Chapter 74: Energy problems caused by hypoxia

After learning that there would be an oxygen problem, Chen Xin was

particularly concerned about his own planting greenhouse.

This is not only a place to provide him with food, but also the oxygen

necessary for him to survive.

People who don’t eat will die in about seven days, and people can last for

three days without drinking water.

But if a person does not breathe, the person will be gone within ten minutes.

The importance of oxygen does not need to be emphasized. Naturally, the

importance of growing greenhouses that can provide oxygen has also greatly

increased.

Fortunately, Chen Xin had already upgraded the planting greenhouse once. Now

not only the planting area has been increased, but the number and efficiency

of supplementary lights have also been improved a lot.

As long as it can maintain the operation of the planting greenhouse, even if

the outside oxygen is cut off, the planting greenhouse is sufficient to

provide him with the oxygen needed to survive.

It's just that this is not without hidden dangers, nor does Chen Xin have no

worries after having a planting greenhouse.

Relying solely on the photosynthesis of plants to maintain the oxygen

circulation in a confined space, this kind of experiment has been done for a

long time, and even the Federation conducted a famous Biosphere 2 experiment

back then, with the intention of building a self-sustaining ecosystem.

Unfortunately, these experiments failed.

Plants in a confined environment can indeed provide enough oxygen, but the

premise is that there is sufficient light.

Once it enters the dark, photosynthesis stops, and the oxygen required for

plant breathing and the oxygen required for human breathing will soon exhaust

the limited oxygen in the confined space.

Not only is the confined space unable to maintain such an oxygen cycle, even

the Ecosphere No. 2 Laboratory, which was built with a federal investment of

hundreds of millions of dollars, has a complete artificial ecosystem and

cannot do the same thing.

In the Ecosystem No. 2 experiment, bacteria decomposing the organic matter in

the soil will consume a lot of oxygen, but the released carbon dioxide is

absorbed by the cement in the building, breaking the oxygen cycle, making the

oxygen content in the air drop, and unable to sustain human survival. .

Of course, the solution to this problem is also very simple.

Because of the difference between day and night in the natural environment,

plants cannot maintain 24-hour uninterrupted photosynthesis. In addition,

plants themselves need to consume oxygen for respiration, so naturally they

cannot maintain the oxygen cycle in a confined space.

But in an unnatural environment, this problem is actually not difficult to

solve, that is, the use of fill light to provide plants with 24 hours of

uninterrupted light, so as to promote plants to maintain uninterrupted

photosynthesis.

If a plant performs photosynthesis 24 hours a day, in addition to its own

breathing, the oxygen provided can also be provided for the survival of humans

living together.

Just in this way, the energy consumption is greatly increased.

This is not before the disaster. The sun, an almost infinite super-large

sustainable energy source, provides the earth with a steady stream of light

and heat.

Before the dust cloud blocked the sunlight, people can rely on the sun to

enjoy the abundant energy it brings. Whether it is photosynthesis or solar

power generation, this does not require additional energy input.

But now that human beings have lost the sunlight, they can only rely on the

energy provided by the earth itself.

Coal and oil, the most precious resources provided by the earth for mankind,

are also the main way for mankind to obtain energy nowadays.

For human beings in the last days, these two traditional energy sources have

become the key to ensuring human survival.

Especially coal resources, whether it is heating or power generation, easy-to-

use and easy-to-mine coal has become the most important material indispensable

for human beings.

However, for Chen Xin and his refuge, gasoline is currently used.

just maintain 24 hours of uninterrupted light to ensure the oxygen output of

the planting greenhouse, and the gasoline consumption for power generation has

greatly increased.

It's not that Chen Xin doesn't want to use more efficient and reliable diesel,

but that diesel will condense when the temperature drops below zero, making it

inconvenient to use.

Although high-grade diesel can solve this problem, the price of high-grade

diesel is really higher than that of ordinary gasoline.

After all, even \-35 diesel can only be used at \-14°C to 29°C. Compared with

the freezing point of ordinary gasoline at \-35°C, the advantage is not

obvious.

As for the higher grade \-50 diesel, not to mention where to buy such high

grade diesel, its price is much more expensive than ordinary gasoline.

When Chen Xin first entered the shelter, he only needed to consume 10 liters

of gasoline a day to generate electricity to meet all the power consumption.

After upgrading the planting greenhouse, his current daily fuel consumption is

20 liters, and the light time is provided by the system upgrade- 10% light

time, only need about 12 hours of light exposure to plants every day.

If the planting greenhouse is allowed to maintain sunlight for 24 hours, the

fuel consumption will soar to twice the current level, which means that Chen

Xin will consume 40 liters of gasoline a day.

In other words, the gasoline that was originally prepared for one year can be

used for only three months.

And long-term uninterrupted use of the generator will also cause wear and tear

to the generator and accelerate the damage of the generator.

"It's time to upgrade the power generation system." Chen Xin rubbed his

forehead and calculated his gasoline consumption~www.mtlnovel.com~ He

determined that he must upgrade the power system of the shelter.

Otherwise, unless he can continuously obtain a large amount of gasoline from

the SWAT team to maintain consumption, he will face the situation of running

out of gasoline.

Just how to upgrade the power system? Simply increasing the output power of

the generator is meaningless, because energy is conserved, and increasing the

output power only means consuming more fuel.

This is a feasible way to improve the efficiency of the generator, but it will

not play a big role. After all, it sounds like a lot of energy saving of

5%-10%, but when it comes to actual consumption, it is nothing more than fuel.

The days of exhaustion are only a few days later.

So the most appropriate way is to make the refuge self-sustaining, and the

energy consumption and output of the refuge can balance out and form a cycle.

Thinking of this, Chen Xin naturally also missed the algae circulating oxygen

generator he told Mo Qingyan.

This system can produce oxygen and algae biomass. Not only can it provide

oxygen, but it can also be used to produce biogas for fuel cell power

generation. It needs to consume electricity, water and carbon dioxide.

Water resources are no longer a problem after Chen Xin can extract

groundwater, and the consumption of water resources for algae cultivation is

not large, and it can be recycled. Chen Xin is not worried about water

resources.

As for the problem of carbon dioxide, after the whole system is in operation,

it is possible to collect the carbon dioxide generated during the combustion

of biogas to supply algae for the consumption of photosynthesis. If not

enough, the carbon dioxide in the air is also a supplement.

After all, Chen Xin’s refuge is not a completely enclosed ecological

experimental chamber, and it can completely supplement consumption with

external resources.

The only problem is power consumption.