Chapter 240: Huge Technical Advancements
To Chen Chen, the discovery of the normal-temperature superconductor would solve many technical challenges that he faced.
For instance, the electromagnetic levitation that was effortlessly produced by the normal-temperature superconductor would allow the frictionless bearing of the T-800 to perpetually be in pristine condition, indicating a huge upgrade for Chen Chen’s robot.
Take another instance, the construction of an electromagnetic weapon, a weapon that utilized zero-resistance magnetic field generated by a superconductor. Previously, superconductors could only be stored under low temperatures. Its strict environmental requirement had rendered the material extremely inflexible and it was unsuitable to be used to construct a small, convenient electromagnetic weapon.
However, the discovery of a normal-temperature superconductor meant that a light electromagnetic weapon was now possible, perhaps even reaching the size of one’s palm. Meanwhile, the special property of the superconductor would remove any concern of the gun’s coil burning out due to high electrical resistance.
In the Elysium movie, it was precisely the discovery of a normal-temperature superconductor that led to the invention of various electromagnetic weapons such as the Kusal Klaus submachine gun, Kusal Crow Air Scavenger, Ascari Kaman railgun, and Ascari electromagnetic gun.
With this normal-temperature superconductor, Chen Chen now had the ambition to research a nuclear fusion reactor and a Large Hadron Collider. It was quite possible that the world’s first nuclear fusion reactor would be created in Chen Chen’s hands...
The ceramic chemical factory that produced the superconductor was merely one of Chen Chen’s many factories that operated with black technology. Opposite this factory was a fuel cell factory.
The factory had combined the techniques that were derived from the Elysium dimension and the technologies from the Avengers to produce a highly-efficient hydrogen fuel cell.
Other electronics factories and machinery factories had their research objectives too. Some were tasked with researching high displacement metals while others were tasked with researching inertial dampers. From the outside, these factories seemed just like any other ordinary building. However, these factories were all monitored closely by Little X while drones and closed-circuit cameras were placed throughout the industrial area. Fully-armored Black Knights were also stationed secretly in each corner to protect the facilities at all times.
However, there were only limited Black Knights to go around. Hence, Chen Chen had long-established another factory to research a drone that was featured in the Elysium dimension.
It was a surveillance drone that was called a “UAV” and it took after the shape of a flying disc. It was equipped with noise cancellation technology and only needed a low amount of energies to power itself. The drone was featured only in the opening scene of the movie and its name could only be found in the movie’s settings record.
The production of a movie typically began with developing a comprehensive worldview of the movie’s settings. For example, in the Avengers series, official features such as frictionless bearing, inertial dampers, and a battery that could last for more than 120 years could be found on its Wikipedia page.
To be able to ma.s.s-produce this surveillance drone, Chen Chen had gone on to retrieve two such drones from the Elysium as reference models. Unfortunately, due to certain technical limitations, it would still be some time before Chen Chen could produce an exact replica.
Factories that were tasked with cla.s.sified research were usually built toward the back of the industrial area. Chen Chen had also discreetly built a line of defense, in which all secret factories were stationed behind it. On the other side of the line was the open area that included electronics a.s.sembly factories that housed more than one hundred thousand workers.
The electronic a.s.sembly factories were built for two purposes. The first was to allow the other secret factories to hide in plain sight, the second was to provide employment opportunities to the local residents so that Blacklight Biotechnology’s influence could continue to grow in Namibia.
Ever since the Blacklight virus attacked Namibia, the country’s population was down to less than two million people. The employment of more than one hundred thousand workers was equivalent to employing ten percent of the country’s population.
This became an important bargaining chip in every negotiation with the Namibian government. Should the Namibian government attempt to forcefully drive the corporation out of the country, they had to consider the consequences heavily.
An attack against Blacklight Biotechnology would not only bring severe economic impact but also render ten percent of the country’s population immediately jobless.
After departing from the ceramic chemical factory that produced the yttrium barium copper oxide composite, Chen Chen sat in his car.
Cheng Cao, who had also just joined Chen Chen in his car, asked, “Boss, would you like to take a look at the fuel cell factory?”
“There’s no need for that. Let’s head back to the Spire Experimental Base.”
Chen Chen gestured to Cheng Cao. He had already received a message from Little X which informed him about the latest update from the fuel cell factory in his daily Eco Science City report. As of now, the professors who were in charge of the fuel cell factory were already heading to the Spire Experimental Base where they would submit a detailed report to Chen Chen.
Soon, Chen Chen had arrived back at the Spire Experimental Base where he was greeted by Professor Joseph.
Half a year ago while Chen Chen was expanding his company into the heavy industry, he had invited a large group of engineering professors to interview, whom he ended up hiring a few after lengthy considerations.
These professors had also been implanted with G.o.d chips and were granted access into G.o.d’s Forbidden Zone. Through this, they were given exposure to the most sophisticated technologies as well as had their lifespan potentially extended.
It was a win-win situation.
“Mr. Chen, we bring good news. We’ve followed the model you provided and have successfully created a new version of a fuel cell.”
Then, he placed several cylindrical objects that were glowing in silver-white light on the table. The cylindrical objects varied in thickness.
Chen Chen received those objects and asked, “What are the properties of these hydrogen cells?”
“Hydrogen cells that are 1.5 cm in diameter and 10 cm in lengths could release an electrical potential that reaches up to 200V whereas those with a 3 cm diameter and 20 cm length could reach up to 400V. The electrical potential of these fuel cells could be prorated via their sizes and their thermal efficiencies are at 80%, meeting your requirement.”
Professor Joseph answered.
“Not bad at all!”
Chen Chen was overjoyed. These hydrogen cells were a form of power generation device that produced electrical energy through electrochemical reactions between its fuel and oxidant. Theoretically, such fuel cells could achieve a thermal efficiency rate that was close to 100%.
The technique and model Chen Chen provided was a hydrogen fuel cell from the T-800. The battery had a thermal efficiency of 95%. Although Joseph had yet to produce a fuel cell that could reach that level of efficiency, it was to be expected. Part of the reason was due to a lack of material.
One of the most important structures of a fuel cell was its electrolyte diaphragm. Its main function was to separate the oxidant and the reducing agent of the fuel cell as well as to conduct the cell’s ions. The thinner the electrolyte diaphragm, the better. As Chen Chen could not reach the technical level of that in the Avengers, it was not surprising that his fuel cell could not reach that level of efficiency.
Besides that, to fit the fuel cell into his weapon, Chen Chen had to eliminate the hydrogen collector to reduce the fuel cell’s volume. This hydrogen collector was an important element in the Avenger.
However, to Chen Chen, the fuel cell could always be changed manually. Hence, the collector did not play too big of a role for his purpose. At most, the elimination of the fuel cell would only reduce its endurance power.
Now that Chen Chen possessed a normal-temperature superconductor and a hydrogen fuel cell that could support an enormous amount of electrical voltage, there was only one essential material left – a high displacement metal.
Once these three materials were ready, Chen Chen could then use the superconductor material as his coil, the hydrogen fuel cells as an electrical source, and the high displacement metal as a rifle, to ma.s.s-produce the destructive electromagnetic weapons that were featured in the Elysium.