Chapter 350 - 248 Electromagnetic Metallurgy Furnace (Third Update Requesting Monthly Ticket)
The embarrassment of lacking raw materials indeed troubled Chen Xin for a little while, but he quickly freed himself from this trouble, temporarily gathering the dismantled heater parts together and setting them aside. Chen Xin told the volunteers who were warming themselves by the fire that he was going out for a bit, then walked out of the tent.
The shortage of raw materials is a difficulty Chen Xin faces, and it’s also one of the problems this city is currently dealing with.
Therefore, Chen Xin decided not to seek help from the staff of Lin City to get some raw materials for the transformation, but rather planned to search the city to collect usable items.
Although Chen Xin believed that getting enough materials from the staff to transform the heater wouldn’t be a problem, considering the current shortage of supplies in Lin City, he felt it wasn’t necessary to do so.
After all, with the Power Armor and the mechanical arm, finding some materials was an easy task for him.
The rescue station is located next to a shelter in Lin City, which used to be a bustling commercial area. Although most of the surrounding buildings were buried in snow, quite a few things could still be found inside the buildings.
Chen Xin found a building not yet completely buried in snow and climbed in through a window exposed above the ground.
A considerable layer of snow had accumulated inside the building, preventing Chen Xin from standing up straight after entering; he could only half-crouch on the ground.
He cleared away some snow with the mechanical arm, barely lifted his head, and made room for himself.
"Such a hassle... But luckily, just as I expected, there are still things here." Complaining slightly, Chen Xin raised his hand to catch the metal material cut from the ceiling using the mechanical arm, feeling quite satisfied with his find.
As Chen Xin anticipated, although people had three months before the disaster to prepare and gather supplies, most of the items found in the buildings had been taken, but the materials contained within the buildings themselves had not.
The simplest example is the ceiling panels Chen Xin was cutting.
This place seemed to have been a shopping mall, with panels on the top floor ceiling used to hide the ventilation ducts and unsightly electrical lines.
This ceiling panel was built with an aluminum alloy frame. It appeared old, with a thick layer of dust inside, the metal parts between the panels looking rusted, and some had even become deformed due to long-term disrepair.
However, this did not hinder Chen Xin from recycling and repurposing them. He disassembled them piece by piece using the mechanical arm, performed some simple cutting, cut them into suitable lengths, and then twisted them together for easy carrying.
These disassembled aluminum alloy parts would have been sold as scrap waste in the past, without any significant use.
But for Chen Xin now, he can completely recycle and repurpose these scraps.
As long as these materials get recycled, extracting the useful parts, and then using the 3D printing function of the mechanical arm to transform several heaters is really no trouble at all.
Of course, these materials are merely additional; they’re not the main things Chen Xin came to find.
Cutting open chunks of ceiling panels, he cut the ventilation ducts behind the panels into sections, and after dismantling most of the ceiling within his sight, Chen Xin finally found what he was looking for.
The fan coil unit of the central air conditioning.
This piece of end equipment of the central air conditioning contains a small fan, motor, and air heat exchanger, and it’s exactly what Chen Xin was primarily trying to find this time.
Such units are typically installed discreetly in ceilings or other positions, so even if most of the materials in the building had been recycled and dismantled by people, few would think to dismantle these.
Chen Xin bundled the previously twisted metal strips and cut-down ventilation ducts together into a roll, then raised the mechanical arm to dismantle the fan coil unit.
Based on Chen Xin’s estimation, dismantling one unit should be sufficient to transform those four heaters and still have leftovers.
Yet while dismantling the fan coil unit, Chen Xin couldn’t help but chuckle to himself; he seemed particularly inclined to dismantle air conditioners. In the past, he dismantled outdoor units for ground source heat pumps; now, he dismantles central air conditioning fan coils to retrofit heaters, appearing to always be at odds with air conditioners.
This actually makes good sense, as air conditioners themselves are equipment manufactured using significant quantities of metal materials, and due to their working principles, they contain many components with considerable technological content.
Plus, in this dystopian world, no one would have thought during the initial gathering of supplies to dismantle two air conditioners for recycling purposes. Naturally, such things, containing large amounts of metal material and capable of being disassembled into various components, became the most suitable recycling sources for materials.
Chen Xin didn’t think much of it, and after dismantling the fan coil unit, he embraced it, along with the previously bundled metal materials, and hauled them out of the abandoned building.
Using the mechanical arm to lift the metal materials, Chen Xin turned around and returned to the rescue station.
When Chen Xin returned to the rescue station, Qin Lan and Mo Qingyan happened to come looking for him. Seeing Chen Xin carrying a heap of scrap metal, both couldn’t help but be quite curious.
"Xin, did you just... come back from scavenging?" Qin Lan surveyed Chen Xin, finding only this description plausible.
However, Chen Xin nodded, affirming, "I plan to retrofit the heaters. Not having the right materials at hand, I went collecting some."
Hearing this, Qin Lan and Mo Qingyan felt somewhat speechless but didn’t say much more, merely asking him, "Is there anything we can help with?"
"No..." Chen Xin initially wanted to say he didn’t need any help but reconsidered and swallowed his words, then said, "Actually, yes, I just happen to need your help with something, come along."
Saying this, Chen Xin held the materials he brought back and headed toward his car.
Qin Lan and Mo Qingyan quickly followed behind Chen Xin.
Once beside the car, Chen Xin tossed the materials he brought back onto the ground, then asked Qin Lan and Mo Qingyan, "Lan, Dragon girl, have you ever heard of electromagnetic metallurgy?"
"Electromagnetic metallurgy? What’s that?" Qin Lan and Mo Qingyan exchanged glances, seeing confusion in each other’s eyes.
Seeing they didn’t understand, Chen Xin explained to them, "Electromagnetic metallurgy, simply put, is a technique that utilizes the electromagnetic force formed by current and magnetic fields to control and influence the metal smelting process."
"Why mention this? We don’t get it! Just say what you want to do and how you want us to help!" Mo Qingyan didn’t like Chen Xin’s cryptic manner, directly asking about his intentions.
Chen Xin raised an indifferent eyebrow, then said, "I plan to build an electromagnetic metallurgy furnace to use electromagnetic metallurgy for recycling and repurposing this scrap metal into usable metal. I need you to help me build this furnace."