Tech startup: I really do make mobile phones!

Chapter 211 Deck Replacement Plan
In a heavily guarded underground digital research institute conference room in North China, the atmosphere was solemn and focused.

A feasibility analysis and technical demonstration meeting on "my country's second-generation aircraft carrier integrated deck system of calcium titanium solar energy + supercapacitor + energy storage" is being held here.

The attendees were all top experts in the fields of materials science, naval architecture, electromagnetic catapults, and energy systems in China.

When the conference title was projected onto the screen, many senior experts pushed up their glasses, their faces showing disbelief and a hint of amusement.

"Perovskite solar energy? Supercapacitors? And an integrated deck?"

An elderly professor with gray hair couldn't help but mutter a complaint in a low voice.

"Isn't this a joke?"
Who proposed the plan?
Perovskite-based capacitors are now only about one-third the energy density and charge/discharge efficiency of traditional silicon-based supercapacitors!

The power that was originally enough for one charge to launch three carrier-based aircraft using electromagnetic catapults will probably only be able to launch one with this thing!
Or it could be a high-energy weapon system that used to have enough energy for three shots, but now only has enough for one!
This isn't technological advancement, it's regression!

Another expert, who focuses on material strength, also frowned and agreed.

"Moreover, the mechanical properties of perovskite materials simply do not meet the requirements of aircraft carrier decks!"
The second-generation special deck steel developed by Angang Steel has achieved a yield strength of 690MPa. The cooperation with Germany on the technology for a large rolling mill with a width of over five meters has also been basically finalized, and the processing equipment issue will soon be resolved.

Is it necessary to suddenly switch to a completely new material at this point?
The risk is too great!

A murmur of agreement rippled through the conference room.

At this moment, an expert who had previously participated in the preliminary review of Far Orange's application to join the "New Century 863 Program" smiled and offered a reminder.

"Ladies and gentlemen, look carefully. The title does not say 'perovskite' solar energy, but 'perovskite solar energy'."

"Hmm?" After his reminder, the experts focused their attention and indeed found a difference of one word.

"Is this a completely new material system for calcium-titanium solar cells?" someone murmured to themselves.

Now everyone suddenly realized why the second-generation aircraft carrier deck technology plan, which had just been approved before the Lunar New Year, had to be scrapped and redesigned so quickly!
Everyone's curiosity was piqued, and they began to seriously consider what kind of changes this "integrated deck system of calcium titanium solar energy + supercapacitor + energy storage" would bring.

Just then, the conference room door was pushed open, and Chief Designer Wang, the chief designer of the second-generation aircraft carrier, walked in with several members of the military laboratory's small-scale testing team.

The meeting room immediately fell silent.

Chief Engineer Wang walked to the head seat and began with a serious expression: "Comrades, time is of the essence, so I won't go into any pleasantries. First of all, on behalf of the project team, I apologize for having to urgently summon you all here at this time!"

He looked around, his voice steady and powerful.

"However, a disruptive new technology has emerged that concerns the deck system, energy system, and internal space layout of my country's second-generation aircraft carrier."

Its potential value is enormous, forcing us to re-evaluate the previously approved solutions, and possibly even make significant modifications!

These words immediately caused an uproar!
Should the deck, energy storage system, and interior space be re-evaluated?

This is almost equivalent to negating one-third of the hard-won results of the previous year's research!

Many experts who participated in the preliminary research showed expressions of disbelief on their faces.

Chief Designer Wang understood everyone's reaction. He waited for the discussion to subside before continuing, "Comrades, we have completed the learning and manufacturing of the first-generation ski-jump aircraft carrier and accumulated valuable experience."

"Now, we are going to build our own second-generation aircraft carrier that uses electromagnetic catapults!"
The goal is to leverage our existing and late-developing technological advantages to strive to catch up with the third-generation level represented by North American nuclear-powered aircraft carriers!
Any feasible technology that can significantly enhance combat effectiveness must be taken seriously and carefully evaluated!

Chief Engineer Wang paused for a moment, then dropped the key information.

"The supplier has already provided a small batch of qualified laboratory samples for this new technology."

All samples have passed a full set of mechanical property and related indicator tests conducted by our military laboratory, and the data is authentic and reliable!

Upon hearing this, the experts below showed thoughtful expressions.

It passed the small-scale tests conducted by the military laboratory, which proves that its basic performance meets the standards.

However, some people immediately raised questions: "Successful small-scale trial production does not mean mass production! There are laboratory materials with higher performance in China, but they have no practical value if they cannot be stably mass-produced! Angang's solution has been industrially verified!"

Chief Engineer Wang had clearly anticipated this question, and he nodded firmly: "You can rest assured about the mass production issue."

"The supplier is currently mainly stuck in the stage of improving the mass production stability of a key processing auxiliary. According to the technology roadmap and schedule they have provided, it is expected that the process stability problem can be completely solved within three months at most, and large-scale production can be achieved."

Upon hearing this clear timeline, the experts' attitudes shifted significantly, and they began to seriously consider the advantages of adopting this integrated deck system.

Self-generating power function?
That means a considerable amount of fuel storage space can be saved!
Are supercapacitors integrated into the deck?

The space required for the capacitor bank in such a massive electromagnetic catapult system can be greatly reduced!
Although supercapacitors are not suitable for long-term energy storage, their power generation capacity can certainly optimize the layout of the ship's energy storage system and free up space.
The more the experts thought about it, the brighter their eyes became.

If this technology can be realized, the utilization rate of the internal space of the second-generation aircraft carrier will be revolutionized.

This means it can carry more fighter jets, ammunition, fuel, or install more powerful radar and electronic warfare systems!
The resulting overall improvement in combat power is immeasurable!
"Alright, now please let the comrades from the military laboratory report the specific test comparison data to everyone!"

Chief Engineer Wang raised his hand, signaling the pilot group to begin.

Small-scale testing refers to small-batch testing of samples for laboratory technical demonstration.

A young technical officer stepped forward, operated the computer, and a clear comparison table was displayed on the projector.

Project: Integrated Deck System of Perovskite Solar Energy + Supercapacitor + Energy Storage
Supplier: Yuancheng New Energy Co., Ltd. (with details of registered capital, production base scale, and production capacity)
Military qualifications: It has been included in the procurement whitelist of the Ministry of Equipment and has complete military confidentiality and quality system certifications.

Initial screening of technical capabilities: It has been confirmed that the company possesses special material smelting technology and a full set of domestic patents, and its processing technology can meet the requirements for one-piece molding of aircraft carrier deck width (over 5 meters).

The following is a comparison of some publicly available performance data (suppliers: Angang vs. Yuancheng):
Yield strength: 690 MPa for saddle steel, 550 MPa for far-end steel. (Both meet the ≥500 MPa deck-grade standard)
Impact toughness: Anshan Steel 150J, Yuancheng Steel 120J (both meet the ≥100J deck class standard).
Corrosion resistance: Anshan Steel 1200 hours, Yuancheng 1800 hours. (Both meet the salt spray test standard of ≥1000 hours)
Electromagnetic compatibility: Angang -38dB, Yuancheng -40dB. (Both meet the radar wave reflectivity ≤-30dB standard)
极端环境适应性：鞍刚-60℃~300℃，远橙-80℃~1200℃。(均符合-50℃~200℃要求)
The reporting officer summarized: "From the perspective of the performance of conventional deck materials, the Angang solution is slightly superior in terms of pure mechanical performance, and it focuses more on take-off and landing functions."

The Far Orange solution performs better in terms of corrosion resistance and adaptability to extreme environments, making it easier to maintain and extending its service life.

He switched slides: "The following data is confidential and is only provided as a general overview:"
Energy characteristics: Angang has no energy storage function; Yuancheng solution has energy storage function and extremely high energy density and charge/discharge efficiency.

Power generation efficiency: Angang has no power generation function; Yuancheng solution has power generation function, with efficiency degradation of only 6% in low light environment, and excellent overall efficiency.

Localization rate: Anshan Iron & Steel partially imports specialized rolling mill technology from abroad; Yuancheng's solution possesses complete independent intellectual property rights, and the entire industrial chain is fully controllable.

After the presentation, the experts began to whisper among themselves in discussion.

From a purely performance perspective, Angang's traditional deck steel and this new integrated deck seem to have their own merits and are difficult to distinguish.

However, the latter's advantages in functional integration, space saving, strategic security, and autonomy in subsequent upgrades brought by 100% domestic production are undoubtedly overwhelming!

Although the specific data on power generation efficiency is kept confidential, those present are all experts, and they can easily estimate it in their minds.

With such a huge deck area, the clean electricity that can be collected and converted by continuous operation for several hours will be in the megawatt (MW) range!
This not only significantly reduces the load on the main generator and saves fuel, but the space freed up is also invaluable!

"Moreover, according to the supplier, they are already developing second-generation calcium titanium solar energy technology, which will significantly improve strength and toughness, enough to make up for the current slight gap with top-grade special steel," Chief Engineer Wang added.

At this point, the experts no longer hesitated and expressed their support for the plan to replace the deck system.

The overall benefits of switching to this technology are simply too tempting.

After the initial mobilization, Chief Engineer Wang dismissed most of the experts, leaving only a few core experts involved in supercapacitors and energy systems.

After the door closed, Chief Designer Wang's expression became slightly more serious: "Comrades, Yuancheng's integrated deck is excellent in every way, but there is one key problem: it 'leaks electricity' a bit slowly!" Many ordinary people are annoyed by the "rapid leakage" when batteries are not working, but the supercapacitors on aircraft carriers are annoyed by the "slow leakage" of capacitors!
Simply put, if a battery leaks slowly, it charges and discharges slowly; if it leaks charge quickly, it charges and discharges quickly!
Chief Engineer Wang explained: "Traditional shipborne high-energy-density batteries have an extremely low self-discharge rate, possibly only 0.1% per day."

The supercapacitors required for electromagnetic catapults have a very high self-discharge rate, approximately 0.1% per second.

The self-discharge rate of Far Orange's calcium titanium solar deck falls between these two, at approximately 0.1% per minute.

"This self-discharge rate determines the limit of the charging and discharging speed."

Electromagnetic catapults (EMALS) require a massive instantaneous energy release (100MW level) in the millisecond range (e.g., within 300 milliseconds).

The discharge speed of the Far Orange material itself cannot actually keep up with this requirement.

Furthermore, Far Orange Company itself lacks the technological reserves for military-grade fast charging and discharging.

The experts who remained immediately understood the crux of the problem.

After intense discussion, the expert panel quickly came up with a solution:

"In the design and planning of the deck system, four large single supercapacitor arrays can be integrated to work in parallel."

If the speed of one unit is insufficient, the simultaneous exertion of four units can compress the total energy release time to the level of 250 milliseconds, meeting the catapult power requirements.

Moreover, this design has the advantage of redundancy; even if one capacitor array is damaged during wartime, it will not paralyze the entire electromagnetic catapult system, but will only slightly extend the launch interval.

The general technical remedial plan has thus been determined.

Chief Engineer Wang immediately decided to dispatch a supercapacitor technology guidance team composed of top experts.

We went to Yuancheng New Energy to help them overcome the technical challenge of high-speed charging and discharging to match the calcium-titanium solar deck with the military electromagnetic catapult system.

The fundamental shift in the design of second-generation aircraft carrier deck technology has had a profound impact, much like a boulder thrown into water, creating ripples across the surface.

After the plan was submitted to the Equipment Department for approval, it quickly received the reply of "approval in principle, and accelerated implementation".

The first to feel the impact was Angang's general manager.

He stared in disbelief at the message coming from inside, and after a long while murmured, "No... what's going on?"
We finally overcame the challenge of producing 690MPa deck steel, and negotiations for the import of the German rolling mill have reached the final stage.
Why did they just change it like that?

Calcium-titanium solar energy?
"This...this has never been heard of before!"

Almost simultaneously, Hunan Xiangdian Group also received a notification from the Equipment Department:

The "supercapacitor + lithium battery" energy storage system proposal that they were originally scheduled to bid on was cancelled, and they were instead required to redesign the energy storage system proposal based on "gas-state lithium battery".

The general manager of Xiangdian held the notification letter, his mouth agape, wide enough to fit an egg.

"Gaseous lithium battery?"

Do we even have a choice?

Right now, isn't Yuancheng New Energy the only company in the world that can stably mass-produce this thing?

Who is the real son here?!
I heard that even getting the national subsidies for new energy vehicles is a race against time, and now they've even finalized the technology to be used in the project. Are they really giving Yuancheng preferential treatment like this?

The original plans for these second-generation aircraft carriers, including the core supplier orders, were suddenly changed.

Despite being highly confidential, its movements, which have far-reaching consequences, still cannot be completely hidden from highly vigilant foreign intelligence analysis agencies.

Soon, analytical articles began to appear in some internationally renowned defense publications, such as Jane's Defence Weekly.

It is speculated that the second-generation aircraft carrier project may have encountered technical bottlenecks, and may even have "cancelled the immature electromagnetic catapult system" and returned to the traditional method.

At the same time, considering that Yuancheng New Energy is, after all, a new private enterprise, its large-scale material manufacturing capabilities and production capacity may not be able to fully meet the massive demand of a national strategic asset like an aircraft carrier.

Preliminary estimates suggest that at least 1.5 tons of deck material will be needed for testing and installation within five years.

The Equipment Department, anticipating potential problems, personally brought in two extremely powerful contract manufacturers for Yuancheng.

The fact that these two "contract manufacturers" have such impressive backgrounds surprised everyone. They are special materials subsidiaries of Sinopec and Sinochem Group respectively!

Many people only know that China Petrochemical Corporation (CPC) is involved in oil refining and China Chemical Corporation (CCC) is involved in chemical production, but few people know that they are also the world's leading giants in basic materials.

Petrification:
One of the world's largest suppliers of plastic materials (polyethylene, polypropylene).

One of the world’s largest suppliers of synthetic rubber (such as styrene-butadiene rubber).

A leading manufacturer of specialty fiber materials (carbon fiber), and possessing a huge production capacity for synthetic fertilizers (compound fertilizer, urea), synthetic pesticides, biofuels (biodiesel), and photovoltaic films (EVA).

In the field of chemical engineering, it also occupies an important position in many key chemical materials and special materials.

Sinopec and Sinochem are the world's second and third largest chemical materials groups, respectively.

The manufacturing advantage of flower cultivation comes not only from labor costs, but more profoundly from the cost and technological advantages that start from the source of basic materials!
Of course, it's important to distinguish between basic materials and materials.

For example, Guangwei's T300/T700/T800/M55J carbon fiber is actually called composite carbon fiber. It is carbon fiber with other materials added, and its raw material source is a petrochemical supply.

With the coordination of the Equipment Department, Xu Mingyuan, General Manager of Yuancheng New Energy, reached an OEM agreement with the special seed company under the two giants.

The main pattern is:
Far Orange is responsible for licensing the core calcium-titanium matrix production technology and providing guidance on mass production processes.

Petrochemical and chemical companies, leveraging their vast industrial base and well-established production lines, are responsible for contract manufacturing irregular calcium-titanium matrix materials.

Orange Creation Materials provides the two companies with specialized oxidants to oxidize these irregular matrix materials and grind them into nanoscale powder.

Finally, these semi-finished powders are sent back to Yuancheng New Energy to complete the final reduction processing and integrated finished product manufacturing.

The most difficult parts of the intermediate mass production process are basically outsourced to specialized processing subsidiaries of petrochemical and chemical companies!

When Xu Mingyuan presented Chen Mo with a report outlining the cooperation framework agreement and the massive order intention of "1.5 tons over five years," even Chen Mo was stunned!

"15,000 tons in 1955? And it's aircraft carrier deck material?"

Chen Mo stared at the report, speechless for a long time.

Good heavens. They've even got petrochemical and chemical companies outsourcing the production of Yuancheng oranges?

After the initial shock, a huge question arose in Chen Mo's mind.

But what are the higher-ups trying to do?

Isn't the 'Hu Jian' ship supposed to be built only once in the future?

Three sets of deck material should be prepared within these five years.
Is it not just for aircraft carrier decks?

A startling guess flashed through Chen Mo's mind, causing him to gasp in surprise.

No wonder that a single chemical company could handle such a small production volume of 1.5 tons. There's only one reason why two big players would agree to share such a small "contract manufacturing" order: to prepare for large-scale production later!
Forehead.
The future is suddenly becoming unclear to Chen Mo, the reborn individual!
(End of this chapter)