Chapter 1513 Blackane!
Callisto, inside the outpost laboratory.
Researchers wearing chemical protective suits are in the isolation room, carefully studying the samples in the culture tank.
When analyzing the soil collected from Jupiter's moon, they discovered a special type of bacteria in the black, porous, loose soil. This bacterium is anaerobic and can only survive in a nitrogen environment. What people are concerned about is not the bacteria, but the metabolites produced by this bacteria...
It was a black hard mass with a very complex chemical composition, consisting of a variety of hydrocarbons. The molecules fold with each other, presenting a staggered Z-shaped spatial structure. Because of this tightly bound property, it is incredibly dense as far as hydrocarbons are concerned, almost twice as dense as the same volume of water.
"Incredible."
"This density is almost as dense as Teflon."
"Well, the density has reached 2. This is the first time I've encountered hydrocarbons with such a high density."
Teflon is polytetrafluoroethylene with a density of 2.2, which is the densest among commonly used plastic materials. According to the standards of hydrocarbons, the density can reach twice that of the same volume of water. It is not an exaggeration to use the word incredible to describe it.
"Has the cause been analyzed?"
"Just finished."
The researcher responsible for studying this bacterium, code-named M1, is Wang Zhouping, a former academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a researcher at the Qindao Bioenergy Research Institute.
Because he was dissatisfied with the bureaucracy of his superiors, as well as family, children's education and other reasons, he finally chose a new country for skilled immigration. After immigrating to the new country, he quickly passed the interview and got an offer from Star Ring Trading. After six months of astronaut training, he became a glorious researcher on an exoplanet survey ship.
Looking at the analysis report of M1 bacteria, Wang Zhouping's eyes shone with excitement.
Before coming to New Zealand, his research direction happened to be on new energy storage methods. It is precisely because of this that he knows better than anyone what the emergence of this material means. If natural gas can be stored in a solid form, not only can the storage and transportation costs of natural gas be greatly reduced, but most importantly, the use of natural gas can be further expanded!
Because the main components of this mixed material are similar to alkane compounds and the color is black, it was unanimously decided by the researchers of the institute and named "black alkane".
"Using methane and ethane as reactants, the metabolite blackane is generated through a biochemical reaction, and the reaction releases heat to generate the heat required to maintain life activities. The blackane itself has a strong thermal insulation effect and can fill the loose and porous rock mass with bacterial adhesion. , no wonder this bacteria can survive in an environment with an average temperature of minus 180 degrees!"
"Have you seen this chemical formula?" Hou Jun, the head of the laboratory, asked.
"It has never happened, but in theory it can be achieved." Wang Zhouping replied.
Hou Jun nodded, looked at the researcher in the isolation room, and said.
"Start calorific value test."
"OK."
Thumb-sized nuggets of hexane, the metabolites of M1 bacteria, were put into sealed containers by researchers wearing chemical protective suits. Under Hou Jun's instructions, researchers in the isolation room conducted a total of three sets of experiments to measure the reactions of blackane at different temperatures in an oxygen-free environment, an air environment, and an oxygen-rich environment.
The results of the experiment are quite astonishing.
Not only the researchers present, but also the people watching the experiment hundreds of millions of kilometers away couldn't help but exclaimed in amazement.
"The aerobic environment can be directly used as fuel. The combustion products are the same as methane. The decomposition rate reaches a critical value in an oxygen-free environment at 150 degrees Celsius. Blackane will quickly decompose into a mixture of methane and ethane. ... Try the light!" Suddenly thought What, Wang Zhouping grabbed the microphone excitedly and said, "In an oxygen-free environment!"
The researcher in the isolation room turned around and glanced at Hou Jun through the glass. Seeing the latter nodding, he turned around.
A piece of blackane was put into the container again, then the oxygen was evacuated and the inert gas was filled, and the blackane in the container began to be illuminated.
A surprising scene appeared.
According to the jumping parameters on the instrument, the air composition is slowly changing, and blackane begins to slowly decompose under light, producing methane and ethane. After seeing this scene, a hint of excitement and surprise gradually appeared in Hou Jun's eyes.
In this case, it makes sense.
Why can bacteria that cannot photosynthesize continue to thrive on the icy moon of Callisto? By "breathing" methane and ethane gases, blackane metabolites are generated, and the exothermic reaction maintains energy consumption. The light from the sun and Jupiter decomposes blackane into methane and ethane.
Using blackane as a medium, the M1 bacteria relied on their own efforts to form a closed energy cycle on this dead planet.
…
Hundreds of millions of kilometers away in Star Ring City, a silver aerospace plane landed on the tarmac. As the dome slowly closed and the plane's cabin door opened, Jiang Chen, escorted by a group of soldiers, took the MRT to the headquarters of the Aerospace Ministry.
At the space command center, Jiang Chen met Kerwin.
As soon as they met, Kerwin said to him excitedly.
"Hane! We discovered a brand new energy source!"
"Hane?"
"That's it!" Kerwin tapped twice on the touch pad, and a black solid holographic image appeared in front of the two of them, slowly rotating, "Metabolites of M1 bacteria."
"In other words, this thing is the feces of the M1 bacteria?"
"It can be understood that way," Kerwin smiled awkwardly, coughed slightly, and continued, "Currently, the Europa outpost is testing its physical properties. Judging from the data just transmitted, this black Alkane can decompose naturally under light and can also be ignited directly in an oxygen environment. Whether it is used as a storage method for natural gas or used directly as a fossil fuel, there is no problem. Its combustion efficiency is very high and almost no harmful gases are produced. .”
After listening to Kerwin's explanation, Jiang Chen immediately realized the value of this thing.
It is not difficult to exploit the gas resources of Callisto. The liquid methane and ethane mixture flowing on the surface of Callisto does not contain a large amount of impurities like the natural gas fields, oil fields, and some coal fields on Earth, which require refining and production. It is no exaggeration to say that if you hold a liquefied gas jar and directly unscrew the gate and throw it into the lake, and then fish it out again, you will find a tank of high calorific value liquefied natural gas with high ethane content.
The only cost may be storage and transportation.
Putting liquefied gas in cryogenic gas storage tanks and using Seagull-class transport ships to transport it to Mars colonies, lunar colonies or even the earth hundreds of millions of kilometers away. This sounds easy and can be achieved technically, but the cost is not the same. small amount.
Storing more gas per unit volume has become a new topic of the Star Ring Trading Energy Research Institute. It is best to study a hydrocarbon that can exist in solid form at room temperature to replace liquefied methane and ethane for transportation. .
The discovery of blackane has undoubtedly solved this problem!
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