Sail across the sea

Chapter 565 How Much Do You Know?

When Xu Ying started talking about serious matters, Gao Fan stopped joking around and put on a serious expression.

"Xiao Fan, how much do you know about fluorochemicals?" Xu Ying asked.

"Fluorochemicals?"

Gao Fan thought for a moment and said:

"Fluorochemicals, as the name suggests, refers to the chemical industry that produces products and related raw materials and intermediates containing fluorine atoms. It is generally divided into three parts: inorganic fluorochemicals, organic fluorochemicals, and fine fluorochemicals."

"Our country's fluorochemical industry originated in the 50s, initially mainly serving the needs of the military industry, especially the nuclear industry. The extraction of uranium-235 requires first converting uranium oxide into uranium hexafluoride, and then extracting it using diffusion or centrifugation methods. Since uranium hexafluoride is highly corrosive, the production equipment needs to use fluorine-containing materials, mainly polytetrafluoroethylene resin."

"At that time, the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (COCOM) prohibited Western countries from selling fluorochemical products to China. The Soviet Union agreed to provide them, but later broke the agreement. Under these circumstances, we had no choice but to develop fluorochemical products ourselves."

"I remember reading a record that said that at that time, my country's chemical equipment was rudimentary, making the development of fluorochemical products extremely difficult and dangerous. When the Ministry of Heavy Industry reported this matter to the leaders, the leaders pointed out that even if we had to boil it in a large pot, we had to boil out the hydrogen fluoride."

“I know about this.” Xu Ying nodded slightly. “Back then, the Hongyuan Factory in Pujiang used fluorite powder transported from the fluorite mine in Yanxiu to manufacture hydrogen fluoride. I was once in charge of delivering fluorite powder to Pujiang and I saw with my own eyes the scene of them boiling hydrogen fluoride. They did use a large reaction vessel, put fluorite and sulfuric acid in, stirred it with a shovel, and then covered it to react.”

"No way!"

Gao Fan was dumbfounded. He learned about this old story when he was looking at materials from his later years, and he felt that the so-called "cooking in a big pot" was just an exaggerated method habitually used by the older generation, just like an old marshal said that the U2 plane was brought down with a bamboo pole.

To everyone's surprise, when he told Xu Ying this story, Xu Ying actually said that she was a witness and that it was indeed cooked in a large pot at the time.

It's important to know that both sulfuric acid, the raw material, and hydrogen fluoride, the finished product, are strong acids that can disperse in the air. China's first generation of fluorochemical workers produced the first batch of hydrogen fluoride needed for the atomic bomb project in this highly acidic atmosphere.

"What's this?" Xu Ying saw through Gao Fan's thoughts, and she just smiled faintly. "The hardships we endured back then are unimaginable to you. Let's not talk about this anymore. Go on, what do you know about the fluorochemical industry?"

Gao Fan calmed himself down and continued, "From the mid-50s to the late 70s, our country's fluorochemical industry achieved many breakthroughs, mastering the production technologies for anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, fluorinated refrigerants, polytetrafluoroethylene resin, fluororubber, and various fine fluorochemical products. The main problems were small production scale, immature technology, and incomplete system."

“Starting in the 80s, the fluorochemical industry expanded rapidly from military to civilian use. The development of the refrigerator industry, in particular, drove the growth in demand for fluorinated refrigerants, leading many regions to build small and medium-sized fluorinated refrigerant production enterprises based on their local fluorite resources. For example, Yanxiu County, which you just mentioned, I know they built a refrigerant plant two years ago, with an annual production capacity of only a few hundred tons.” “The production capacity is 1000 tons each of hydrofluoric acid and F22, but the actual output isn't that high. Two years ago, they only produced 200 tons of F22, with a value of 300 million yuan,” Xu Ying added, supplementing Gao Fan's data. Having come from the Chemical Industry Bureau, she was very familiar with the situation within the province's chemical system.

Gao Fan nodded and continued, following Xu Ying's lead, "Yanxiu's situation is a microcosm of the domestic fluorochemical industry. Generally speaking, there are many companies, but they are small in scale and generally operate below capacity, with output far below production capacity. In terms of technology, apart from a few companies that have imported equipment from abroad, most of them have low technical levels and a lot of waste in the production process."

"You've summarized it very well." Xu Ying looked at Gao Fan with satisfaction and asked, "What, Xiao Fan, have you specifically researched this industry? Canghai Chemical isn't intentionally getting involved in this industry, is it?"

Gao Fan said, "Aunt Xu guessed right. Our group does want to get involved in this industry, partly because Yanxiu has fluorite mines. The refrigerant plant they're currently running has such outdated production technology; it's a complete waste of resources. We're considering merging that plant with them."

Xu Ying smiled and said, "If you want to merge, then merge. I believe that with your company's technical strength, if you can merge with Yanxiu's refrigerant plant, you can definitely transform the plant."

Gao Fan asked, "Aunt Xu, you're asking me about fluorochemicals so seriously, you don't mean you want me to merge with Yanxiu's refrigerant plant, do you?"

“Of course not,” Xu Ying said. “If it were just such a small matter, a phone call would have been enough. Yanxiu’s factory has total assets of less than 300 million yuan, which is not worth troubling President Gao to make a special trip for.

Gao Fan was sweating profusely and said with a bitter face, "Aunt Xu, if I have made any mistakes, please feel free to criticize me, even hit me, but please don't make sarcastic remarks like this. My little heart really can't take it."

"Is there anything else you can't stand?" Xu Ying laughed heartily, and after laughing, she said, "The matter of Yanxiu, I only thought of it when we were talking about it just now. I called you over because I wanted to hear your thoughts on the entire fluorochemical industry."

"Some time ago, we organized a group of people to sort out the situation of various industries in China and listed hundreds of industries that need to be focused on, and fluorochemicals is one of them."

"Fluorochemicals is only a small part of the entire chemical industry, but it is related to national defense and security as well as many cutting-edge high-tech fields. As you said, the current situation is that there are many small-scale enterprises with outdated technology. There is a general concern that once China successfully resumes GATT accession, the fluorochemical market will be impacted by foreign countries, and the existing system may not be able to survive."

Gao Fan said, "If the country doesn't do anything, such an industry will definitely be squeezed out by foreign countries. However, I believe that the country will definitely not allow such a thing to happen."

"Of course, the country cannot allow the fluorochemical industry to be squeezed out by foreign countries. This is also an important aspect related to whether our country's industrial chain can maintain its independence and control. However, as I just said, there are hundreds of industries that require key domestic attention, and the State Economic and Trade Commission cannot have so much energy to support the fluorochemical industry, so..."

As Xu Ying finished speaking, she gave Gao Fan a meaningful look.

(End of this chapter)