Garden of Eden.
Richard completed the first step of preliminary extraction of uranium elements and obtained a solution containing relatively few impurities.
After doing this, Richard walked out of the laboratory and took his first rest in a long time.
"Wow!"
Take off the heavy chemical protective clothing, rinse your whole body, add a certain amount of food and salt water, and take a short sleep.
About an hour later, Richard opened his eyes on the bed in a room in the underground laboratory.
"brush!"
He quickly stood up, put on a new chemical protective suit, replaced a new oxygen bottle, and started the second step of purifying uranium elements.
This time, Richard took out the light yellow translucent liquid that he had specially prepared before from the warehouse.
The purpose of this liquid is to carry out specialized extraction.
Extraction, also known as solvent extraction, liquid-liquid extraction, and extraction, the principle is to separate mixtures by relying on the different solubilities of the components in the system in the solvent.
Simply put, because there is a certain gap in the solubility of a substance in two mutually immiscible solvents, this characteristic can be used to transfer the substance from one solvent to another.
Then, through liquid separation, two mutually immiscible liquids are separated, which also separates a certain component of the mixture.
Richard had already fully considered these before the experiment, so without any hesitation at this time, he entered the laboratory with the container containing the extraction solution, then opened the lid and poured it into the reaction tank.
It can be seen that after pouring the extraction solution, the extraction solution and the original solution in the reaction tank form two extremely obvious liquid levels, one above and one below.
Specific substances in the original solution of the reaction pool move toward the extraction solution under the action of suction, and are cleaned up after a while. .
Without pausing, Richard continued to be busy, using other methods to continuously operate the reaction pool and continue to clean up the remaining impurities, so that the original solution contained fewer and fewer elements.
After half a day of this, except for uranium, there were very few other elements in the reaction pool.
The uranium element at this time exists in TBP, which is the solvent of tributyl phosphate.
This is a colorless and transparent liquid, insoluble in water, has a certain degree of toxicity, and can have a certain inhibitory effect on human plasma. When the human body intake exceeds the limit, it can cause symptoms such as difficulty breathing, convulsions, paralysis, and lethargy.
In addition, this substance is irritating to the skin, and the vapor and smoke can cause damage to the eyes, mucous membranes and upper respiratory tract.
However, Richard, who was wearing protective clothing and fully armed at this time, did not have any worries and continued to operate confidently and boldly.
What he wants to do at this time is back-extraction.
As the names suggest, de-extraction and extraction are opposite to each other.
Their principle is the same, they are both a substance, and there is a difference in solubility in two mutually immiscible solvents, allowing the substance to be transferred in the two solvents.
However, extraction generally involves the transfer of substances from the aqueous phase to the organic phase.
For example, that is to transfer a substance from hydrochloric acid (aqueous phase) to oil (organic phase).
Stripping is the transfer of substances from the organic phase to the aqueous phase.
TBP is tributyl phosphate solvent, which is an organic phase. At this time, Richard was ready to transfer the uranium element from it, and the stripping agent used was dilute nitric acid.
"Clatter, crash, crash!"
After opening the container and pouring a large amount of dilute nitric acid into the reaction tank, the reaction proceeds rapidly, and the uranium element continuously leaves the tributyl phosphate solvent and enters the dilute nitric acid.
After a while, the transfer of uranium elements was completed, and the organic phase tributyl phosphate solvent was cleared away, leaving only the aqueous phase uranium-containing nitric acid solution.
But this is not the end.
Immediately afterwards, Richard added the last substance—magnesium oxide—to the reaction pool.
Magnesium oxide (MgO) is an oxide of magnesium and appears as a white solid at room temperature.
Because this material exists in nature in the form of periclase, it is relatively easy to obtain. At this time, Richard had a lot of reserves in his hands.
Considering that magnesium oxide is exposed to the air, it can easily absorb moisture and carbon dioxide and gradually become basic magnesium carbonate, causing deterioration. Richard carefully stored the magnesium oxide ground into powder in a dry barrel-shaped glass container.
At this time, Richard took out the magnesium oxide powder in a glass container from the warehouse, quickly opened the lid of the container, and added it to the reaction tank.
Magnesium oxide enters the liquid and reacts rapidly with the nitric acid contained in it, and the uranium element contained in it is also affected.
Visible to the naked eye, precipitation begins to form as time goes by.
If you look carefully, it is a golden precipitation, like gold.
The gold is shining and sparkling, as if exuding a dazzling luster, with a noble atmosphere.
Its ingredient is magnesium diuranate, and its other name is...yellow cake.
Yellow cake!
Yes, yellow cake!
The second step of purification of uranium element is completed!
…
After the second step was completed, Richard did not stop and carried out a lot of tedious finishing work.
A few hours later, the finishing was completely completed, all the sediment in the reaction tank was taken out, and the test was successfully passed, and everything was considered to be over.
The final result was that a special metal barrel contained almost half a barrel of yellow cake—the product of the second step of purification of uranium elements—and in order to obtain this half barrel of product, almost five hundred barrels of yellow cake were filled. The ore powder is put into the reaction tank one after another.
In other words, the ratio of raw materials to final products is almost 1000:1.
Taking into account other substances added in the process, this number is even more exaggerated.
This shows how difficult it is to prepare yellow cake.
But anyway, it was prepared successfully.
…
"call-"
In the protective suit, Richard slowly exhaled. Using protective gloves, I touched the yellow cake in the metal bucket with my hands, and my eyes lit up. He knew very well that the successful preparation of yellow cake had greatly improved his nuclear weapons research and manufacturing plan.
After all, this is yellow cake.
This is a true product of the nuclear industry.
Only when you get this can you start in the nuclear field.
On the other hand, getting this can be regarded as a successful start in the nuclear field.
If you continue to develop, you will gradually gain the right to speak that affects the entire world.
This is a qualification and a threat.
Therefore, on earth, the circulation of yellow cake is closely monitored by major countries. In some movies, yellow cakes often become key items fought over by terrorist organizations.
Richard pursed his lips.
The preparation of yellow cake, for him, the main significance is that it can be seen as a sign of success in a small stage.
After testing at this time, he had determined that the uranium content in the yellow cake was almost 60%.
This value is on the low side. Under normal circumstances, the normal uranium content of yellow cake is 75%.
However, considering that there were many unavoidable errors in the first experiment, this value is acceptable. As the experimental process continues to be repeated and fine-tuned, the value will gradually increase, eventually reaching the ideal 75%.
At that time, you can proceed to the next third and fourth steps.
There is still a long way to go, but now he is confident that he will reach the end.
He was looking forward to that day.
"I'm looking forward to it..." Richard murmured in his protective suit.
At this moment, he felt that what he was holding was not a simple chemical raw material, but more like food for the devil in the abyss. As he continues to prepare, as he continues to feed, eventually a huge and terrifying demon will crawl out of the abyss, its roar shaking the sky, and its power capable of destroying the world.
Of course, he believed that no matter what, the chain around the neck of this terrifying demon was firmly in his hands.
Because this terrifying demon was created by him bit by bit.
In a sense, this terrifying demon is actually himself, the beast that he has always hidden in his body.
At that time, whether this big demon will be used to destroy or create depends entirely on his choice.
And now he hopes that the situation will not be too bad by then, and hopes that this world can retain some beauty for him.
hope…