Qin Hui and Gu Yong drank some wine, and did not avoid the kid Gu Ao, and started chatting at the dinner table.

Gu Ao was naturally happy to eavesdrop on the openly.

He was about to make an excuse to let his father accept his plan to not go to high school, so he had to seize every opportunity to please him.

However, the conversation between Qin Hui and his father was obviously caused by consequences, so Gu Ao was a little confused when he eavesdropped halfway.

Qin Hui took a sip of wine and asked anxiously: "Xiao Gu, the reason why I didn't dare to boast at noon was that I was afraid of saying the wrong thing in front of the Central Commission for Communications, so I would rather eat, drink and entertain them for a day and stabilize them. What should we do about helium making machine? You have to point out the way!"

At the end, he seemed to be afraid that his father would not understand the importance of the task, so he leaned into his father's 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 and dispatch it!"

My father was obviously forced to make a fuss and used his pitiful theoretical knowledge to complain: "Old Qin, you know the difficulty of this matter best. What's the use of making things difficult for me? Helium is the lowest boiling point in the world, and it must be minus 269 degrees below liquefied! There is only 4 degrees left from absolute zero. It is impossible to rely on the industrial foundation of our factory!

If it is just for the protection of corpses to be protected, nitrogen will be stable as usual. The Soviets also used nitrogen for Comrade Ulyanov. Why did they think of raising helium in China? The cost difference is more than 70 to 80 times."

Qin Hui was also helpless: "I heard that it was when the central government organized a meeting of experts. This was almost over, but Commissioner Su mentioned that helium is more stable - you know, if there is a better-quality plan involved in the matter, as long as the plan is mentioned, the person who made the decision will definitely not dare to save money, and it will be worth a hundred times more expensive."

Dad: "Even if helium is necessary, I am using imported helium with empty liquid. Is it enough for them to continue using it?"

After hearing this, Director Qin, who was always kind, also became stern: "What if the diplomatic situation changes in the future, will Pompidou turn against us? The French, like Linde and Preques, will the great leader's crystal be filled with nitrogen? This is a political issue! You can't be careless! We Chinese must master their own helium making technology!"

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

Qin Hui's last sentence was so obvious that he couldn't help laughing.

My father, who was desperately asked by the leader, immediately found a point of exhalation and slapped him in the face: "What are you laughing at when you speak? I'm rude!"

"Oh, Xiao Gu, why are you beat the child? It's important to do the important thing!" Qin Hui grabbed his father.

"I mean Pompidou has been dead for two years, and the current French president is called Destin." Gu Ao explained that he had been rude.

This also shows that the news in China is now blocked. Many Chinese people may have just been remembered that the French president is Pompidou just because Pompidou visited China four years ago and the new president has never been there.

In fact, by the early 1980s, many people thought that the US President was still Nixon.

"If you know who the new French president is, you can do this! If you have the ability, tell me how to make helium!" The father choked Gu Ao casually for the sake of Director Qin's face.

Unexpectedly, Gu Ao was waiting for his question.

...

Gu Ao had just reviewed the issue that Qin Hui and his father had argued:

First of all, the "Project No. 1" they mentioned refers to the project that the great leader had in September last year, in order to preserve the body for people to admire.

At the technical plan discussion meeting, when talking about the crystal filling and protecting gas, a member of a certain academician of the Ministry of Machinery proposed to use helium. (The member of the academician was later an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Helium is the most inert gas and will not react chemically with anything. As a protective gas, it is of course very effective, and the difficulty of making it is also the most difficult of all gases.

So, what containers are currently filled with helium imported from the liquid empty.

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

Currently, there are only four companies on Earth that can make helium, namely French Liquid Air, German Linde, American Prex, and Soviet factory.

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

After a walk, I found Qiantang Oxygen Manufacturing Machine Factory.

The factory where my father works is still good in this field. As early as 1953, when my father was in his 20s, he joined the master in the battle to build the first oxygen generator in New China.

Therefore, now facing the "impossible task" of "building the first helium-making machine in New China", the factory cannot escape it.

So, let’s start another big battle?

It's light, but technically there is no possibility.

To put it bluntly, the technical principle of air separation depends on the refrigerator and pressure vessel, which separates the gases by taking advantage of the different boiling points.

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

As long as there is a refrigerator, it can accurately reduce the temperature of the separation tank to minus 190 degrees, between the two. Then oxygen will become liquid, while nitrogen still remains in gaseous, which realizes nitrogen-oxygen separation.

It sounds very simple.

Specifically in terms of technology, what we are competing is who can create a "refrigerator" that saves more electricity and reduces the temperature lower, and an ultra-low temperature container that is more resistant to voltage.

Everyone knows that manufacturing high-pressure containers requires extremely high industrial qualifications, because if the quality fails, the disaster will be absolutely devastating.

The manufacturing of "ultra-low temperature and high pressure containers" is even more a forbidden area among industrial restricted areas.

Because ordinary metal materials, even if the physical properties of the room temperature are fully meet the requirements, once they are reduced to more than minus 200 degrees Celsius, many once awesome alloys will become very fragile, and even as fragile as ice. (Imagine the refrigeration helicopter of the Red Alert 3 Allied Forces)

The most difficult thing to make helium is because the melting point and boiling point of helium are the lowest among all known substances.

Under normal pressure, the cooling must be reduced to minus 269 degrees before the helium will liquefy.

As for "freezing", under normal pressure, there is no theoretical possibility - the melting point of helium is exactly minus 273 points 15 degrees, which is absolute zero.

And absolute zero is impossible.

Nowadays, the technical level of Qiantang Oxygen Manufacturing Machine Factory has basically stagnated in the mid-1960s. In the past decade, due to unspeakable reasons, there has been no technological progress and even a slight decline.

Even the reason why my father Gu Yong was able to be the "acting technical section chief" was because two years ago, the authentic Section Chief Shao, who was a technical section chief, was called "the road of white specialty" and was defeated. (The original section chief was a top student at Jiaotong University)

My father only has junior high school education, has craftsmanship, is not educated, and is a level 8 fitter, and he always feels powerless. Now it has been half a year since he has been clearing the sky, and all the work has gradually returned to normal. He originally wanted to resign and become a section chief.

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

Qin Hui had no capable men, so he decided to take his father and asked him to make a decision first.

But my father estimated that the factory now only built machines that can cool down to minus 230 degrees Celsius and maintain 20 atmospheric pressure, and cannot guarantee the quality.

With this technology, how could it be possible to build a helium-making machine?

He even advised Director Qin to rehabilitate Section Chief Shao, but he would rather let the virtuous.

But just when the two were arguing the most, Gu Ao intervened because of a sentence "Pompidou was long dead" and took the initiative in the conversation.

...

"I really know which direction to work to build a helium-making machine." Gu Ao combined his common sense in later generations and did not say enough.

His crazy words made my father dumbfounded.

Qin Hui was also incredible: a middle-aged kid who knows the refrigeration physics of yarn?

But Qin Hui thought about it again that he was squeezing Gu Yong's military order, so he was happy to listen to Gu Ao's nonsense.

His idea is very simple: Gu Yong, you kid, want to escape from the front line, right? If even your son dares to boast about it, it will be clear how you can get down the steps.

So he encouraged Gu Ao to speak as he pleased.

Gu Ao had already sorted out his thoughts, and his eyes turned, and he began to persuade his father: "Dad, I think Uncle Qin is also kind enough to ask you to advocate this. I think it's okay to use your factory's technology to create a helium-making machine within two or three years.

The central government did not force you to produce results immediately. You should report the technical plan first so that Uncle Qin can ask the central government for resources. Anyway, the empty air of the liquid will not be cut off in the short term."

"Right! Xiao Gu, look, your political awareness is not as high as your son!" Qin Hui was so happy when he heard it. Gu Ao's assist was so good.

"I'll slap you to death! Helium is going to be minus 270 degrees below the level of making, you know what's wrong!" My father was so angry that he immediately pulled out the belt from his waistband and pretended to beat his arrogant son.

"Xiao Gu, get up! Let him say!" Qin Hui, who was sick and indiscriminately, quickly reached out to stop him, then turned to Gu Ao and said with a kind look: "Ao Ao Ao is still sensible, come and tell your father well."

My father was so dark that he had already prepared for something to happen in the future and was fired as a temporary worker.

Gu Ao calmed down for a moment and began to talk: "Dad, Uncle Qin, I think you have a misunderstanding in your thinking first - helium does not liquefy until it is minus 269 degrees below the level, but there is no need to drop it to such a low level during industrial production.

As long as you liquefy everything else in the world except helium, isn’t the gas left in the end pure helium?”

The closer to absolute zero, the more you reduce the temperature, the difficulty of cooling and energy consumption increase geometrically.

If you understand this, you can save half of the cost first.

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

My father understood technology better than Qin Hui, and immediately figured it out - in fact, he was completely afraid of difficulties and felt that it was impossible, so he simply didn't think about it in depth.

Now seeing that my son can really express his insights, my father rigorously commented: "This is a good idea, but it doesn't reduce the difficulty. The helium is hydrogen, with a boiling point of minus 253 degrees; neon, 245 degrees. In other words, we still have to build machines that can cool at least minus 255 degrees."

Hydrogen and neon are gases with boiling points only higher than helium, among which hydrogen is still a common, cheap industrial gas.

With the technical strength of Qiantang Oxygen Making Machine Factory, of course, hydrogen can be easily produced, but this does not mean that they can easily create a refrigerator that cools to minus 255° - because industrial hydrogen production relies on electrolysis.

By electrolyzing the pure water, pure hydrogen and pure oxygen can be obtained.

The oxygen produced by this method saves many times more electricity than separating hydrogen from liquefied air.

Therefore, industrial hydrogen production does not require the "liquefied hydrogen" link at all.

With the current strength of Qiantang Oxygen Making Machine Factory, it is impossible to build a refrigerator that can liquefie hydrogen.

After Qin Hui figured it out, he quickly smoothed out: "That's not bad. At least this method can reduce the requirements of the refrigerator by more than ten degrees, and the difficulty is at least five or six times!

Things are all done step by step. Today, one idea solved such a big problem. Maybe after two days, you can solve two more steps in the cracks. The situation of Geming is very good!

Since French and Germans can make it, it means there must be a trick here. I don’t believe they really rely on stupidity to make the air so cold, but they only sell us a few hundred francs a bottle of air."

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 the economic accounts.

If the separation gas really needs to cool down to minus 260 degrees Celsius, the helium in the international market is definitely not something that can be supported by now.

Even if the machine is given for free, the photoelectric bill is not enough!

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

Gu Ao immediately confirmed Qin Hui's speculation:

"Of the foreigners have other ways of doing it - first of all, hydrogen is very active and can be directly oxidized into water and removed. As for other impurities that can only be separated by ultra-low temperatures, foreigners should have other ways. I think the final industrial helium production method may not even need minus 240 degrees."

Qin Hui's eyes lit up after hearing this.

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

"Aoao! You are so great! Tell my uncle, do you often get the first place in physics and chemistry in school? Good students are different! That, can you roughly guess what methods might be used by foreigners to further remove other ultra-low temperature impurities? This watch will be given to you!"

"Don't take Uncle Qin's gift!" The father quickly stopped him. He knew that as long as Gu Ao accepted it, his leadership responsibility would not be able to be removed today.

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

Qin Hui was already very satisfied: "The idea is complete! Tell me, uncle will add a bonus of half a year to your dad!"
Chapter completed!