115: Upgrading the power system

The people of Hua Xin Group were quite resistant to the relocation in their hearts. But resistance was resistance, they still had to move obediently.

Shen Yi declined repeatedly, but he still couldn't refuse Tian Ming and became the head of the technology department. The next morning, a group of scientific research bigwigs looked at the Laboratory where Tian Ming was transforming the Shelter.

Tian Ming manipulated materials, taking them from the surroundings. Soil material formed brick walls, rocks transformed into lime, and many people found it incredibly novel just by watching.

They weren't unfamiliar with Ability Users, but the Ability Users they had seen could at most manipulate two elements. They simply couldn't achieve such a flashy operation of printing buildings like a printer.

Amidst a chorus of praise, Tian Ming expanded the Laboratory by 4 times. Hua Xin Group also transported the Laboratory equipment over with transport helicopters, and a large number of energy storage batteries were simultaneously transported.

After the Laboratory expanded, the electricity suddenly became somewhat insufficient. The river flowing through the Shelter had no significant drop, and the river surface was already frozen, so generating electricity from the current was not very realistic.

“Boss, we don't have enough electricity,” Shen Yi said, looking at the various equipment in the Laboratory, feeling a bit worried.

Tian Ming frowned slightly. He had considered the electricity issue before. Currently, the electricity system used by the Shelter was mainly a hydrogen internal combustion engine combined with an array of energy storage batteries to stabilize the overall power balance of the Shelter.

But now, with the expansion of the Laboratory and the increase in server room equipment, the electricity supply suddenly became tight. Tian Ming added a few more hydrogen internal combustion engines, and only then was it barely enough.

The energy problem is currently the most prominent issue for the Shelter. At this moment, Shen Yi walked over and said to Tian Ming, “Boss, I still suggest building a power station. The energy issue should be given top priority.”

Tian Ming nodded and said, “Yes, a power station should be built. Don't worry, everyone is very busy right now, so I will personally build this power station.”

Shen Yi said, “Boss, I suggest using nuclear energy. Its service life is longer, and the electricity is stable, so we wouldn't need so many energy storage batteries.”

Tian Ming smiled and said, “Nuclear energy is too high-end; we can't handle it for now. And don't you think it's too dangerous to build nuclear energy inside the Shelter?”

“Then what are your plans, Boss?” Shen Yi asked.

“Let's use geothermal energy. There's a magma fissure beneath our Shelter. I remember there's a type of power generation called... what was it again?”

Shen Yi quickly said, “Tower solar molten salt power station.”

“Ah, yes, that's it. I'll replace solar with geothermal, directly embedding the molten salt tank into the high-temperature geological layer, and then bringing out the heat for power generation through a circulating pump. What do you think?”

“Boss, that's a great idea, and once geothermal power generation is built, the subsequent operating costs will also be low. However...”

Tian Ming asked, “However what?”

Shen Yi said, “The temperature of molten salt needs to be 500 degrees Celsius. Such high-temperature rock layers require thousands of meters deep underground. Geothermal power generation is simple in principle, but very difficult to implement in engineering. Even if we have magma fissures below, the temperature is too high, Boss. Wouldn't it be too dangerous for you to do this?”

Tian Ming waved his hand and said, “It's not dangerous. It's just that you guys will have to handle the planning on the surface. I'll take care of the underground matters. I guarantee I'll bring the underground heat to the surface.”

“Then I'll call Meng Xian over, and we can discuss it together. He should have quite a few experts in this area. This technology is very mature; the main thing is how to achieve reasonable planning,” Shen Yi said.

Tian Ming smiled and said, “The power plant will be located in the northeast corner of the Shelter. I'll go fix the underground matters first. You guys, in these few days, quickly draw up a blueprint for a molten salt power plant. I need it in 3D, so I can build it quickly.”

Shen Yi nodded slightly and said, “Okay, I'll go find Meng Xian now and have him send people to work with me to finalize the power plant design blueprints.”

“Alright, then I'll start with the preparatory work!” With that, Tian Ming left first.

He came alone to the open space on the northeast side of the Shelter. With just a slight thought, the surrounding snow was pushed away by an invisible force, revealing the solid ground.

The sand and soil on the ground quickly disappeared, and a well, one meter in diameter and ten meters deep, appeared at Tian Ming's feet.

He slowly sank into the well. On the rock wall of the well, molten salt diversion pipes were embedded.

These pipes were divided into inner and outer layers. The inner layer was high-temperature silicon-based ceramic, the interlayer was a vacuum porous fiber insulation layer, and the outside was covered with a layer of high-strength carbon fiber.

Without any tools, the rock layer beneath Tian Ming's feet continuously decomposed. Some of these decomposed materials turned into diversion pipes, while others were directly transferred above his head.

And Tian Ming's body was constantly descending. The underground air bubble he was in, like an elevator, slowly carried him deep into the underground rock layers.

After diving for a while, estimating at least a thousand meters, Tian Ming finally stopped.

The surrounding temperature was very high, but a protective barrier automatically formed around Tian Ming's body.

Although the surroundings were all rock walls and layers, Tian Ming moved freely, and in his perception, the elements in the crust within a ten-meter radius were all under his control.

He had already reached the high-temperature rock layer. The rock layer temperature for molten salt heat exchange needed to be above 500 degrees Celsius. Tian Ming was protected by the barrier, so it was difficult for him to feel whether the current rock layer temperature had reached above 500 degrees Celsius.

However, he also had a way to test it. With a thought, the element aluminum in the earth's crust directly condensed into an aluminum ball in front of him, suspended in the air.

The melting point of aluminum is 660 degrees Celsius. Then, an iron crucible appeared in the rock layer. This iron crucible glowed red, and after the aluminum ball entered, it quickly melted.

It seemed that the surrounding rock layer temperature had already exceeded 660 degrees Celsius.

In fact, some metals, such as iron, will emit visible infrared light above 500 degrees Celsius. In simple terms, the iron was glowing red.

Tian Ming immediately began to lay out molten salt heat exchange pipes in the high-temperature rock layer. This was different from the diversion pipe. To prevent corrosion, the part directly in contact with the molten salt inside was made of high-melting-point heat-resistant ceramic.

But this was only a thin layer. The outer layer was made of copper and iron, which have high thermal conductivity. This kind of heat exchange pipe not only had to hold the molten salt but also had to have an efficient heat exchange effect.

Therefore, Tian Ming made the entire pipe very thick. He activated his ability to transform into a quantum state, moving through the rock layer like a ghost, and he laid out the pipes in circles.

The overall structure was like a heat exchange plate, directly embedded in the high-temperature rock layer. Its internal volume could hold five hundred tons of molten salt, but it was currently empty. Once the power plant was completed, Tian Ming would directly inject high-temperature molten salt into the top of the diversion pipe. Once filled, circulating it would continuously deliver geothermal energy to the surface for power generation.