Chapter 1146 Phase 1 project, 4000 million acres!

What was originally thought to be a huge obstacle was now solved with just one sentence.

For Zhuang Bingchang, there are definitely surprises.

But I still have more doubts in my heart.

It’s not that I don’t believe in Chang Haonan’s level.

The result given by the other party is really too precise.

The two main ingredients, especially sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, are not a common curing agent in this type of study.

It can't even be considered a common chemical product.

Although "modified cellulose" is a relatively hot category of biomass products, it can only be considered as a promising future product at present.

To be able to specify a particular category so precisely must have been based on very rigorous argumentation.

However, as the person in charge of the Meng Province experimental field, Zhuang Bingchang knew very well that Chang Haonan had not conducted similar soil modification experiments.

Not to mention locally.

Since 2000, the latter has only asked him for soil samples twice.

These are not for experiments, but for soil mechanics modeling and improving the geological surface database.

So how did this argumentation process come about?

Zhuang Bingchang, who was a little confused, hesitated for a moment and asked cautiously:

"Academician Chang, would you mind telling me why these two ingredients are used?"

In reality, it is of course inconvenient.

Inspiration is inspiration, but being able to transform inspiration into concrete results in just a dozen hours is all thanks to the help of the system.

He skipped a lot of unnecessary trial and error steps, analyzed and calculated the interaction between different hydrophilic/hydrophobic groups and the surface of soil particles at the molecular level, and finally screened out a result that was relatively balanced in both cost and performance.

Even for Chang Haonan himself, this process requires some time to fully digest. For outsiders, it is extremely divisive and it is impossible for anyone to understand it.

Fortunately, Chang Haonan had already thought of another explanation while waiting for the results.

"Didn't we build a soil database for various regions in Meng Province a few years ago? When I was doing my regular literature review a while ago, I found that some foreign scholars had used polyvinyl alcohol curing materials to transform a soil with similar characteristics. Although the result was a failure, the failure could not be explained by the direct polarity bonding theory that we were used to..."

He opened a paper on his computer, along with a log file from the last round of calculations a few hours ago:

"I used the soil database we established to theoretically restore his experimental results several times, and finally basically determined that there are four main mechanisms of action of water-soluble or semi-water-soluble polymers on sandy soil microclusters."

"First, by replacing the cations on the surface of the microclusters, the thickness of the double electric layer is reduced, the attractive energy between particles is increased, and the aggregation of particles is promoted; second, the carboxyl groups on the molecular chain and the hydroxyl groups on the soil surface form hydrogen bonds, which strengthens the structural stability of the soil..."

"Third, the hydrophilic groups of the polymer adsorb to the surface of the soil particles, and the hydrophobic groups repel the infiltration of water, thus enhancing the water stability of the soil; fourth, the soil particles are connected to each other through the polymer chains to form a network structure, which further plays a reinforcing role."

"After the main mechanism is determined, what remains is to perform calculations at the molecular level. This is a more time-consuming process, but fortunately the principle is not complicated... Just repeatedly sample the configuration space of the system's particles, calculate the total energy, and then find the most probable conformation and thermodynamic equilibrium properties of the system..."

"..."

This set of rhetoric highlights nine truths and one falsehood.

If there were an expert in computational chemistry or computational materials science at the same level as Chang Haonan, he might be able to hear some problems.

For example, the last calculation process is a task that is simply impossible to complete within a limited time for today's computers.

Unfortunately, in this era, it is probably not easy to find such a person.

As for Zhuang Bingchang, who majored in agriculture, he had completely given up when he heard the middle part.

For the first time, he even felt a little regretful.

If I had known this earlier, I should have studied mathematics in depth when I was young...

But the feeling was almost fleeting.

After all, math is something that if you don’t know it, you don’t know it.

"All right……"

He decided not to pursue the issue any further:

"So our next step is to go back to the experimental field and conduct sand modification tests in sections?"

In most cases, even if the main ingredients have been confirmed theoretically, the suspension system after the cross-linking reaction is still too complicated, so the specific ratio and preparation method still need to be carried out through experiments.

Of course, with theoretical guidance, the efficiency will definitely be much higher than aimless screening.

However, Chang Haonan rejected the answer without hesitation:

"No, there's no rush for this."

Zhuang Bingchang was about to take the water when he suddenly froze:

"Have you figured out the detailed ratio?"

"Not really... I'm not that good yet."

Chang Haonan smiled helplessly and waved his hand quickly:

"But before you return to Meng Province, there is one more thing you need to do."

Zhuang Bingchang curled his lips secretly, thinking that maybe not, isn't the stuff you suddenly brought out enough...

But on the surface he pretended to be listening attentively.

"With these achievements, we can no longer just stay at the small-scale test site."

Chang Haonan turned his gaze back to the screen:

"I am going to submit a report to my superiors, requesting to increase the investment in the research and development of supporting technologies related to sand-to-soil conversion, so I need your help to complete a report..."

……

If Chang Haonan's double academician title has brought him any substantial benefits.

The most obvious one is that he has the right to bypass the middle level and submit suggestions or applications directly to the higher level.

Of course, high-level leaders are busy with all kinds of things every day, so if you use trivial matters to cause trouble to others, don't blame the materials for being blocked by the secretariat.

Most of the time, you still have to go through the normal step-by-step reporting process——

But this project concerns the jobs of 13 billion Chinese people.

It is not something that the Industrial and Construction Committee can decide at all.

Even on the list of attendees for the project demonstration meeting to be determined half a month later, Li Zhongyi's name was not even on the first row of the list...

Chang Haonan is already accustomed to this.

But Zhuang Bingchang is different.

Although he was a relatively well-known professor at the Academy of Agricultural Sciences in the past, this was his first time attending such a grand event...

In a side hall temporarily used for rest, Zhuang Bingchang, who was about to go on stage, paced back and forth with a manuscript in his hand.

"Academician Chang, if the leader asks about the solidification principle later..."

Chang Haonan, who was sitting on the sofa, interrupted him with a wry smile:

"Professor Zhuang, this is the third time you have asked me the same question in the past half hour..."

"In short, just remember that first of all, the leader is an outsider in either chemistry or agronomy, so it's unlikely that he'll ask such specific technical questions. Secondly, even if he does ask, unless it's related to breeding, I'll be the one to answer... You just need to summarize and report on the work you've done in the past few years, as you've rehearsed a few days ago."

Zhuang Bingchang nodded slightly awkwardly, then took out a handkerchief and began to wipe his sweat:

"To be honest, Academician Chang, there was no transition at all. Right from the start, it was like this. I was really a little nervous..."

"..."

If this continues, Chang Haonan has no doubt that the other party will ask the same or similar question for the fourth time.

Fortunately, a staff member came in a few minutes later and informed the two that they could go on stage.

……

This high-level meeting, which is not open to the public, does not have too much red tape.

Especially since Chang Haonan is a famous figure on the list.

After a brief self-introduction, I got to the point:

"As we all know, in recent years, due to human engineering activities and changes in the natural environment, various ecological and environmental problems have emerged in the already fragile ecological function protection areas, among which the desertification problem caused by slope soil loss and degradation after the destruction of slope vegetation is particularly prominent."

"Especially Xinjiang, Tibet, Gansu, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia, which account for 95.64% of the total desertified land area in China, have seriously restricted the economic and social development of these regions and are not conducive to the promotion and implementation of the western development strategy..."

"Since 2000, the project team led by me and Professor Zhuang Bingchang of the Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences has been conducting a four-year pilot project on desert soil transformation in western Mongolia. So far, we have achieved remarkable results in theory and small-scale tests at the per-acre level..."

"..."

In front of his leaders, Chang Haonan naturally could not spend too much space to explain advanced content such as shear rheology constitutive model, enthalpy control strategy, chemical bond formation mechanism or colloidal particle self-assembly process.

Together with Zhuang Bingchang, they briefly introduced the entire research and calculation process, and then switched to the core topic before the first person dozed off:

"I think that we have sufficient conditions at present. Based on our transformation plan and in combination with the actual situation, we will carry out demonstration transformation in the three agricultural production areas in the eastern part of Inner Mongolia Province, namely the Horqin Sandy Land, the Hunshandake Sandy Land and the Hulunbuir Sandy Land, which have been significantly degraded in the past decade... But the specific scale of the pilot project still needs to be determined by the leaders..."

When he said this, not only the leaders below, but even Zhuang Bingchang couldn't help but reveal a look of surprise.

He had indeed heard Chang Haonan say that he would ask his superiors for increased investment.

But I never expected it to be an increase in this sense.

To make an analogy, it is equivalent to jumping directly from the small-scale trial stage to industrial trial production...

The leaders in the front row who could participate in the final decision-making looked at each other, and then discussed in low voices for a long time.

After a while, one of them asked as a representative:

"Before the meeting, I looked at the data on your experimental field in the western part of Meng Province. Although less than 100 acres have been planned at this stage, the surrounding area is very empty... Why don't you choose to continue expanding at the original location, but move to the eastern part of Meng Province?"

Chang Haonan had already prepared a plan for this question:

"Agricultural production is different from the ultimate technical experiment. Even if the soil conditions are qualified, it still requires appropriate sunlight and precipitation... The eastern part of Meng Province belongs to the northeast region, and the precipitation is almost twice that of the western part. It is more suitable for real large-scale planting, and the potential for increasing production is also greater, which has the potential to alleviate the shortage of arable land in my country..."

“To ease the shortage of arable land…”

The leader who asked the question just now had his pupils shrink and almost lost his dignity.

After a few breaths, he sat up straight and his tone became serious:

"Comrade Chang Haonan, are you aware of... the weight behind this sentence?"

Out of 100 research topics in the field of environment and agriculture, I'm afraid 101 of them will mention similar statements.

But bragging in the project proposal is one thing, and saying it in front of so many high-level leaders is another.

The issue of jobs.

It can never be overemphasized.

Chang Haonan nodded firmly.

"of course."

It was not until this time that everyone finally realized it.

The "large scale" mentioned by Chang Haonan may be much more exaggerated than their previous estimates.

"Comrade Chang Haonan, I hope you will carefully consider the following question before answering it."

The leader leaned forward slightly and cast a sharp gaze towards Chang Haonan standing opposite him:

"If we don't consider the investment and other costs, how much area do you think this demonstration renovation you just mentioned has the potential to cover?"

In fact, Chang Haonan had really thought about this matter in the past few days.

Even he himself felt that the final result was a bit exaggerated.

So, it was counted more than once.

But since your leader asks you to consider it carefully, it would definitely not be appropriate to blurt it out.

Therefore, Chang Haonan deliberately lowered his head and pondered for three minutes:

"If all three sandy lands are counted, the conservative estimate is... about 4000 million mu!"