Kyoto, Petrochemical Design Institute.

"Xiaofeng, I will introduce you to this is the Dean of the Design Institute, is the first generation of experts and academic authority in our country to engage in ethylene devices."It can be said that now the domestic ethylene device research, there is a count of one, are the students of President Kang, and even the students of students.Dean Kang, this is Comrade Feng Xiaochen, assistant general manager of our equipment industry company, he is a student of Professor Shen Rongru of the Academy of Social Sciences, an economist.

In an office in the design institute, Wu Shican enthusiastically introduced Feng Xiaochen to a person who was in his 50s and a scholar.The scholar named Kang Haidong is the vice president of the Petrochemical Design Institute and an old ethylene expert.Wu Shican has known Kang Haidong many years ago, but dealing with more frequent or more recent things.For Kang Haidong's academic status, Wu Shican is very respectful, but with his cooperative attitude, Wu Shican has some belly.

Two years ago, the state launched the localization of the 600,000-ton ethylene plant project, proposing to rely mainly on its own strength to build a 600,000-ton ethylene plant, form a large-scale ethylene construction capacity, and then promote more ethylene construction projects on this basis.According to the model that has been formed before, the state finance allocates funds directly to the equipment industry company, entrusting the equipment industry company as the general contracting of the project, and is responsible for the final result.Equipment industry companies will divide the project into a number of sub-projects, in the country to find subcontracting enterprises commissioned construction.

Wu Shican originally did chemical origin, heard this work, he took the initiative to ask for the organization of ethylene plant design tasks.It is responsible, not that he led a technician to draw the calculation, but that he contacted the domestic design agency to complete the design work of the device.

The institution with the strongest design capacity of domestic ethylene plant is the Beijing Petrochemical Design Institute.They designed China's first ethylene device in the 1960s, although only a small device with an annual output of 5,000 tons, but the formation of technology accumulation is very considerable.In the 1970s, in line with the development trend of large-scale global ethylene plant, led by the National Planning Commission, organized the technical research of 110,000 tons of ethylene plant per year, of which the task of device design was also undertaken by the Petrochemical Design Institute.

The technical response did not achieve the expected results.China's technology accumulation in chemical equipment, mainly from the 1950s Soviet aid of 156 key projects, after 20 years, these technologies have become obsolete.Because of historical reasons, the domestic scientific research institutions and foreign technical exchanges are seriously insufficient, and the work of the technicians is almost behind closed doors, and it is not surprising that the final return is not surprising.

In the past ten years, the state has implemented the policy of reform and opening up, on the one hand, a large number of advanced technologies have been introduced from abroad, and on the other hand, it has sent personnel to study abroad, and the technical level of various research institutions has been different from the past.For the large-scale ethylene plant design tasks commissioned by the equipment industry company, the petrochemical design institute still has enough confidence to undertake.

Wu Shican has been engaged in scientific research management for these years, for the domestic institutions of the technical level have a understanding, he selected the petrochemical design institute to be responsible for the design of ethylene plant, but also look at the petrochemical design institute capabilities.When he first contacted Kang Haidong, Kang Haidong, with a well-conceived attitude, threatened to complete the theoretical design in half a year, and took out the design drawings a year, so that Wu Shican felt the courage of this old friend.

According to the contract signed by the two sides, the equipment industry company paid the design fee of 10 million yuan to the design institute, and the design institute immediately organized the research team and began the design work.

The first step in the design is theoretical research, mainly to determine the process of ethylene production process.Wu Shican was invited to participate in several seminars, at the beginning, he was choked by the various concepts, theories and so on in the mouth of the participants, and was ashamed that his knowledge could not keep up with the development of the times, and was full of hope for this design work.But then again, he felt something bad.The theoretical seminar was opened several times, we still stay in the concept of discussion, the topic of discussion more and more biased, sometimes for an unimportant process can be debated for an hour or two, and the overall design ideas have been delayed to determine, which is not a good phenomenon.

In response to this situation, Wu Shican reminded Kang Haidong more than once: "President Kang, our theoretical research has done almost the same, should we start to design in general?"

"Old Wu, don't worry, the overall design should also be theoretical first, if the theoretical research has not yet been completed, the overall design can not be done."You are also an old chemical, and the reason should be understood."Kang Haidong is so perfunctory every time.

Wu Shican, of course, knows that theory should be first, and determine the theory before he can start to do the overall design.But theoretical research has been done for so long without a result, Wu Shican can not be in a hurry?The time the state gives the entire project ten years, which sounds long, but there is a lot to do.The theoretical design is finished, it is the overall design, and then the drawings and process requirements are produced.These processes require manufacturing companies to face a variety of practical difficulties, and it takes time to solve these difficulties.When all the equipment is manufactured, and it needs to be installed, tested, tested, and produced, etc., ten years is really not rich.

According to the plan discussed in advance by Wu Shican and Feng Xiaochen, the first set of domestic 600,000 tons of ethylene equipment, there is no need to do too much innovation in theory, and some foreign mature technology solutions can be used.To digest these existing process solutions within half a year, in fact, the pressure is also very large, so the equipment company is willing to pay heavy money, that is, hope that the petrochemical design institute can invest more manpower and material resources to promote this project.

When Wu Shican first came into contact with Kang Haidong, he had already expressed this meaning, and according to the existing research force of the Petrochemical Design Institute, the progress was roughly estimated, which put forward the goal of completing the theoretical design in half a year and taking out the drawings in one year.But who has thought that half a year has passed, these experts of the Petrochemical Institute are still debating some theoretical details, and it is still far from forming a consensus, which makes Wu Shican accept it.

Undaunted, Wu Shican had to timidly to Kang Haidong to make a hint, pointing out that if the petrochemical hospital can not complete the design as scheduled, the equipment company will have to take the contract to say things, then it is possible to require the petrochemical hospital to pay the breach of contract compensation.For Wu Shican this slightly threatening hint, Kang Haidong did not pay attention to the heart, he grumbled to Wu Shican to emphasize all kinds of difficulties, the subtext is a sentence: if you have the ability to punish you.

Wu Shican really dared to punish the petrology court for money.If the Petrochemical Institute is a company, according to what Feng Xiaochen has done in the past, the equipment company must take the contract to claim.But the problem is that the petrochemical institute is a business unit that has no profit in itself, and all the funds come from state funds.If the equipment company wants to claim from the petrochemical hospital, the petrochemical hospital will either let the state finance out of this money, or cut off the wages of thousands of people in the hospital to lose money, the former is certainly not possible, the latter even if Kang Haidong dares to do, Wu Shican also dare not accept, but this will cause a big mess.

In this way, things dragged on and over a year.Wu Shican could no longer carry on, only to Luo Xiangfei for help, and Luo Xiangfei's method was only one, that is, to send Feng Xiaochen to solve it.Just as Feng Xiaochen got some of the ethylene core technology transferred from the Ichigu production center, he also needed to go to the design institute's experts to discuss the problem of digestion and absorption of this part of the technology.

"President Kang, I and Director Wu came this time to implement the problem of the design progress of the ethylene plant."According to the contract signed by both parties, the petrochemical design institute should have completed all the designs in six months, and the drawings and process requirements can be handed over to us.But so far, we have not received these materials, and we do not know which link the problem is.”

After the principal was cold, Feng Xiaochen sat down on the sofa and directly threw out his own intention.

"Aide Feng, we're really embarrassed to talk about this."

Kang Haidong sat in the large swivel chair behind his desk and answered slowly.He said embarrassed in his mouth, but his face could not see any guilt, and in his opinion, the country gave them the task, and when they were completed, it was not the turn of Feng Xiaochen.He has seen more of the world, how to put what equipment industry companies in the eyes.

"We underestimated the difficulty of the task, of course, there are some problems with communication between the two sides."When Director Wu first contacted us, he did not specify what kind of technical requirements the project would meet.From the perspective of our design institute, we design a large-scale ethylene device, which is to carry the spirit of responsibility for history, so we must strive for excellence in every detail.As a result, progress will inevitably be affected.”Kang Haidong said to Feng Xiaochen in a word.

"I am responsible for history, I don't know much about this, can President Kang explain it?"Feng Xiaochen said in a low-key manner.

Kang Haidong said: "To be responsible for history, simply to say, that is to say, the device we have designed should have our uniqueness, can not imitate the mature technology of foreign countries everywhere, to reflect the contribution of our country's engineering and technical personnel to mankind."If we just take the foreign technology and copy it, then we need what do we researchers do, and find a few drafters?

Feng Xiaochen nodded and said, “President Kang is right, we must have our own innovation.”But I want to know, how long will it take us to complete this innovation?”