บท 202: 202 - IC Engine
"Lynn, can you tell me what these things are for?" Theodore asked curiously.
"Making various weapons, preparing for a possible upcoming war," Lynn explained.
Theodore's expression turned serious. Although news of the war was still circulating only within the council, many wizards had already caught a glimpse of the situation through recent significant movements.
"Moreover, I plan to continue expanding the Iyeta Academy. I want those wizards who have left the school, even the formal ones, to return to Iyeta and continue their studies," Lynn proposed again.
Theodore was taken aback. "But what should we teach them?"
Those wizards expelled from the academy were over thirty years old, having learned almost everything that could be taught but were limited by their insufficient talent to advance further.
Graduates, as formal wizards themselves, had nothing more to learn.
"Of course, we'll teach chemistry, physics, and even mathematical sciences." Lynn stated firmly.
"Chemistry? Physics?" Theodore paused. He understood mathematical sciences, but what were these two subjects?
"You can think of these two new subjects as the principles of magic or the laws of how things operate." Lynn explained simply, finally instructing Theodore to compile a list of alchemists, especially those who had some knowledge of steam engines, and invite them all to the academy.
***
The next day, at noon, inside the alchemy research lab of the Iyeta Academy.
More than twenty wizards surrounded several large sheets of paper, depicting a very peculiar machine. Its components were exceedingly complex, making it difficult to comprehend, yet its intricate design immediately captured everyone's attention.
Darren and the others were also invited, but they were squeezed outside, not daring to contend for the drawings with the wizard elders. Lydia, however, without hesitation, fetched a tall chair and even contemplated climbing onto the table to get a better view.
"Lynn, what is this?" a perplexed alchemist asked, then seemed to suddenly recall something and added, puzzled, "Could it be the schematics for an alchemical steam engine?"
Upon hearing this guess, the wizards present were invigorated.
The alchemical steam engine was the Alchemist Association's highest achievement, a magical invention capable of changing the world.
Naturally, they were highly interested in this contraption. Some had even secretly dismantled alchemical apparatuses installed on ships and conducted covert research over the years, yielding some results.
However, the construction of the alchemical steam engine seemed different. They even doubted whether the Dean had mistakenly taken the wrong drawings.
"No, more accurately, it's an upgraded version of the steam engine. I call it an internal combustion engine." Lynn explained with a smile.
"Upgraded version?" Philip and the others exchanged glances.
"What's the difference between this and a steam engine?" another witch curiously inquired.
"Its efficiency is over ten times that of existing steam engines." Lynn confidently replied.
Lynn had already examined the steam engines produced by the Alchemist Association. Their thermal efficiency ranged between three to five percent, described as highly inefficient.
Vessels powered by this were hardly faster than sail warships when navigating the seas, and the cruising speed of airships could barely reach a pitiable fifteen kilometers per hour.
However, this did not negate the fact that the steam engine was a revolutionary invention.
"Ten times? Tenfold?" The alchemists gasped, looking at Lynn with eyes filled with both wonder and eagerness, then shifted their gaze back to the diagrams in front of them, their enthusiasm markedly heightened.
"Can it be installed on an airship?" Lydia asked, incredibly excited.
"Absolutely, it can increase the airship's speed from fifteen kilometers per hour to over seventy kilometers per hour." Lynn stated a deliberately conservative figure. "It can also be used to power ships or anything else you want to set in motion."
"Seventy kilometers? That means it would take just half a day to travel from Iyeta to Greenville?" Philip exclaimed in astonishment.
That's too fast.
Is it really that fast?
Lynn smiled and then took the diagrams, explaining the operation principles of steam and internal combustion engines and their differences to the alchemists and the halfling craftsmen like Darren.
Essentially, a steam engine boiled water in a boiler to produce steam, which was then sent into cylinders to drive pistons in reciprocating motion.
In simple terms, it converted the chemical energy of fuel into the thermal energy of steam and then transformed that thermal energy into mechanical energy, generating continuous power.
The internal combustion engine, as its upgrade, reduced the steps, converting thermal energy directly into mechanical energy by rapidly burning fuel to produce high-temperature and high-pressure gas to drive the piston. Naturally, its efficiency was much higher.
As for its fuel issue.
The most primitive internal combustion engines used gas as fuel to provide energy.
Wizards' territory still had coal resources.
In fact, Lynn preferred using hydrogen as fuel directly, as it not only increased the thermal efficiency to over fifty percent but was also environmentally friendly and non-polluting.
This concept had been proposed as early as the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but the cost of extracting, storing, and transporting hydrogen fuel was exceedingly high, making fossil fuels more cost-effective.
However, for wizards, the production of hydrogen gas wasn't as difficult, making hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines feasible.
With this, even if it meant making the airship reach a speed of two hundred kilometers per hour.
Unfortunately, the almost nonexistent industrial level at Iyeta Harbor troubled Lynn. Lynn could only hope that these alchemists could find ways to use magic to solve various technical problems, creating a fusion of technology and magic in an alchemical internal combustion engine.
Despite Lynn explaining the principles of the internal combustion engine in detail, the multitude of technical terms interspersed made the alchemists ponder for a long time. After a heated debate and discussion, they began the process of modification.
For instance, enhancing the cylinder's ability to withstand high temperatures and pressures or how to inscribe alchemical arrays into the internal combustion engine to produce combustible gas continuously without being destroyed by the high-temperature environment inside.
Lydia and the others did not participate in the magical retrofit research. Instead, they were particularly interested in something inside the internal combustion engine called "gears."
Gears of various sizes fitted together, transmitting power through rotation, appearing mystical. Although Lydia had seen something similar on steam machines before, they were far less sophisticated.
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