Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 86 Earth Fire (Part 1) (Bonus Chapter for 1000 Monthly Tickets)

Liu Xin stood in front of the entrance to the coal mine that once belonged to Miao Fuquan.

This coal mine was formerly known by the local workers as the "Blind Man's Mine." As the name suggests, the coal seams inside the small mine were extremely narrow; a significant portion of the coalfields required workers to crawl in, and without lights, even rats would struggle to navigate. Therefore, it was called the "Blind Man's Mine."

Now, this coal mine, with reserves of no more than 3 tons, has a new name with a somber tone.

Experimental Mine No. 1 for gasification of coal.

This coal mine has three key characteristics. First, it was inexpensive; as a small, privately-owned mine that had been under contract for 20 years, Liu Xin easily acquired the mining rights with only 2 million yuan in special funds. Second, the coal content was relatively concentrated, making it suitable for pilot projects of coal gasification. Third, the No. 1 mine was sufficiently far from nearby large coal seams; this relatively independent mine ensured that the coal gasification experiment remained within a controllable range, preventing uncontrollable accidents due to experimental failures.

Given that many industrial facilities still require fuels similar to oil and natural gas to fill their ecological niches, coal gasification experiments are necessary after thorough technical demonstrations and preliminary preparations.

Although the Chinese Academy of Sciences just announced a major breakthrough in controlled nuclear fusion a couple of days ago, the popularization of the technology will take time, and there are still two challenges facing controlled nuclear fusion in the coming years.

First, miniaturization of controlled nuclear fusion.

Second, the commercialization of controlled nuclear fusion.

Until then, coal gasification can temporarily fill the gap between [traditional energy] and [controlled nuclear fusion], since the cars on the streets are still fuel-powered, and their engines still need to burn fuel.
In addition, there are indeed enough coal seams in the Northwest region, and the global energy structure based on coal cannot be significantly adjusted in the short term.

Liu Xin stood in front of the No. 1 experimental coal gasification mine.

Before him, all kinds of operational facilities were fully prepared, and the high-temperature, high-pressure generator for gasifying the coal was ready to start. The coal gasification work will begin from the middle of the coal seam. After the 30,000 tons of coal in Mine No. 1 are completely gasified, only a single pipe needs to be inserted to continuously transport the gasified coal to various factories in the form of natural gas, to fulfill the final mission of the coal—burning, releasing solidified carbon, and participating in this carbon cycle that is 400 million years overdue.

As for negative impacts like global warming, these were not within Liu Xin's considerations. In fact, since the crisis era, humanity has lost much interest in environmental protection. If it weren't for the Wallfacer's persistent advocacy for afforestation, the Earth's ecosystem would probably have collapsed by half long ago.

The premise of protecting the Earth's environment is—

The Earth still belongs to humans.

If we ultimately fail to withstand the invasion of the Trisolarans, wouldn't all the good ecological protection be for nothing?

Another reason that compelled Liu Xin to rush into the coal gasification experiment was that the breakthrough in controlled nuclear fusion was happening too quickly. The people at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and that physicist named Ding Yi, actually managed to achieve controlled nuclear fusion within three years.

Ding Yi's speed was too fast; besides Liu Xin, Zhang Beihai had also remarked on this.

Liu Xin knew that she didn't have much time left.

If we fail to seize the opportunity during the transition from petroleum energy to nuclear energy, then coal will completely disappear from the stage of human history.

This was clearly unacceptable to Liu Xin. He could not allow the business that his father had worked so hard for all his life and ultimately risked his life for to vanish into nothingness in his hands, not even making a ripple in the long river of history.

“Chief Engineer Liu.” Deputy Director Zhang of the Ministry of Energy stood in front of Liu Xin. “In the past, the coal industry was a typical sunset industry, an outdated industry. If it hadn’t caught the wave of the depletion of oil resources, it would have been impossible for it to occupy more than 50% of the world’s energy supply today. This was a glorious moment in the history of the coal industry, but also a fleeting moment. However, I still believe that since the coal gasification technology is not yet mature, it is best to wait two more months before starting coal gasification work.”

“We can’t wait any longer, Deputy Director Zhang.” Liu Xin said, “Didn’t you see the news? Controlled nuclear fusion technology has made a breakthrough. Considering that controlled nuclear fusion miniaturization and commercialization will still take 20 years, this 20-year window is the last chance for the coal industry.”

“After this, traditional energy will be completely phased out of history.” Liu Xin pointed to the busy coal miners outside the No. 1 coal gasification pilot mine and said, “There are still millions of coal miners in the country. If I succeed in this job, the jobs of these millions of people can be preserved. In the current situation of economic stagnation and high unemployment rate, do you know what it means for this society to have millions of unemployed coal miners?”

“Moreover,” Liu Xin emphasized, “once controlled nuclear fusion becomes widespread, the entire Ministry of Energy, including yourself, will be phased out. I am extending your political life. You are in this high position; you should see this very clearly.” “Yes, I see it very clearly,” Deputy Director Zhang said. “I’m just a little worried. There have been quite a few news reports about coal seam fires in recent years, and once a coal seam in gasification has a problem, it’s a major problem that can’t be extinguished.”

"That's why I chose this 3-ton blind mine to conduct pilot work."

"However, we have not yet deployed acoustic equipment to thoroughly scan the coal seam area of ​​Experimental Mine No. 1, and we cannot rule out the possibility that this coal mine is connected to other coal mines."

Liu Xin said, "You don't need to worry about that. The nearest large coal mine is hundreds of kilometers away from Mine No. 1. Underground in the coal city, there is no precedent in the world for a coal seam that extends for hundreds of kilometers. It is an isolated system. Even if a problem occurs, we have enough manpower and resources to control and solve it."

“Chief Engineer Liu, your family has been in the coal industry for three generations, and you are an expert in coal gasification. Logically, I should trust you, but I still feel this is too hasty…”

“I will take responsibility for all the orders I give, you don’t need to worry about that,” Liu Xin said confidently.

The process of gasifying coal is not complicated.

The first step was to drill through the coal seam. Liu Xin had a batch of oilfield drilling rigs brought in. These oilfield drilling rigs, which had been rendered useless several years ago, started up again after being filled with enough fuel and lubricating oil. But drilling was only the first step.

Secondly, a large number of sensors are deployed inside the coal seam to detect data in various areas of the coal seam, and to monitor the specific changes in the coal seam in subsequent experiments.

Third, the most crucial step in implementing coal gasification is to induce biochemical effects in the coal seam due to high temperature and high pressure.

This sounds a bit complicated, but it's actually the simplest step, which can be explained in four words.

Oxygen-free combustion.

Unlike coal that burns red-hot under low pressure and oxygen, the combustion process involving injecting large amounts of inert gas causes a significant accumulation of heat within the coal seam, which cannot dissipate in the dense underground environment. This directly leads to a rapid increase in the coal seam temperature. However, because coal cannot burn in an oxygen-free environment, the solid coal under high temperature and pressure undergoes a sublimation effect similar to that of ice.

Although the coal seam in this condition will transform into a gaseous state containing a large number of impurities, no chemical change will occur. Its chemical properties remain a complex gaseous mixture containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur, mixed with molecular clusters composed of various organic and inorganic compounds. If we insist on using chemical formulas to represent this mixture, we can use some empirical formulas or simplified representation methods, such as using C{n}H{m}O{x}N{y}S{z} to generally represent the composition of organic components in coal. However, the values ​​of n, m, x, y, and z will vary greatly depending on factors such as the type of coal and its origin.

In this state, the coal has completed the initial gasification process, which is a macroscopic physical change.

Fourth, chemical changes are about to begin, and the work of gasifying coal has penetrated into the electron exchange level of the outer electron layer.

After coal undergoes sublimation and gasification, water is immediately injected into the gasified coal seam. Under high temperature and pressure, the water vapor reacts with the gasified coal in the following chemical reactions: carbon reacts with water to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen; carbon reacts with water to produce carbon dioxide and hydrogen; then carbon reacts with carbon dioxide to produce carbon monoxide; and carbon monoxide reacts with water to produce carbon dioxide and hydrogen. This cyclical chemical reaction under high temperature and pressure produces combustible gases similar to water gas, with hydrogen and carbon monoxide being the main combustible gases, accounting for 50% and 30% respectively. (Note: This section uses data from the original text, which contains serious chemical calculation errors, and the reaction cannot proceed; please do not take it literally.)
Fifth, the gasified coal is exported and transported throughout the country via pipelines.

Thus, the process of gasifying coal is completed.

The plots of the premium chapters are relatively independent, mostly existing as expansions and supplements to the world-building. However, correspondingly, the quality of premium chapters is also higher than that of ordinary chapters, considering the intricate and complex background and plot of Liu Cixin's universe. These premium chapters essentially exist as a form of "interlude," and are indispensable.

Furthermore, premium chapters do not count towards the normal update word count and will appear as bonus chapters. If readers still find this annoying, I will make premium chapters free in the future.

Please forgive me, dear readers, and be patient with this book. I promise that the key climax will make you feel incredibly excited.

If you don't enjoy it, I'll break your back.

Orz
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(End of this chapter)