Chapter 277 Officially promote the industrial production of urea?
The people from the Chinese Academy of Sciences had only one reaction: If it’s a mule or a horse, take it out for a ride and install the equipment for me!

For them, there will be no judgment or emotion until something is confirmed to be a fact.

As someone from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, I've seen a lot of strange things. When I get something, I first doubt it, and then I look at other things.

In this way, the 12th Ministry of Machine Building and the Chinese Academy of Sciences simultaneously began to test single crystal silicon rods. The former was to figure out how to use them, and the latter was to find out whether they were genuine.

The situation for the 17th Ministry of Machine Building is simple. They are in contact with the first two companies. This time they plan to wait for their confirmation and make a joint announcement after arranging related matters.

However, this takes some time. Gao Zhendong and his team pulled the single crystals on Saturday and worked overtime all night to complete the testing on Monday. Not to mention that the inspection items of the 12th Ministry of Machine Building and the Chinese Academy of Sciences may not be the same as theirs. It can be said that the items tested by Gao Zhendong and his team must also be tested by these two companies, but the points they are interested in may not be within the scope of the third rolling mill.

Therefore, the projects that these two companies need to test are generally more than those of Gao Zhendong and his team, and it will take more time than one day to complete them.
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At this time, a report from a certain chemical research institute had been delivered to the desk of the leader of the Ministry of Applied Chemistry.

The title of the report is self-explanatory - "Report on Recommendations for Promoting the Construction of Industrial Urea Plants."

The person who submitted the report was Mr. Xiang from a certain chemical research institute and their director.

The leader of the Department of Applied Chemistry read the report and looked up to consult the two of them.

"Director Hu, Engineer Xiang, I remember that according to the original plan, the trial period of this urea industrial production pilot project has not yet expired. Will there be any problems if you rush to promote it now? What are your considerations for promoting the urea plant ahead of schedule?"

The concerns of the leaders of the Ministry of Chemical Industry are not unreasonable. Once promoted, it will be rolled out on a large scale and all urea plants will be built according to the existing test results.

If there is any problem with the results, the loss will be huge. As for urea plants, every province is eager to build one or two, or piles of them. If we want to make changes at that time, it will be difficult, with great losses and wide-ranging impact, and the responsibility will be extremely heavy.

Chief Hu did not push Xiang forward, but took on the task himself: "Leader, you have seen the agricultural situation in the past two years. It is really urgent. Although one is water and the other is fertilizer, at least we can solve one of them first."

The leader nodded and said, "Regarding this aspect, the comrades from the agricultural sector have indeed proposed it to us many times, hoping to start the popularization and construction of urea plants as soon as possible. However, we must be scientific in this matter and cannot force it because of the situation. So you have to be responsible from a professional perspective when you make this suggestion. Of course, all the responsibility does not lie with you, that is our business, but you must provide us with sufficiently professional and objective opinions."

Mr. Xiang reported to the leader sincerely: "Leader, we have considered this matter and conducted careful testing and in-depth analysis of the situation of the test production line. We believe that the conditions are basically mature, so we put forward this proposal report."

The leader of the Department of Applied Chemistry looked at him and said, "You are in charge of technology, so please analyze it carefully for me. I can't read the entire report at the moment, so please tell me the most important things first."

I sorted out my thoughts and tried to make my words sound more coherent: "Leader, this is it. First of all, judging from the operation of the urea industrial pilot production line, this process is mature, and basically achieves the effect of easy access to raw materials, low cost, high speed, and stable production capacity and quality. Regarding this point, our institute is confident after conducting a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the production situation of the pilot line."

The leader of the Department of Applied Chemistry nodded: "Well, in this regard, I believe you are confident, that is to say, the problem of urea production itself has been solved."

Mr. Xiang said, "Yes, leader. If we haven't solved this problem, we won't dare to make this suggestion. On the other hand, it's the production line itself."

The leader of the Department of Applied Chemistry said: "The most important thing in verifying the durability, maintainability, and cost of the production line is durability. The cost is known from the beginning. It is not unusable if the maintainability is a little poor, but durability is the key to whether the production line can be truly promoted. If parts need to be replaced every few days, it is no joke."

To replace the main equipment of a chemical plant, it is not possible to just transport a few steel plates over and weld them together. The towers and kettles in the chemical plant must all be produced in specialized factories and then transported as a whole to the destination for installation.

In the days to come, it was common to see large-scale transport trucks pulling various thick and long jars and cans at a snail's pace on the highway, with a lead vehicle in front and an escort vehicle behind. There were also large words "XX Large Items" written on the main vehicle. A considerable number of them were transporting chemical equipment, and therefore they were given the name "Modern Bodyguards". They were also one of the few large trucks that dared to openly dismantle toll stations.

Not to mention that these days, there are simply no such good roads.

Therefore, the replacement of chemical main equipment is a very troublesome matter. If the main components cannot reach the design life, it is better not to build it. The loss is unbearable. Mr. Xiang continued the leader's words: "Leader, we have also conducted a certain degree of verification on this matter and have corresponding considerations."

The leader was a little confused: "How do we verify this? This is the most time-consuming part to verify, but up to now, the time is obviously not enough. How long has the trial run been going on?"

President Xiang said: "We used a local method to place the main material of the production line, that is, the urea steel provided by the 17th Ministry of Machinery, in a test environment that is more severe than the actual production environment to accelerate its corrosion and aging, so as to simulate the corrosion and damage process of the main material of the production line during its design life."

The leader thought about it and felt that their approach made sense, so he asked, "So what were the results of your experiment?"

If the simulation results are not good, then everything is over. If the simulation results are good, then there is the possibility and basis for further demonstration.

Although the simulation results should be very optimistic based on the institute's initiative to promote it in advance, the leaders still want to hear a definite answer.

President Xiang opened the proposal report, turned to one of the pages, and introduced it to the leader: "The results are here, and the situation is very good. The material studied by the Beijing Third Steel Rolling Mill has very good corrosion resistance under our special conditions. At the same time, the production quality of the Beijing Steel Mill is also very good. The material consistency is very good, and there is no sudden deterioration or accelerated corrosion."

The leader was relieved when he heard this: "That is to say, the changes of this material in the production environment can be predicted and calculated relatively accurately. And its corrosion resistance also fully meets your requirements?"

Director Hu nodded and said, "Yes, sir. Since this special steel is produced domestically, the price is relatively low. This leaves us a lot of room for cost. When we designed the production line, we gave it enough redundancy. Now it seems that this redundancy is sufficient."

Providing sufficient redundancy is also a traditional means of units such as design institutes and research institutes. Even in the future, when all industries have relatively complete standards and specifications, design institutes and research institutes often add an "insurance factor" on the basis of standard requirements when designing projects. In short, they are determined not to take the blame.

Construction projects are the most common among them. Even in the era when shoddy workmanship was most rampant in construction projects, not many major incidents occurred, and redundant design played a role in this.

As for later on, cutting corners became less common, as the construction contractors were much more sophisticated than such low-level tactics.

"In other words, you think the existing design is ready for promotion and construction?"

"Yes, in addition to the several most important issues just mentioned, combined with other relevant conditions, we believe that the conditions for promotion and construction are basically mature. If we start promoting it now, some areas can even catch up with this year's late rice."

In China's grain-producing areas, the south of the Yangtze River generally has two to three crops a year, while the north has begun to transition to two crops a year, three crops in two years, and one crop a year. But in general, the number of areas with two to three crops is also relatively large.

The leader of the Department of Applied Chemistry asked another question: "If we promote it now, will the steel mills be able to produce it in time?"

Hu reported: "It's still in time. At least the gap is not big. After the first batch of urea steel was produced and provided to us by Beijing Iron and Steel Plant and Beijing Third Steel Rolling Plant, they have already transferred the production technology to major steel companies. In addition, the 17th Ministry of Machinery arranged for major steel companies to continue to produce a large amount of urea steel during our trial period. Now a large batch has been accumulated."

President Xiang recalled something Gao Zhendong had said to him, and added: "According to the introduction of the comrades from the Beijing No. 3 Steel Rolling Plant, these steels have just used this period of time to release some of their stress, and the quality has improved."

In fact, the stock of urea steel is not as much as they imagined, because a considerable portion of it has been exported, but there is no shortage if needed.

After listening to the two people's words, the leader of the Ministry of Applied Chemistry thought for a long time: "In your opinion, from a technical point of view, the industrial production of urea is indeed fully qualified for promotion?"

Chief Hu and President Xiang looked at each other and answered in unison, "Yes, we are sure."

The leader of the Department of Applied Chemistry made up his mind: "In this case, the department will arrange the next process. You will wait in Beijing for a few days."

(End of this chapter)