novelraw Chapter 52 The news spread, causing a sensation in the steel industry!
Chapter 52 The news spread, causing a sensation in the steel industry!
After Zhang Guoqiang left, Lin Yu operated the system for a long time.
After several wasted attempts with reagents, we finally succeeded in extracting a host of rare earth metals from the slag.
The finished products are in the form of various compounds, not unstable elements, and therefore are not toxic.
I carefully put these things away.
When Lin Yu stepped outside, he saw a small hill made of titanium dioxide and vanadium pentoxide, with silver-gray and orange-yellow hues surrounding a group of people.
The workers surrounded the pile of treasures, their eyes shining brighter than light bulbs.
They clicked their tongues in amazement, and when Lin Yu came out, they greeted him warmly one by one.
After giving a brief response, Lin Yu didn't have much time to appreciate the results.
Seeing Zhang Guoqiang waving at him from afar, he quickly walked over.
The two met secretly, and Zhang Guoqiang handed over a material receipt, which listed various chemical raw materials such as P204 and hydroxylamine hydrochloride.
Zhang Guoqiang then added that there was not much stock on the market and that they were urgently transferring supplies from Tianjin.
Lin Yu glanced at the list and nodded.
"That's enough, let's get the rare earth pipeline running first."
He turned to face the key workers who had gathered around him; they were the ones who had learned the skills the fastest and operated the equipment the most steadily the night before.
Sun Qingnian, the production section chief, stood at the front, holding a small pinch of freshly purified titanium dioxide powder in his hand; his dark fingers were stained white.
"Section Chief Sun, take two people to re-test the magnetic separator in Workshop No. 3."
Lin Yu's voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable authority.
"Turn the frequency to the setting I marked yesterday, and the error cannot exceed plus or minus 5 Hz."
Looking at Sun Qingnian, Lin Yu emphasized the issue of frequency several times.
"Alright!"
Sun Qingnian readily agreed and turned to leave.
But halfway there, I couldn't help but turn back and ask again.
"Factory manager, that magnetic separator is amazing! We've used similar equipment before, so why didn't we find it could pick up these treasures?"
Lin Yu inwardly cheered, just waiting for someone to come and ask. But his face remained impassive.
"Ordinary magnetic separators can only separate iron. I improved the oscillation circuit and magnetic field generator, which can perform directional adsorption of different elements based on their paramagnetism."
He deliberately used a bunch of technical terms that were half true and half false.
What changes in the magnetic susceptibility of a mineral within a magnetic field of different frequencies? What magnetic field changes alter the properties of electric current and rearrange the electron sequence?
Finally, the chemical pretreatment was mentioned only briefly, with the explanation that it consisted of oxidants, disinfectants, and cleaning agents to remove the sand.
The workers were confused, but they all believed it without a doubt.
This is completely incomprehensible; the final interpretation rests solely with Lin Yu.
Besides, the result is clear.
Would Director Lin, who is good at making money, lie to them?
"By the way..."
Lin Yu added
"Starting today, everyone entering the extraction workshop must register. The disinfectant extraction area will be handled by the people I brought."
"They are all college graduates, so they won't make any mistakes in preparing the disinfectant."
"Otherwise, a single incorrect formulation could waste a large amount of chemicals."
Sun Qingnian didn't suspect anything, nodded, and turned to leave.
Liu Jianguo nodded repeatedly from the side.
"Of course, of course!"
"Professional matters should be addressed by professionals."
A few days later...
Apart from having dinner with Song Shu and Professor Song's wife on New Year's Day and watching the Spring Festival Gala together, Lin Yu spent the rest of his time busy at the factory.
Even on the day of the Spring Festival, they rushed to Professor Song's house at 8 pm. Feeling sorry for Lin Yu, Song Shu piled up all of Lin Yu's bowls into a tall tower.
He even opened a bottle of wine, intending to drink with Lin Yu until they were both completely drunk, hoping to make Lin Yu rest properly by getting him drunk.
But Song Shu had never drunk any alcohol before, and was no match for Lin Yu. She got drunk in just a few cups and was unconscious.
Lin Yu found it amusing and quietly stayed at Song Shu's house until Song Shu woke up the next morning. He then proved to her that he had slept well at home before getting into his car and leaving.
In the last few days, the news spread like wildfire.
In less than three days, the news spread throughout the Beijing steel industry that the new young factory manager of the Red Star No. 2 Factory had somehow managed to extract treasures from steel slag using some kind of unorthodox technique!
One ton of scrap steel slag can generate tens of thousands of yuan in profit.
The first to get restless was the neighboring Red Star Factory No. 1.
Both are subsidiaries of Beigang Group, but Plant 1 is twice the size of Plant 2 and has much newer equipment.
But right after the New Year, factory director Zhou Dakun had to listen to the production department report on the previous month's losses in his office.
"What? That dilapidated factory, Factory No. 2, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, has turned its fortunes around by selling steel slag?"
Zhou Dakun slammed the ceramic jar in his hand down with a loud crash.
"Nonsense! If steel slag were useful, I'd write my name backwards!"
Li Weimin, the head of the production department, adjusted his glasses.
"Director Zhou, it's true. My brother-in-law's trucking team took on a task to transport steel slag to the Second Factory."
"The steel slag only goes in and doesn't come out; you can't see where they put it at all."
"Yesterday he personally saw the shiny metal powder piled up in the warehouse of the No. 2 factory."
"I heard it's called titanium dioxide, and a ton of it can sell for 6!"
Upon hearing this number, Zhou Dakun's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"Sixty thousand?!"
"Where did they get their technology?"
Lin Weimin lowered his voice, lifted the document to cover his face, and whispered.
"They said he was brought by the new factory manager. He seems to be a top student from Beijing University of Finance and Economics, named something like Lin Yu."
"I asked my brother-in-law to inquire about it. The key thing is a modified magnetic separator, which is said to be able to identify different metals."
Zhou Dakun frowned and thought about the magnetic separator in his factory.
"Don't we have two machines in our factory? We just bought them from Germany last year, so can we also extract steel slag from them?"
"Let's go, let's give it a try."
A moment later, "Damn! Ugh! How can there be so much dust! This is totally unacceptable!"
"Let's go! Let's go to Factory No. 2 and see what's going on!"
At the same time, the conference rooms at the headquarters of Shougang and Beigang were filled with smoke.
No one had a good New Year these past few days; everyone was working overtime, holding meetings, and frantically researching the latest technology at Hongxing No. 2 Factory.
The briefing was laid out on the table.
Preliminary Understanding of the Technological Innovation at Hongxing No. 2 Factory
General Manager Wang Zhenbang stubbed out his cigarette.
He pushed the presentation to the vice president next to him.
"Everyone, take a look."
"The profit margin for extracting rare metals from steel slag is initially estimated to be over 300%. If the technology is true, our entire waste treatment system will need to be redesigned."
The meeting room was filled with the rustling of papers and whispers.
Disbelief was written all over everyone's face.
The head of the technical department adjusted his glasses, a knowing look on his face, and began to question:
"Mr. Wang, this technology came too suddenly."
"I checked the data, and there are indeed international processes for recovering titanium and vanadium from metallurgical waste."
"But all of these require complex chemical processes and high-temperature, high-pressure environments, so relying solely on magnetic separation doesn't make sense in theory."
"The issue with Factory Two is either a technological breakthrough..."
"Either there are some tricks we don't know yet."
"But with just a mere factory number two, I think neither of these things is very likely to happen. It's purely a publicity stunt to elevate that kid's status!"
Wang Zhenbang nodded, signaling for everyone to share their opinions.
Someone suggested:
"Should we have Factory Two submit the technology to headquarters as a trial?"
Wang Zhenbang waved his hand.
"Don't rush. I've looked into Lin Yu. He was directly assigned by his superiors, so his background is not simple."
"Furthermore, we cannot rule out the possibility of a technological breakthrough at the second factory."
"Let's arrange a technical exchange group first. Ostensibly, it's to learn about the comprehensive utilization of steel slag, but in reality, it's to see how they actually operate."
The head of the technical department stood up and accepted the order.
"I'll go!" "I'll go see what's going on here."
Zhao Mingli, the head of the technical department, sneered. He was a professionally trained technician, so how could he not know how difficult this was?
These days, young people will do anything to get ahead.
Wang Zhenbang instructed:
"Bring two engineers in, ostensibly to guide production safety."
"Keep a low profile."
"We're all state-owned, brother units, don't act like we're doing espionage."
"clear!"