Chapter 888: Chapter 886: Basic Uranium Element Purification
On the night of the Agricultural God Festival, Cathy and Harry learned more philosophical knowledge, gaining a clearer understanding of the path they will take in the future and what sacrifices it will entail.
Meanwhile, their teacher, Richard, was diligently busy in Eden, undistracted by anything.
For Richard, the choice of path was determined years ago, and he is well aware of the sacrifices required, but he has no regrets.
Because he understands that only if the path he chose succeeds does everything hold meaning.
Otherwise, all other pursuits might ultimately be nothing more than an illusion, beautiful to behold but shattering with a single touch.
So, can this path truly succeed?
In the most securely protected underground laboratory in Eden, inside a particular room, a massive reaction pool was already filled with corrosive acid liquid.
Richard entered wearing a hazmat suit, without hesitation, quickly opening a lead box placed on the floor and poured the mineral powder inside into the reaction pool.
“Gurgle, gurgle!”
The mineral powder, having been specially processed to be extremely fine, had a very small volume. This increased the surface area for reaction with the acid liquid, enhancing the reaction rate to some extent.
Thus visibly, as soon as the mineral powder came in contact with the acid liquid, a violent reaction started, releasing a large amount of bubbles.
The surface of the acid liquid in the reaction pool continuously churned, much like boiling water.
Richard was not surprised by this, continuously pouring box after box of mineral powder into the reaction pool, using mana to control the rotation of the acid liquid, stirring it thoroughly to dissolve all the mineral powder.
Eventually, the entire liquid in the reaction pool turned a deep dark green, resembling a door that could lead to the Abyss, exuding an eerie aura.
Richard glanced at it, completely disregarding the color of the solution, almost without hesitation began extracting samples from the reaction pool.
He drew the solution into beakers, divided it into over a dozen parts, added various solutions into each, observing phenomena, and calculating the element composition and content within.
It took several hours of intensive work to finally get the results.
The densely packed numbers were written on a piece of papyrus, and after reviewing them, Richard frowned deeply in thought.
Now, for the nuclear weapon research and manufacturing plan he was conducting, the uranium element needed was in the reaction pool, and the next step was figuring out how to purify this uranium element as much as possible.
This was no easy task; after all, 100% pure uranium ore simply doesn’t exist. The mineral powder poured into the reaction pool contained varying amounts of impurities.
One type of impurity was manageable, but with ten or dozens of impurities mixed in, the situation became serious. The solution in the reaction pool was like a pot of porridge with dozens of ingredients, and extracting a single component accurately required a lot of effort.
One viable method is to continue adding other substances into it to react with the impurities, removing them.
By the time the last impurity is completely cleared, what’s left should be pure uranium element.
Theoretically, this is simple, almost at a high school chemistry level on Earth.
But realistically, it is rather tricky.
The first tricky reason: too many impurities, with dozens of impurities interreacting. High school chemistry deals with only a few impurities, but here, the number increased tenfold, making the difficulty increase by hundreds or thousands of times. Every step must account for the effect on all impurities. One mistake, and all efforts are lost.
The second tricky reason: the additives are restricted; they must consider cost and difficulty of preparation. Currently, the amount of mineral powder in the reaction pool is not much, but considering the scale could increase by a hundred or even several hundred times if this experiment succeeds, the additives must be easy to prepare and low cost.
With these considerations, Richard kept thinking.
He thought as he sat at a table in the room, holding a quill, and quickly calculating on papyrus.
“Scratch, scratch, scratch…”
“Scratch, scratch, scratch…”
A sheet of papyrus was soon filled, and Richard switched to a second sheet.
The second sheet was similarly filled in no time, and he then switched to a third sheet.
The fourth sheet, the fifth sheet…
Richard continued calculating and writing, and it took several hours before he stopped. By then, the entire table was covered with a thick layer of papyrus.
Looking at the contents on the final few papyrus scrolls, Richard pursed his lips, deliberating, and a few minutes later, began taking action.
He turned and exited the laboratory, returning shortly with several heavy iron buckets.
Opening one of the iron buckets revealed a pale blue liquid, and Richard used instruments to precisely measure a certain volume, injecting it into the reaction pool.
The previously calm reaction pool emitted fine bubbles again, indicating the generation of gas. Simultaneously, a grayish-white precipitate appeared at the bottom of the reaction pool.
Without fuss, Richard operated the reaction pool to swiftly remove the precipitate, then used an instrument to measure another pale yellow liquid and poured it into the reaction pool.
“Blub, blub!”
This time, no precipitate formed; instead, bubbles appeared in large quantities, and the liquid in the reaction pool acquired a faint yellow tint.
Richard quickly activated the laboratory’s ventilation system to draw out the gas, replacing it with an inert gas—helium—that almost didn’t react with the solution; his hazmat suit came with an oxygen tank for breathing, so he wasn’t worried about suffocating.
Having done this, he continued his operations.
He kept adding various substances into the reaction pool, conducting a series of reactions.
At times, after adding a certain substance, he would pause for prolonged thought, performing extensive calculations.
Sometimes, he would even directly extract part of the solution from the reaction pool, placing it into several other empty reaction pools in the laboratory, adding different solutions to each and conducting comparative experiments.
This time, Richard was utilizing all his mental capacity in his work.
Originally, if it was merely about purifying the uranium element, it wouldn’t necessarily require such complexity. He could have opted for some simpler yet more tedious methods to achieve the goal.
But the aim of this experiment wasn’t just to purify uranium; more importantly, it was about devising a practical, cost-effective, and streamlined process to prepare for large-scale uranium element refining in the future.
Therefore, the entire process had to be optimized, with each step executed to perfection.
“Inhale—Exhale—”
“Inhale—Exhale—”
Richard, wearing the protective suit, kept breathing, thinking, and operating ceaselessly.
As time passed, the impurities in the reaction pool diminished, becoming ever more purified.
Much later, though he didn’t know precisely how much time had elapsed, Richard looked at the solution in the somewhat clear reaction pool, let out a long breath inside the protective suit, and smiled.
Although the uranium element hasn’t been entirely purified yet, he knew the first step was basically completed.
At this moment, gazing at the reaction pool, he could vaguely sense the weak energy emanating from within.
This energy was inconspicuous, but he was aware that it could develop into a force that would change the world—perhaps many forces can change the world, but this would be the most significant and irresistible one.
…