Qin Hui and Gu Yong drank a little wine, and they didn't avoid Gu Fei, a child, so they chatted at the dinner table.

Gu Biao was naturally happy to eavesdrop openly.

He's about to make excuses for his dad to accept his plan not to go to high school, so he has to take every opportunity to please him.

However, the conversation between Qin Hui and his father obviously had a cause and effect, so Gu Biao eavesdropped halfway, and he was also a little confused.

I only heard Qin Hui take a sip of wine, and asked anxiously: "Xiao Gu, the reason why I didn't dare to boast at noon was because I was afraid of saying the wrong thing in front of the central commissioner, so I would rather eat and drink well and entertain them for a day and stabilize them." What is the matter of helium machine, how do we do it, you have to show the way!"

In the end, he seemed afraid that his father would not understand the importance of the task, so he leaned into his ear and said: "The commissioner later told me privately that this involves the 'No. 1 Project'! As mentioned above, as long as it can be done, it is not a problem to ask for money for money and dispatch for scheduling!"

The father was obviously forced to be anxious, and exclaimed with his pitiful theoretical knowledge: "Old Qin, you know the difficulty of this matter best, what's the use of embarrassing me? Helium is the substance with the lowest boiling point in the world, and it needs minus 269 degrees Celsius to liquefy! There are only 4 degrees left from absolute zero. Relying on the industrial foundation of our factory, it is simply impossible!

If it was only for the protective gas of embalming of corpses, it was enough to stabilize it with nitrogen as a rule, and the Soviets also used nitrogen for Comrade Ulyanov. How can China think of lifting helium? The cost difference is more than 70 or 80 times. ”

Qin Hui was also very helpless: "I heard that when the central government organized a meeting of experts, it was almost over, but Commissioner Su mentioned it, saying that helium is more stable - you know, when it comes to the 'No. 1 Project', as long as there is a better quality plan mentioned, the person who makes the decision will never dare to try to save money, and it will be a hundred times more expensive." ”

Daddy: "Even if it has to be helium, now we use imported helium from Air Liquide, can't we just let them continue to use it?"

Hearing this, the always kind Director Qin also became stern: "Then what if the diplomatic situation changes in the future and Pompidou turns his face? The French will not sell it to us, like Linde and Praxes, should the crystal * of the great leader be filled with nitrogen? This is a political issue! We cannot be sloppy! We Chinese must master our own helium-making technology!"

When Gu Biao heard this, he basically knew what his father and Deputy Director Qin were fighting about.

And Qin Hui's last sentence, because it was too obvious, made him laugh even more.

The father, who was desperate to be asked by the leader, immediately found the point of anger and slapped him: "What are you laughing at when you talk about adults?

"Alas, Xiao Gu, what are you doing beating the child, it's important to get down to business!" Qin Hui grabbed his father.

"I mean, Pompidou has been dead for two years, and the current president of France is called d'Estaing. Gu Biao knew that he was rude and explained.

This also shows that today's domestic news is closed. Many Chinese people may always remember that the French president is Pompidou just because Pompidou visited China four years ago and the new president has not come.

In fact, in the early 80s, many people thought that the president of the United States was still Nixon.

"Knowing who the new president of France is, I will make you like this! If you have the ability, you can tell me how to make helium!"

Who knows, Gu Biao is waiting for him to ask.

……

The topic that Qin Hui and his father were arguing about, Gu Biao had already reviewed it clearly in his mind just now:

First of all, the "No. 1 project" they refer to is the project that was carried out in September last year after the Great Leader in order to preserve the remains for people to see.

At the technical plan discussion meeting, when talking about what kind of protective gas is filled in the crystal, a member of a school department of the first machine department proposed the use of helium. (The members of the faculty were later academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Helium is the most inert gas, and it does not react chemically with anything, so it is of course very effective as a shielding gas, and it is the most difficult of all gases to prepare.

Therefore, what is currently filled in the container is helium imported from the French Air Liquide.

However, imported helium is expensive, and there is a risk of being stuck by the French in the future, which is not a long-term solution.

At present, there are only four companies on the planet that can make helium: Air Liquide in France, Linde in Germany, Praxair in the United States, and a Soviet factory.

Therefore, the First Machinery Department sent special commissioners to the local area to find the strongest factory in this field in China and try to tackle the Chinese's own helium-making machine.

After a round and two turns, I found the Qiantang oxygen generator factory.

The factory where my dad works is still strong in this field. As early as 1953, when my father was only in his 20s, he followed his master to participate in the battle to build the first oxygen concentrator in New China.

Therefore, now in the face of the "impossible task" of "building the first helium machine in New China", the factory can't hide.

So, let's do another conference battle, right?

It's easy to say, but technically there is no possibility at all.

The technical principle of air separation, to put it bluntly, relies on the refrigerator and the pressure vessel to separate the different boiling points of gases.

For example, the main components of air are oxygen and nitrogen. The boiling point of oxygen is minus 183 degrees Celsius, and the boiling point of nitrogen is minus 196 degrees.

With just one chiller, the temperature of the separator tank can be precisely reduced to minus 190 degrees Celsius, and everything in between. The oxygen then becomes a liquid while the nitrogen remains in a gaseous state, which separates nitrogen and oxygen.

It's simple to say.

In terms of technology, it is a question of who can make a "refrigerator" that is more energy-efficient and can lower the temperature, as well as an ultra-low temperature container that is more pressure-resistant.

Everyone knows that manufacturing high-pressure vessels requires a high level of industrial qualification, because if the quality is not up to par and an explosion occurs, the disaster is absolutely devastating.

The manufacture of "ultra-low temperature high-pressure vessels" is a forbidden area in the industrial forbidden zone.

Because of general metal materials, even at room temperature, the physical properties fully meet the requirements. But once the working environment is reduced to more than minus 200 degrees, many once awesome alloys will become very fragile and even as fragile as ice. (Imagine the Red Alert 3 Allied cryocoplic)

The reason why helium is the most difficult to make is because helium has the lowest melting and boiling points of all known substances.

At atmospheric pressure, it must be cooled to minus 269 degrees Celsius before helium liquefies.

As for "freezing", there is no theoretical possibility at atmospheric pressure - the melting point of helium is exactly minus 273.15 degrees, that is, absolute zero.

Absolute zero is impossible to reach.

Today, the technical level of the Qiantang oxygen generator factory is basically stagnant in the mid-60s. In the last decade, for unspeakable reasons, there has been no progress in technology, and even a slight regression.

Even the reason why his father Gu Yong was able to be the "acting technical chief" was because two years ago, the original section chief Shao of the technical department was said to be a "white road" and fell down. (The original section chief was a top student of Jiaotong University)

And my dad only has a junior high school education, has craftsmanship, has no education, is an eighth-level fitter, and has always felt powerless. Now that it has been half a year, and the work is gradually back on track, he originally wanted to resign and go back to be the section leader.

As a result, at this juncture, the central commissioner came, and he insisted that the factory immediately discuss the technical route plan of the helium machine, and then report to the department.

Qin Hui's subordinates couldn't get any, so he decided to eat his father and let him make up his mind first.

But Dad estimates that the factory can now build a machine that can cool down to minus 230 degrees Celsius and maintain a pressure of 20 atmospheres, and does not dare to guarantee the quality.

With this technology, how is it possible to build a helium machine?

He even persuaded Director Qin to rehabilitate Section Chief Shao, and he would rather let Xian.

However, when the two were arguing most intensely, Gu Biao interjected because of the sentence "Pompidou died early" and seized the initiative to talk.

……

"I really knew what direction I had to work in to build a helium machine. Gu Biao combined the common sense of his later generations and did not say anything full.

His mouth was so wild that Daddy was dumbfounded.

Qin Hui was also incredulous: a second-class kid who understands the refrigeration physics of wool?

But Qin Hui thought about it, he was squeezing Gu Yong's military order, so he was also happy to listen to Gu Yong's blind beep.

His idea was very simple: Gu Yong, you kid want to escape from the line of fire, right? If even your son dares to boast and agree, then see how you can get down the stairs.

So he encouraged Gu Biao to speak freely.

Gu Biao had already sorted out his thoughts, his eyes rolled, and he began to persuade his father: "Dad, I think Uncle Qin is also kind and has good intentions to let you advocate this." I think with the technology of your factory, it will be no problem to build a helium machine in two or three years.

The central government didn't force you to produce results immediately, you first reported the technical plan, so that Uncle Qin could ask the central government to reach out for resources, anyway, in the short term, the air of the law liquid air will not be broken. ”

"That's right, Xiao Gu, look at it, your political consciousness is not as high as your son!" Qin Hui was so happy to hear it, Gu Biao's assist was really good.

"Little deflated three old men will beat you to death! Helium must be minus 270 degrees, you know what a fart!" Daddy was so angry that he immediately pulled out the belt on his trouser waistband and made a gesture to beat his unashamed son.

"Xiao Gu, get up, let him say!" Qin Hui, who was sick and went to the doctor, hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop it, and then turned to Gu Biao and Yan Yue and said, "It's still unruly and sensible, come, and reason with your father." ”

Dad's face darkened for a while, and he was already mentally prepared for an accident in the future and being fired as a temporary worker.

Gu Biao calmed down for a moment and began to talk eloquently: "Dad, Uncle Qin, I think you have a misunderstanding in your thinking first - helium does have to be minus 269 degrees to liquefy, but there is no need to drop it so low during industrial production."

As long as everything in the world is liquefied except helium, isn't the last gas left pure helium?"

As we get closer to absolute zero, the difficulty of cooling and the energy consumption increase exponentially with each slight decrease in temperature.

If you think about this, you can save more than half of the cost first.

"Yes, Xiao Gu, you're not as smart as your son!" Qin Hui was stunned for a moment, and immediately began to pat his thigh.

Dad knew more about technology than Qin Hui, and he immediately figured it out - in fact, he was completely afraid of difficulties at the beginning and felt that it was not feasible, so he simply didn't think about it deeply.

Now seeing that his son can really express his insightful opinions, the father commented rigorously: "This is a good idea, but it can't reduce much difficulty." Helium is hydrogen, with a boiling point of minus 253 degrees, and neon, 245 degrees. In other words, we still need to build machines that can cool down to at least -255 degrees Celsius. ”

Hydrogen and neon are gases with a boiling point only higher than helium, where hydrogen is also a common, inexpensive industrial gas.

With the technical strength of the Qiantang oxygen generator factory, of course, hydrogen can be easily produced, but this does not mean that they can easily build a refrigerator that can be cooled to minus 255° - because industrial hydrogen production relies on electrolysis.

Pure hydrogen and pure oxygen can be obtained by electrolysis of pure water.

The oxygen produced in this way is many times less energy efficient than separating hydrogen from liquidized air.

Therefore, industrial hydrogen production does not need "liquefied hydrogen" at all.

With the current strength of the Qiantang oxygen generator factory, it is impossible to build a refrigerator that can liquefy hydrogen.

After Qin Hui figured it out, he hurriedly played a round: "That's not bad, at least this method can allow us to reduce the requirements of the refrigerator by more than ten degrees, and the difficulty will be reduced by at least five or six times!"

Things are coming step by step, and today's idea solves such a big problem. Maybe in two days, I can do it again, and I can take two more steps. The situation of the song is very good!

Since the French and Germans can make it, it means that there must be an opportunistic way to do it. I don't believe they really make the air so cold by being stupid, and they only sell us a few hundred francs a bottle of gas. ”

Qin Hui's last sentence is quite simple and philosophical.

He really doesn't understand how the French do it technically, but he can calculate economic accounts.

If you really want to cool down the separated gas to minus 260 degrees, the helium in the international market is definitely not something that the current price can support.

Even if the machine is given away in vain, the photoelectric fee is not enough!

So the foreigners must have other secrets, but the Chinese have not discovered it.

And Gu Biao immediately confirmed Qin Hui's guess:

"Of course, foreigners have other ways - first of all, hydrogen is very reactive and can be directly oxidized into water to remove. As for other impurities that can only be separated at ultra-low temperatures, foreigners should have other methods. I think that the last industrial means of helium production may not even need minus 240 degrees. ”

Qin Hui's eyes lit up when he heard this.

He took out his pocket, took out a watch, put it on Gu Biao, and then held his arm and shook it a few times.

"You're amazing! Tell your uncle, do you often take the first place in physics and chemistry exams in school? Good students are different! Well, can you roughly guess what method foreigners might rely on to further remove other ultra-low temperature impurities? This watch will be given to you!"

"Don't take Uncle Qin's gift!" Dad hurriedly stopped, he knew that as long as Gu Biao accepted it, he couldn't shirk his leadership responsibility today.

"I only know a general idea, I don't know what materials to use. Gu Biao said modestly.

Qin Hui was already very satisfied: "The idea is also successful! You name it, Uncle will give your father half a year's bonus!"

Gu Biao thought for a while and confided: "Membrane method!"