Material Empire

Saudi Prince Flanding's favorite sport is flying in the air by helicopter. He thinks this is the most refreshing enjoyment. However, he who was sitting in the helicopter cabin at this time did not look happy at all. His face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and his eyes were looking at the sea passing by the plane, frowning.

The oil tanker "Golden Cape" that had an accident off the coast of the French coastal city of Le Havre a few hours ago belonged to a company owned by Flandin. I don't know if the captain was drunk or drowsy. Under good sea conditions, the "Golden Cape" actually deviated from the normal course, and then directly hit a passing bulk carrier. The collision caused no casualties, but an oil storage tank in the "Golden Cape" was damaged, and thousands of tons of crude oil flowed into the sea along the gap, creating an oil pollution belt more than ten kilometers long. With the promotion of ocean currents and sea winds, this oil pollution belt is still expanding. Looking from the plane, it looks like a monster with teeth and claws.

"At least 1,000 dead seabirds have been found on the coast of Le Havre. As for the impact on fish, it is currently impossible to assess. The public has put great pressure on our Ministry of Ecology. If the impact of this oil spill If it cannot be resolved quickly, not only I, but even the entire French cabinet may have to step down as a whole."

French Minister of Ecology Henlock, who was sitting on the helicopter with Flanding, said to Flanding with a gloomy face.

"We are also very unwilling for such a thing to happen. It is not uncommon for crude oil to leak. Judging from the amount of oil spilled in this accident, it is not very serious." Drey, Flanding's aide Qi said. He was a Frenchman, employed by Flandin, and therefore had to speak in Flandin's shoes.

In fact, Drake didn't lie. Compared with other maritime accidents that leaked hundreds of thousands of tons of crude oil in other parts of the world, the scale of the "Golden Cape" oil spill this time is indeed not very large. But the problem is that the location of the oil spill is very close to the coast of France, and the pollution caused will directly affect France, which is unacceptable.

"The oil spills in other places have nothing to do with me. What I want to talk to Mr. Flanding is the oil spill this time." Henlock interrupted Drage's defense, "This oil spill has already A serious ecological disaster has been caused on the coast of France. According to estimates by marine environmental experts, the oil pollution floating on the sea surface will exist for at least 4 months, while the crude oil that sinks to the bottom of the sea and the oil pollution that floats to the shore will take at least 20 years to recover. Eliminate. Mr. Flanding, your company must take full responsibility for this matter."

"Mr. Minister, can you talk about your request?" Flanding looked at Henlock and said, the matter has come to this point, and he doesn't want to deny it, so he can only listen to the other party's request first.

"Our request has two points: first, remove the oil pollution at sea as soon as possible and restore the polluted environment; second, compensate for the losses caused by this accident." Henlock replied.

Flanding said: "The oil pollution treatment experts we have hired have set off and will arrive in Le Havre soon. They will bring solutions and equipment to deal with oil pollution. As for accident compensation, we need to wait for the final assessment results. Within the scope, we will bear the liability for compensation.”

"The Ministry of Ecology has also hired oil pollution treatment experts, and they will work with your experts. As for their compensation..." Henlock paused for a moment, waiting for Flanding's statement.

"My company is responsible for all their remuneration." Flanding readily agreed without any hesitation. Compared with the huge compensation for environmental pollution, the remuneration of several experts is really nothing. The oil pollution can be dealt with one day earlier, and the pollution loss can be reduced by a large amount. Flanding can figure this out.

After inspecting the pollution situation at sea, Henlock ordered the helicopter to return to a temporary headquarters on the seashore of Le Havre. When the group of them got off the helicopter, the car Gemo and Qin Hai took had just arrived.

"Professor Germer, I'm sorry to interrupt your vacation." Henlock walked towards Germer, shook hands with him, and said, "I asked your assistant and learned that you are on vacation, but what happened here It's urgent, I need your help."

"That's what I should do," Gummer said. "Minister Henlock, tell me about the oil pollution."

"Let's go to the meeting room to talk." Henlock said, "Several experts have arrived, let's discuss the specific action plan together."

"Okay." Gemmer said, he pointed to Qin Hai who was following him, and introduced to Henlock, "Minister Henlock, let me introduce you, this is my Chinese friend Mr. Qin Hai, he is also An excellent materials scientist. I was with him when I received your notice. He heard about the oil spill at sea and expressed his willingness to come with me, so I brought him."

"Welcome, Mr. Qin." Henlock stretched out his hand to Qin Hai and said with a smile.

Qin Hai stretched out his hand to shake Henlock, and said, "I've only been exposed to related subjects, so I want to take a look with Mr. Gemmer, maybe I can do some modest things."

"On behalf of the Ministry of Ecology, I would like to thank Mr. Qin for his assistance," Henlock said. However, Qin Hai could sense from his expression that his words were just general politeness. If Qin Hai hadn't come with Gummer, the minister probably wouldn't even be interested in looking him in the face. In the eyes of the French, it is impossible for scholars from a developing country like China to be of any help to them.

Although he knew that Henlock didn't like him, Qin Hai didn't care. When he asked Germer to come and see him, he expected to be slighted. Qin Hai is used to such contempt. The key to making others respect him is to rely on his own strength. In terms of oil pollution treatment, Qin Hai has something to rely on, but he is not sure whether his technology can be better than that of the French, so he is not in a hurry to show his cards, but waits to see the opponent Let's talk about the level.

A group of people followed Henlock into the temporary headquarters and came to the conference room. The influence of the oil spill accident continued to expand, and the people in the headquarters were on their backs, and all kinds of people were extremely busy. The conference room became a situation research and judgment room. When Gemo, Qin Hai and others entered, there were already a dozen people lying on the table and talking about something. A huge map was spread out on the conference table. What is drawn is the distribution of oil pollution.

"Okay, Professor Germer has arrived, let's have a meeting now and talk about the solution to the oil spill."

Henlock greeted everyone to sit down at the conference table, and said straight to the point.

The first person to speak was a technician under Flanding. He introduced the quantity and quality of crude oil loaded on the "Golden Cape" and the estimated amount of oil spilled based on the tanker's report. The question about oil quality was Experts are most concerned, because the future oil pollution treatment plan must be selected according to the characteristics of the oil.

The next person to report was an official from the French Ministry of Ecology. He introduced the distribution of oil pollution based on aerial photography data, and also explained the direction of ocean currents at sea, the temperature and wind direction in the next few days, and other information.

After explaining all kinds of situations, Henlock turned his head to Germer and other experts, and said, "Everyone, everyone has understood the current situation. Regarding the treatment of oil pollution, if you have any opinions, please come forward."

"Let me talk about it first." A marine oil pollution treatment expert named Besborough took the lead in speaking: "At present, the international treatment of marine oil pollution mainly includes physical methods, chemical methods, natural degradation methods, biological treatment methods, and combustion methods. When choosing various methods, it is necessary to consider the wave height at sea, the speed of ocean currents, and the viscosity of oil pollution.

As far as this oil spill is concerned, the natural degradation method can be ruled out, because this method takes too long, and we cannot wait for such a long time. As for the burning method, if it is not a last resort, it should not be used, because it will cause serious smoke pollution on the sea surface, and the high temperature generated by burning will also affect the safety of fish in the sea.

After excluding these two methods, we are left with physical methods, chemical methods and biological treatment methods. I think these three methods can be used at the same time. The specific plan is as follows..."

There is nothing special about Besborough's plan, it is basically a conventional routine for marine oil pollution treatment: first lay fences on the sea surface to control the pollution within a certain range so that it cannot spread; then use oil skimmers, oil suction materials, etc. to recover bulky oil slicks. For those oil stains that cannot be recovered by physical methods, chemical agents and some special microorganisms are used to degrade them, and finally make most of them disappear.

After Besborough finished speaking, several other experts also made some supplements, but generally agreed with Besborough's opinion. Germer participated in this meeting as a chemical expert. He mainly put forward some opinions from the perspective of chemical treatment, and these opinions were also accepted by other scholars.

Henlock listened carefully to everyone's speeches, and recorded some key points in his notebook from time to time. After everyone finished talking, he raised his eyebrows and asked, "According to this plan, how long will it take to completely eliminate the oil pollution on the sea surface?"

"About 16 weeks," Besborough replied.

"What about the oil on the beach?" Henlock asked again.

"The oil pollution on the beach is a bit troublesome, because the pollution has been mixed with the sand and cannot be recovered by physical methods. It can only be degraded by chemical agents, and then the seawater is used to wash the degradation products into the sea. This process may take a year. ’ said Besborough.

"That is to say, within a year's time, the Le Havre waterfront will be unusable?" Henlock said.

Besborough shrugged his shoulders, indicating that it was true.

Henlock turned his head to Gammer and asked, "Professor Gammer, is there any way to degrade the oil pollution on the beach faster? One year is unacceptable to us, and the public's complaints will bring down the cabinet as a whole." .”

Germer frowned and said: "I'm afraid there is no better way. We can find some surfactants, penetrants and demulsifiers with faster reactions, but these chemicals are very toxic. If discharged into In the sea, I am afraid it will cause new pollution.”

"Mr. Flanding, when will the experts you hired arrive? Do they have any better solutions?" Henlock asked Flanding again.

Drage replied for Flanding: "Mr. Minister, the oil pollution treatment experts we have hired can come up with a plan that is not very different from that of Mr. Bessborough and other gentlemen. In fact, it takes 16 weeks. It is already a relatively good result to deal with the oil on the sea in time. As for the oil on the beach, it is really not good, you can consider the chemicals that Mr. Gemmer said..."

"I'm afraid this is not possible. If these chemicals are discharged into the sea, they will have a serious impact on the shellfish, seaweed and fish in the French coast. It will be an ecological disaster." Gemmer shook his head.

"How big will this loss be?" Flanding interjected.

"We have calculated that if this is done, the coastal ecological loss will be equivalent to about 4.5 billion U.S. dollars." An official from the Ministry of Ecology replied blankly.

"4.5 billion..." Flanding's face changed color. Henlock said that all losses would be charged to his account. Even if he was a Saudi prince, he would not be able to afford such a large sum of compensation.

"Then, if according to Mr. Besborough's plan, it takes one year to remove the oil pollution on the beach, how much is the loss?" Flanding asked again.

The official replied: "About 3 billion."

"..." Flanding grinned, not daring to speak. Such things as ecological loss are indeed very terrible. Once an ecosystem is destroyed, it is extremely slow to recover. Europeans now like to talk about ecological protection, biodiversity, etc., and a small amount of sewage discharged into the river will face a fine of millions or even tens of millions of dollars, not to mention thousands of tons of crude oil leaked into the sea. The current strategy depends on whether there is a better way to quickly eliminate these oil stains.

"Mr. Gummer, what if the chemicals you use are not discharged into the sea? Will they not have a serious impact on marine life?"

A voice rang out in the conference room, attracting everyone's attention. Everyone looked closely and found that the person speaking was a yellow-skinned Asian. He looked very young, but his expression was very calm, without any nervousness.

Most people don't know who this young man is, but Henlock's heart was moved. He recognized that this person is the Chinese Qin Hai that Gummer had just introduced to him. Could it be that he really has something special about him? , Can you solve the immediate crisis?