Building a Sci-Fi Empire: Starting with Cold Nuclear Fusion

The design drawings are fresh off the press.

The dozens of people present were all professionals in the field, and they could naturally tell at a glance that the design drawing was indeed a battery cell design drawing, without any flaws.

Although it is still unknown whether this design will be feasible in the end, Lao Qin, Xiao Yun, and the tall, thin man only needed to glance at it to realize that Chen Yuan's battery cell design was indeed an upgrade of their original design, rather than a complete overhaul.

This means that once the design is proven to be feasible, all the work they did before will not have been in vain, and they will not have wasted too much time starting over. With just some process improvements, they can basically enter the testing and verification phase.

So, is it feasible or not?

Old Qin asked proactively, "It seems you've upgraded the coating process?"

Chen Yuan sat there without turning his head, explaining in detail: "Indeed, an upgrade has been made. Take a close look at the 1.4-meter new structure coating die on my design drawing, as well as the data written on it, such as slurry temperature, dry and wet film density closed-loop control, etc. These are enough to allow us to achieve a coating width far exceeding that of traditional battery cells."

Old Qin stared at it carefully for a while and found that this new structure of coating die head seemed to be more advanced than the existing process.

He couldn't help but ask, "With your design, what COV accuracy can be achieved for the coating surface density?"

Chen Yuan stated directly, "Within 0.2%."

"Me?"

"Within 0.2?"

"Currently, the surface area density of mainstream battery cells on the market is around two percent. This represents a tenfold increase?"

Old Qin looked incredulous.

Xiaoyun and dozens of other R&D personnel also looked on in astonishment.

Not to mention the R&D staff, even Zhao Peng and several mid-to-senior level managers in the department couldn't help but exchange glances upon hearing this, seeing surprise in each other's eyes.

Although the data mentioned by Chen Yuan cannot be verified yet, this new structure of coating die is indeed very novel.

This is a significant step forward, at least compared to existing cell coating processes.

As for whether it can meet the standards, now is not the time to rush to verify.

Anyway, we'll try it out later, and the answer will be revealed naturally.

Old Qin knew that the more important thing now was to figure out the other parts of Chen Yuan's design that he didn't understand.

He pointed to another part of the design and asked, "Is this large electrode stack also a completely new design of yours?"

Chen Yuan nodded slightly and said, "Yes, this design of large electrode stacking process can effectively improve efficiency, and can achieve an electrode alignment accuracy of 0.5 millimeters and a stacking efficiency of 0.125 seconds per electrode."

"what?"

"this……"

Old Qin, the tall, thin man, and the other R&D personnel were slightly surprised.

Traditional cell stacking processes typically involve stacking cells in the range of 0.6 to 0.45 seconds per cell.

Svolt Energy's achievement of a 0.45-second per wafer process is already top-tier.

So what is Chen Yuan saying now?

Manufacturing according to his design drawings, the stacking process can achieve a stacking efficiency of 0.125 seconds per wafer.

This increases efficiency several times over!

Zhao Peng and several senior executives from various departments standing behind the crowd had their eyes light up. If what Chen Yuan said could be realized, they would definitely be able to catch up with companies like Haichen and CATL in the field of battery cells and become one of the top companies in the global market.

At this point, Lao Qin asked again, "What's the deal with this top cover design? It looks very different from the traditional ones."

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and indeed saw that the top cover design on the design drawing was very different from that of traditional battery cells.

"The top cover is the key, and it's one of the core factors that determines whether we can manufacture 1175Ah cells."

Chen Yuan said slowly, "The top cover technology you see now is a brand new model that I designed after careful consideration. You can call it a 'three-dimensional integrated airway top cover'."

The tall, thin man asked, "What are the advantages of the integrated three-dimensional airway cap compared to traditional caps?"

Chen Yuan clicked on the design drawing to zoom in so everyone could see it in more detail. "Traditional top covers have limited exhaust paths when faced with a surge in gas production from ultra-large capacity battery cells, making it difficult to release pressure quickly. This poses a risk of casing deformation and even thermal runaway. You've encountered problems in your previous testing and verification, so this must be one of them, right?"

Lao Qin and Xiao Yun looked at each other in bewilderment.

The tall, thin man and the other R&D staff could only manage wry smiles.

The reason they have been unable to develop 1175Ah battery cells for so long is actually largely due to the top cover.

As Chen Yuan said, the 1175Ah battery cell they designed is of ultra-large capacity. When it produces gas, it has a great impact on the top cover, which often leads to shell deformation, thermal runaway and other situations.

Ignoring whether anyone answered, Chen Yuan continued, "With my design, combined with a fixed-direction flow structure, the gas generated inside the battery cell can be discharged efficiently and quickly, ensuring the stability of the casing under extreme conditions and buying valuable buffer time for system protection. In short, the safety performance has been greatly improved."

Old Qin's eyes lit up when he heard this.

The tall, thin man and a large group of other R&D personnel nodded slightly.

They are all professionals, and they can naturally see that the top cover design by Chen Yuan is indeed likely to achieve the effect he described.

This made Lao Qin, the tall and thin man, and others feel a deep sense of emotion.

If they had this kind of top cover manufacturing technology before, why would they have failed to develop an 1175Ah battery cell for a year?

At this moment, the biggest problem has been solved.

Their gazes toward Chen Yuan shifted from initial skepticism to a hint of admiration.

Capable people are respected everywhere.

Especially when they encountered difficulties, Chen Yuan offered the most promising solution to break the deadlock, so they naturally developed deep respect for him.

Just then, Chen Yuan added, "I suspect that Haichen Company is very likely using this model as well, so you'd better check the patent before you start production. Otherwise, it's not good to infringe on someone's patent. If there is indeed a patent, it's fine. Just modify the structure. Tell me then that it's a small matter and I have other solutions."

what?

Is modifying the structure really that simple for you?

Old Qin and the tall, thin man and the others were at a loss for words.

You should know that this roof structure had troubled their entire project team for a year.

As the saying goes, comparisons are odious. When they saw Chen Yuan come over and immediately present a new top cover design, and even offered further improvements, they were speechless.

Chen Yuan continued, "This kind of top cover design not only improves safety performance, but if you look closely, you'll also find that there's a significant breakthrough in manufacturing technology."

Old Qin took a few careful looks and agreed, saying, "Traditional large-scale structural components are difficult to process and have a low yield rate, which has always been a bottleneck in the industry. If we follow your design of a three-dimensional integrated air duct top cover, it will adopt an integrated design that can integrate the originally scattered air ducts, seals, connections and other components into a whole structure."

The tall, thin man added, "This not only simplifies the assembly process, but also ensures the stability and strength of large-sized components through automated equipment."

Those of them are in this industry, so they naturally have a keen eye and can analyze the advantages of Chen Yuan's top cover design.

Chen Yuan nodded, "These all require the synergistic effect of my design for ultra-wide-width thick coating, high-speed stacking, and high-pressure liquid injection."

Zhao Peng, standing at the back of the crowd, had a gleam in his eyes, realizing just how precious the battery cells Chen Yuan had designed were.

The other middle and senior managers had the exact same reaction, and each of them showed surprise on their faces.

They have good reason to believe that even if Chen Yuan's current design drawings cannot produce a finished product in one step, they can still achieve great results if they continue to develop in this direction.

As for the issue of patents, they didn't take it too seriously. This wasn't because Chen Yuan had indicated he had a solution to make things easier, but because they knew how to avoid patent clashes with similar technologies.

Patent conflicts are not a problem; what's a problem is not having the technology!

Now that Chen Yuan has presented the technology, Zhao Peng and several department heads naturally won't have to worry about the patent.

Unlike the management team, Lao Qin, the tall, thin guy, and dozens of other R&D personnel stared at Chen Yuan's design drawings while mentally simulating the process using their professional knowledge.

Ultimately, they came to the conclusion that developing battery cells according to this design could indeed achieve the effect Chen Yuan described.

In other words, their 1175Ah battery cells may indeed achieve excellent results!

Old Qin abandoned his "master" attitude and humbly asked, "If this design can really be realized, how much do you expect the subsequent manufacturing efficiency to improve?"

Chen Yuan pointed to the computer screen and said, "Isn't this written? It can improve the efficiency of the later stages of manufacturing by about 45%."

Holy crap!

"How many?"

"A 45% increase in post-production efficiency?"

"My God, this is terrifying."

The people present couldn't help but whisper among themselves, truly taken aback by this number.

Old Qin felt the same way, but he still tried his best to ask, "I have some more questions..."

Chen Yuan smiled and said, "Brother Qin, you want to ask about multi-level coordinated control, right?"

Old Qin nodded and said, "Yes."

Chen Yuandao said: "Actually, the design drawings have already been completed. It's nothing more than solvation structure control and dynamic film formation dual-path. We only need to build high-temperature resistant SEI and CEI films on the surfaces of the negative electrode graphite and the positive electrode lithium iron phosphate material. In addition, at the module level, I designed a dual-mode thermal protection structure, using a high-efficiency heat insulation layer between cells, plus a high-temperature resistant and flame-retardant top cover, which is sufficient to achieve a dual-drive of functional safety and network security at the system BMS level."

Oh!

It originally used SEI and CEI membranes, as well as a dual-mode thermal protection structure.

These researchers all understood these things, but they hadn't thought of them before. Now, after hearing Chen Yuan's explanation, they all had expressions of sudden realization.

understood!

Everyone understood.

Having grasped the essence of this design, Lao Qin, the tall and thin man, and others immediately concluded that the design was feasible.

They were all eager to try it out and see if the final product could achieve the effect Chen Yuan had described.

Suddenly, Lao Qin thought of one last question, "Hey, right, Xiao... um, Chen Yuan, judging from your design drawings, the battery cells are much larger than traditional ones. How can we load the battery cells into a large-scale energy storage system in six rows and twelve clusters?"

"Yes, these battery cells are too big."

"It seems that it is indeed impossible to load it according to the traditional six columns and twelve clusters."

"If it can't be installed in an energy storage system, no matter how well the battery cells are designed, it's useless."

Xiaoyun, the tall and thin guy, and the other R&D staff agreed with Lao Qin's opinion.

Zhao Peng and several other mid-to-senior level managers in the department looked at Chen Yuan with curiosity in their eyes, wanting to hear how he planned to solve the problem.

Chen Yuan countered, "Why adopt the traditional six-column, twelve-cluster design?"

Old Qin was taken aback. "If not a six-row, twelve-cluster design, what other way can we load the battery cells?"

Chen Yuan said, "We can definitely adopt a four-row, four-cluster design. The capacity of the battery cells I designed is much larger than that of the traditional ones. The four-row, four-cluster design is enough to ensure that the battery capacity reaches 1175Ah and can still be used for four to eight hours. In addition, if you look at my design drawings, do you notice that the height of this battery cell is much lower than that of the traditional 1200Ah battery cell?"

"what?"

"That's true."

"It seems to have decreased quite a bit."

It was only then that Lao Qin, Xiao Yun, and the tall, thin researcher noticed.

Chen Yuan clearly revealed the data: "The height has been reduced by about 15 percent. In addition, I have also controlled the width. By using the side-mounted tab design, we have reduced the horizontal space occupied. In this way, we can completely abandon the traditional six-column twelve-cluster design and use four-column four-cluster instead. Moreover, this also allows us to support both horizontal and vertical installation methods, instead of the previous traditional single vertical installation method."

That's it!

The battery cells have a very large capacity, but the space occupied has been reduced.

So, it's actually quite possible to use a four-row, four-cluster installation method!

Originally, no one had high hopes for Chen Yuan, after all, they had worked hard for a year without any results.

However, unexpectedly, Chen Yuan only sat in front of the computer for thirty or forty minutes and drew a battery cell design that was very likely to be realized.

This made Lao Qin, Xiao Yun, and the tall, thin researcher feel secretly ashamed.

Especially Lao Qin, who previously thought Chen Yuan was a braggart.

He now realized one thing: whether the other party had been bragging or not was unknown, but they were definitely capable!

Unlike these R&D personnel, Zhao Peng, the department head, felt his heart race as he watched Chen Yuan speak eloquently.

I found the treasure.

This time we really struck gold.

He originally thought that Chen Yuan, a recent graduate with a bachelor's degree and no assistant engineer qualification, might need a long period of training to reach the average level of their department's R&D personnel.

However, upon seeing this today, it turns out that although the other party is a recent graduate and does not have an assistant engineer qualification, their abilities are by no means small!

Zhao Peng thought to himself, "Luckily, he passed the interview, otherwise our department would have suffered a huge loss!"