Material Empire

The people of the Warren group soon came to Le Havre. After hearing the news that a Chinese company claimed to be able to provide ultra-filtration membranes, this old chemical group naturally couldn't sit still. For European affairs, a Chinese company is needed to provide technology, which is unacceptable to the Warren Group. Traditionally, things in Asia have always been unbalanced by themselves, and they went to Europe to ask for help. There is no reason to do the opposite.

Warren Group is one of the top three large-scale chemical groups in the world. It has subsidiaries and production bases in dozens of countries on five continents, with an annual output value of nearly 100 billion US dollars and tens of thousands of chemical technology patents. Oil filter membrane is one of Warren Group's traditional products. In this field, Warren Group occupies almost half of the global market share.

Such a company, which has always been over the top, suddenly heard that someone can provide better products than them, and also claimed that the filtration efficiency is a hundred times higher, how could they tolerate it. After receiving the call from Germer, the Filtration Membrane Division of the Warren Group immediately sent two technical experts to Le Havre with 1,000 square meters of the best filtration membranes.

"We were curious to know, which company claims to be able to provide ultra-filtration membranes?"

As soon as Bernice, a technologist from the Warren Group, arrived in Le Havre, he asked Gommer's assistant, Willitz, aggressively. Because the news was notified by Gummer to the Warren Group, Bernice also regarded Gummer as an enemy.

"It's a Chinese company called Daqin Industrial Group." Willitz replied.

"Daqin Industrial Group?" Bernice curled his lips, "I have never heard of such a company. Professor Gemmer is also a well-known scholar in the industry. How could he just believe what a Chinese company said?"

"Actually, we don't believe in it. We just hope to have another possibility to solve the problem. Professor Germer contacted your company because he trusts your company's technical strength. If a Chinese company can produce this kind of super filter film, then there’s no reason why Warren can’t produce better products.” Willitz gave Bernice a nail.

"Uh...that's natural, we are the most technologically advanced in the industry..." Bernice was at a loss for words, and he suddenly realized that he had come too recklessly, if the Chinese company can really provide a super filtration membrane , even if the efficiency is not 100 times that of Warren's similar products, but only 10 times, or even several times, Warren's face will be very ugly. As Willetts said, there's no reason Warren \u0026 Co. couldn't do something better.

"Where is the Chinese you mentioned, we want to see him," Bernice said.

"Okay, I'll get in touch with him," Willits said.

Le Havre is not very big, so it is not difficult to find Qin Hai. When Willitz brought Bernice and his companion Crowden to see Qin Hai, Qin Hai was standing on the beach with Flanding, Drake and others discussing how to wash the oil. Qin Hai gestured with his hands, explaining where on the beach to use the ultra-filtration membrane to build a water-retaining fence, and then use seawater to wash the beach.

"After treating the oil stain with a strong surfactant, the oil stain will decompose into macromolecular particles with a molecular weight between 300 and 800 and lose its viscosity. After being washed with seawater, these macromolecules will separate from the sand and flow into the seawater .We use filter membranes to separate seawater and macromolecular particles, clean seawater can flow into the sea, and toxic macromolecular particles will stay on the filter membrane. We only need to replace the filter membrane once a day is enough.”Qin Haixiang Flanding said.

"According to this plan, how long will it take to process the entire Le Havre beach?" Flanding asked.

"If there are enough water pumps and construction machinery for laying filter membranes, I estimate that it will only take about 20 days to complete." Qin Hai said.

"Great, this way our compensation can be reduced to one-twentieth, saving billions of dollars." Flanding said excitedly.

"Sorry, Your Royal Highness, I think the scene described by this gentleman is just an imagination, and it is impossible to do it in reality." Bernice stepped forward and interrupted Flanding very rudely.

"Who are you?" Flanding turned to Bernice and asked with displeasure.

"I am Bernice, a senior technician in the Filtration Membrane Division of the Warren Group, and this is my colleague Crowden. We are here to provide you with filtration membrane services." Bernice said arrogantly.

"Warren Group?" Flanding nodded. He is in the oil business, so it's impossible not to know about a large chemical company like the Warren Group. He asked: "You mean, you can provide the filter membrane for this oil pollution treatment?"

Bernice said: "Of course, we are the most professional filter membrane manufacturer in the world. We can produce various types of microfiltration membranes, ultrafiltration membranes, nanofiltration membranes, and reverse osmosis membranes to meet the various needs of customers. As long as you can We can do whatever we want.”

Flanding couldn't help but feel a little moved when he heard what Bernice said. He turned to Qin Hai and asked, "Mr. Qin, do you know anything about Warren's company?"

"I have some understanding." Qin Haidao, "The Warren Group has rich experience in the manufacture of filtration membranes, and its products are well-known all over the world."

"Hmm." Bernice shrugged proudly, accepting Qin Hai's praise.

"However, as far as this oil pollution treatment work is concerned, the current products of the Warren Group may not be able to meet our needs." Qin Hai added lightly.

Bernice's face changed: "What do you mean? Our products can't meet the requirements, so can your products meet the requirements?"

"You're right." Qin Hai smiled, "Can you provide a nanofiltration membrane with a permeation flux of more than 20 cubic meters per square meter per day?"

"20 cubic meters?" Bernice was stunned, and then sneered: "Sir, are you talking in your sleep? It is impossible for a nanofiltration membrane to achieve such a permeation flux. I think you are confusing microfiltration and nanofiltration." Bar?"

According to different pore sizes, filtration membranes can be divided into different grades such as microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis, and the corresponding separated substances are getting smaller and smaller. Microfiltration is mainly aimed at pellets with a particle size larger than 0.1 micron, such as bacteria and yeast; ultrafiltration is aimed at macromolecules with a molecular weight greater than 500 and small colloidal particles, such as proteins, enzymes, etc.; nanofiltration is aimed at molecular weights less than 500 Small molecular substances, including antibiotics, synthetic drugs, dyes, etc.; as for the reverse osmosis membrane, it can filter out inorganic salts such as sodium chloride.

The smaller the pore size of the filter membrane, the slower the water flow. The maximum water seepage per square meter of the nanofiltration membrane produced by Warren Group is only 0.2 cubic meters per day, so when Qin Hai mentioned the figure of 20 cubic meters, Bernice's first reaction was total disbelief.

Bernice's reaction did not exceed Qin Hai's expectations. Anyone who heard a technology that was a hundred times stronger than his own highest level obviously couldn't believe it, especially the person behind Bernice. Warren Group with strong technical strength.

"Sir, what I'm talking about is the nanofiltration membrane, and you know this very well. The nanofiltration membrane we produce is called a super nanofiltration membrane because it can reduce the osmotic flux of water while ensuring the filtration effect." Increased by more than 100 times. Only such a filter membrane can meet the needs of cleaning oil pollution this time." Qin Hai said with a confident tone.

"How do you do it?" Bernice asked.

Qin Hai looked at the other party with pity, and sighed for a long time before saying, "Sir, do you think it's appropriate to inquire about the core technology secrets of a company like this?"

"We don't intend to spy on your core technology, we just don't believe that such a filtration membrane exists. We have conducted theoretical calculations, and the theoretical maximum permeation flux of the nanofiltration membrane is 2.5 cubic meters, but in fact no company can achieve it. Such a theoretical value. As for the permeation flux of 20 cubic meters, this is against the principles of fluid mechanics,...if you understand the model algorithm." Crowden commented.

"Maybe your model is right, but the products we produced have indeed achieved such permeation flux. As for the principle, I think you will soon see from the application documents published by the European Patent Office .” Qin Hai said with a smile.

The ultra-filter membrane was originally developed by Pujiang Haijie Company under the inspiration of Qin Hai. How could Qin Hai not understand the technical details of it. Qin Hai has also seen the calculation model mentioned by Crowden, and knows that the theoretical calculation results he mentioned are well-founded. The key issue is that the super-filtration membrane produced by Jintang Petrochemical has improved its structure, thereby bypassing the obstacles mentioned by Crowden.

The technical mystery of this is also very simple to say. Traditional filter membranes are flat membranes, one square meter is one square meter, there is no room for it. The ultra-filtration membrane proposed by Qin Hai is a flat membrane rolled into a tube shape. On the same square section, there are countless thin tubes. The area of ​​each tube is equivalent to one square meter. hundreds or even thousands of times.

In other words, the so-called super filtration membrane is actually a filter membrane with several hundred square meters designed on one square meter of material through structural design, and its permeability is of course hundreds of times that of the traditional flat membrane.

The thickness of the filter membrane is generally less than 1 micron. Even if it is rolled into a tube shape and then stacked, it will be a thickness of one or two millimeters, which will not affect the use at all. This kind of material called hollow fiber filter membrane is an upgraded product of traditional filter membrane. Bernice and Crowden have never heard of it, and it is quite normal.

This special structural design, as an invention of Haijie Company, has filed patent applications with several major patent agencies around the world. Bernice and the others will see the relevant information sooner or later, but Qin Hai is too lazy to explain this to them now, he is still waiting to see the other party's jokes.

"No, I don't believe that such a filter exists. You must have tampered with it somewhere. I want to expose your deception!" Bernice yelled red-faced.