cannot withstand the corrosive effects of sulfuric acid.

(End of this chapter)