Chapter 186 Light Bulb

The investment in the Valencia shipyard was only 25 million pesetas, which was only a small test for Carlo.

Next, Carlo used a lot of funds to invest and support Spain's relatively weak heavy industries, such as metallurgy, machinery manufacturing, chemicals, materials, etc.

The average investment in each of these five aspects exceeded 20 million pesetas, and the cumulative investment exceeded 100 million pesetas, which was considered a large investment.

Even if more than 100 million pesetas were invested, it was still impossible to quickly promote the development of these industries in a short period of time. All that can be done is to effectively promote the improvement of the industry, and it will take a long time to achieve certain results.

At least with the royal family's financial support of more than 100 million pesetas, private enterprises in these industries can continue to maintain and have sufficient funds for technical improvement.

In addition to directly supporting enterprises in these industries, another option for the royal family is to vigorously cultivate outstanding talents in these areas and provide a steady stream of blood for these industries.

To this end, Carlo personally ordered the education department to assist certain universities in professional construction and restructuring.

At present, several universities have added majors and subjects related to heavy industry under the order of the Ministry of Education, which has effectively supplemented Spain's talent training system in these fields.

Establishing a sound talent training system is definitely the most effective way to promote an industry. Talent is the most important thing for any industry, more important than any ready-made technology and equipment.

After all, only with enough talents and a sound talent training system can the industry's technology achieve continuous progress.

If there is a lack of talent, even if a short-term lead can be achieved, the future will still cause technological progress to stagnate due to the fall of outstanding talents.

In addition to these heavy industries, in terms of electricity, after many years, the power laboratory has finally achieved certain results.

To be precise, it has been more than five years since the power laboratory was built. During these five years, the power laboratory built a DC generator and an AC generator, and discovered the electric motor under Carlo's suggestion.

This is not over yet. Gram has been exploring a wider range of use scenarios for electricity and has delved into the research of light bulbs.

Before the birth of light bulbs, the main way people illuminated was by flames and kerosene lamps, and kerosene is also one of the main uses of petroleum at present.

These two lighting methods have great defects. Needless to say, using flames for lighting not only wastes various forms of fuel, but the flames are not that bright.

Although kerosene lamps only need kerosene as energy, the brightness of kerosene lamps is not high, and people can only barely see things clearly.

It is precisely for this reason that the birth of light bulbs was promoted. Even the most primitive light bulbs are not inferior to kerosene lamps in terms of brightness.

If it were not for the limited service life and the development of electricity, light bulbs could definitely replace kerosene lamps in a short period of time and become the main lighting method in people's daily life.

Before Gramm invested heavily in the research of light bulbs, the research on light bulbs was still in the stage of large-scale exploration.

When people in later generations mentioned light bulbs, the most likely person to think of was Edison. But in fact, the first person to invent light bulbs was American scientist Henry Goebbels. He used carbonized bamboo filaments in a glass bottle to energize it, which could achieve lighting for more than 400 hours.

However, because Henry Goebbels did not apply for a patent in time, he was not as famous as Edison, the "King of Inventions", for the invention of light bulbs.

Edison is definitely a capable scientist, but he is also an extremely good capitalist. At least Edison's reputation is not so accurate. A considerable number of inventions were named after Edison purchased the patent.

Carlo still has a certain understanding of the development history of the light bulb. Edison's light bulb patent was purchased from a Canadian scientist, and the reason for the sale was that the Canadian scientist's research on the light bulb was no longer sustainable.

To put it bluntly, scientific research requires a lot of research and development funds. The birth of the light bulb is the result of the relevant scientists' repeated experiments on related materials, and finally the birth of the light bulb.

Carlo knew that before the birth of the tungsten filament light bulb, the light bulb with the longest life and the most effect was the carbon filament light bulb.

So Gram's light bulb research started with carbon filament light bulbs to explore a commercial light bulb that can be used for at least hundreds of hours.

After five years of exploration and experimentation, Gram finally brought good news to Carlo. The power laboratory successfully manufactured a carbon filament light bulb with an average life of up to 300 hours.

Upon hearing the news, Carlo immediately went to the power laboratory to find out happily.

When Carlo arrived at the power laboratory, Gram had already prepared the relevant light bulb experiments, waiting for Carlo to watch and test them in person.

"Your Majesty, what you have seen so far is the entire experimental process of our carbon filament light bulb.

Our first experimental object was carbonized cotton thread, which had a lifespan of 40 hours. However, this lifespan obviously could not meet commercial needs. On this basis, we tested carbonized bamboo filaments and cardboard, and finally obtained the commercial light bulb with an average lifespan of more than 300 hours. "Gram excitedly introduced the experimental process of the light bulb filament to Carlo, and the excitement and admiration in his eyes were almost revealed.

The power laboratory has indeed achieved good results in the past five years, but whether it is the electric motor or the carbon filament light bulb, the relevant theories were proposed by Carlo.

Gram admired Carlo very much, and even felt that Carlo was a natural scientist. If he had not become the king of Spain, Carlo would definitely become one of the greatest scientists in human history, and his achievements might not be inferior to becoming a king.

Unfortunately, Carlo, who has become the king of Spain, obviously has no energy to invest in scientific research and development. This also makes Gram, who admires Carlo very much, very sorry, and thinks that mankind may have missed a great scientist.

Hearing Gram's introduction, Carlo nodded with a smile and asked his own question: "Mr. Gram, can the service life of this carbon filament light bulb be guaranteed to be more than 300 hours? ”

The 300-hour service life is definitely short for the light bulbs of later generations, but it is definitely a huge improvement for the light bulbs of this era.

For ordinary families, it is impossible for the lights to be on all night. The lighting time of one night is basically the first few hours after dark.

According to the lighting of 3 to 4 hours a day, the service life of such carbon filament light bulbs will reach about 75 to 100 days, which is about three months.

Even if it is a street lamp that lights all night, if it is lit for at least ten hours a day, the 300-hour service life can be used for more than ten days.

This era is not like the later generations, many roads will be equipped with street lights. Even if Spain has the need to build street lights, it will only be used in In some busier streets and cities, ordinary roads are out of the question.

Taking all the above into consideration, although the service life of 300 hours is not long, it is definitely enough for commercial use. As long as the production cost of the light bulb is not high, it can ensure that such light bulbs can be fully put into commercial use and promote the use of electricity. This is why Carlo is concerned about the service life of these carbon filament light bulbs.

"We have manufactured hundreds of such carbon filament light bulbs in total, of which more than 60 carbon filament light bulbs have a service life of more than 400 hours, nearly 20 carbon filament light bulbs have a service life of more than 350 hours, and only less than 20 carbon filament light bulbs have a service life of barely maintaining around 300 hours.

Your Majesty, based on such experimental results, we are confident that the service life of carbon filament light bulbs will remain above 300 hours, and it is even possible to increase it to more than 350 hours in a short period of time. "When it comes to the actual service life of carbon filament light bulbs, Gram was excited and quickly answered Carlo's question.

Compared to the current light bulb research and registered patents in various countries, this Spanish light bulb with a minimum service life of 300 hours is definitely more advanced.

For Gram, who loves scientific research, being able to accomplish such an achievement personally is better than anything else, and it is more exciting and exciting.

Carlo nodded, and the smile on his face became stronger.

It seems that the 300-hour service life of the light bulb reported by Gram is actually quite conservative.

Because the service life of most light bulbs exceeds 400 hours, and some inferior products have a service life of only 350 or 300 hours.

According to the exaggerated propaganda methods of some capitalists, these carbon filament light bulbs can be promoted as exaggerated results with an average life of more than 400 hours and a maximum life of nearly 500 hours.

Gram did not do this, which also proved his rigor in experimental data.

"Light up a few light bulbs. "Carlo ordered.

Carlo was quite curious about these most primitive electric lights. Although Carlo had also experienced the dim incandescent lamp, it was a product that had been improved many times more than 100 years ago.

What the most primitive incandescent lamp looked like and how bright it was more than 100 years ago were all unknown to Carlo now.

After hearing Carlo's order, Gram signaled his assistant to turn on the switch.

With the click of the switch, several light bulbs on the experimental table lit up instantly. Because it was daytime, the brightness of the light bulbs was not high, and it could even be said to be very weak.

Carlo frowned, it seemed that the experiment was conducted during the day. The electric light experiment was not a wise choice.

Fortunately, the power laboratory had a way to deal with it. All the windows were curtained, and the lighting was closed, making the laboratory completely dark.

With the dim laboratory as a backdrop, the originally dim light bulbs instantly became brighter. Although not as amazing as those lights in later generations, for 1875 when electricity was just starting, such lights were like a spark on the grassland, ready to take off with the wind and set the prairie on fire at any time.

Feeling the brightness of the light bulb, Carlo nodded, feeling quite satisfied.

Then, the light bulb was turned off, and several kerosene lamps lit up again.

The contrast is even more obvious now. Although the previous light bulbs were not as bright, they were definitely clearer than kerosene lamps.

If we only talk about brightness, the brightness of this light bulb is at least several times that of kerosene lamps, and it is much clearer to see things.

Working in an environment with light bulbs will at least not hurt your eyes as much as kerosene lamps. With such a comparison, Carlo is more satisfied with the current light bulbs.

"Your Majesty, what you see is the small light bulbs we made, which are mainly used for civilian lighting.

Considering the lighting needs of factories and large public areas, we have also specially made larger light bulbs, which are much brighter than these small civilian light bulbs." Seeing Carlo's satisfied expression, Gram was obviously more relieved and continued to introduce other types of light bulbs to Carlo.

Hearing that there were other larger light bulbs, Carlo became even more curious and smiled and said, "A larger light bulb? How long does such a light bulb last?"

Gram ordered people to install a larger light bulb for the experiment, while answering Carlo's question, "Because of the current limited technology, the life of this larger light bulb is far less than that of a small light bulb.

After hundreds of experiments, we finally determined that the life of this large carbon filament light bulb is only about 120 to 150 hours, and it cannot be used intensively.

But in terms of brightness, the brightness of a large carbon filament light bulb is more than three times that of a small carbon filament light bulb, and it can illuminate a wider environment."

Perhaps because of the many experiments, the laboratory staff installed the large light bulb very quickly, and a large light bulb had been installed in the conversation room.

In order to highlight the brightness of the large light bulb, only one large light bulb will be used in this test, and the brightness is still comparable to several small light bulbs and several kerosene lamps.

With a familiar click, the larger light bulb instantly lit up, emitting a brighter luster.

Carlo looked around the entire experimental area and found that it was indeed much brighter than the previous small light bulbs. If the previous small light bulbs could only illuminate a circle with a radius of three or four meters, then the current large light bulbs can illuminate a large circle with a radius of at least five or six meters, and the illuminated area has almost doubled.

Although the lighting area has only doubled, the brightness has also increased a lot. Indeed, for factories and some public areas, such large light bulbs are a more suitable choice.

If the small light bulbs are used as street lamps for lighting, the lighting effect is not good unless the height of the street lamp is only two meters.

But if it is replaced with this larger light bulb, the height of the street lamp can be increased to more than three meters, and the range of the road illuminated will be larger, which can also prevent some incidents of stealing light bulbs.

After all, if the street lamp is only two meters, many people can reach the light bulb in the street lamp by standing on tiptoe. Even if the cost of the light bulb is not high, the selling price will definitely increase to a certain extent.

In order to prevent this phenomenon from happening, it is better to make the street lamp as high as possible. Not only can it illuminate a larger road area, but it can also be more beautiful and easier to maintain.

Since it has been confirmed that it is brighter than those small bulbs, there is no need to compare it with kerosene lamps.

Kerosene lamps have the weakest brightness, but because they are easy to carry and kerosene is cheap, they have become the main lighting method in people's daily lives.

But in fact, the lighting of kerosene lamps is really not as bright as lighting a fire. The reason why Carlo doesn't like to work at night is because he doesn't like the dim lighting of kerosene lamps. Now that he has light bulbs, Carlo can extend his working hours by one or two hours.

"How much does such a light bulb cost? If it is mass-produced, can the output meet the current needs of Spain?" After confirming that the current light bulbs are enough for commercial use, Carlo asked the question he was more concerned about again.

There are two more important factors for the commercial use of light bulbs, one is the output of light bulbs, and the other is the price of light bulbs.

After all, this is a thing with a lifespan, and the service life must be flexibly changed according to the lighting time of the light bulb.

If the price is too high, I am afraid that most civilians will not be able to afford it.

Of course, this is also under the condition that the circuit network in Spain is roughly laid. At present, not to mention that every village has electricity, Spain cannot even have electricity in every city.

Even the generators currently owned by the power laboratory can only power a small amount of experimental equipment, and cannot promote the popularization of electricity on a large scale.

This also means that before the light bulbs are fully commercialized and promoted throughout Spain, there is one thing that must be done, that is, to build a large number of power plants to quickly increase Spain's power generation capacity.

"At present, the cost of small light bulbs is not expensive, and there are only two main accessories, namely glass lampshades and carbonized cardboard.

According to our estimates, if such small light bulbs are mass-produced, the cost of light bulbs can also be effectively reduced.

The current cost of small light bulbs manufactured in the laboratory is about 2.12 pesetas, but if they can be mass-produced, the cost should be reduced to less than 1.5 pesetas.

As for whether the output can meet Spain's needs, I think there will not be too much demand for light bulbs in Spain before our power plants are built in large numbers.

Your Majesty, regarding the promotion and use of electricity, I think it is necessary for us to establish a large demonstration area to show the leading position of electricity to all Spaniards and serve as a model for our promotion and use of electricity. "Gram answered Carlo's questions one by one.

Carlo nodded, and he was quite in agreement with what Gram said.

Light bulbs need electricity. Before the electricity is connected, even if there are light bulbs, they cannot play their role.

It is very troublesome to connect electricity. Not only do you need to build a power plant, but you also need to connect the power plant to the area where electricity is used. This also involves the problem of voltage and power loss, which cannot be explained in a few words.

It is certain that even if the current light bulbs have been born, it is impossible for ordinary people to enjoy light bulbs.

It is nothing more than some nobles and capitalists who can use their own financial resources to build small power stations, bring electricity to their residential areas, and drive other electrical equipment including light bulbs.

Perhaps it can also promote the reform of some factories. Electricity is also a very important energy source. The engine can replace some steam engines and become an important power equipment in the factory.

Including factories can also use electric lights for lighting to improve the efficiency of the factory. It was difficult for factories to work in two shifts before, after all, lighting at night is a big problem.

But if a large number of light bulbs are used, the factory can still be brightly lit at night, and another group of workers can be used to replace the daytime workers to produce, so that the factory can work in two shifts and greatly improve production efficiency.

Doing so may exploit Spanish workers, but this is also unavoidable. After all, there are all kinds of exploitation in later generations, and there are many workers who work more than ten hours a day.

In 1875, talking about the eight-hour work system, talking about two days off and protecting workers' rights is against this era.

5400 words two-in-one chapter, please support!