292: Energy weapons are not something that everyone can afford.

Tian Ming frowned and asked, "You're sure you didn't misspeak? Is it 8 million units, not 800 units?"

Bai Yan nodded slightly and said, "Yes, 8 million batteries can only store 80 million kilowatt-hours of electricity. Sodium-ion batteries are durable to manufacture, and when combined with superconducting wires, energy loss can be controlled to less than two percent. 80 million kilowatt-hours of electricity is only enough for 1.56 million shots from a medium electromagnetic pulse cannon. The total number of energy weapons we need to deploy exceeds 3,000 units. This density, spread across a 600-kilometer circular city wall, cannot be considered high-density. When averaged out, it's quite low."

Tian Ming nodded slightly and said, "Please continue."

"Based on average power, we conducted simulations, and in a full-energy state, we can withstand a zombie saturation attack for about 10 minutes. Therefore, in addition to energy storage equipment, we also need at least two fusion power stations with an installed capacity of 3,000 megawatts or more to provide power support. Only then can the entire base's defense system be elevated to a level where zombies cannot break through."

Tian Ming took a deep breath, his expression a little grim. He asked, "If we rely on our own production, how long will it take to reach this level?"

Bai Yan replied, "Beidu Central Base spent thirty years and still hasn't established such a defense system. The main reasons are that the efficiency of energy storage raw materials and factories cannot be improved, and the production of superconducting wires also consumes a large amount of energy. If Beidu had enough energy, its super laser cannon wouldn't be limited to just one unit. If they installed a dozen units and fired them in rotation, even Jiang Chen would have to give them a wide berth."

Tian Ming nodded slightly and said, "I understand now. I need to provide a large number of sodium-ion batteries, fusion power stations, and superconducting wires as hardware to establish and maintain this high-intensity defense system. Is that right?"

Bai Yan nodded slightly and said, "Yes, that's correct. For you, this shouldn't be difficult, should it?"

The reason Bai Yan said it wasn't difficult was that he had already witnessed Tian Ming's construction speed and terrifying synthesis efficiency. If Shelter had to do it itself, it could be done, but to meet the defense requirements for a saturation attack, even with sufficient raw materials, it would take at least five years.

"Do you have a sample of a sodium-ion battery? Bring one over, I'll take a look. I'll provide you with the batteries; you handle the remaining installation and distribution. I don't want to waste time on trivial matters."

Bai Yan was delighted and said, "Of course."

The sodium-ion battery sample was quickly delivered to Tian Ming's hand. Tian Ming held it and felt it was very heavy. This thing was modular, with each unit storing 10 kilowatt-hours of electricity, which could be assembled into battery packs.

Lead-acid batteries, lithium-ion batteries, and sodium-ion batteries have significant differences in multiple aspects.

In terms of energy density, sodium-ion batteries have a relatively higher energy density than lead-acid batteries but lower than lithium-ion batteries. Since the working principles of sodium-ion batteries and lithium-ion batteries are similar, most of their production equipment can be compatible, so the relevant production parts can be shared.

The abundance of sodium element is much greater than that of lithium element. The salt people eat is sodium chloride, which is easy to obtain. Although the cycle life is not as high as lithium batteries, it is far higher than lead-acid batteries.

The cycle life of first-generation sodium-ion batteries can reach over 2,000 cycles, which is more than four times that of lead-acid batteries. After many years of modifications, the cycle life of the sodium-ion battery in Tian Ming's hand has been increased to over 5,000 cycles.

In terms of safety, sodium-ion batteries have higher internal resistance than lithium-ion batteries, so in the event of a short circuit, the instantaneous heat generation is less, the temperature rise is lower, and their thermal runaway temperature is also higher than lithium batteries, giving them greater safety. Sodium-ion batteries can operate normally in a temperature range of -40 degrees Celsius to 80 degrees Celsius.

As an energy storage battery, sodium-ion batteries have good fast-charging rate performance and can adapt to responsive energy storage and large-scale power supply. Their charging time is only 10 minutes, making them the most cost-effective choice for energy weapon storage.

This thing has both advantages and disadvantages, but it is low in cost and can be used on a large scale. Shelter's construction philosophy always considers long-term issues. Especially in terms of energy, it must be self-sufficient and controllable, and not blindly pursue high-end solutions. While high-end items are better to use, they are less replaceable.

"This battery weighs at least 20 kilograms, right?" Tian Ming asked.

Bai Yan nodded and said, "Around 25 kilograms."

Tian Ming pondered for a moment and said, "8 million units, that's 200,000 tons. Replication is not difficult, but I'll have to go to the seaside to replicate, where raw materials are more abundant."

Meng Xian said, "Boss, I'll arrange transport planes to go with you to help with transportation."

Tian Ming waved his hand and said, "No need, I'll transport them back myself. I'll bring back 5,000 tons at a time and stack them on the city wall for you. You arrange people to start distributing them."

Meng Xian nodded slightly and said, "Okay, when do we start?"

"Let's start now," Tian Ming said, and his figure vanished into thin air. The next moment, he arrived at the seaside. The average salinity of the global ocean on Blue Star is 35 parts per thousand. That means one kilogram of seawater contains 35 grams of salt.

Most of this salt is sodium chloride, but it contains other impurities. However, these are not big problems for Tian Ming. Tian Ming flew to the sea surface and first extracted the elements he needed.

Metallic sodium slowly oxidizes in the air and explodes directly in water. Tian Ming extracted sodium chloride with extremely high efficiency, producing over 30,000 tons of salt in an hour.

Tian Ming didn't bother to calculate, first getting over 50,000 tons of salt, and if it wasn't enough, he'd get more. Next were other elements, such as insulating casings, metal electrodes, and relevant electrolytes. All these materials were gathered together, forming a small mountain. With enough elements, Tian Ming began to replicate sodium-ion energy storage batteries.

As his thoughts turned, countless elements gathered and condensed into sodium-ion batteries. The entire process was extremely efficient, but it also produced a lot of waste gas. For example, extracting sodium would release a large amount of chlorine element. These chlorine elements were also solidified by Tian Ming using calcium because he also had to extract carbon from rock and calcium carbonate to make the casing for the sodium-ion battery.

Tian Ming gained a lot this month, especially by catching up on various chemistry knowledge, knowing which compounds were toxic and harmful. In fact, it wasn't for environmental protection, but because when he helped build Shelter before, he generated harmful gases while decomposing compounds, almost causing casualties.

Sodium-ion energy storage batteries were manufactured one by one and stacked together. It took a full two days to produce 8 million batteries. He produced 46 batteries per second. If he didn't consider pollution, Tian Ming's speed could be even faster. These batteries were brought back and placed on the city wall.

Meng Xian even mobilized tens of thousands of people to carry out decentralized installation. Just looking at the dense crowd of transporters was enough to be moved; this was truly large-scale infrastructure construction.