Material Empire

Prince Saudi Arabia ’s favorite sport is flying in the air by helicopter. He feels that this is the most enjoyable feeling. .≈o However, at this time he was sitting in the helicopter cabin, but he was not happy at all. His face was as black as the bottom of the pot, his eyes looked at the sea passing by the plane, his eyes frowning.

The "Golden Cape" tanker, which happened a few hours ago in the French coastal city of Le Havre, belongs to a company owned by Flanders. I don't know if the captain is drunk or confused. Under the good sea conditions, the "Golden Cape" would actually deviate from the normal course, and then collided with a passing bulk carrier. This collision accident did not cause any casualties, but an oil storage tank in the "Golden Cape" was damaged. Thousands of tons of crude oil flowed into the sea along the gap, resulting in a more than ten kilometers long oil pollution zone. As the ocean currents and sea breeze propelled, the oil pollution zone continued to expand. Looking down from the plane, it looked like a monster with teeth and claws.

"At least 1,000 dead seabirds have been found near Le Havre. The impact of the fish has not yet been assessed. The public has put great pressure on the Ministry of Ecology if the impact of this oil spill It ca n’t be resolved quickly. It ’s not just me, or even the entire French cabinet, who may step down. ”

The French Minister of Ecology, Henlock, sitting on the helicopter with him, said to him with a somber face.

"We are also very reluctant to have such a thing happen. It is not uncommon for a spill to occur during the transportation of crude oil, and it is not very serious in terms of the amount of oil spills caused by this accident." Fleming's aide Dray Qi said. He is a French, employed by Flanders, so he must speak from his stand.

In fact, Drake did not lie, compared to the maritime accident that leaked hundreds of thousands of tons of crude oil in other parts of the world. This time, the size of the oil spill of the "Golden Cape" was not very large. But the problem is that the location of the oil spill was very close to the French coast this time, and the pollution caused would directly affect France, which is unacceptable.

"The oil spill in other places has nothing to do with me. The problem I want to talk to Mr. Flandin is this oil spill." Henlock interrupted Drake's explanation. "This oil spill has caused serious ecological disasters along the coast of France. According to estimates by marine environmental experts, oil pollution floating on the sea surface must exist for at least 4 months, and crude oil that has sunk into the ocean floor and drifted to the shore. Oil pollution will take at least 20 years to get rid of. Mr. Flanding, your company must take full responsibility for this. "

"Mr. Minister, can you talk about your request?" Frankin looked at Henlock and said that it was over and he didn't want to deny it. I can only listen to the other party's request before speaking.

"We have two requirements: first, to remove oil pollution at sea as soon as possible and restore the polluted environment; second, to compensate for the losses caused by this accident," Henlock replied.

Flanding said: "The oil pollution experts we hired have already set off and will soon be able to reach Le Havre. They will bring solutions and equipment for oil pollution treatment. As for the accident compensation, we need to wait for the final evaluation result. To the extent that we are liable for compensation. "

"The Ministry of Ecology has also hired experts in oil pollution treatment. They will work with your experts. As for their remuneration ..." Henlock paused a little, waiting for Flandin's statement.

"They are all responsible for my compensation." Flandin didn't hesitate. Readily agreed. Compared to the huge compensation for environmental pollution, the compensation of several experts is really nothing. The oil pollution can be disposed of a day earlier, and the loss of pollution can be reduced by a large amount. This account can be counted by Flanders.

After inspecting the pollution at sea, Henlock ordered the helicopter to return and return to a temporary headquarters at Le Havre. When they were getting off the helicopter. Gomer and Qin Hai also just arrived.

"Professor Germer, I'm sorry to interrupt your vacation." Henlock walked towards Germer, shook hands with him, and said, "I asked your assistant. I know you're on vacation, but here's the thing It's too urgent. I need your help. "

"This is what I should do," Germer said. "Minister Henlock, talk about the oil."

"Let's go to the conference room," said Henlock. "A few more experts have arrived. Let's discuss the specific action plan together."

"Okay." Gemmer said, pointing to Qin Hai, who was next to him, and introduced Henlock. "Secretary Henlock, let me introduce you. This is my Chinese friend Mr. Qin Hai, and so is he. An excellent materials scientist. I was with him when I received your notification. He heard that it was about a crude oil spill at sea and expressed his willingness to come with me, so I brought him. "

"Welcome to you, Mr. Qin." Henlock said with a smile to Qin Hai.

Qin Hai reached out and shook Henlock, saying, "I've only been exposed to related topics, so I want to take a look with Mr. Gemmer, and maybe I can do some modest things."

"On behalf of the Ministry of Ecology, I thank Mr. Qin for his assistance." Henlock said. However, Qin Hai could feel from his expression that his sentence was general and polite. If Qin Hai didn't come with Gomer, the minister might not be interested even if he looked straight at him. In the eyes of the French, scholars from a developing country like China cannot help them at all.

Although knowing that Henlock didn't wait to see himself, Qin Hai didn't care. When he asked Germer to come and see him together, he expected that he would be despised. Qin Hai is no stranger to such contempt. To make others respect himself, the key is to rely on his own strength. In terms of oil pollution treatment, Qin Hai has some reliance, but he is not sure whether the technology in his hand can be better than the French's technology, so he is not anxious to show his hole card, but wait to see the other Let's talk about the level.

A group of people followed Henlock into the interim headquarters and came to the conference room. The impact of the oil spill has continued to expand. People in the headquarters turned around, people of all colors were very busy. The meeting room became the situation research and judgment room. When Ge Mo, Qin Hai and others entered, there were already a dozen people lying at the table and spitting and talking about something. A huge map was spread out on the conference table, and the distribution of oil pollution was painted on it.

"Well, Professor Gemmer has arrived. Let's meet now to talk about the solution to this oil spill."

Henlock greeted everyone to sit down at the conference table, and opened the door and said to the mountain.

& nbsp is talking about a technical staff under Franding. He introduced to everyone the quantity and quality of crude oil carried by the "Golden Cape" and the estimated quantity of oil spills based on reports from tankers. Among them, the issue of oil quality is of greatest concern to experts, because future oil pollution treatment plans must be based Oil characteristics to choose.

Next, an official from the French Ministry of Ecology made a report. He introduced the distribution of oil pollution based on aerial data, and also explained the current of the ocean, the temperature and wind direction in the next few days.

After all the cases were explained, Henlock turned his head to a specialist such as Gemmer and said, "Everyone, everyone understands the current situation. What are your opinions on the treatment of oil pollution? Please come forward."

"Let me talk about it first." An ocean oil pollution treatment expert named Bessborough took the lead in speaking: "At present, the international treatment of ocean oil pollution mainly includes physical methods, chemical methods, natural degradation methods, biological treatment methods, and combustion. Method, etc., when choosing various methods, it is necessary to consider the wave height at sea, the speed of the ocean current, and the viscosity of oil pollution.

As far as this oil spill is concerned, the natural degradation method can be excluded because it takes too long. And we can't wait that long. As for the burning method, if it is not absolutely necessary. It should not be used because it will cause severe smog pollution on the sea surface, and the high temperature caused by combustion will also affect the safety of fish in the sea.

After excluding these two methods, what we have left is the physical method, chemical method and biological treatment method. I think these three methods can be used at the same time. The specific scheme is like this ... "

Besborough's plan is nothing special. Basically, it is the conventional routine for marine oil pollution treatment: firstly, a fence is laid on the sea surface to control the pollution within a certain range so that it cannot spread; then large oil slicks are recovered by oil skimmers and oil absorption materials. For those oil stains that cannot be recovered by physical methods, chemical agents and some special microorganisms are used to degrade them, so that most of them disappear.

After Besborough said. Several other experts also made some additions, but generally agreed with Bessborough's opinion. Gomer attended the conference as a chemical expert. He mainly put forward some opinions from the perspective of chemical treatment, and these opinions were also accepted by other scholars.

Henlock listened carefully to everyone's speech, and from time to time recorded some notes in his notebook. After everyone finished speaking, he raised his eyebrows and asked, "How long will it take to completely eliminate the oil pollution on the sea according to this plan?"

"It takes about 16 weeks," Besborough replied.

"What about oil on the beach?" Henlock asked again.

"The oil pollution on the beach is troublesome because the pollution has been mixed with the sand and cannot be recovered by physical methods. It can only be degraded with chemical agents, and then the seawater is used to flush the degradation products into the sea. This process may take one year Time, "Bethborough said.

"That is to say, in a year, Le Havre will be unusable?" Henlock said.

Bethborough shrugged his shoulders, saying it was true.

Henlock turned his head to Gomer and asked, "Professor Gomer, is there any way to make the oil on the beach degrade faster? One year is unacceptable. The complaints of the people will cause the cabinet to collapse. . "

Gomer frowned, saying, "I'm afraid there is no better way. We can find some faster-reacting surfactants, penetrants, and demulsifiers, but these chemicals are very toxic. At sea, I am afraid it will cause new pollution. "

"Mr. Flanding, when will the experts you hire arrive? Are there any better ways for them?" Henlock asked Flanding again.

Drecht responded to Flandin: "Mr. Minister, the scheme we can employ for oil pollution treatment is not much different from the scheme of Mr. Bessborough and everyone else. In fact, it takes 16 weeks Time to get rid of oil pollution on the sea is already a good result. As for oil pollution on the beach, it is really impossible, you can consider the chemicals that Mr. Germer said ... "

"I'm afraid it won't work. If these chemicals are discharged into the sea, it will have a serious impact on shellfish, seaweed and fish off the coast of France. This will be an ecological disaster." Gemmer shook his head.

"How big is this loss?" Flandin interjected.

"We have calculated that if this is done, the ecological losses along the coast are equivalent to about $ 4.5 billion," an official from the Ministry of Ecology answered blankly.

"4.5 billion ..." Flandin's face changed color. Henlock said that all losses were to be charged to his account. Even if he was a Saudi prince, he could not afford such a large sum of compensation.

"So, if Mr. Bessborough's plan takes one year to eliminate the oil on the beach ~ www.readwn.com ~ How much is this loss?" Asked Franking again.

The official replied: "About 3 billion."

"..." Frinding grinned and didn't dare to speak. Such things as ecological loss are really terrible. Once an ecosystem is destroyed, recovery is extremely slow. Europeans now like to talk about ecological protection, biodiversity and so on. Draining sewage into the river faces fines of millions or even tens of millions of dollars, not to mention the leaking of thousands of tons of crude oil into the sea. Today's plan depends on whether there is a better way to quickly remove these oils.

"Mr. Gemmer, if the chemicals you use are not released into the sea? Will they not have a serious impact on marine life?"

A voice rang out in the conference room and caught everyone's attention. Everyone looked intently, and found that the yellow-skinned Asian was talking. He looked young and abnormal, but his face was very calm and not nervous.

Most people don't know who this young man is. Henlock was in his heart. He recognized that this man was the Chinese Qin Hai that Gemmer had just introduced to him. Is he really any good? To be able to crack the crisis at hand? (To be continued ...)