Chapter 244: Electrification and Internal Combustion Engines

After confirming that Tesla would implement a two-shift schedule of work and study at the Royal Academy of Sciences and the Royal Academy of Science, Carlo no longer hesitated and arranged both a work position and a field of study for Tesla.

Although Tesla could be considered an all-rounder in scientific research, he was most famous for his capabilities in alternating current and radio.

It was precisely for this reason that Carlo decided to have Tesla join Gramme's electricity laboratory to engage in research related to electricity and engines.

Currently, Gramme's electricity laboratory is researching long-distance power transmission and energy storage; it is believed that Tesla's addition will allow Gramme to discover more inspiration and perhaps push forward the use of electricity in Spain sooner.

In addition to working at Gramme's electricity laboratory, Tesla must also continue his studies at the Royal Academy of Science, pursuing master's degrees in physics, mathematics, and mechanics.

Carlo also personally promised Tesla that as long as he could successfully complete his master's degrees in all three majors within three years and achieve excellent grades, Carlo would allow Tesla to establish his own laboratory to conduct his own research.

Upon hearing that there was hope of establishing his own laboratory, Tesla agreed immediately. Although Tesla was currently just a university graduate who had just finished his studies, the prospect of establishing his own laboratory was a temptation that no scientist who loved scientific research could refuse.

To prevent Tesla from being at a loss after entering Gramme's electricity laboratory, Carlo specifically instructed Gramme to personally guide Tesla through some electrical experiments so that Tesla could gain an understanding of the electricity laboratory.

Because of Carlo's instructions, Gramme also placed great importance on Tesla, who had joined the electricity laboratory midway.

Although the other party was a university graduate who had just turned 22, Gramme saw Tesla's potential during their brief contact.

Gramme had complained to Carlo long ago about the lack of high-end talent in the electricity laboratory; although Tesla was young, he was indeed a talent in the field of electricity worthy of trust.

Precisely because of this, Gramme felt not the slightest dissatisfaction about needing to take time out of his busy schedule to help Tesla master the various data and materials of the electricity laboratory; instead, he hoped that Tesla could quickly adapt to the rhythm of the electricity laboratory under his guidance and then contribute more inspiration and ideas to the laboratory's experiments.

Scientific research, in addition to relying on the ability and talent of scientists, also tests a scientist's imagination quite significantly. Sometimes, the success or failure of an experiment is truly a matter of a single thought; a seemingly inconspicuous idea might determine the success or failure of an experiment.

As a famous mad scientist of later generations, Tesla's talent for scientific research naturally goes without saying. Although he had just joined the electricity laboratory, he was often able to raise questions during experiments that others found difficult to conceive, and he had indeed effectively accelerated the progress of the electricity laboratory's experiments.

More than ten days later, Gramme personally reported Tesla's performance over these ten-plus days to Carlo and praised Tesla as a once-in-a-century genius in the electrical industry.

Upon learning that Tesla was pursuing graduate degrees in physics, mathematics, and mechanics at the Royal Academy of Science, Gramme even personally submitted a request to Carlo to serve as Tesla's graduate advisor for physics and mechanics.

Having an academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences willing to serve as Tesla's graduate advisor was, of course, a good thing.

Moreover, this person willing to serve as an advisor was Gramme, a pioneer in the electrical industry and a scientist who could be considered quite famous in this era.

If it were not for the contributions made to the electrical industry by pioneers like Gramme, there would have been no "War of Currents" between Edison and Tesla.

Without the War of Currents, there naturally would not have been the commercialization of electricity. Although this might be a bit of an exaggeration, the contributions of electrical pioneers like Gramme to the industry were by no means small, and they are also worthy of praise and celebration.

Currently, Gramme's electricity laboratory has already achieved quite a few research results, the most important of which are electric motors, generators, and light bulbs.

One of the most prosperous streets in Madrid has already been fully equipped with streetlights, with free lighting provided every night from 6: 0 to 10: 0.

As for the late night after 10: 0, there is naturally no need for streetlights to provide illumination. After all, this era is different from later generations; those who are out in the middle of the night in this era are either government or official personnel, or they are dangerous elements.

Currently, judging by the reactions of Madrid's citizens, people are quite fond of the streetlights that can provide illumination at night.

Of course, in order to provide four hours of lighting for this most prosperous street in Madrid, Gramme's electricity laboratory built two large thermal power plants on the outskirts of Madrid, which barely met the lighting needs of one street.

Some large conference rooms in the government as well as Carlo's Wang Gong are also illuminated by light bulbs, and the electricity consumed by these bulbs is provided by other thermal power plants.

Although electricity is currently used mostly just for lighting, even just lighting can fully demonstrate the utility of electricity.

Before the birth of the light bulb, people's methods of lighting basically had to rely on fire sources. Whether it was a kerosene lamp or a torch, the flames produced were dim and constantly flickering.

In contrast, the light bulb provides more stable illumination and is much brighter than kerosene lamps or torches. If it were not for the fact that power transmission is a problem, some factories on the outskirts of Madrid would already be considering purchasing light bulbs to provide lighting.

If factories could be equipped with light bulbs on a large scale, this would also mean that factories might be able to implement a two-shift system of day and night shifts.

This might not mean much in the summer, but in the winter when it gets dark earlier, the effect of light bulbs is very obvious.

With the illumination of light bulbs of sufficient brightness, workers can also ensure their own safety when producing at night. After all, only by seeing their surrounding environment clearly can workers stay away from relatively dangerous areas.

Gramme naturally also knows the main reason hindering the commercialization of electricity; currently, the electricity laboratory is vigorously researching methods for power transmission and energy storage.

Of course, there is also the issue of generator power. Currently, the maximum power of the generators in the electricity laboratory is only 6. kw, which can only drive one small electric motor or illuminate over a hundred light bulbs.

Added to this is the resistance and power loss generated during power transmission; at most, only three-quarters of the electricity produced by the power plants is utilized, while one-quarter is consumed in the process of power transmission.

To meet the electricity needs of Wang Gong and government buildings, the thermal power plant near Wang Gong has installed 3 sets of thermal generators, with a maximum power output that has reached 19. kw; this is absolutely the largest power plant in the world.

But because of the loss problem during power transmission, this largest thermal power plant in the world can only meet the electricity needs of Wang Gong and government buildings; it cannot reach the parliament building, which is a bit further away.

If one wants to promote the commercialization of electricity now, one would have to build a thermal power plant at every factory and every place that needs electricity.

But this is absolutely impossible, and it is precisely this major limitation that has caused electricity to be slow to promote and commercialize.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of Tesla joining the electricity laboratory, Carlo once again approved more R&D funding applied for by the electricity laboratory and requested the Royal Security Intelligence Agency to collect more electrical talent across Europe for the electricity laboratory, striving to break through the difficulty of power transmission in a shorter time.

As long as the two major problems of power transmission and generator power are solved, current electricity can already enter the era of commercialization.

After all, to put it plainly, the commercialization of any technology evolves slowly; it is impossible to wait until the electrical system rivals that of later generations before entering the stage of commercialization.

When electricity enters the stage of commercialization and full-scale promotion in the future, Gramme's electricity laboratory will be reorganized into the Spanish National Power Company, responsible for promoting the use and commercialization of electricity throughout Spain.

In the future, the industrial bases in Madrid, Seville, and Barcelona will all be areas where the use of electricity is vigorously promoted.

The age of electrification prompted Germany and the United States to successively become the shining pearls of the entire world, and Carlo naturally wants Spain to have a share of the pie.

As the greatest beneficiary of the First Industrial Revolution, the British Empire has already enjoyed enough glory and glorious history.

Now it is time for Spain to enjoy this feeling as well; Spain must become one of the promoters of electrification and also one of the greatest beneficiaries of electrification.

This is still very likely to be achieved. Although Britain established a fairly massive industrial system by relying on the First Industrial Revolution, it also gave birth to a large number of factory owners and capitalists who became wealthy because of industrial development.

Promoting electrification in countries like Germany, the United States, and Spain is easier than promoting it in Britain.

Because electrification, compared to the technologies born from the First Industrial Revolution, is an entirely brand-new technology.

If Britain wants to fully promote electrification, it must completely replace the equipment and factories of the First Industrial Revolution.

Completely replacing industrial equipment means massive expenditures, and at the same time, it will affect the production of those factories and the interests of the factory owners.

Will those capitalists whose eyes are full of money agree to do this? Of course, they will not agree.

Britain only needs to continue using the technology of the First Industrial Revolution to allow its industry to achieve steady growth. Since that is the case, why take the risk of using electrification technology?

Although new technology possesses more potential, new technology often also symbolizes more problems and potential hidden dangers.

It is precisely for this reason that Britain ultimately did not keep pace during the Second Industrial Revolution, and its industrial scale was successively surpassed by the United States and Germany.

The British government may have also seen this problem, but they are unable to change it. Fully promoting electrification means standing in opposition to the existing factory owners and capitalists, which is absolutely impossible for the current Britain to do.

Because this would harm the foundation of Britain, make the British Empire's massive industrial system become very fragile in an instant, and could even trigger greater internal chaos and crises.

In addition to paying an extra research budget to Gramme's electricity laboratory, Carlo also paid R&D funding to Benz's automobile laboratory.

Nearly four years have passed since Benz manufactured the prototype of a simple automobile, and the automobile laboratory has also had more results in these four years.

But because of the insufficient level of industry, automobiles cannot yet achieve large-scale production, and the output is only a few hundred vehicles per year.

As of now, the Spanish government has cumulatively purchased over 400 automobiles, nearly half of which have become the dedicated vehicles for cabinet ministers and heads of some important departments.

Although these simple automobiles still have many problems, they are much faster than horse-drawn carriages in terms of speed.

Take the automobile Carlo rides in as an example. The automobile Carlo rides in is equipped with the latest engine developed by the engine laboratory, and it only needs to be serviced once every 350 kilometers on average.

Even though the carriage of Carlo's horse-drawn carriage was modified, with steel plates embedded inside and the area of the carriage increased, this automobile specifically provided for Carlo can still reach a speed of about 25 kilometers per hour.

It is not an exaggeration for a fast military horse to reach a speed of 25 kilometers per hour, but if it were a horse-drawn carriage, such a speed would be somewhat exaggerated.

Because of the large-scale equipment of simple automobiles, communication between Spanish government departments has become more convenient. Previously, if one took a horse-drawn carriage, a visit between two departments might take about half an hour.

After the means of transportation became simple automobiles, travel between two departments only takes a dozen minutes to arrive, significantly saving the time officials need to travel back and forth between various departments.

Carlo's specially modified automobile can still reach a speed of 25 kilometers per hour; those automobiles that were not modified in an exaggerated way, or rather, basically had not been modified much, can basically reach a speed of about 30 kilometers per hour.

Currently, officials within the government are quite satisfied with such automobiles, and some officials have even proposed the idea of purchasing an automobile for private use.

Considering that such automobiles require an inspection every 300-plus kilometers to prevent problems from occurring while the automobile is in motion, Carlo ultimately rejected the officials' proposal.

However, Carlo also issued an order to Benz and others, which was to improve the stability of the engine as quickly as possible and make the distance the automobile can travel stably increase from 350 kilometers to over 500 kilometers if possible.

Judging from the speed and power of the automobile, such an automobile already possesses quite important utility. But because the stability of the engine is relatively poor, it breaks down from time to time.

This has also made it difficult for automobiles to enter the stage of commercialization; Carlo letting the Spanish government purchase over 400 automobiles for public use is also partly because he wants to provide more relevant data for the automobile laboratory through the method of large-scale experimentation.

Gramme's electricity laboratory is the hope for Spain to promote the electrification industry, while Benz's automobile laboratory is the hope for Spain to lead the world in internal combustion engines.

The importance of electrification goes without saying, and the importance of internal combustion engines is in no way inferior to electrification.

Future heavy weapons like airplanes and tanks will use internal combustion engines as power, and automobiles and other machinery also use internal combustion engines extensively.

If Spain can move forward on both fronts in electrification and internal combustion engines, only then can Spain truly have the confidence to wrestle with super powers like Britain and Germany.

If Spain can walk at the forefront of the world in the R&D of tanks and airplanes, it can ensure that Spain gains huge benefits in the two future world wars, thereby truly becoming a superpower.

The task of Benz and others, in addition to improving the stability of the four-stroke engine, is that they also need to explore as much as possible the assembly line production method proposed by Carlo, thereby increasing the output of automobiles.

Carlo gave a deadline, which is to promote the commercialization of automobiles before 1885, letting Spain's automobiles go global.

Before this, Benz and others must at least ensure that the manufactured automobile finished products will not have problems during a single trip of 500 kilometers or 15 consecutive hours of driving.

In order to facilitate timely repairs for car owners who purchase automobiles after problems occur, the automobile company reorganized from the automobile laboratory also needs to build auto repair shops in major regions of Spain and even in various European countries to help car owners detect whether their automobiles have problems and repair them more quickly.

Only after doing all this can the automobile truly achieve commercialization. Because only by solving the problems that occur during the use of automobiles will people be willing to purchase them.

Otherwise, even if the automobile shows greater potential and has greater utility, if no one solves the problems, no one will ever buy an automobile.

In addition to building auto repair shops, Spain also needs to establish relevant energy supply stations in various places. No matter which kind of energy is used as power for an internal combustion engine, it needs a continuous supply of energy to provide power.

Currently, the four-stroke gas engine used by Benz's automobile laboratory can be said to be one of the best engines in the world, but the thermal efficiency of such an engine is only about 11% to 13%.

Such thermal efficiency, compared to the thermal efficiency of engines in later generations that easily exceed 40%, is clearly quite backward.

The so-called thermal efficiency is actually the utilization rate of the energy heat consumed by the engine. Such data also represents that even for very advanced engines of later generations, the thermal efficiency is less than half, and more than half of the fuel is wasted.

And in this era, because the thermal efficiency is a pitiful 11% to 13%, this also means that at least 87% of the energy is wasted.

Although it is a pity, there is no way around it. The thermal efficiency of an engine can only be improved with the continuous advancement of technology and the scientific research and efforts of relevant experimental personnel time and time again.

Before technology has advanced, even if Carlo is willing to throw money at it, the changes in this regard will not be too great.

Fortunately, the important future energy, petroleum, is currently in a state of being undeveloped. There are large oil fields in the Middle East that have not yet been discovered, and Spain has hope of obtaining a portion of land in the Middle East through various means to control a certain amount of oil reserves.

Most of this land in the Middle East is currently uninhabited desert, and wanting to obtain a piece of land is still relatively simple.

The only great power colonizing in the Middle East is Britain, and this place is also within the sphere of influence of the Ottoman Empire. For Spain, as long as they obtain the permission of the British, taking down a piece of land in the Middle East is not a difficult problem; it can even be said to be easy.

5100-word two-in-one chapter, asking for support!

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(End of this chapter)