Chapter 375: Chapter 373: Camp Relocation
The operation of the heat hub undoubtedly injected new hope and vitality into Lin City.
Although currently only one heat hub is operational, another is still in the process of drilling wells, and the currently operational heat hub has not yet demonstrated particularly impressive performance. But standing beside the snow pit, watching the gradually melting snow, everyone feels a sense of hope slowly igniting.
However, Chen Xin did not allow many people to approach the heat hub, and even standing beside the snow pit was prohibited, because as temperatures rise and snow gradually melts, small-scale collapses are occurring on the pit walls. Although the impact is not significant, there is still a certain level of danger.
Fortunately, handling this situation is quite easy; simply prohibit random access to the snow pit.
The heat hub is currently in smooth operation, requiring no additional maintenance aside from constant drainage.
The entire heat hub is powered by electricity. Although there are plans to use heat energy for power generation in the future, considering that no generator is currently connected to the heat hub and there is no extra heat energy for power generation, Chen Xin chose to use an Isotope Thermoelectric Battery to power the heat hub in his design.
It must be said that the Isotope Thermoelectric Battery is quite useful. Chen Xin only needs to install the battery into the heat hub, and a single battery is sufficient to keep the entire heat hub running smoothly for ten years.
During this time, workers only need to conduct regular maintenance and inspections on the heat hub to complete its entire upkeep.
Chen Xin’s design of the heat hub focused on stability and reliability, resulting in a very dependable heat hub.
Of course, due to material limitations, the entire heat hub still requires regular inspections and maintenance to prevent damage from accidents.
With the snow around the heat hub continually melting, Chen Xin, along with the workers and the geological survey team, has moved from their original camp and set up a new camp.
However, this camp is still a temporary one. Once the range of the heating field is completed, and the snow within a two-hundred-meter radius is melted, Chen Xin will move the workers and geological survey team into the heating field range of the heat hub.
This is partly to enjoy the warmth benefit provided by the heat hub and also to perform maintenance on the heat hub more conveniently.
After all, this is the first time using this equipment, and it’s uncertain whether malfunctions or problems will occur.
Building the new camp was not too troublesome; Chen Xin, with his Power Armor coupled with a mechanical arm, could manage such tasks alone, outperforming all others.
The group found a building not completely buried in snow, still relatively intact, as a support, dug a row of snow pits along the building walls, and set up tents beneath the snow surface to construct a new camp.
The new camp is farther from the train station and heat hub than the old camp, but with the support of the building’s exterior wall, it seems more stable and provides a windbreak effect for the building fully buried by snow.
Since this is just a temporary camp, as long as it’s livable, it hasn’t been meticulously managed.
But Chen Xin put considerable effort into choosing a spot for the Electromagnetic Metallurgy Furnace, each operation releasing a lot of heat, requiring a sturdy placement to prevent potential accidents like the snow-covered ground melting, causing the machine to tilt.
The importance placed on the Electromagnetic Metallurgy Furnace is because other planned heat hubs still require Chen Xin to supply components, including the Seventh Middle School where Cao Daren is drilling wells for the second heat hub.
Thus, Chen Xin must hurry to produce the components needed for the second heat hub to avoid delaying the construction schedule.
This was one reason Chen Xin chose a building as the new camp location, clearing space on the rooftop for the Electromagnetic Metallurgy Furnace.
After all, the furnace Chen Xin built isn’t heavy; as long as it’s placed on a concrete surface, it can stand firm, unlike a snow-covered surface prone to melting, ensuring stable operation.
Thanks to the research department sending materials, Chen Xin no longer needs to collect scrap metal, as the materials transported with the geological survey team fully meet his needs.
Compared to Chen Xin’s previously collected scrap metal, these materials are undoubtedly superior in performance, and can be used in various components according to performance differences, enhancing the heat hub’s performance.
For instance, the radiator of the first heat hub was made from recycled scrap copper. Despite copper’s better cooling performance than iron, and Chen Xin’s Electromagnetic Metallurgy Furnace being able to refine and process materials, these recycled copper radiators are inferior in quality compared to those made with new materials.
After all, one is a recycled product, and the other is a copper alloy made explicitly to improve cooling performance. Although the former meets the heat hub’s design requirements, the latter’s cooling efficiency and material performance are significantly higher.
The research department provided quality materials, and using them to produce components improves the heat hub’s work efficiency and energy output by ten percent.
If system upgrades and design optimizations are applied, Chen Xin feels he can further improve work efficiency and energy output by twenty percent, possibly extending the heating range radius to two hundred fifty or even three hundred meters.
Based on Chen Xin’s previous design, when the heat hub retracts the radiator without opening the heating field, its energy output for power generation reaches 1MWh.
With several heat hubs forming a heating network, they can meet a city’s electricity needs.
Even given the current environment where energy consumption is needed for heating, the remaining power output is sufficient for usage.