Except for a few test workers from the second workshop, others may not know that Fang Hanmin is a workaholic, he doesn't like to sit and talk about it, no matter what, when he asks others to do it, he must do it first.

After receiving the notice to work in the technical department, several young college students were very happy, when they finally knew that working in the technical department was not to sit in the office, but to do experiments in the laboratory, they couldn't help but be a little disappointed, when they learned that the leader of this institution, just a young man with no education and no qualifications, they seemed even more lost, but the matter has come to this, and it is impossible to ask to return to the original job, so they have to choose to stay.

At the first meeting of the scientific research team, several college students saw the true face of Fang Hanmin, although he was very young, his words and deeds appeared to be very mature, especially Fang Hanmin's concept, as well as the literacy and knowledge he showed when introducing scientific research projects, which made several young people feel that they were better than their college teachers.

Of course, in the eyes of several college students, Fang Hanmin may be suspected of talking on paper, at least he is talking about the truth, and his first impression on them is still good, as for whether this young deputy section chief has real skills, they can only wait and see.

The laboratory of the factory for the scientific research team, located in the northeast corner of the Red Star Pharmaceutical Factory, there is a row of squares, which was originally intended to be the central laboratory of the whole factory, and later because each workshop has its own independent laboratory, the central laboratory was not organized, these ten bungalows did not come in handy, and for a few years it was used as a warehouse, and the custodian of the supply and marketing department thought that it was too far away from the office, and no one wanted to run here, so the warehouse was moved, and these houses were completely idle.

Fang Hanmin requested the factory to repair the row of houses and beautify the surrounding environment, and at the same time, he proposed a list of scientific research equipment and raw materials to the supply department, which was unconditionally supported by Director Yuan.

Half a month later, not only the house was repaired, the surrounding environment was beautified, the road leading here was widened, but also the water and electricity in the laboratory were connected, and scientific research instruments and equipment and raw materials also arrived one after another. Fang Hanmin divided his subordinates into two groups, one group was in charge of Jiang Guoxin at level 77 and Wan Cheng at level 79, and the leaders of the second group were Xu Hui at level 78 and Guo Peng at level 79.

In the hydrogenation reduction process, the primary problem is the preparation of catalysts, and if the preparation of catalysts is solved, the problems of this process technology will be solved at least half.

According to Fang Hanmin's understanding of this process technology in his previous life, the use of p-nitrophenol as raw material, the use of hydroreduction method to produce acetaminophen, the best catalyst is Pd/C (that is, palladium-carbon catalyst), the preparation process and performance evaluation process of this catalyst has been quite mature and standardized in Fang Hanmin's previous life, he only needs to repeat the test process in the laboratory, so that the scientific research team can see the magic of future science and technology, and also give Director Yuan and Mr. Xia an explanation.

According to the professional characteristics of the four college students, Fang Hanmin asked one group to be responsible for the preparation of the catalyst, and the instruments and equipment used naturally had to be installed and debugged by themselves, and the second group was responsible for the performance evaluation of the catalyst, because this work could only be carried out after the catalyst preparation was completed, so the ordered instruments and equipment could arrive later.

The employees of the second group had no experiments to do for the time being, so Fang Hanmin handed over the process flow chart of catalyst performance evaluation drawn in advance to Xu Hui and Guo Peng, the leaders of the second group, so that they could have a perceptual understanding of this test in combination with the operating procedures.

Xu Hui is a college student of the seventh or eighth grade, he took the college entrance examination as a former student, and he is six or seven years older than Fang Hanmin in terms of age, although he is not convinced by Fang Hanmin in his heart, but on the surface he still looks like a big brother, and the work ordered by Fang Hanmin can be completed to the letter.

Guo Peng, who was in the same group, took the college entrance examination as a fresh high school student in 79, and there was no name for Xueba at that time, but this guy was a well-known student in the school in high school, otherwise, in the era of extremely low admission rate, it would be impossible to be admitted to a famous school in China. Because he and Fang Hanmin are the same age, he always wants to find an opportunity to test Fang Hanmin to test whether the young deputy section chief has real talent and learning.

One morning, Fang Hanmin passed by the second group, and when they were discussing the upcoming test, Guo Peng suddenly shouted, "Section Chief Fang, please stay!" ”

Fang Hanmin turned around and came back, "Guo Peng, what's the matter with you?" ”

"There are a few questions that I need to ask you."

"I can't talk about it, let's talk about it. What's the problem? Please speak. ”

"The liquid phase reduction method uses hydrogen as a reducing agent, and everyone knows that the solubility of hydrogen in any solvent is very low, and it does not even have a chance to contact with the raw materials. It's like I'm looking for a girlfriend, I don't have the opportunity to meet and contact with people, how can I find a girlfriend? Guo Peng spoke very funny, making everyone present laugh, but the truth is really like that.

Fang Hanmin also smiled, "Yes, without contact, nothing will happen." However, there is a term called 'specific surface area', and I'm sure you know what it means better than I do. ”

"Than the surface? I studied it in college, so I certainly know what it means. ”

"I'll just say, college students have a wide range of knowledge, and this kind of small problem is not a problem for you. Back to your question, the palladium-carbon catalyst we use has a very high specific surface area, and the metal palladium attached to the catalyst skeleton has a special adsorption capacity for hydrogen, and a large amount of hydrogen adsorbed on the specific surface of the catalyst has a significant increase in the contact opportunity and contact time with the material, and the reduction effect and selectivity of hydrogen for carbon-oxygen double bonds are very ideal, which is the basic principle of the hydrogenation reduction process in the presence of palladium-carbon catalyst. Fang Hanmin was not in a hurry and spoke eloquently.

originally thought that Fang Hanmin had never studied in college, Xu Hui and Guo Peng both wanted to see the embarrassment that he couldn't answer the question, but they didn't expect that this peer with neither academic qualifications nor qualifications not only answered the question satisfactorily, but also had a clear concept and clear logic.

Before the mid-80s, palladium-carbon catalysts were just used in industrial production abroad, and domestic research in this area had not yet started, and in the university stage of Xu Hui and Guo Peng, although the relevant majors set up courses on solid catalysts, they did not involve the preparation and application of palladium-carbon catalysts. Fang Hanmin's answer will explain the principle of action of palladium-carbon catalyst, which will make the two college students in the new era have a refreshing feeling.

However, Guo Peng, a young man who thought he was smart, did not intend to stop there, he wanted to continue to test Fang Hanmin, "Section Chief Fang, if you have time, I also want to discuss a few questions with you. ”

"That's right, discuss, let's discuss with each other. However, it would be better if you changed the name you used to me. ”

"Is there a problem with what you call you? If I don't call you Section Chief Fang, what should I call you? ”

"Guo Peng, we are basically the same age, and some of us are a few years older at most, it is a bit vulgar to call brothers and sisters, and the unit does not allow it, I think it is best to call them by their names among peers."

"But after all, you are the deputy section chief, and my title does not elevate you, what's inappropriate?"

"It's better to call him by his name, not by title, so that it looks cordial."

"Okay. My problem is that hydroreduction belongs to gas-liquid reactions, and the conditions you give are to operate at atmospheric pressure, but textbooks and general technical information say that gas-liquid reactions are best carried out under pressurized conditions, and the higher the pressure above the liquid, the more gaseous solutes dissolve into the liquid, and the more favorable it is for the reaction. Why can't our hydrogenation reaction be carried out under pressure? Guo Peng may have his own purpose, but he can ask such a question, which is obviously a brain, and this kind of question has a certain technical content.

Fang Hanmin usually doesn't talk much, but he likes to discuss technical issues with others, "That's right, according to Henry's law, the higher the pressure of the gas above the solution, the greater the solubility of the gas in the solution, but this law is basically not applicable in liquid phase hydrogenation reactions. There are two reasons, first, hydrogen is different from other gases, the increase or decrease of pressure, its solubility in the solution has little impact, but the requirements for equipment are multiplied, because the penetration of hydrogen is particularly strong, and it is very easy to occur the risk of explosion, the general equipment and sealing measures are difficult to meet its requirements, increase the pressure of the income, the gain outweighs the loss. ”

"Second, the success of the hydroreduction method depends on the adsorption effect of the palladium-carbon catalyst on hydrogen, not on the solubility of hydrogen in solution. In summary, it is not necessary to operate under pressure in this process. ”

Although the other party Hanmin's answer was secretly surprised, Guo Peng still remained silent, "I also checked some technical information, in the hydroreduction reaction, the conversion rate of the raw material and the selectivity of the catalyst are very important, in actual operation, how should these two indicators be balanced?" Or which indicator should be paid more attention to? ”

"The conversion rate and selectivity can not be wasted, but in a sense, the selectivity of the catalyst is more important, for example, the conversion rate of a certain catalyst to the raw material is very high, but the selectivity is not good, although the raw materials are transformed, but the result is not the target product, no matter how high the conversion rate is, it is meaningless, and even the waste of raw materials. Fortunately, the palladium-carbon catalyst we use has a selectivity of nearly 100%, and the conversion rate can be controlled within an appropriate range. ”

"If the catalyst selectivity is so good, why not pursue a higher conversion rate?" Guo Peng asked.

"This involves the philosophical problem of quantitative change and qualitative change, under the condition of appropriate conversion rate, the selectivity of the catalyst is close to 100%, if you have to pursue a higher conversion rate, the reaction time must be extended, with the extension of the material contact time, the selectivity of the catalyst decreases, and the by-products gradually increase. Traditional Chinese culture advocates the golden mean, the pursuit of perfection in everything, and there will be unexpected consequences. ”

Originally, it was a purely technical problem, while explaining the technical reasons, Fang Hanmin not only connected with philosophy, but also added an understanding of traditional Chinese culture, who could believe that the young deputy section chief in front of him was just an ordinary worker with neither education nor qualifications?

For the series of questions raised by Guo Peng, not to mention the old college students of Red Star Pharmaceutical Factory, including Mr. Xia, even the associate professors and professors of Xu Hui and Guo Peng who once studied in colleges and universities are difficult to give such a high-level answer.

In his previous life, Fang Hanmin was a scholar throughout his academic career, although science was his main direction, but he focused on improving his comprehensive literacy, from undergraduate to Oxford during his doctoral studies, his electives have always been involved in literature, history and philosophy, so he can interpret a purely technical problem from different angles.

Guo Peng didn't ask questions anymore, he knew that his question was not difficult for Fang Hanmin, what made him and Xu Hui not understand was that the peer in front of him had no academic qualifications, no qualifications, no qualifications, where did this knowledge come from? I was also a top student in my studies back then, but now compared with others, it is a world of difference!