Cutting-edge technology: Starting with individual stealth equipment

Zhao Funing led her project team to the Hezhu treatment center to provide technical support, process parameters, equipment debugging, and so on.

Huang Chongwei was also sent over. Although he didn't understand biology, mechanics and electrical control were his strengths.

On the ninth day, the nutrient solution storage tank arrived.

On the twelfth day, a Henghui truck drove into DeepBlue Technology, carrying six cans of bacterial liquid samples to be sent to the Hezhu treatment center.

On the twenty-eighth day, the first batch of equipment began to be tested.

Zhao Funing's technical team recorded the changes in every parameter as the fermentation tank operated under no-load, with water, and with materials.

On the thirty-seventh day, the pilot production line was ready for trial operation.

At this moment, Li Bingqian stood at the factory gate, looking at the row of silver-white fermentation tanks, and let out a long breath.

He immediately made a phone call to Lin Chuan.

"President Lin, the pilot production line is ready for trial operation. When will it begin?"

"Tomorrow."

……

The pilot production line officially started at 8:00 a.m. the next day.

The first batch of plastic waste was shoveled from the raw material pile at the Hezhu processing center; plastics of various colors and shapes were mixed together.

Workers use a forklift to feed a ton of plastic into a crusher to break it into pieces, and then send it into a fermentation tank via a conveyor belt.

Zhao Funing stood in front of the control panel, her finger hovering over the start button.

She turned to Cui Zhaohan and asked, "Is the nutrient solution ready?"

"It's ready." Cui Zhaohan pointed to the two storage tanks next to him. "Tank number one is the basic nutrient solution, and tank number two is the special nutrient solution. According to the ratio, add the basic solution first, then the bacteria, and finally the special solution."

"add."

Cui Zhaohan opened the valve, and the pale yellow basic nutrient solution flowed into the fermentation tank.

When the liquid level reached halfway, Zhao Funing pressed the bacterial injection button, and the bacterial solution was injected into the tank by compressed air through a sterile interface.

Finally, the special nutrient solution is added, the stirrer in the fermentation tank starts to turn, and the liquid inside the tank slowly churns.

The temperature sensor shows 37 degrees Celsius, pH 7.0, and dissolved oxygen 60%.

"Start the timer."

Zhao Funing checked the current time and finished proofreading.

The first batch used ordinary plastic bags, with an estimated degradation period of one week.

Afterwards, pilot tests of PET, PP, PS and other plastic waste will be carried out successively.

For the next week, Zhao Funing and her technical team took turns on duty, taking samples every four hours to test the bacterial density, plastic degradation rate, and nutrient solution consumption.

The first day was uneventful.

Plastic fragments settled at the bottom of the container, and the liquid had very low turbidity. Zhao Funing wrote in her notebook: "Accommodation period of the microbial community; no obvious degradation observed."

The next day, the liquid began to turn cloudy.

The number of bacteria under the microscope increased several times, and fine erosion marks appeared on the edges of the plastic fragments. Sampling test results showed that the degradation rate was about 5%.

On the third day, the turbidity increased significantly.

The surface of the plastic fragments became rough, some small fragments disappeared, and the degradation rate increased to about 18%.

On the fourth day, the churning liquid in the fermentation tank turned dark yellow.

The amount of plastic debris has decreased significantly; what used to be a full can of plastic is now less than half full.

On the fifth day, when Cui Zhaohan took samples, he found that there were almost no large pieces of plastic left on the filter paper, only some small particles, and the degradation rate had reached more than 70%.

On the sixth day, the degradation rate increased to 90%.

On the morning of the seventh day, Zhao Funing opened the discharge valve of the fermentation tank. The turbid liquid passed through a screen filter, and there was only a thin layer of residue on the screen, mainly fillers and pigments from the plastic, as well as a small amount of incompletely degraded tiny particles.

Collect this residue and weigh it.

Initial plastic weight: 1023 kg.

Residue: 41 kg.

Degradation rate: 96%.

Cui Zhaohan immediately sent a message to Lin Chuan.

[Boss, the first batch has been shipped out, with a degradation rate of 96%.]

Half a minute later, Lin Chuan replied.

Okay. Continue to optimize.

The report results were also sent to Li Bingqian, who then forwarded the materials to headquarters.

Upon reading the report, the senior executives of Henghui Group were all excited and inexplicably relieved, feeling even more that they had made the right bet.

After all, that cooperation agreement was very disadvantageous for Henghui Group, as it involved huge risks.

The first pilot test report greatly boosted the confidence of Henghui's senior management and significantly raised their expectations for the future.

……

When the trial operation of the central line entered its second week, Henghui sent a technical team, ostensibly for learning and exchange.

The leader was a man in his early forties named Sun Jianming, who was the deputy director of the Henghui Group's technology center.

When Li Bingqian brought the people over, Lin Chuan was looking at data in the pilot production line control room.

"President Lin, this is our headquarters' technical team, led by Director Sun," Li Bingqian introduced. "They want to come and see how the pilot production line is operating and learn from them."

Sun Jianming extended his hand proactively, his smile very professional: "President Lin, it's an honor to meet you."

Lin Chuan shook his hand: "You're welcome."

Then, Sun Jianming said, "President Lin, don't worry, we won't cause any trouble. We'll just take a look, record some data, and report back to the leaders at headquarters."

Lin Chuan glanced at Zhao Funing, who nodded slightly to indicate that she understood.

"Okay, let Engineer Zhao show you around. You can ask her any questions you have."

Over the next few days, Sun Jianming and his team stayed at the pilot production line every day, watching DeepBlue Technology's technical team take samples, conduct tests, record data, and so on.

Sun Jianming's men carried a notebook with them, which contained many notes, and they even had a voice recorder that recorded every word Zhao Funing said.

That afternoon, Cui Zhaohan said privately to Zhao Funing, "Team Leader Zhao, I have a feeling that something's off about these people."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Funing said, "I discussed this matter with President Lin the day before yesterday. President Lin said that they can see it, but they can't take away the key things. Even we don't know the formula for the special nutrient solution."

Upon hearing this, Cui Zhaohan immediately nodded: "That's right."

Without that stuff, plasminoides cannot survive for long, let alone multiply and expand in large numbers.

Sun Jianming and the others sent by Henghui Group were definitely not there for learning and exchange.

The company gave him a clear task: to try to figure out DeepBlue Technology's core technologies and see if he could bypass them and develop his own.

Even if DeepBlue Technology has powerful backers, as long as it can acquire key core technologies, it doesn't necessarily have to use Henghui's name or operate in mainland China.

Plastic waste and white pollution is a global problem, and the overseas market is also huge.

As a leading company in the industry, Henghui has its own R&D center, equipment, funds, and channels.

If we can crack the secrets of plasminoides, we can save on annual procurement costs.

Even if we can't completely avoid it, we can at least take the initiative in future cooperation.

……

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