In central Saudi Arabia, a city called Qazal.

This is a large-scale desalination plant. On one side of the huge reservoir, four PVC pipes with a thickness of one meter are bubbling with seawater, and at the other end of the pipe, which stretches for hundreds of kilometers, is stuck in the depths of the Red Sea like a dragon absorbing water. Several pumps continuously pump the seawater from the reservoir into the filtration plant, where it is filtered through a superfiltration membrane. By the time the water flows out of the filtration plant through the canal, it is no longer bitter, but has become sweet and tasty, ready for drinking and irrigation.

With the help of large quantities of fresh water from seawater filtration, an oasis has been formed in the sparsely populated Ghazar Desert, and the city of Ghazar has become a bustling city. Prince Flandin is now the lord of the city, and all the properties in the city and the surrounding oases belong to him.

"Look, this is the factory you helped us build, and without your desalination technology, I can't imagine that Geizal would have such a rich grassland."

Flandin accompanied Qin Hai and his entourage in the factory area of the seawater filtration factory, and introduced them to the changes in the Geizal Desert over the years.

Qin Hai met Flandin ten years ago. On that occasion, Frantin was on the verge of bankruptcy due to an oil spill from an oil tanker off the coast of France. Qin Hai used a self-developed super filter membrane to solve the problem of seawater purification and freed Flandin from the predicament. After that, Flandin invited Daqin Group to his territory of the Gezhal Desert to set up this desalination plant, which became the best demonstration of Daqin's seawater filtration technology.

It has been seven or eight years since the factory was built, and this is the first time Qin Hai has visited the factory. Previously, Flandin had sent many invitations, and Qin Hai had also agreed. But they were unable to make the trip for various reasons. However, the economic ties between the two sides have not been interrupted, with Flandin purchasing filtration membranes from Daqin Group, and Daqin Group purchasing crude oil from Flandin, and the two sides are very close trading partners.

Seawater desalination is achieved by relying on a filter membrane, which is a consumable. Every year, Flandin pays tens of millions of dollars to Daqin Group for the purchase of filter membranes. That is, the Saudi oil tyrant has such confidence, and if it is replaced by poor countries such as Jordan and Yemen, it is definitely powerless.

As for the oil that the Daqin Group bought from Flandin, the amount was even larger. The annual crude oil trading volume between the two sides is as high as more than 10 million tons, worth three or four billion US dollars. It can be said that half of the buildings in Gezal City were built with the money paid by the Daqin Group.

Qin Hai came to Saudi Arabia this time, on the one hand, to negotiate with Flandin on the crude oil supply agreement for the next ten years, to ensure the supply of crude oil for the upcoming RX project, and on the other hand, to promote the new technology of Daqin Group to Flandin. To put it mildly, it is to find a local tyrant to fight the autumn breeze.

"Prince Flandin's courage is indeed admirable. Although I have never been to Gezhal before, I have heard from the employees of the group who went to Gezhal that ten years ago, Gezhal was completely a desert and could not see any greenery, but now, the oasis around the city is almost a dozen square kilometers, right? Qin Hai asked in an appreciative tone.

"It's 15 square kilometres." Frandine said proudly. "The environment is completely comparable to that of Europe."

"Not bad, not bad." Qin Hai said, "Ten years. From almost zero, to an oasis of 15 square kilometers, this is a remarkable achievement. I believe that in another 10 years, this oasis will be able to grow to 150 square kilometers, enough to attract the attention of the world. ”

"This ...... I'm afraid it's a bit difficult. Frandin looked embarrassed. Of course, he believed that Qin Hai's words were sincere, but he himself did not have such great ambitions. Desert areas evaporate so much water that the desalination of seawater for irrigation is no small feat at sustaining a 15-square-kilometre oasis. If the oasis were to be expanded to 150 square kilometres, he would need to build 10 more of the same desalination plants. The annual electricity bill, filter membrane consumption, labor costs, etc., are all astronomical figures, and Rao is rich and can not afford such consumption.

"What? Isn't the desert around here your territory? Qin Hai pretended not to understand what Flandin meant, and asked in surprise.

"Of course, even the bigger ones are mine." "However, the economic pressure to continue to expand the oasis is too great. ”

"Desert greening is a global problem, and if it can be solved satisfactorily with Prince Flandin, then you will go down in history." Qin Hai continued to pour the ecstasy soup.

Flandin nodded: "I know this, but the water consumption of the oasis is too large, don't look at my factory can produce nearly 10,000 tons of fresh water per day, compared to the water consumption, it is not worth mentioning at all." Most of the oases outside our city are drought-tolerant plants, otherwise water consumption would have increased more than threefold. ”

"We have a tropical desert climate here, and the evaporation is much greater than in China. We can only water the plants at night, and as soon as the morning dawns, all the water evaporates. Flandin's assistant Drech explained to Qin Hai in a low voice.

"That's what you're worried about." Qin Hai seemed to have just understood this question, he smiled and pointed at Yu Lihong, the engineer who followed him, and said, "This problem, I ask Engineer Yu to explain it to you." ”

"We invented a superabsorbent polymer material that can retain water in the desert and ensure that the irrigation water does not evaporate." Yu Lihong couldn't wait to say to Flandin and Drech, and he didn't even have time to do a little foreshadowing.

"What do you mean?" Frantin and Dreich were stunned, and after a long time, Qin Hai said that he wanted to build a 150-square-kilometer oasis, which was not a kind word, but a plan.

Yu Lihong didn't care about the attitude of the two people, he gestured with his hand and said: "The product we invented is a small particle, the size is about the same as a grain of rice, mix it in sand, once there is water in the environment, it will suck water into its body, and at the same time the volume will become larger, up to more than 10 times the original volume." When the outside environment becomes dry, it gradually discharges the water and supplies it to the surrounding plants. That way, you don't have to worry about the water evaporating when you water it. ”

"Actually, the principle is similar to that of baby diapers, except that we have reduced some of the cleanliness requirements and reduced the cost to an acceptable range." Qin Hai added on the side.

"Has the effect of this particle been tested?" Drech asked earnestly.

"Of course it did." "We have conducted experiments in desert areas in China, so that after this kind of particles, the water in the sand can be maintained for more than a month, which can fully ensure the water needs of plant root growth." ”

"So, what about the cost of use?" Drech asked again.

"In terms of cost, it's ......" Yu Lihong was a little hesitant.

"The cost aspect is completely affordable." Qin Hai snatched the conversation, he knew that this honest man Yu Lihong wanted to tell the truth again, so he had to quickly interrupt him.

"It costs no more than $50,000 per square kilometre per year, and experts have calculated that after 10 years of use, the local vegetation will be able to solidify and the pellets will no longer need to be used for water retention." Qin Hai said.

$50,000 per square kilometer, equivalent to 400,000 yuan, is of course a heavy expense for China. China's desert covers an area of millions of square kilometers, and even if 1% of the area is used, the cost of such particles is billions of yuan. But for Saudi Arabia, a country with an extreme shortage of labor and too much money to put it, what is $10 million for an oil tycoon like Frantin?

Sure enough, hearing that the annual consumption per square kilometer was only 50,000 US dollars, Flandin was a little tempted. Being able to expand the area of the oasis is, of course, a great thing for him. Qin Hai planned a long-term plan of 150 square kilometers for him, and according to this plan, it would cost 7.5 million US dollars a year, and it would be enough to sell one or two million barrels of oil.

"That's a good idea." Franding laughed, "Mr. Qin, I am willing to accept your suggestion, please arrange for an engineer to do the detailed planning." ”

"Great, I knew Prince Flandin would be satisfied." Qin Hai said with a smile.

"It seems that the purpose of Mr. Qin's trip is not only to sign an oil import agreement, but also to have other ideas, right? This is located in the sir is engaged in superabsorbent polymers, so this gentleman and this lady, what do they do? Mr. Qin, can you introduce me to it? Flandin pointed at Qin Hai's other two attachés and asked.

"I was about to introduce you." Qin Hai said, "This is Mr. Ka'an, a tenured professor at the Anhe Institute of Materials, who was formerly a professor at the Embraer Institute of Technology, and who is the inventor of the world's first graphene supercapacitor. As for this lady, she is my wife, Tranquility, who is now a researcher at the Superconductivity Research Center of Jingcheng University. ”

"Prince Frantin, it's a pleasure to meet you." Tranquility stepped forward from Qin Hai's side, bowed to Flandin gracefully, and said, "I want to especially thank you for the diamond ring you gave to my husband, because he transferred it to me again. This time, Mr. Ka'an and I have come to Qezal with my husband to introduce you to one of Mr. Ka'an's great ideas, which is the collection of thunder and lightning. I think if there is anyone in the world who is most interested in this technology, it must be the discerning Prince Frankin. (To be continued......)