Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1468 Color? No! (4k)

As soon as Gao Zhendong returned to his workplace, he was greeted by Comrade Lao Pan and the chief engineer of their research institute.

"Committee Member Gao, we're here again, hahaha." Old Pan was quite familiar with Gao Zhendong and felt very comfortable around him.

He now completely understands Gao Zhendong's mindset. As long as he does things seriously, everything is fine. His usual behavior and words are not a problem and he can be very casual.

After all, it's rare to see someone so dedicated to their own growth, repeatedly setting aside time for themselves. Even if the total time spent is the same, changing plans multiple times is inherently a very troublesome process.

"It's good that you're here, haha. How was it? Did you get anything?"

There will definitely be gains, it's just a matter of degree, after all, Lao Pan and General Manager Wei are both senior researchers at the ministry's directly affiliated research institute.

Listening to Gao Zhendong's words, the two men felt that Committee Member Gao seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood today. Although he was usually in a good mood, today he had an inexplicable feeling of joy and excitement.

Is this some major breakthrough in some research area?
Compared to these unknown challenges, Pan and his colleague felt that what they were facing was nothing in comparison.

But as the old saying goes, even a small mosquito is still meat.

Thinking of this, Pan and his colleague's spirits rose again.

"I've made some progress and was just about to report it to you," Old Pan said with a smile.

I wouldn't say I gained a lot, given the limited time, and it wouldn't be very appropriate to say I gained a lot in front of Committee Member Gao.

"That's good. Come on, let's talk and exchange ideas," Gao Zhendong said.

Engineer Pan nodded: "We're considering using a similar approach to that of meta-aramid, low-temperature solvent polymerization. We're familiar with this approach, starting with carbon fiber, and we have some experience with it. Moreover, you've given us a lot of inspiration regarding meta-aramid. This approach should be relatively easy to follow."

Meta-aramid and para-aramid have some differences, but they are also related and similar. Theoretically, they share common polymerization methods.

"Hmm...that should be about right. To be more specific, for solvent polymerization, which solvent are you planning to use?"

In solvent polymerization, the most important element is the solvent.

"We'll still choose the one you mentioned, an amide solvent, and then add a certain amount of calcium chloride as a neutralizing agent." Old Pan wasn't embarrassed at all about copying him. "I have the shoulders of giants to lean on, aren't you envious?"

Gao Zhendong nodded: "Hmm, that's feasible. It's essentially the same approach as meta-aramid. But have you decided which amide solvent to use?"

At this point, Engineer Pan's emotions noticeably rose.

"After careful consideration, our General Manager Wei finally selected N-methylpyrrolidone, a five-membered cyclic amide. General Manager Wei analyzed it and found it to be very suitable for this application."

The reason for his high spirits is that they have found a suitable polymerization solvent for the production of para-aramid through their own efforts.

The determination of this solvent, apart from amides which Gao Zhendong had proposed long ago, was something they found themselves. After all, there are many amide solvents, and determining which one to use is not an easy task these days.

This greatly boosted their confidence.

Especially for General Manager Wei, in this matter, he can finally hold his head high in front of Lao Pan. Organic chemistry, you still have to look to me.

Gao Zhendong was surprised. It must be said that as long as the comrades have enough background information, they are quite able to keep up with the mainstream.

"Hmm, this is good. Hmm... it can already be synthesized industrially?" The ability to synthesize this solvent industrially is a prerequisite for mass production of para-aramid using this route. After all, it is common for solvent consumption to exceed that of raw materials during mass production, and these solvents may not even be recyclable.

Mr. Wei shook his head: "Not yet. We're thinking of figuring out the process route for para-aramid first, and then going back to study the industrial production technology of N-methylpyrrolidone."

Speaking of this, they have to admire Gao Zhendong. When he was researching meta-aramids, he used solvents that were already capable of industrial production. They didn't have this ability to handle multiple aspects with ease.

Gao Zhendong nodded. This thing isn't used much right now, so it's not surprising that there's no mass production process. However, Gao Zhendong didn't plan to let them slowly research it; it would be too much of a waste of time.

In terms of main tasks, we can let our comrades learn more from our experience, and we won't have as much time to waste on these secondary issues.

Even when it came to training comrades, Gao Zhendong still had certain things he wouldn't do.

He didn't give his comrades any time and went straight to the point: "You can react γ-butyrolactone with methylamine to produce 4-hydroxy-N-methyl-butyramide, and then dehydrate and cyclize it to get N-methylpyrrolidone. Note that the reaction temperature is 230~300℃ and the pressure is 4~6 MPa. The yield will be increased by about 2 times the amount of methylamine."

This information is from the documentation; after all, it follows the same route, and the documentation is quite comprehensive in its preparation. This method is precisely the industrial production process for N-methylpyrrolidone that will be used decades later.

Gao Zhendong's words caused the two comrades to look at each other with an overwhelming sense of surprise.

This sentence, totaling less than 100 words, clearly outlines the raw materials, conditions, and precautions for the industrial-scale production of N-methylpyrrolidone. While further development is needed, it already points to a promising path.

We've only just selected this product, and you've already figured out the industrial synthesis process in the blink of an eye? That's incredibly fast! It's almost unbelievable.

Seeing that they couldn't even speak, Gao Zhendong smiled and explained, "Well, we have the same idea, so before this, I had already considered the industrial synthesis process of N-methylpyrrolidone."

This explanation was enough to bring the two comrades back to their senses; it was at least somewhat plausible.

Human thinking speed has its limits, but it seems normal that people might coincidentally think of the same thing and prepare in advance.

In any case, the two of them believed it; otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why, just a second ago, Committee Member Gao had confidently presented the mass production process.

As for whether this mass production process is reliable, the two tend to think it is. After all, Gao's achievements speak for themselves, and countless past facts show that the probability of it being reliable is very high.

"Okay, we'll organize our comrades to give it a try when we get back."

Old Pan and General Manager Wei were overjoyed, not only because they might have found an industrial synthesis process for N-methylpyrrolidone, but even more so because they had the same idea as Gao Zhendong regarding the polymerization method for para-aramid raw materials. Everyone thought the same way, especially Committee Member Gao, so it seemed this path held great promise.

"Well, the remaining issue is spinning. In this regard, you can combine your experience with carbon fiber precursor and meta-aramid."

The two comrades nodded repeatedly. Spinning and polymerization are actually two different things. Given the similarity and connection between para-aramid and meta-aramid, their spinning processes, while not exactly the same, can at least be considered quite similar, with many commonalities. Just like their polymerization processes are also very similar.

"Yes, what we're considering now is the synthesis of high-purity raw materials. This should be the only remaining challenge."

The purity of raw materials is crucial to product quality. For example, meta-aramid uses m-phenylenediamine and isophthaloyl chloride, while para-aramid uses p-phenylenediamine and terephthaloyl chloride.

The production of high-purity products from these two raw materials is, in fact, a formidable challenge for our comrades.

At this point, the two comrades looked at Gao Zhendong with expectant eyes. Since you have considered the industrial mass production of the solvent, the two of them could guess with their own eyes that you must have considered the two raw materials as well.

Of course, considering something doesn't guarantee success, but at least it gives you some hope.

Seeing the look in their eyes, Gao Zhendong laughed and said, "I do have an answer, you know what."

"I've thought about it. I believe that p-phenylenediamine can be prepared by nitration reduction of aniline. As for terephthaloyl chloride, you might have to trouble yourself to use interfacial polycondensation and finally vacuum distillation to obtain a high-purity product."

Although the words were few, they sounded significant to the two comrades. With just those two sentences, they had a direction to strive for; while no specific details were provided, that was no longer a problem for them.

This is similar to solving a quadratic equation. The formula has already been given to you; the specific values ​​of the parameters a, b, and c are no longer important. Any competent middle school student can solve it. Of course, the presence of imaginary roots is a different matter.

While these two methods are much more complicated than this example, they are essentially the same.

"Interface condensation method?" Engineer Pan was a little confused. What the hell is this?

General Manager Wei laughed. At this moment, it was still the old fox who had the shrewdness: "This is a new method from the late 50s. It's normal that you don't know it, but I do. Committee Member Gao, I understand."

Hearing that General Manager Wei knew about this method, Gao Zhendong was relieved.

"That's good. Then I'll take a break and not go into details. Comrades, let's go back and study the specific implementation."

"No problem." At this moment, General Manager Wei felt like he was revitalizing an old tree, and his mood couldn't be more cheerful: "Polymerization? You can't do it. Spinning? I can't do it either. Old Pan, could you make para-aramid? Please help me!"

Gao Zhendong felt something was off about what he was hearing; it sounded vaguely familiar.

But that's not important. What's important is that, like many other projects, this matter has been handed over to someone we can trust.

"Well, those are the main issues for now. As for any other problems, we'll address them as we conduct our research," Gao Zhendong said with a smile.

"Okay." President Wei was very satisfied. Although the trip was short, it was definitely worthwhile. Not only did they determine the technical route, but they also solved several major difficulties in mass production ahead of schedule.

However, Lao Pan's matter was not over yet; he still had a small problem.

"Committee Member Gao, there are no problems with aramid for the time being, but we are facing difficulties with carbon fiber. We would like to ask you to coordinate with relevant units to provide us with some support." Since we're already here, let's not forget that Lao Pan hasn't neglected his work on carbon fiber either.

It's good to have problems; what's worse is when there are no problems. As a new product, the probability of everything going smoothly is not high, especially if you haven't delved into the details.

"Tell me, and I'll try my best to coordinate a solution."

"We need a method and instrument to detect the degree of pre-oxidation of the precursor fiber. We have some ideas, theories and techniques, but we can't implement them into an automatic detection device. We are not familiar enough with electronics, so we would like to ask you to coordinate with relevant colleagues to give us some support. It is difficult to judge the degree of pre-oxidation now. The degree of pre-oxidation of the precursor fiber can only be controlled as much as possible through the previous process. In fact, it depends on a bit of luck, which leads to some instability in the quality of carbonized carbon fiber."

Pre-oxidation is a crucial step in carbon fiber production that significantly impacts quality, so it's not surprising that they have this requirement.

Gao Zhendong nodded: "No problem. I'll write you a note later. Go find Section Chief Fang from the Technical Department of our Third Factory. She'll help you solve it."

Fang Yinghong, with her extensive experience in this area, is perfectly suited to solve this problem.

Engineer Pan was overjoyed; these shoulders were truly sturdy! In reality, what a research leader needs to do is just these things: determine the direction, solve problems, and provide resources. As for the specific tasks, he doesn't actually need to do too much.

“Great! Write me a note now, and I’ll go find her as soon as I leave your office.”

With a rather impatient nature, Gao Zhendong smiled and took out paper and pen, writing a note as he said, "Do you want me to give you a way to make do with judging the degree of pre-oxidation before we have testing equipment?"

"Huh? There's this unexpected bonus?" Engineer Pan was so happy he didn't know what to say.

Before this, he had indeed not expected to get Gao Zhendong's help in this regard, after all, this matter was too small and too trivial.

But since Committee Member Gao has already spoken, it would be foolish not to accept.

"Really? That's wonderful! Committee Member Gao, do you have any equipment here that can be used temporarily? We'd like to borrow it."

Unexpectedly, Gao Zhendong shook his head: "No equipment is needed."

"No equipment needed?" That's strange. Even if the filaments are bundled together, it would be difficult to determine the pre-oxidation status without equipment.

"Committee Member Gao, the color of the pre-oxidized fiber doesn't show any characteristic change with the degree of pre-oxidation." Could it be due to color? If no equipment is needed, that's the most likely explanation. But the color of the pre-oxidized fiber doesn't seem to follow any special pattern.

Gao Zhendong laughed: "If color doesn't work, we can use flame color, hahaha."

(End of this chapter)