Chapter 41: Gold Mine in the Waste Oil

The laboratory of the Rolling Mill's technical department was filled with a pungent, scorched odor.

Three enamel basins sat on the table, each holding dark brown waste engine oil with a layer of turbid impurities floating on the surface.

Technician Chen frowned as he handed a freshly printed test report to He Yuzhu. "Yuzhu, the problem lies in the acid value! The waste oil has oxidized too severely, and the acid value exceeds the standard by more than three times! If you mix this directly into new oil, the machine bearings will be corroded until they're pitted with holes!"

He Yuzhu stared at the glaring numbers on the report without saying a word.

Outside the window, the sky had grown dark. Su Qing walked in with two cups of hot water, placing them quietly on the table.

"Acid-base neutralization," Su Qing spoke suddenly, her voice not loud but clear. "I saw it during my internship at the chemical plant. The most direct way to treat high-acidity wastewater is to add alkali for neutralization."

He Yuzhu raised his head sharply, his gaze burning. "How do we operate it specifically?"

"In theory, it's feasible," Engineer Chen pushed up his glasses, "but the difficulty lies in precise control! If you add too little, the acid value won't drop; if you add too much, the alkali itself will corrode the metal! Moreover, the reaction will generate saponification products, and if things go wrong, the oil will emulsify and become useless!"

"We have to try," He Yuzhu made the final decision. "Engineer Chen, please prepare sodium hydroxide solutions of different concentrations. Su Qing, record the reaction time and temperature changes." He Yuzhu rolled up his sleeves and walked toward the pile of caked mixed alkali blocks in the corner. "Since we have ready-made alkali, we might as well use it."

Late at night, the lights of the laboratory were the only ones still shining in the factory area.

He Yuzhu carefully added crushed alkali block powder, little by little, into the waste engine oil heated to sixty degrees Celsius. Su Qing held a stopwatch and closely watched the thermometer, while Engineer Chen constantly stirred with a glass rod, observing the state of the oil.

"Stop!" Engineer Chen suddenly shouted in a low voice. "Look! Flocculent matter is starting to appear at the boundary between the oil and the ink! This is the saponification reaction!"

He Yuzhu immediately stopped adding alkali. Under the light, the oil showed a turbid, layered state; the upper layer was a relatively clear dark brown oil, and the lower layer was a viscous, dark precipitate.

"Let it settle! Wait for it to separate!" He Yuzhu's voice carried a trace of hard-to-detect tension.

Time ticked away second by second. The oil layer gradually became clear, and the precipitate settled firmly at the bottom of the basin.

"Take a sample of the upper clear oil! Measure the acid value immediately!" He Yuzhu ordered.

Engineer Chen operated skillfully. A few minutes later, looking at the color of the reagent in the colorimetric tube, his voice carried pleasant surprise: "The acid value has dropped to the edge of the passing line!"

He Yuzhu's tensed shoulders finally relaxed a fraction. It worked! Step one was complete!

Just at that moment, a light, crisp clanging sound came from outside the laboratory window, like someone kicking an abandoned iron rack!

"Who's there?!" He Yuzhu reacted extremely quickly, lunging toward the door in a single stride and pulling it wide open!

The corridor was empty, save for the ghostly green light of the emergency exit glowing in the distance.

He Yuzhu's eyes dropped to the ground. Beneath the windowsill, beside a few shards of broken glass, a half-blurred footprint was left on the dusty concrete floor—a leather shoe print, of the style frequently worn by factory cadres.

Retreating into the laboratory without a word, he closed the door.

"What is it?" Su Qing asked.

"A stray cat, probably." He Yuzhu's tone was calm, but his gaze fell upon the open experimental logbook on the table.

He picked up his pen and swiftly added a zero behind the data for the alkali amount that had just succeeded. The original "Added 50 grams of mixed alkali powder" became "500 grams."

"Engineer Chen, Su Qing," He Yuzhu closed the logbook. "Let's call it a night. This data initially verifies feasibility, but specific industrialization still needs to be explored. Keep this notebook locked up here, and we'll refine the plan tomorrow."

Engineer Chen had no suspicions. "Alright! At least we're finally seeing some hope!"

---

Deep inside the logistics department warehouse, Li Huaide stood with his hands behind his back, watching Section Chief Zhang hand over a piece of paper copied with data.

"Copied from He Yuzhu's laboratory, the core data for waste engine oil regeneration!" Section Chief Zhang lowered his voice, unable to conceal his triumph. "The amount of alkali added is the key! 500 grams of alkali powder to a basin of waste oil!"

Li Huaide glanced at the numbers, the corners of his mouth curling into a cold sneer. "Quite efficient... Notify our people to start work in the small logistics warehouse immediately according to this proportion!"

"Beat him to it and produce the 'reregenerated oil'! I'd like to see how much longer he can jump around once his 'gold mine' turns into dirt that anyone can dig up!"

"Understood, Director! I guarantee we'll have oil before dawn!" Section Chief Zhang rubbed his hands together excitedly.

An idle small warehouse in the corner of the logistics department was cleared out overnight.

Several of Li Huaide's trusted workers, wearing masks flurriedly set up iron drums to heat the waste engine oil.

"Alkali powder! Pour it fast! The Director said, five hundred grams!" A supervising group leader pointed at the large bags of mixed alkali block powder.

The workers gave a heave, dumping half a bag of alkali powder straight in.

The iron drum instantly boiled over, churning violently and giving off a large amount of pungent white smoke and thick foam!

"Yikes! What... why is this bubbling?!"

"Don't stop! Stir! Stir hard!" The supervising group leader shouted, covering his nose.

The oil became like a pot of thick black porridge, bubbling away, while the pungent smell of alkali and burning scorched the entire small warehouse.

In the end, the cooled "oil" was pitch-black and viscous, looking like melted asphalt. Forget lubrication; you couldn't even shovel it out.

"Can... can this be used?" The workers stared blankly at the contents of the iron drum.

The supervising group leader's face turned green. "It was... made according to the data..."

---

Early in the morning, as the gates of the rolling mill just opened, He Yuzhu was pushing his bicycle in when he saw Sun Jianguo running over with an anxious look on his face.

"Little He! Something's happened! Over by the logistics department warehouse... a weird smell drifted out! Smells like something's burned! Vice Director Li is furious!"

He Yuzhu paused the hand pushing his bicycle, his face expressionless. "Oh? I'll go take a look."

A crowd had gathered outside the small logistics warehouse, pointing and whispering.

The warehouse doors were wide open, the dark smoke inside not yet fully dissipated, and several workers with soot-covered faces were dragging barrels of solidified black asphalt-like substance outside.

Li Huaide stood at the door with an iron-blue complexion, Section Chief Zhang beside him, sweat covering his forehead.

"Vice Director Li, are you... carrying out technological innovation through the night?" He Yuzhu's calm voice rang out.

Li Huaide whipped his head around, his gaze looking ready to eat someone. "He Yuzhu! Look at the good deed you've done!"

"Me?" He Yuzhu looked bewildered. "I worked overtime in the technical department laboratory until midnight last night, running small-scale tests on waste oil regeneration. Vice Director Li, what on earth was burning in this logistics warehouse...?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" Section Chief Zhang jumped out, pointing at He Yuzhu's nose. "It was your data! Adding five hundred grams of alkali! You've ruined us..."

"Section Chief Zhang!" Li Huaide barked a sharp command, cutting him off, his face growing even uglier.

He stared fixedly at He Yuzhu, suddenly noticing the red plastic cover of a Red Flag notebook sticking out from the edge of He Yuzhu's work uniform pocket.

Following his gaze, He Yuzhu leisurely pulled the notebook from his pocket and flipped it open. The latest page clearly recorded:

[Night, Small-scale waste engine oil regeneration test]
Waste engine oil: 500ml
Mixed alkali powder added: 50 grams
Temperature: 60℃
Reaction time: 15 min
Result: Acid value critically qualified, good phase separation.
Note: Excessive alkali addition (>100 grams) will lead to violent saponification, rendering the product useless.

Li Huaide looked at the clear and unmistakable "50 grams," then looked at the paper in Section Chief Zhang's hand with its gigantic "500 grams," feeling a rush of blood surge straight to his head, leaving spots dancing before his eyes.

"Vice Director Li?" He Yuzhu closed the notebook, his tone carrying just the right amount of perplexity. "Which set of data were you using for your experiment...?"

Deathly silence hung at the doorway of the warehouse.