Wasteland Survivalist: A Scientific Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Survival

"We're not full, we can't just leave like this."

Gu Lang muttered something and patted the two oil drums that had just been filled.

After removing his outer medical protective suit, he returned to the driver's cab through the airtight transition chamber.

Continue driving the light truck northeast.

Unfortunately, he couldn't find any other suitable "jungle spots" along the way.

Finally, we arrived at a chemical plant located by the river, which was marked on the map.

The road was completely cut off here, and ahead was the edge of a nuclear bomb crater.

You can barely see the famous broken bridge if you head north.

The Friendship Bridge next to the Broken Bridge is not very clear and looks like it is also broken.

"I wonder if the 'sun' on the other side has been able to embrace the sun."

Gu Lang turned his head and looked out the car window at the chemical plant on the other side.

There appears to have been an explosion in the factory area; the reactors were severely damaged.

As soon as I opened the tailgate and climbed onto the ground, the Geiger counter started to spike.

Gu Lang seized the time, picked up an oil drum, and went into the factory area to search for supplies.

The factory area was full of damaged pipes and storage tanks, but fortunately the leak had been contained.

There was no dangerous steam emanating from it, otherwise he would never have dared to enter this death maze.

A southeast wind blew, and the steel frame, stairs, and platform overhead all swayed.

After looking at the factory layout map he found in the security room, Gu Lang arrived at the middle tank area.

The large storage tanks in the core storage area are not something an individual can get their hands on.

Gulang is looking for feed tanks or receiving tanks to serve as production equipment.

These small storage tanks serve as buffers and for distribution.

His goal is methanol, and he doesn't need much; at least 100 liters would be enough to produce diesel.

Methanol is often used as a solvent or additive due to its volatility and solubility, and it is likely to be present in chemical plants.

Sure enough, after circling around a few times, he spotted a small, well-preserved white storage tank.

The tank is also marked with "Methanol Storage Tank #1" in red lettering.

Upon reaching the concrete base below, several pipes are lined up side by side.

Following the pipeline, Gu Lang spotted the location marked with the sampling valve.

Slowly turn the valve open, and a clear, colorless liquid flows out.

After carrying the oil drum back and forth ten times, another large oil drum was filled.

"I originally thought we'd have to rely on the dry distillation of wood to obtain methanol, but this saves us a lot of trouble."

Afterwards, Gu Lang headed west to check out the area near the bomb crater.

However, a gust of wind blew by, and the Geiger counter suddenly started ringing.

Startled, he quickly retreated, cleaned his outer protective suit, and then drove back.

I glanced at the screen with lingering fear; the number had just exceeded a thousand.

Even though a month has passed, the radiation levels here are still alarmingly high.

The cities he had passed through before were either hit by aerial nuclear explosions or by underground nuclear explosions.

The severity and persistence of the radiation cannot be compared to that of a ground-based nuclear explosion.

An aerial nuclear explosion occurs; the fireball occurs high in the sky and does not reach the ground.

Therefore, only a very small amount of surface material was entrained into the fireball and activated by neutrons.

Although fission products are also produced, they are carried to high altitudes, where they have more time to diffuse and decay.

Due to the lack of activated soil particles as a carrier.

Most radioactive material remains in the stratosphere as tiny particles.

It took months or even years for it to slowly settle globally.

Its concentration will be greatly diluted, and will not pose an acute danger.

The area directly below the epicenter of the explosion was only lightly contaminated with radioactive material, and people could enter and exit it after a short period of time.

A shallow underground nuclear explosion, although the pollution intensity near the blast point is extremely high, has a very small impact area.

Only ground-based nuclear explosions produce the largest amount of radioactive fallout due to the enormous amount of material entrained.

Radioactive contamination is also the most severe, widespread, and long-lasting.

Gu Lang calculated the radiation dose he had "ingested" today and decided not to enter highly polluted areas again for a while.

As someone who is afraid of dying, he didn't want to get cancer at such a young age.

By the time we got back to the passenger terminal, it was almost dark.

Gu Lang poured 190 liters of diesel fuel into the yacht's fuel tank.

The yacht's remaining maximum range has been increased to 280 kilometers.

It's only enough to barely reach Lushun; to cross the sea to Shandong Province, it's at least 120 kilometers away.

This was achieved while sailing at a slow speed of 15 knots, in low sea conditions with no headwinds and no large waves throughout the journey.

If any dangerous situation arises and high-speed navigation is required, fuel consumption will double.

Setting off with this little bit of fuel offers virtually no safety margin.

Fortunately, he also found 400 liters of cooking oil, based on a 90% conversion rate.

It can produce approximately 360 liters of biodiesel, which, combined with this, can extend the range to 680 kilometers.

It's enough to reach Shandong Province and continue the search for fuel.

After mentally calculating, Gu Lang felt a little more invigorated.

Over the next two days, he continued making and searching for other raw materials.

The production of biodiesel is essentially a transesterification reaction.

When edible oil triglycerides are reacted with methanol, fatty acid methyl esters and glycerol are produced.

Sodium hydroxide is also needed as a catalyst, and water is used to dissolve and clean the residual catalyst and saponification.

Use a desiccant to remove excess moisture.

Sodium hydroxide is also known as "caustic soda" or "pyrolyte".

The method of preparation is very simple, requiring only a junior high school level of knowledge.

Electrolysis of saturated brine can produce a sodium hydroxide solution.

Evaporating the solution forms a paste, which is then air-dried to obtain lumps of sodium hydroxide.

During the cooling and drying process, sodium hydroxide absorbs carbon dioxide from the air.

Sodium carbonate is formed on the surface, but this does not affect the subsequent transesterification reaction.

Treat it as a filler and increase the overall dosage.

The amount of this catalyst required is not large.

He had previously stored 40 kilograms of salt in his car, 20 kilograms of which were non-iodized salt.

Consuming 6 jin of it is enough to electrolyze the required 4 jin of caustic soda.

For transesterification, the reaction vessel needs to be kept at 55 degrees Celsius and stirred continuously for 1 hour.

While waiting for the food to dry, Gu Lang went to the canteen at the passenger terminal.

A large vertical mixer was found to be used for kneading dough.

This is the ideal reactor, made entirely of stainless steel, with space underneath the mixing tank for heating.

Once the gas stove burner is disassembled, fixed in place, and a thermometer is attached, the modification is complete.

Then mix methanol, cooking oil, and caustic soda in a ratio of 100:400:4.

After stirring, the mixture needs to stand for 12 hours to allow it to separate into layers.

Gu Lang brought all the large stainless steel containers from the canteen.

The soup bucket, rice bucket, and trash can were all filled to the brim.

"All that's left is the diesel fuel for washing; we're still missing the desiccant."

After finishing all this, Gu Lang breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, he didn't really care about this last step.

If biodiesel is left to stand for several days, the residual moisture will actually settle to the bottom naturally.

It's just that staying in one place for too long makes one feel a little uneasy.

Since he still had some extra time, he decided to search the surrounding towns and villages.