Material Empire

The research on iron-based superconductivity presided over by Tranquility, thanks to Qin Hai's investment regardless of cost, progressed very quickly, and the results were published one by one in the top international journals, making her even more famous than her own mentor Chen Zong but. Two months ago, when Ning Jing talked with Qin Hai on the phone, he reported that he had discovered a new type of material with a critical temperature higher than 77K, but the preparation method was immature and could not be made public for the time being. Once a breakthrough is made in the preparation method of this new material, the research on superconducting motors will usher in a new stage of vigorous development.

77K is the boundary of the liquid nitrogen temperature zone, and the critical temperature is higher than 77K, which means that this material can produce superconductivity under the condition of using liquid nitrogen as a coolant. The cost of cooling with liquid nitrogen is very low, and it has strong operability in reality. Before room temperature superconductors have come out, superconductivity in the liquid nitrogen temperature zone is the goal that engineers are striving for.

For the problem of superconducting coils, we will place our hopes on our younger siblings. Zhou Linlei said with a smile. Hearing that Qin Hai's girlfriend is an expert in superconductivity, Zhou Linlei's evaluation of Qin Hai was also much higher immediately, regardless of his already At the age of more than 50 years old, he actually started calling Qin Hai brothers and sisters.

In addition to the problem of the coil, the permanent magnet material is also a big problem. The magnetic energy product of the most used NdFeB is high enough, but the Curie temperature is too low. The temperature of the working environment is slightly higher, and the magnetism will disappear. This is still not enough for the motor we need. Zhou Linlei immediately raised the second question.

Qin Hai pointed at himself with a smile, and said, For this problem, Zhou Gong has to pin his hopes on me.

You? Zhou Linlei asked in surprise, Why, Xiao Qin is engaged in magnetic materials?

I don't have any major, and I have been exposed to various materials. Qin Haidao, However, we have now developed a new permanent magnet material, which is based on cerium, and its magnetic strength is higher than that of NdFeB. The Curie temperature can reach over 600 degrees Celsius, Zhou Gong thinks it is enough?

A new type of permanent magnet material whose Curie temperature can reach 600 degrees Celsius? Zhou Linlei asked in surprise, Why haven't I heard of it?

This...maybe it's because Zhou Gong is too busy with his daily work, so he didn't pay attention to the relevant documents, right? It's been more than half a year since we published this kind of material. Qin Hai said.

Zhou Linlei patted his head in frustration, and said: Yes, yes, I have been thinking about the problem of steam catapults for more than half a year. I really haven't paid attention to information about magnetic materials and superconducting materials. I can't think of technological development. It's so fast, I knew it was so...

Having said that, he suddenly got stuck, and peeked at Ji Mingchu from the corner of his eye. Ji Mingchu had been listening to the conversation between the two of them, so he naturally noticed Zhou Linlei's little move. He hehe smiled and asked: Why, if I knew this, would you stick to your original idea?

It can only be said that there are more reasons than the original idea, but the obstacles are still very large. Zhou Linlei replied honestly.

Why don't you tell Xiao Qin what you think? You see, you were leaving just now, and I told you to stay, but you still didn't like it. What happened? Don't you regret staying and chatting with Xiao Qin? Ji Mingchu asked.

How can you not be happy... Zhou Linlei's face was slightly red. Just now, he really felt that it was a waste of time to stay and chat with Qin Hai. He didn't expect to get such important information in a few words. If he had known this, He wouldn't show any intention of leaving. Now that Ji Mingchu has exposed his background all of a sudden, he is naturally quite embarrassed.

Tell Xiao Qin what you think, maybe your problem can be solved with Xiao Qin and the others. Ji Mingchu encouraged Zhou Linlei again.

Well... okay. Zhou Linlei hesitated for a moment, then nodded to accept Ji Mingchu's suggestion, he turned his head to Qin Hai, and said seriously: Xiao Qin, in fact, we have another idea besides the idea of ​​steam ejection , that is electromagnetic ejection, I wonder if you have heard of it?

Electromagnetic ejection? Qin Hai smiled, Of course I've heard of it. So, the motor you just mentioned that requires extremely high instantaneous power is used for electromagnetic ejection?

Electromagnetic ejection is another ejection method besides steam ejection. Its principle is to eject the aircraft on the aircraft carrier by using electromagnetic force. Compared with steam ejection, the structure of the device used in electromagnetic ejection is simpler, there is no need to lay complex pipelines, and there is no need to consider issues such as storage and leakage of high-temperature and high-pressure steam. In addition, the power of electromagnetic ejection is determined by the magnitude of the current, so it is more controllable than steam ejection, and it is a more promising aircraft ejection method.

However, the technical problems faced by electromagnetic catapults are also much more complicated than steam catapults. First of all, it is necessary to accelerate an aircraft weighing tens of tons from a static state to a take-off speed within a few seconds, which requires extremely high power requirements for the motor. Zhou Linlei just mentioned to Qin Hai the need for a motor with very high instantaneous power, referring to the motor used to drive the catapult. The two bottlenecks in the development of this motor are the coils that can support high power and the strong magnets that can work at high temperatures.

In addition to the motor, the power supply is also a big problem. If the catapult works on land, it can naturally be connected to a 100,000-kilovolt or higher voltage line to provide powerful power in a very short period of time. But on an aircraft carrier, it is very difficult to find such high-power power supply equipment. Even if it is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, its generators cannot provide such high instantaneous power.

There is only one kind of equipment that can perform high-power discharge in an instant, and that is the super capacitor. Capacitors with a capacity of several thousand farads can store a large amount of electricity and release it in a very short time. Compared with the rechargeable batteries that people use every day, supercapacitors have several advantages: first, their power storage capacity is stronger, and the power stored by supercapacitors of the same weight is dozens of times that of rechargeable batteries; second, it can support hundreds of thousands of Repeated charging and discharging times, while the ordinary rechargeable battery has been scrapped after charging and discharging one or two thousand times; the third point, and the most important point, is that the charging time and discharging time are very short, which is exactly what the electromagnetic catapult requires. most needed.

Zhou Linlei, as an electric motor expert, was assigned to work on aircraft carrier catapult research because the military's original idea was to use electromagnetic catapults. But after fully inspecting the existing technical reserves, Zhou Linlei had to give up this idea regrettably, and began to preside over the design of the steam ejection device instead. Ji Mingchu knew that Zhou Linlei had always been obsessed with electromagnetic ejection, and taking this opportunity today, he asked Zhou Linlei to push this problem to Qin Hai.

Supercapacitors, superconducting, and permanent magnet materials are the biggest problems we face in developing electromagnetic ejection devices. Zhou Linlei introduced to Qin Hai, By the way, there are also high-power semiconductor components, especially IGBTs with high voltage and high power density. Chips are also a technology monopolized by Western countries and prohibited from being sold to our country.

Sure enough, each item is a world-class problem. Qin Hai sighed. The full name of the IGBT chip mentioned by Zhou Linlei at the end is Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor, which is a semiconductor component for power management in high-power circuits. It is also a blank technology in China.

I heard from Xiao Qin today that our country's research on superconductivity has made breakthroughs, and permanent magnet materials have also made great breakthroughs. This has solved our two problems at once, which is really not easy. Zhou Linlei said happily Hehe said, According to this speed, maybe within 20 years, we may really overcome the difficulty of electromagnetic ejection.

20 years... Qin Hai clicked his tongue, Zhou Gong, are you joking?

I really have this confidence. Zhou Linlei said seriously.

Uh... I mean, it will take 20 years? Qin Hai couldn't laugh or cry, Zhou Linlei obviously misunderstood what he meant, thinking that he thought 20 years would not be enough to solve these problems. In fact, Qin Hai has some understanding of the technologies mentioned by Zhou Linlei, and knows that if there is enough capital investment and the correct research ideas, it will only take five to ten years at most to solve all these problems. solved.

Xiao Qin, don't underestimate these technical issues. Several research institutes in the Ministry of Electronics are engaged in research on supercapacitors, and so far have not made satisfactory progress. As for IGBTs, it is even more difficult... Zhou Linlei explained.

Ji Mingchu interrupted Zhou Linlei. He looked at Qin Hai and asked, Xiao Qin, you said you don't need 20 years. How many years do you think will do?

With a wry smile on Qin Hai's face, he said, If I say it's 19 years, will Mr. Ji slap me?

Of course I will! Ji Mingchu threatened with a smile, I knew you, Xiao Qin, had potential. When it comes to national defense construction, you are absolutely not allowed to lurk.

At most... Qin Hai thought about it in his heart, and was about to say a time period of 10 years. When the words came to his lips, he suddenly saw Ji Mingchu's full head of white hair, and he blurted out, Five years!

Five years! Zhou Linlei stood up from the sofa, leaned in front of Qin Hai, stared at him, and asked, You mean five years?

Yes, five years. Qin Hai gritted his teeth and agreed.

The two technologies of supercapacitor and IGBT were still elusive for China at that time. But after entering the 21st century, taking advantage of the spring breeze of high-speed rail technology development, Chinese scientific and technological personnel achieved a breakthrough in only five years and reached the world's advanced level. Qin Hai has some understanding of some of the key elements of these two technologies, and he believes that if the Daqin Group can spend enough funds to invest, it is entirely possible to research these two technologies in five years.

Of course, if he could be given more time, he might be able to save a lot in terms of capital investment. But, if he can wait, can old Ji be able to wait?