Saudi Prince Frantin's favorite sport is flying in a helicopter, which he finds most enjoyable. However, he was sitting in the helicopter cabin at this time, but he did not look happy at all, his face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and his eyes looked at the sea where the plane was flying, and he was worried.

The oil tanker "Cape Golden", which had an accident off the coast of Le Havre in France a few hours earlier, belonged to Flandin's company. I don't know if the captain was drunk or dazed, but in good sea conditions, the "Golden Cape" would have deviated from its normal course and crashed into a passing bulk carrier. There were no casualties in the collision, but one of the oil storage tanks in the "Golden Cape" was damaged, and thousands of tons of crude oil flowed into the sea along the gap, creating a more than 10-kilometer-long oil stain belt. Driven by ocean currents and sea breezes, the oil stain continues to expand, and from an airplane, it looks like a monster with teeth and claws.

"At least 1ooo dead seabirds have been found off the coast of Le Havre, and it is not yet possible to assess the impact on fish. The public has put tremendous pressure on our Ministry of Ecology that if the effects of this oil spill are not resolved quickly, not only me, but even the entire French cabinet may have to step down. ”

Henlock, the French Minister of Ecology, who was sitting in the helicopter with Flandin, said to Flandin with a gloomy face.

"We are very reluctant to have such a thing. Leaks in the transportation of crude oil are not uncommon, and the number of oil spills caused by this accident is not very serious. Flandin's staff member Dredge said. He was a Frenchman who was employed by Frantin, so he had to speak from Frantin's shoes.

In fact, Drech is not lying, compared to the marine accidents that have occurred in other parts of the world that have spilled hundreds of thousands of tons of crude oil. This time, the scale of the oil spill of the "Golden Cape" is indeed not very large. But the problem is that the location of the spill is very close to the French coast, and the pollution caused by it will directly affect France, which is unacceptable.

"The oil spill elsewhere has nothing to do with me, and the issue I want to talk to Mr. Flandin about is this oil spill." Henlock interrupted Dredge's defense. "The oil spill has now caused a serious ecological disaster along the French coast. Marine environmental experts estimate that oil pollution floating on the surface of the sea will be stored for at least four months, while it will take at least two years for crude oil to sink to the bottom of the sea and oil pollution that floats to shore. Mr. Flandin, your company must take full responsibility for this matter. ”

"Mr. Minister, can you talk about your request?" Flandin looked at Henlock and said that he didn't want to deny it because it had come to this. I can only listen to the other party's request first.

"Our demands are twofold: first, to remove oil pollution from the sea and restore the polluted environment; Second, compensation for the losses caused by the accident. Henlock replied.

"The oil pollution treatment experts we have hired are already on their way and will soon be able to arrive in Le Havre, who will bring solutions and equipment to deal with oil pollution," says Frantin. As for accident compensation, it is necessary to wait for the final assessment result. Within a reasonable range, we will be liable for compensation. ”

"The Ministry of Ecology has also hired oil pollution treatment experts. They will work with your experts. As for their remuneration......" Henlock paused slightly, waiting for Flandin's statement.

"My company is responsible for all of their compensation." Flandin didn't hesitate. I readily agreed. Compared to the huge compensation for environmental pollution, the remuneration of a few experts is really nothing. If the oil pollution can be disposed of one day earlier, the loss of pollution can be reduced by a large amount, and this account Flandin can calculate.

After inspecting the pollution at sea, Henlock ordered the helicopter to return to a makeshift headquarters on the Le Havre waterfront. When they got off the helicopter. The car in which Gemo and Qin Hai were riding had also just arrived.

"Professor Gemmer, I'm sorry to interrupt your vacation." Henlock walked over to Gemmer, shook his hand, and said, "I asked your assistant. I know you're on vacation, but things are too urgent here, and I need your help. ”

"That's what I'm supposed to do." "Minister Henlock, tell me about the oil. ”

"Let's go to the conference room." "There are also several experts who have arrived, and we will discuss the specific course of action together." ”

"Okay." Gemer said, he pointed to Qin Hai who was following him, and introduced to Henlock, "Minister Henlock, let me introduce you, this is my Chinese friend Mr. Qin Hai, who is also an excellent materials scientist. I was with him when I received your notification, and he heard about the oil spill at sea and offered to come with me, so I brought him along. ”

"Welcome, Mr. Qin." Henlock stretched out his hand to Qin Hai and said with a smile.

Qin Hai stretched out his hand and shook Henlock's hand, and said, "I've only been exposed to related topics, so I want to take a look with Mr. Gemmer, maybe I can do something to help." ”

"On behalf of the Ministry of Ecology, I would like to thank Mr. Qin for his assistance." Henlock said. However, Qin Hai could feel from his expression that his words were just a general politeness, if Qin Hai hadn't come with Gemer, this minister wouldn't have even been interested in taking a look at him. In the eyes of the French, scholars from a country like China are unlikely to be of any help to them.

Although he knew that Henlock didn't like him, Qin Hai didn't care either. When he asked Gemmer to come and see, he expected to be belittled. For such contempt, Qin Hai is no longer used to it, and the key to making others respect him is to rely on his own strength. In terms of oil pollution treatment, Qin Hai has some reliance, but he is not sure whether the technology in his hand can be better than the technology of the French, so he is not in a hurry to show his hole cards, but waits to see the level of the other party.

A group of men followed Henlock into the makeshift headquarters and into the conference room. The impact of the oil spill continues to expand, and people in the headquarters are busy with all kinds of people. The conference room became a situation research and judgment room, and when Ge Mo, Qin Hai and the others entered, there were already more than a dozen people lying on the table and spitting and saying something. On the conference table was a large map showing the distribution of the oil stains.

"Alright, Professor Gemmer has arrived, let's have a meeting now and talk about how to deal with this oil spill."

Henlock beckoned everyone to sit down at the conference table and said straight to the point.

The foreword was one of Flandin's technicians. He briefed the audience on the quantity and quality of crude oil loaded on the Cape of Gold, as well as the estimated amount of oil spilled based on the tanker's report, among which the issue of oil quality was of the greatest concern to the experts, because the future oil treatment plan must be selected according to the characteristics of the oil.

The next briefing was given by an official from the French Ministry of Ecology, who presented the distribution of oil pollution based on aerial photographs, as well as the direction of ocean currents at sea, temperatures and wind directions in the coming days.

After explaining the situation in a bunch of ways, Henlock turned his head to Gemer and the other experts, and said, "Everyone, everyone has understood the current situation. Please let us know what you think about the treatment of oil pollution. ”

"I'll talk about it first." A marine oil pollution treatment expert named Besborough took the lead in saying: "At present, the international treatment of marine oil pollution mainly includes physical methods, chemical methods, natural degradation methods, biological treatment methods, combustion methods, etc., and when choosing various methods, it is necessary to take into account the wave height, ocean current, oil viscosity, etc.

In the case of this oil spill, natural degradation can be ruled out because it takes too long. And we can't afford to wait that long. As for the burning law, if not as a last resort. It is also not suitable because it will cause severe smoke pollution on the sea surface, and the high temperature generated by combustion will also affect the safety of fish in the sea.

After excluding these two methods, we are left with physical, chemical and biological treatments, and I think these three methods can be used at the same time, and the specific scheme is like this......"

There is nothing special about the Baysborough scheme. Basically, it is the conventional routine of marine oil pollution treatment: first lay a fence on the sea surface to control the pollution within a certain range so that it cannot spread; The large oil slick is then recovered with an oil skimmer, oil absorption material, etc. For those oil stains that cannot be recovered by physical methods, they are degraded by chemicals and some special microorganisms, and eventually most of them disappear.

After Besborough finished speaking. Several other experts made some additions, but generally agreed with Besborough. Gemer, who attended the conference as a chemical expert, made some suggestions, mainly from the perspective of chemical treatment, which were also accepted by other scholars.

Henlock listened attentively to what everyone had to say, and from time to time he jotted down some points in his notebook. After everyone finished speaking, he raised his eyebrows and asked, "According to this plan, how long will it take to completely eliminate the oil pollution on the sea?" ”

"It will take about 16 weeks." Besboro replied.

"And what about the oil on the beach?" Henlock asked again.

"The oil on the beach is a bit of a problem because the pollution is mixed with the sand and cannot be recovered physically, so it can only be degraded with chemicals, and then the degradation products are washed into the sea by diverting seawater, and this process can take up to a year." Baysboro Road.

"That is, in a year's time, the waterfront of Le Havre will be unusable?" Henlock Road.

Besborough shrugged his shoulders and said it was.

Henlock turned his head to Gemmer and asked, "Professor Gemmer, is there any way to make the oil on the beach degrade faster?" A year is unacceptable to us, and the complaints of the people will bring down the cabinet as a whole. ”

Gemmer frowned and said, "I'm afraid there is no better way, we can find some surfactants, penetrants and demulsifiers that are more reactive, but these chemicals are very toxic, and if they are discharged into the sea, I am afraid they will cause new pollution." ”

"Mr. Flandin, when will the expert you hired arrive? Is there anything better they can do? Henlock asked Frandy again.

Drech replied for Flandin: "Mr. Minister, the solution that the oil pollution treatment experts we have hired can come up with is not very different from the proposal of Mr. Besborough and other gentlemen. In fact, 16 weeks to dispose of the oil on the sea surface is already a relatively good result. As for the oil stains on the beach, it really doesn't work, and you can consider the chemicals that Mr. Gemer said......"

"I'm afraid it won't work, if these chemicals are discharged into the sea, it will have a serious impact on shellfish, seaweed and fish off the coast of France, which will be an ecological disaster." Gemmer shook his head.

"How big will this loss be?" Flandin chimed in.

"We've calculated that if we do that, the ecological damage along the coast would be equivalent to about $4.5 billion." An official from the Ministry of Ecology replied with a blank face.

"4.5 billion ......" Frantin's face changed color. Henlock said that all losses were to be counted in his account, and even if he was a Saudi prince, he could not afford such a large amount of compensation.

"If, then, Mr. Besborough's plan, it takes a year to get rid of the oil on the beach, how much is the loss?" Frandin asked again.

The official replied, "About 3o billion." ”

"......" Flandin grinned, not daring to speak. Ecological loss is indeed very terrible. Once an ecosystem is destroyed, it is extremely slow to recover. Europeans now like to talk about ecological protection, biodiversity, and so on, and if you put a little sewage into a river, you face millions or even tens of millions of dollars in fines, not to mention thousands of tons of crude oil spilled into the sea. Today's plan depends on whether there is a better way to get rid of these oil stains as soon as possible.

"Mr. Gemmer, what if the chemicals you use don't go out into the sea? Wouldn't it have a serious impact on marine life? ”

A voice rang out in the conference room, attracting everyone's attention. Everyone looked intently, and the person who was talking was a yellow-skinned Asian, who looked unusually young, but the expression on his face was very calm, and there was no nervousness at all.

Most people didn't know who this young man was, but Henlock was moved in his heart, he recognized this person as Qin Hai, a Chinese who Gemer had just introduced to him, could he really have something outstanding and be able to solve the current crisis? (To be continued!)

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