Chapter 388 Steampunk Romance
Chapter 388 Steampunk Romance
The technical analysis meeting on the General Fusion accident was held only to avoid repeating the same mistakes, but after reading the report, Kang Chi thought there was nothing to discuss.
This is no longer radical and adventurous. In order to complete the ignition of the magnetized target circuit before Kang Chi, they were simply crazy…
However, if you stand from their perspective, it is not incomprehensible.
After all, since the birth of science, any experiment attempted by scientists has a certain risk. Even many experimental accidents are carried out when the experimenters know that there are great risks.
For example, in the field of space exploration, the space shuttle of the United States has exploded three times.
To put it nicely, this is called the spirit of scientific exploration. To put it bluntly, it is a gambling addiction that wants to turn a bicycle into a motorcycle, and you still think you must be the winner.
Even in nuclear accidents like Chernobyl, it is actually the same. Some people know that there are problems with the design of the control rods, but they just want to take a gamble, thinking that nothing will happen.
After Kang Chi came to Luzhou Plasma Research Institute, although the progress of the Jinwu No. 1 project was affected by some general fusion experimental accidents, it was generally going according to plan. Especially when Kang Chi proposed the experiment, he let the harvester humanoid robot act as the operator of the experimental site, and then moved the experimental command room 500 meters away. All safety issues seemed to be no problem…
In this case, even if it really exploded, there would be no casualties.
The only disadvantage is that researchers need to be familiar with the robot control in advance.
However, compared with the drastic engineering reinforcement of the main control room to resist nuclear strikes, this is already the safest and most convenient way.
Time soon came to February 9th. There were only ten days left before Kang Chi issued a four-month military order. After many debugging, Jinwu No. 1 finally completed the final assembly.
[Item: Magnetized Target Nuclear Fusion Reactor]
[Manufacturer: China (32% participation)]
[Item Level: 1 (Cannot be upgraded if participation is less than 50%)]
[Item Status: Intact]
[Item Parameters: Maximum operating speed 120 times per minute, maximum energy released per reaction 1500 megajoules]
[Analysis Item: No Analysis Item]
[General Experience: 2043345]
[Mastery Points: 133 (+120)]
When Kang Chi saw the system pop-up panel, he felt relieved.
Jinwu No. 1, it’s stable!
Unfortunately, this time Jinwu No. 1 was made by cooperation among multiple parties, so the manufacturer was determined to be China, and the system also clearly marked Kang Chi’s personal participation was only 32%, so it could not be directly upgraded.
However, it is not a big problem. Kang Chi has used the best materials for it. In addition, the system has the nature of upgrading large items. Even if it can be upgraded by one or two levels, the performance improvement is estimated to be small.
In other words, as Kang Chi’s engineering design ability becomes stronger and stronger, with obvious bottlenecks in materials and lines, the improvement space of the things he makes is limited.
After the things are made, the next step is naturally to try them out. After a meeting and discussion, Kang Chi finally decided to conduct an ignition experiment on the 12th.
After receiving the experimental report from Luzhou Plasma Research Institute, the Luzhou Municipal Government immediately attached great importance to it, quickly mobilized various departments to cooperate, and reported it layer by layer.
On the 12th, with Luzhou Plasma Research Institute as the center, the area within a radius of two kilometers was blocked by traffic police, special police, and military personnel.
The Luzhou Plasma Research Institute was originally established in the suburbs, and it is on the Science Peninsula next to the Dongpu Reservoir. It is surrounded by water on three sides. Normally, as long as the only way in is blocked, it is basically enough.
However, due to the accident of the General Fusion experiment, the local and Yanjing leaders were not very reassured, so they set up cordons not only at the entrance, but also on the three opposite sides of the reservoir. There were also patrol boats in the reservoir constantly passing by to prevent people and ships from approaching.
As for the vicinity of the institute, let alone military vehicles, police cars and ambulances, the most exaggerated is the fire truck. The Luzhou Fire Department directly mobilized two fire squadrons, a total of 12 fire trucks parked in a row, and there was also aA fire helicopter was hovering…
Kang Chi, who was sitting in the car, saw this and couldn’t help but complain: “This scene makes it seem like we are really building a nuclear bomb…”
Zhong Weijian immediately smiled and said: “There is no way. The accident of General Fusion has only been over a month. It is normal for the leaders to overreact.”
After passing through layers of checkpoints, the vehicle finally stopped at the experimental control room, which was more than 500 meters away from the reactor. As soon as Kang Chi got out of the car, he saw several reporters carrying cameras, interviewing the director of the Energy Bureau who came from Yanjing, and a group of local leaders in Luzhou at the door.
“Why are there reporters?”
”This is what Chief Lu meant.” Chen Hai, who was following Kang Chi, immediately explained, “He meant that if the ignition is successful today, it will be a major moment of epoch-making historical significance, and it would be best to record it in all directions with video materials, but don’t worry, there will be no live broadcast today…”
”Okay.” Kang Chi nodded thoughtfully, “So there is no live broadcast… Are you afraid that we will fail?”
Chen Hai just smiled and did not answer the question.
”Academician Kang is here!”
While the two were talking, a reporter quickly spotted him and called the photographer carrying the camera to run over together.
“Hello, Academician Kang. I am Su Shanshan, a reporter from China News. May I take a few minutes to do a simple interview with you?”
Kang Chi nodded: “Hello, reporter Su. I didn’t expect that we meet again.”
Hearing Kang Chi’s words, Su Shanshan couldn’t help but say with some surprise: “So you still remember me.”
”Of course I remember.” Kang Chi smiled, “You interviewed me when I first appeared on China News. How could I not remember it?”
Su Shanshan also smiled, and couldn’t help but feel a little emotional. When Dahan Silicon Industry developed the floating belt single crystal furnace, she thought Kang Chi was already very awesome.
However, who would have thought that it was just the beginning of the myth…
Knowing that Kang Chi was about to host an important experiment, Su Shanshan also knew that now was not the time to reminisce and feel emotional, so she took out her notebook and glanced at the photographer.
After getting an OK look, she turned back to look at Kang Chi and asked the questions she had prepared in advance: “On December 31, 2025, one month ago, Maple Leaf General Fusion Company had a serious nuclear fusion experiment accident.”
”This accident not only makes people worry about the prospects of controlled nuclear fusion, but also the safety of magnetized target nuclear fusion devices. I would like to ask Academician Kang, what do you think about this? Is the magnetized target device really a very dangerous hydrogen bomb as the outside world says? What is the difference between Jinwu No. 1 and LM-26?”
Susan asked three questions in one breath, but in fact they can all be summarized as a safety issue.
This is also what everyone is most concerned about.
“Strictly speaking, the reaction principle of the magnetized target device is indeed very similar to that of a hydrogen bomb. If the device gets out of control, an accident like the general fusion will occur. It is not wrong for everyone to understand it as a hydrogen bomb.”
After hearing this, Susan hesitated and seemed to want to interrupt Kang Chi, but fortunately Kang Chi quickly gave her a satisfactory answer.
”But the reason why controlled nuclear fusion is called controlled nuclear fusion is because it is ‘completely controllable’. If it cannot be completely controlled, it is no different from an ordinary nuclear fusion experiment.”
”As you can see, even if the LM-26 of the general fusion explodes, its power is much smaller than that of a real nuclear weapon, and even smaller than that of most conventional bombs.”
”At the same time, if a nuclear fusion reactor has a nuclear leak, not only is the amount of nuclear radiation leaked very low, but it is also a one-time accident. It will not be like a nuclear fission reactor that will continue to explode for more than ten years or even decades. Reactions emit nuclear radiation continuously. ”
”This is mainly because the magnetic target device burns very little nuclear fuel each time, usually only a few milligrams, and it is gone after burning. Therefore, we don’t have to worry about serious nuclear leakage accidents after an accident in the nuclear fusion test reactor. Even if everyone is still worried, as long as you keep a distance of more than one kilometer, it is absolutely safe. ”
”At the same time, because the fuel for each reaction is very small, the energy released by the fusion reaction is limited, which gives us the possibility to control it, and the performance of the device determines our control over the fusion reaction. ”
”In fact, the magneticThe target device is like a car engine. If the material and design are not good, it may explode. The reason why the LM-26 accident occurred is that their experiment was too radical and the operation was not good. I think the most fundamental reason is that the performance of the device is far from enough to completely control the fusion reaction. ”
Su Shanshan couldn’t help asking: “What about Jinwu No. 1?”
”You will know after the experiment.” – One and a half hours later, the general command room of the experiment.
Taking the pre-operation analysis report of the device handed over by Zhong Weijian, Kang Chi immediately read it carefully.
Although the system popped up the panel, the necessary procedures and cautious attitudes are still necessary. History always tells us that there is no good end for waves.
While Kang Chi was reading the report, Zhong Weijian also verbally reported: “The temperature, pressure, time and other data of the ten nitrogen experiments have an error of no more than 0.0001%, which meets the design standards of the device.”
Kang Chi nodded, put down the analysis report and said: “Then let’s officially start the experiment. ”
After hearing this, Zhong Weijian couldn’t help but look up at the device monitoring on the big screen.
The laboratory where the Eastern Super Ring was originally placed has become a large device with a much more complex structure than the Eastern Super Ring. Its style is quite rough, with all kinds of dense lines and pipes crisscrossing it. There are also three humanoid robots walking around the device.
The whole picture gives people a sense of déjà vu, as if entering a steampunk world full of violent aesthetics.
In fact, the principle of the magnetized target device is indeed a bit steampunk…
But Zhong Weijian, as the main participant of this device, knows very well that this device is much more powerful than the Eastern Super Ring in terms of material properties and precise mechanical structure design, and it is not the same species as the traditional steam engine.
At the same time, the Jinwu No. 1 steam hammer designed by Kang Chi is not a simple steam hammer, but a combination hammer of steam + motor.
When pressurizing the work, the motor plays the role of fine-tuning the speed. When the fusion reaction needs to be decompressed, the motor can not only play a buffering role pressure, making the pressure curve more linear and gentle.
This design not only solves the problem of inconsistent steam hammer speed caused by air pressure deviation, which is the same problem as the general fusion LM-26, but also generates some electricity, further improving the future power generation efficiency of the entire device.
Although the number of people mobilized in the entire project is at least tens of thousands, Zhong Weijian still feels like a dream at this moment. It is hard to imagine that under the leadership of Kang Chi, they only took less than four months to build this big guy with ridiculous performance in all aspects.
If Jinwu No. 1 can be successfully ignited, it will undoubtedly become the greatest engineering miracle of this century, no doubt!
To be honest, if possible, he really hopes to be able to stand on the scene and witness this great moment with his own eyes.
Through the screen, his sense of unreality becomes more obvious…
Zhong Weijian took a deep breath, then slowly turned on the microphone and said: “All departments are preparing for the first formal ignition experiment, and the fuel is set to 0.1mg deuterium-tritium mixture.”
”Received! ”
With Zhong Weijian’s order, all departments immediately took action.
In fact, from the 0.1mg starting fuel test, it can be seen that the performance of Jinwu No. 1 is completely different from that of LM-26.
Although for the safety of the experiment, the fuel used in the initial test must be as little as possible, but less fuel means that in the same space, the number of deuterium-tritium atoms is less, and the probability of fusion reaction caused by collision is lower. At this time, the device needs to create more ideal reaction conditions.
This puts higher requirements on the performance of the device. Similarly, this will also lead to higher input power, but low output power, so the Q value will be Lower.
In order to achieve the most economical and safe combustion efficiency for Jinwu No. 1, 3.5mg of deuterium-tritium mixture needs to be injected for each reaction, and the Q value can be as high as 23.
The limit fuel is 4.42mg, and the Q value will be further increased to 28, but if it is operated at the limit for a long time, the loss of equipment will be relatively large and the safety will also decrease.
However, this limit actually corresponds to the highest single energy output of 1500 megajoules. Although the system panel says this is the highest, in fact, in Kang Chi’s calculation, the limit should be 1800 megajoules, so the system is likely to give a relatively safe and conservative data.Of course, Kang Chi would not commit suicide by testing how much fuel it would take to explode…
(End of this chapter)