On the morning of New Year’s Day in Juche 111 (2022), the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un had a meaningful photo taken with merited persons and labour innovators. Among them was Hyon Ok Ju, manager of the thermal insulation building materials branch factory of the Pyongyang Thermal Power Station.
Her name in the power station reminds every employee of insulating brick first. Because she, though a married woman, made quality insulating brick by herself and contributed to the development of the country’s electric power industry.
For years, she groped for a way to produce insulating brick at her factory. And finally one day she hit upon an idea as she saw white soot from the thermal power station.
“Wouldn’t it be possible to make insulating block from that white soot and locally-available clay, which is able to boost power generation while preventing environmental pollution?” she thought.
She made up her mind to undertake that ambitious research project. But it was not a royal road.
Busy as she was with her business affairs, she developed technical specifications of insulating brick one by one and made painstaking efforts to resolve problems arising in making it.
Sometimes she hesitated and despaired due to the repeated failure. But she got up and eventually succeeded in making the first trial products with help from scientists, technicians and workers of the power station.
Later, an insulating brick production process based on white soot was set up at her branch factory. For its better refractoriness and insulating qualities than the previous ones, her insulating brick helped further increase the per-generator output.
And she intensified the research into improving technical specifications of the brick to raise the combustion efficiency of boilers.
Now, she continues her journey of devotion to keep the bright light at the windows of all families.
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