Traveling through ancient times: Savages are hungry for food

Three days later, batches of raw hematite ore were loaded onto carts along the flat and wide road and transported back to the Sirius tribe by horse-like beasts.

At this moment, the tribesmen truly realized the necessity of building roads.

If the winding mountain roads were still densely forested, how could we achieve the efficiency we have today?

It is more than just a little bit helpful for traveling.

The tribe has already started to smelt iron.

……

Among the raw hematite stones transported back, the tribesmen must first select the raw hematite stones of better quality.

This will also result in higher quality iron extracted.

Generally, minerals with redder color and relatively pure texture are more suitable.

The tribesmen carefully selected for two days, and during these two days the stone transport team was able to bring in more raw stones.

In addition, other members of the tribe also prepared the materials needed for iron smelting in the past two days according to Sang Tian's instructions.

The ironmaking process requires large amounts of burning materials.

The main one is charcoal, which can provide higher temperature when burning and has relatively fewer impurities.

This Tianlang has a lot to say.

After all, the charcoal tribe has stored it in several caves.

In addition, a furnace is needed!

Made of stone and clay will do.

It is also necessary to make another bellows connected to the furnace to blow air to increase the furnace temperature.

The tribesmen all have experience in making stoves and the like, and it’s not difficult to apply the bellows principle.

Sang Tian briefly described it to He, and he understood.

The furnace was made relatively large, just like the stone pots that Yong found.

Sang Tian chose a well-ventilated and relatively flat place to build the furnace.

To ensure air circulation and convenient operation.

The furnace is built with refractory bricks and clay, with a vent at the bottom connected to a bellows.

There is a feeding port on the top, and the outlines of an iron outlet and a slag outlet are on the side.

And the sealing and sturdiness of the furnace need to be taken into consideration during construction.

Prevent heat loss and collapse.

And I made three in total.

In addition, the tribesmen also followed Sang Tian to do ore pre-processing.

First, you need to use tools such as bone hammers to break the hematite into small pieces.

This can increase the contact area between the ore, air and fuel, which is beneficial for subsequent smelting.

Then, through a simple screening method, impurities such as soil and stones mixed in the hammered ore fragments are removed.

Just this process, dozens of people worked simultaneously, and it took two full days.

The tired tribesmen suffer from back pain and swollen arms every day.

Moreover, this process cannot be stopped and will be carried out for a long time during this period.

We have to arrange shifts for the tribesmen so that they can get adequate rest, otherwise their bodies won’t be able to bear it.

……

Two days later.

The tribesmen officially began smelting iron according to the plan!

Sang Tian couldn't help but feel nervous.

But it was quickly suppressed again.

After all, we have just started iron smelting, and the real difficulties have not yet come. I can't give up now.

The tribesmen said they wanted to gather in front of the furnace when the iron smelting officially started today.

Sang Tian still declined.

Because she couldn't guarantee whether it would succeed.

This was my first time making iron, and I didn’t have the ability or experience to control the temperature, time, and conditions.

The knowledge in the book can only provide Sang Tian with a basic process so that he knows what to do next.

But it was impossible to clearly show Sang Tian a standard parameter.

Truth needs to be put into practice.

To be honest, Sang Tian was prepared to fail 101 times.

Therefore, I don’t want to let my fellow tribesmen wait in vain.

What's more, the refining process is extremely slow.

It usually lasts for several hours or even longer.

So forget it.

The three furnaces started up at the same time.

Cang, Yong and Duan are responsible for adding fuel and ore into the furnace.

They did as Sang Tian said.

Start by laying a layer of charcoal on the bottom of the furnace.

After ignition, the crushed hematite and charcoal are added to the furnace alternately, one layer of ore and one layer of charcoal, according to the ratio that Sang Tian had informed him in advance.

The bottom layer of charcoal is already burning.

Use a bellows to continuously blow air into the furnace to increase the temperature.

Make the charcoal burn fully and increase the temperature in the furnace.

As the temperature rises, the iron oxides in the ore begin to undergo reduction reactions.

From a chemical point of view.

The main component of hematite is ferric oxide, which is reduced by the carbon in charcoal at high temperatures.

Next, continuous feeding and blowing are required.

During the smelting process, charcoal and ore must be continuously added and the bellows must be kept blowing continuously.

To maintain the high temperature in the furnace and the continuous reaction.

This process requires a lot of manpower and time, and usually lasts for several hours or even longer.

It is actually not difficult to tell whether molten iron has been successfully extracted.

Just observe the intracranial status.

When the ore in the furnace reacts fully, the iron will gradually melt into molten iron and separate from the slag.

Slag impurities generally float on the surface of molten iron.

At this time, open the slag outlet and let the slag flow out first to reduce the impact of the slag on the molten iron.

……

It will last a long time.

The tribesmen need to take turns pulling the bellows and adding materials.

Sang Tian was always thinking about it.

I didn’t eat much at lunch.

I know that my tribesmen have been having a hard time both physically and mentally recently.

Ru and her friends cooked food in various ways under the bamboo shed in the square.

All kinds of delicious dishes were brought out, with delicious fish and meat to nourish everyone.

There is never a shortage of fruit tea, milk tea and desserts after meals.

It’s a pity that Sang Tian didn’t have a good appetite. He only ate until he was 70% full, and then sat on the small stool to guard the furnace again.

Other people in the clan are also very concerned about it.

Today is the first time to make iron.

Come over from time to time to check on the progress.

but……

Just as Sang Tian expected.

The first furnace smelting iron failed completely...