Great Country Academician

After celebrating my birthday, it’s already the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month.

There is no thirty in December this year, only twenty-nine. In three days, it will be New Year's Eve.

On the speeding high-speed train, Xu Chuan, who was sitting in the business class and looking at the paper in his hand, rubbed his itchy nose and sneezed.

On the side, Zheng Hai, who was sitting boredly looking at the scenery, looked over and asked, "What's wrong? Is the temperature inside the car low?"

Xu Chuan shook his head and said nonchalantly: "No, it's okay."

After saying it casually, his eyes fell on the manuscript paper in his hand. The paper in his hand was Liu Jiaxin's research on the problem of graph isomorphism.

He mainly studied the mathematical tool on these manuscripts, the quasi-polynomial graphical mapping method.

This method of cutting images through quasi-polynomials and mapping functions is still very valuable.

Especially in fields such as geometry and three-dimensional space, it may have a certain degree of universal applicability.

Looking at the manuscript paper in his hand, after thinking quietly for a while, Xu Chuan suddenly remembered another thing and asked Zheng Hai:

"By the way, I remember that BYD seems to have built a factory to produce lithium-sulfur batteries in Baling, right?"

Regarding his own research, Xu Chuan pays more attention to the research and development process. He enjoys the sense of achievement and satisfaction after solving a problem or a technical process.

As for the use of products, generally speaking, based on his character, most of the time it is released through patents or technology licensing.

For example, artificial SEI films, lithium-sulfur batteries, high-temperature superconducting materials, etc. These technologies and products are now basically produced and sold by major domestic manufacturers.

All he charges is patent or licensing fees.

On the contrary, he personally intervened in the lithium-sulfur battery production plant in Baling.

Going home now, and the fact that BYD and Xiaomi signed a smart driving system contract as Liu Jiaxin mentioned before, reminded him of the factory here.

Zheng Hai was stunned for a moment, unable to understand why Xu Chuan told him this.

However, due to work reasons, he had a rough understanding of these things, so he nodded and replied.

"Well, I remember that BYD's lithium-sulfur battery factory seems to be built over there in Yunxi Industrial Park."

Xu Chuan thought for a while and said, "Let's go and take a look after arriving in Baling. If the production and environmental protection of lithium-sulfur batteries are not done well, it will cause great pollution to the surrounding environment."

These are some of the contributions and benefits he originally planned for his hometown, even though he planned a series of production requirements in the contract and strictly prohibited damage to the surrounding environment.

But if the manufacturer goes against the rules and secretly does some small things, such as not being strict with certain indicators of the wastewater discharged, failing to meet the standards, etc., he will become a sinner in his hometown.

Now that we're here, why not go over and make a surprise inspection to see what's going on.

You must know that he paid 20% of the profits for the lithium-sulfur battery production factory here.

If a manufacturer violates the law and does something that damages the environment, he doesn't mind taking the other party to court.

Although he believed that BYD's headquarters would not do such a thing, the factories below might not.

The mountains are high and the emperor is far away, so all orders are carried out by humans.

Regarding Xu Chuan's whim decision, Zheng Hai didn't say much, just nodded and agreed.

He has been driving for Xu Chuan and responsible for security for so many years. He is not familiar enough with the character in front of him who always thinks out loud and has strong mobility.

As for this situation, let alone him, the entire security team has long been used to it.

Just like this time, I originally went home to celebrate the New Year, but halfway through I suddenly wanted to visit BYD's lithium-sulfur battery production plant. It was quite sudden.

At least there was no such itinerary in their plans.

The only good thing is that this person rarely goes abroad now, and their security work is quite easy at home.

After getting off the high-speed train, the Hongqi car that had already been transported via the highway turned around and drove towards the Yunxi Industrial Park in the north.

Baling Yunxi Industrial Park is a provincial key economic development zone in southern Hunan. It was originally built with the goal of "connecting with petrochemical bases, transferring coastal industries, and creating industrial depressions."

To put it simply, it is to build an industrial processing chain based on the petroleum industry and fine chemicals.

But unfortunately, just a few years after the opening of the industrial park, at a time of rapid development, controllable nuclear fusion technology came out.

As a result, the industrial park that originally had great development prospects was cut off in the middle.

Of course, the same applies to industrial development zones across the country and even around the world that build industrial chains based on the petroleum industry and fine chemicals.

Whether it is an old industrial production area or an emerging industrial production area, almost all of them are facing the fate of bankruptcy or transformation.

Controllable nuclear fusion technology has had a huge impact on the oil industry.

Fortunately, after the oil industry chain was impacted, Yunxi Industrial Park struggled for two years and successfully completed its transformation on the verge of bankruptcy.

Because Xuchuan introduced a lithium-sulfur battery production plant to Baling.

With the entry of battery manufacturers such as BYD, the industry here has directly transformed from a petroleum-based industrial chain to a battery-based industrial chain.

From the production of lithium-sulfur batteries to supporting new energy vehicles, electronic products, energy storage systems, etc.

Centered around lithium-sulfur batteries, Yunxi Industrial Park has driven huge employment and economic development, and Baling has become a prefecture-level city in southern Hunan Province second only to Xingcheng.

Yunxi Industrial Zone is not very far from the center of Baling. It is only a dozen kilometers away from Baling East Station.

This is normal. After all, Baling is a third-tier prefecture-level city, and it ranks relatively low among third-tier cities.

Several Hongqi cars slowly drove into the industrial park. The special convoy attracted the attention of many people in the park, and they all speculated about which leader came to inspect.

Through the car window, Xu Chuan carefully observed the situation in the entire industrial park.

Because it is based on the use of the petroleum industry, the roads here are quite spacious.

The roads in the park are all four-lane, and green trees are planted beside the roads.

And standing next to the road is a square factory building. Occasionally, you can see small and medium-sized logistics trucks going in and out under the wide gate.

The situation here is different from that of Xinghai Research Institute.

If we say that Xinghai Research Institute is like a brain that gathers the top scientific researchers in the country, they are always researching various innovative technologies and products.

Then this place is more like a machinery factory where tens of thousands of ordinary people gather.

While it is operating in an orderly manner, it processes various industrial products such as lithium-sulfur batteries and new energy vehicles, and then transports them to all parts of the country and even the world.

To be honest, for Xu Chuan, this was the first time he had an in-depth understanding of the underlying factory and operations.

Compared with Xinghai Research Institute and Chuanhai Materials Research Institute, which are research institutions at the forefront of science and technology, this is a place that is more related to the lives of ordinary people.

Whether it is the price of the products it produces or the wages and benefits provided by the factories here to the many workers, it affects everyone who relies on it to survive at all times.

Through the rearview mirror in the car, Zheng Hai glanced at Xu Chuan and saw that he seemed very interested in the surrounding situation, so he took the initiative to slow down the car.

After walking in the park for a while, he asked: "Are we going directly to BYD's production plant?"

Xu Chuan nodded: "Go directly."

Although he was quite interested in the factories in the industrial park, he didn't have much time to understand the operation of each factory in depth, and for him, this was not the purpose of coming here.

"OK."

After hearing what Xu Chuan said, Zheng Hai nodded, drove the vehicle around a corner, and drove towards the other side of the industrial zone.

On the right side of Yunxi Industrial Park is the largest lithium-sulfur battery production base in China.

The vehicle drove directly to the front of the factory. As soon as Xu Chuan got out of the car, he saw a group of leaders in suits and work clothes standing there nervously.

Seeing Xu Chuan, the leading middle-aged man in a suit greeted him warmly, stretched out his hands and greeted:

"Academician Xu, welcome, welcome, you are welcome to come and guide the work, we have not even had time to prepare to welcome you."

People at the lithium-sulfur battery production plant only received the news when Xu Chuan entered the industrial park. Regarding Academician Xu's sudden inspection, the people in charge here were a little nervous and uneasy.

After all, their lithium-sulfur battery technology comes from this boss. If something dissatisfies this boss, the future of the entire factory will be uncertain.

But at this point, we can only bite the bullet and seize the time to prepare the people in the factory.

Xu Chuan smiled and stretched out his hand, shook hands with Liao Cheng, the director of the lithium-sulfur battery production factory, and said, "You're welcome, I just decided to come over and take a look."

With a smile on his face, Liao Cheng said: "This is our honor. Your arrival is the inspiration and driving force we need. We are deeply honored."

"Let's go in first. The temperature outside is lower. Let's go in and chat. Let's go in and chat."

Xu Chuan glanced at the crowd following the factory director, nodded and said, "Don't bother me. I'm here mainly to see your production system."

"Just find someone to take me around. Everyone else should go back to work. We can't delay the production in the factory, right?"

Liao Cheng was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Xu Chuan to say that, but he quickly reacted and said with a smile: "Then let me take you to see it?"

Xu Chuan nodded and said with a smile: "Okay, I'll trouble you and let the others go. Don't delay the factory's production."

Liao Cheng smiled and nodded, and after arranging the other people accompanying him to leave, he led Xu Chuan towards the inside of the factory, explaining as he walked.

"Actually, they don't have anything too important to do at the moment. After all, the Chinese New Year is coming soon, and the factory has already begun holidays."

After a brief explanation, Director Liao was also a smart man. He quickly changed the topic to production work and introduced:

"Due to the fact that the year is approaching, we currently only have two fully automated production lines in operation. Each production line can produce approximately 150,000 lithium-sulfur batteries a day."

"Currently there are two fully automated production lines and two semi-automated production lines in the factory. If all production lines are fully operational, the annual production capacity will be approximately 40GWh."

While introducing, Liao Cheng led Xu Chuan through the factory door and into the spacious factory.

After putting on dustproof clothing and foot covers, Xu Chuan followed the other party's footsteps and walked around the factory, especially visiting various processing areas to understand the production tasks of each factory area.

The fully automated lithium-sulfur battery production line, from ingredients to coating, rolling, and lamination, can all be done automatically, and the efficiency is still quite high.

For these things, Xu Chuan just went through them once, and after having a rough idea in his mind, he said: "Take me to see your industrial wastewater and waste treatment center."

On the side, Liao Cheng was stunned for a moment, then nodded quickly and said: "Okay, okay."

After a slight pause, he continued: "Well, Academician Xu, our wastewater and waste are all centrally processed, on the other side of the factory, the road may be a little far."

Xu Chuan: "It doesn't matter, go over and take a look, it doesn't matter if it's a little far."

"Okay, then I'll take you there to have a look."

Along the road inside the park, the group came to the centralized waste treatment center.

The battery manufacturing industry plays a vital role in the global energy transition, but the wastewater generated during its production process contains heavy metals, organic matter, and acid-base substances.

If not handled properly, it will cause great harm to the environment.

On the way to the centralized waste treatment center, Liao Cheng took the initiative to introduce: "Generally speaking, battery manufacturing involves heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, nickel, cobalt, and lithium. The heavy metal ions in its wastewater are bioaccumulative, toxic, and have long-term environmental impacts."

"In order not to affect the environment and pollute groundwater, our factory has centralized the treatment of wastewater and waste materials in the production process."

"Heavy metal wastewater is treated through various methods such as chemical precipitation, ion exchange resin, electrodeposition, and electrocoagulation."

"On the other hand, our factory will invest at least 5% of its profits every year to focus on the research and development of wastewater and waste treatment technology upgrades, as well as optimize production processes, reduce the use of heavy metals and organic solvents, and use environmentally friendly raw materials, etc."

"This is a hard rule from the headquarters."

"It is no exaggeration to say that in the field of environmental protection, our annual funding investment is the highest among battery manufacturers."

Xu Chuan listened while looking at the large centralized waste treatment center.

BYD can take out 5% of its profits every year to develop waste treatment technology. This is actually a mandatory requirement for him, but the factory manager Liao in front of him is not aware of the inside story.

Just as the group walked to the door of the waste centralized processing center and were about to enter, a uniformed staff member came over and stopped them.

"This is a restricted area of ​​the factory, no outsiders are allowed to enter. Which department are you from? Do you have an entry and exit permit?"

The question was interrupted halfway through, followed by a voice full of surprise.

"Huh? Chuanzi. Who are you? Fuck, Chuanzi, why are you here?"

Hearing this way of greeting, Xu Chuan was stunned for a moment, looked in the direction of the voice, and showed a surprised expression on his face.

"Brother Hou? Fuck, why are you here?"

Seeing the thick face opposite clearly, Xu Chuan asked in surprise.

The one who stopped them was none other than his childhood friend in the village, Xu Hou.

A few years ago, he also attended the other party's wedding and served as a best man. I didn't expect to meet him here.

PS: This is the first time I have tried to write from the perspective of an ordinary person. I want to describe the changes in society from the perspective of an ordinary person, including a small foreshadowing for the next plot.