Chapter 63: A Shocking Steelmaking Test

"Impossible... they must be bluffing..." Liu Haizhong muttered, but his tone lacked its usual confidence.

Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth: "Let's wait and see. What if it's installed but doesn't work? That would be a huge joke!"

At ten o'clock on the morning of the third day, the final top sealing plate was hoisted into place, and the massive Converter finally stood complete in the center of the Open-Hearth Furnace Workshop, its brand-new steel surface gleaming in the sunlight.

An old worker couldn't help but exclaim: "Thirty years... I've been a steelworker for thirty years, and I've never seen such a beautiful furnace!"

Li Mingyuan stood before the Converter, his eyes flashing with pride: "As of now, I announce that the Top-Bottom Combined Blowing Converter installation project is successfully completed! Half a day ahead of schedule!"

The entire venue erupted in thunderous applause and cheers; the workers jumped with excitement, high-fiving each other in celebration.

"Incredible! It's simply a miracle!" Lou Changzhang gripped Li Mingyuan's hand, so excited he was incoherent, "Three days... it really only took three days... if this gets out, who would believe it!"

Li Mingyuan smiled slightly: "Take half a day off today; tomorrow morning at nine, we will officially conduct the first test of the Converter!"

Once the news broke, the entire factory area was in an uproar.

Early the next morning, the entrance to the Open-Hearth Furnace Workshop was already packed with people, not just workers from the factory, but also experts and leaders who had rushed over from brother units.

"The rumors are crazy, saying they built some kind of new-style converter in three days that's even more advanced than imported ones..." a technician wearing glasses said excitedly to his companion.

Another shook his head: "Don't believe or spread rumors; how could such a miraculous thing happen? Building an Open-Hearth Furnace takes half a month, let alone a more complex Converter!"

At 8:45, Li Mingyuan appeared at the workshop entrance with his elite team, and the crowd immediately cleared a path.

"Good morning, Chief Engineer Li!" the workers greeted him enthusiastically, their eyes full of admiration and anticipation.

Lou Changzhang and Li Shouzheng were already waiting in the workshop, and seeing Li Mingyuan, the two hurried over: "Everything is ready, we're just waiting for your order to begin!"

At nine o'clock sharp, Li Mingyuan walked to the Converter control console and looked around; the workshop was packed with people, even the aisles were full, and everyone's gaze was focused on him.

A low murmur of discussion broke out in the crowd, filled with anticipation, suspicion, and disdain.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong stood at the edge of the crowd, watching coldly, secretly calculating to watch the spectacle.

"Now, I announce that the first test officially begins!" Li Mingyuan pressed the red button on the control console.

In an instant, the Preheating System at the bottom of the Converter started, and several blue flames shot out from the nozzles, beginning to heat the interior of the furnace evenly.

"Temperature rising normally, it is now 200 degrees Celsius... 400 degrees Celsius..." the operator reported the data loudly.

Ten minutes later, the furnace temperature had stabilized at 900 degrees Celsius, and everything was normal.

"Enter the second stage, activate the Top Oxygen Nozzle!" Li Mingyuan ordered again.

With the sound of a jet of air, the Top Oxygen Nozzle at the top of the Converter activated, and a blinding white flame pierced straight toward the bottom of the furnace like a sharp sword.

"My god!" A gasp erupted from the crowd; for most people present, this was the first time they had seen such a scene.

The thermometer needle rose crazily: 1200 degrees... 1500 degrees... 1800 degrees... and soon broke through the 2000 degrees Celsius mark!

"This... this is impossible!" an old engineer was stunned, "A regular Open-Hearth Furnace only reaches 1600 degrees at most; this has already exceeded that by half!"

Yi Zhonghai's legs suddenly went weak, and he leaned against the wall involuntarily; he widened his eyes, unable to believe everything before him: "This... this... what is this..."

Liu Haizhong's situation was worse; he sat directly on the ground, his face deathly pale, his lips trembling, unable to speak.

"Bottom Oxygen System activate!" Li Mingyuan continued to command, as if all of this were under his control.

With the opening of the bottom nozzles, more oxygen was injected into the furnace chamber, and the temperature soared again!

"2100 degrees... 2200 degrees... 2300 degrees!" the operator's voice changed pitch, "Chief Engineer Li, this... this has already exceeded our measurement limits!"

The entire venue fell into Silence; everyone was so shocked by the miracle before them that they couldn't speak.

That dazzling white flame, that crazily rising temperature, that massive piece of equipment running stably—everything was so incredible, yet it was truly unfolding before everyone's eyes.

"Begin injecting the test molten iron!" Li Mingyuan's command broke the brief Silence.

Several operators carefully poured the preheated molten iron into the Converter; in an instant, a blinding light erupted from within the furnace, and one could feel the astonishing high temperature even through the thick furnace walls.

"Converter running normally, temperature stable, smelting process begun!" Li Mingyuan announced, a trace of a smile finally appearing on his face.

The entire test process lasted forty minutes, during which the Converter, like a docile giant beast, operated stably according to the set program throughout.

Finally, at Li Mingyuan's command, the Converter tilted, and the scorching molten steel poured out like a waterfall, flowing into the pre-prepared molds.

The color of that molten steel, the texture of its flow, the pure luster—everything signaled that its quality far exceeded any previous product.

"Take samples for testing!" Li Mingyuan shouted, and several technicians immediately stepped forward, carefully taking several samples and rushing them to the laboratory.

Twenty minutes later, the test results were delivered; Lou Changzhang took the report, his hands trembling so much he could barely hold the paper.

"Carbon content 0.03%, sulfur content 0.015%, phosphorus content 0.01%..." Lou Changzhang's voice choked, almost crying, "This... this is special-grade high-quality steel! It's more than five times purer than the best steel we've had before!"

The entire venue fell into a shocked Silence, with only the "hissing" sound of the molten steel cooling echoing in the workshop.

The test report in Lou Changzhang's hand shook like a winnowing sieve; his usually stern old face was flushed red, and his eyes were wide as copper bells.

Li Mingyuan tried to suppress the pride in his heart; these were all standard formulas from the system's knowledge base, which were already common levels in his era, but placed here, they were like a miracle.

"Chief... Chief Engineer Li, how did you do this?" Lou Changzhang's voice was hoarse, his lips trembling, as if he were about to kneel and worship the next second.

"Five times... a full five times! Even the technology over in Mocheng isn't this advanced!"

The surrounding experts and scholars looked at each other, their eyes filled with disbelief.

One white-haired old expert even took off his glasses and wiped them repeatedly, as if suspecting he had misread something.

"Steel of this purity can be used directly for manufacturing high-precision machine tools and aviation parts!" Li Shouzheng was so excited he almost bit his tongue; he grabbed Li Mingyuan's arm with enough force to crush his bones, "Xiao Li, this is simply... simply..."