SWNOVELXO Chapter 655 Steam Cannon
"BOOOM!!!"
"Ha ha ha Ha HA."
"Success!"
"Whooo!"
[Heyram POV]
I could feel my heart beat rapidly and blood coursing through my veins at a speed I had never felt while I was jumping with joy. Naveen finally acted his age as I could see him screaming at the top of his lungs, acting like an annoying teenager.
Looking at the cannon we had built made me a little emotional, maybe to the point of even bringing tears to my eyes. Feeling the tremors in the ground and seeing the hole the cannonball created in the paper curtain to measure elevation, I could not help but feel proud.
The whole thing started about a couple of years ago. I read this book imported from Europe about a Greek engineer and mathematician from the first century CE called Heron of Alexandria. I saw a design in the book that greatly intrigued me—a hollow sphere mounted on tubes that receive steam from a cauldron, and then release steam from bent tubes at the equator, causing the sphere to rotate. If I remember correctly, the device was called Aeolipile. Then suddenly an idea struck me: the image of the grenade. If heated water of only such a small amount could make the hollow sphere spin, what could be made if a lot of steam built up pressure inside the container and released at a single time?
I got very excited and felt like I had discovered something extraordinary. Being the director of the Bharatiya Academy of Military Sciences, I have a lot of resources at my disposal, so I immediately created a project which I called the steam-powered cannon. I wanted to see if I could replace the current gunpowder propulsion cannons with steam.
To my surprise, as soon as my project was made public, His Majesty asked me to move to a secret location and conduct the project in secret. I was shocked. I knew His Majesty was not a simple person. In my opinion, he has the greatest foresight of anyone in the empire, so I felt like His Majesty had seen something that I did not. So I simply obliged. However, I needed some assistance, so I put forward my request to the scientists who had security clearance at the highest levels. Once again, to my surprise, Naveen Bhatt, the prodigy mechanical engineer of the Bharatiya Empire, actually asked to join my project. He said that he liked the idea very much.
I was happy. Even though I find him annoying at times, I knew how capable he was. In the end, Naveen Bhatt and I started the project.
---
January 15, 1658
Initial Design Proposal
The concept was taking shape in my mind. After discussing with Naveen Bhatt, a preliminary plan was quickly established. First, we focused on the essential components:
We took a boiler to generate steam at approximately 300 degrees Tāpans, and then a Pressure chamber to accumulate steam at a pressure of up to 2,000 Sampīḍa was attached to it. Naveen came up with a release mechanism to control the flow of steam, and finally, I manufactured a reinforced barrel to handle high-pressure propulsion.
Let's see how it goes; I'm nervous. I rubbed my hands and lit the coal.
The heat in the lab rose, and soon the sound of water boiling was heard. The boiler started to make a few creaking sounds due to the high Pressure, and steam built up to around 1,500 Sampīḍa. But suddenly...
"Boom!"
"Ah!"
Naveen screamed, and I was startled by the explosion, but fortunately, no one was injured as we took safety precautions seriously. Naveen, being a restless little runt, went over to see what went wrong. Soon, he had the diagnostics.
"The boiler generated steam effectively, but the heat transfer was not quick enough." He looked at me. "I told you so, boss. We should have used copper instead of brass."
' This guy,' I gritted my teeth.
"The release mechanism failed under high Pressure, resulting in a small rupture, which ended up causing the explosion." "Maybe for this, we can use brass; copper did not cut it," he said.
---
February 10, 1658
Material Selection
Begrudgingly, I accepted to use copper for the boiler due to its excellent thermal conductivity and ability to withstand temperatures up to 500 degrees Tāpans, iron for the barrel to ensure it could withstand high Pressure up to 2,500 Sampīḍa, and finally brass for the release mechanism.
Will this work? I don't know. In theory, it should, but who knows how it will end up in practice.
---
March 5, 1658
Construction of the Prototype
The construction started again. The boiler was first installed, and the seams were checked by the researchers to ensure that there were no leaks. The Pressure chamber was fortified with layers of iron to endure the extreme Pressure we planned to unleash. All of us had our fingers crossed, waiting to see how the experiment would go.
---
April 20, 1658
First Test Run
The day of the second experiment finally arrived. No, scratch that, it should be the first experiment. What happened before should at most only be considered a test. Yeah, that's right, that should be it. Looking at the assembled machine, my heart raced as the boiler hissed and steam built up to around 1,800 Sampīḍa. The Pressure chamber did not budge, but
"Boom!"
"Tch!"
A few clicks were heard from the researchers, but overall, everyone was silent.
It was the second time the explosion happened. Although I dont know what caused it, I have an idea.
I went closer to the site, looked at the destroyed machine. "Release mechanism again?" I asked.
Naveen Bhatt, picking up the cracked brass knob, nodded. "Yeah," he looked very downhearted.
"Alright, let's redesign the release mechanism with stronger materials and introduce additional safety measures to mitigate potential failures," I declared.
---
May 1, 1658
Redesign and Reconstruction
The failure didn't deter us. We got back to correcting the mistakes and rebuilding the prototype right away. Naveen Bhatt and I redesigned the release mechanism, replacing brass with steel for its higher tensile strength, capable of withstanding up to 3,000 Sampīḍa. Additional safety valves were added to release excess Sampīḍa safely by the researchers.
---
June 10, 1658
Second Test Run
"Boom!"
A loud explosion was heard within the secret laboratory, but this time it was not their prototype blasting apart; it was the sound of the cannon successfully shooting out a projectile. Naveen Bhatt, the researchers, and I were very excited about the development, but there was a problem. The projectile did not even cross the 10-meter mark. It was sad, to say the least.
Seeing the exhaust coming out of the barrel, "The Sampīḍa of the steam is still not enough," I muttered.
Naveen Bhatt nodded. "Boss, I think when the steam was released into the barrel, it caused a lot of loss, making it very inefficient."
"We should increase boiler capacity to generate more steam and optimize the release mechanism for efficient use of steam energy," he added.
---
July 5, 1658
Boiler Upgrade
The boiler was expanded to a larger capacity, allowing it to generate significantly more steam, reaching up to 500 Degrees Tāpans. We also enlarged the Pressure chamber to hold the increased steam volume, a crucial step toward achieving greater range.
---
August 20, 1658
Third Test Run
This time, the improvements paid off. The cannon fired the projectile with a much greater range—25 meters to be accurate. However, a new challenge appeared: maybe because the heat was too much, the barrel deformed.
"The exposure to high-temperature steam was too much. The barrel is overheated."
"We should develop a cooling mechanism for the barrel, and let's use a barrel liner made of a heat-resistant material."
---
September 10, 1658
Cooling Mechanism Implementation
I built a water-cooling jacket around the barrel to dissipate heat. The barrel was lined with bricks, capable of enduring up to 1,000 Degrees Tāpans.
"This should do it isn't it boss? "
"Ya it should"
---
October 25, 1658
Fourth Test Run
" Success ! "
The cannon fired the projectile with the desired range and accuracy, 100 meters to be precise. The cooling mechanism worked flawlessly, preventing overheating and preserving the barrel's integrity.
---
November 30, 1658
Fine-Tuning and Optimizations
"Let's refine the steam release timing for better efficiency, and let's improve the cooling mechanism for faster heat dissipation."
"Boss, how about we reinforce the cannon mount to manage recoil more effectively?"
I thought for a while and nodded. "Let's do that too."
---
December 15, 1658
Long-Distance Test
"Boom!"
We did a long-distance test, but the results were disappointing. The projectile did not even break through the 180-meter mark.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Well, at least everything is constant. The difference between each projectile is not too large; accuracy should also be better."
"But, boss, 180 meters—what's the use? If the enemy come so close, using the Puckel gun should be better."
*sigh* "All right, let's increase the steam pressure."
---
January 1, 1659
The size of the boiler was increased, and the pressure of the steam was also increased to about 3,000 Sampīḍa. Thankfully, the steel exhaust valve still held up, but the durability of the whole prototype was drastically reduced, so I had to rebuild the whole machine and test it once again.
"Boom!"
"189 meters."
*sigh*
---
February 1, 1659
"Enhance the sealing mechanisms to prevent steam leaks, and let's streamline the Sampīḍa release process for consistent propulsion."
"Boom!"
"192 meters."
*Damn it.*
---
Experience more on empire
March 1, 1659
Hydraulic Technologies Exploration
Not being able to achieve the goal of 100 meters no matter how much we tried, Naveen and I began to explore new hydraulic technologies and theories. We investigated ways to apply fluid dynamics to increase the cannon's propulsion. We theorized that using hydraulic systems to amplify the pressure might be the key to reaching greater distances.
For the next few months, the researchers, Naveen Bhatt, and I together came up with different technologies, all in the field of hydraulics, but sadly we could not break the 200-meter mark that had become the heartache of all the researchers.
---
April 15, 1659
"199 meters."
I have failed so many times that I'm not even feeling the disappointment anymore.
"Fluid dynamics is a new field of knowledge we have no experience in. Maybe we are doing something wrong."
---
May 25, 1659
"BOOM!"
It was the biggest explosion yet. I was very happy.
Looking at the cannon we had built made me a little emotional, maybe to the point of even bringing tears to my eyes. Feeling the tremors in the ground and seeing the hole the cannonball created in the paper curtain to measure elevation, I could not help but feel proud.
However, when I looked at the flag, which wrote the distance in the distance, mine, along with all the other researchers' and Naveen Bhatt's faces, fell.
"300 meters."
Although the improvement of 300 meters was extremely impressive, looking at the gigantic boiler, pressure chamber, and all the technologies that had to be applied to the cannon barrel, even the most optimistic Naveen Bhatt could see that this was a flawed design.
For the first time, I felt like I needed to say something, but finally, I couldn't, as my throat was choked. It was as if I had swallowed a groundnut and could not spit it out.
---
January 31, 1660
Concluding Remarks
Two years of relentless efforts culminated in this oversized excuse of a cannon. I was very disheartened. Maybe with some more research, I would get better results, but I just feel too guilty, using up so many resources of the empire on a failed project like this.
"Alright, everyone, I am submitting the result to his majesty. I feel honored working with all of you, the most brilliant minds of the Bharatiya Empire."
P.S.
Degrees Tāpans = Degrees Celsius
Sampīḍa = Pascal