Chapter 297: Theoretically Possible

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An abandoned textile factory was urgently converted into a laboratory and production workshop, and experts and technical personnel from all over the country arrived one after another.

At the base entrance, Li Mingyuan personally greeted every newly arrived expert and briefly introduced the project situation.

The team soon expanded to nearly a hundred people, including physicists, chemistry experts, materials engineers, and electronic technicians.

However, despite the preliminary approval from the Military Industry Commission meeting, most team members remained skeptical about the feasibility of the Graphite Bomb.

"Chief Engineer Li, I have been studying explosion physics for twenty years," Professor Chen, an explosion expert, said with a frown,

"I have never heard of an explosion being able to turn graphite into conductive fibers suspended in the air. This violates basic laws of physics."

"Indeed," Doctor Wang, a materials scientist, echoed,

"Even if it is theoretically possible, one would encounter countless difficulties in actual operation. Graphite will directly vaporize or burn completely at high temperatures; how could it possibly maintain a fibrous state?"

Li Mingyuan did not rush to refute them, but instead organized a project kickoff meeting for all personnel.

In a temporarily constructed conference room, all the R&D personnel squeezed together, waiting for his explanation.

"Experts," Li Mingyuan stood before the simple podium, his voice steady and powerful,

"I understand everyone's skepticism. Indeed, the concept of the Graphite Bomb is something entirely new, both in our country and globally. But the history of scientific development tells us that true breakthroughs often come from challenging conventional wisdom."

He opened the prepared slides and displayed a detailed technical roadmap,

"The R&D of the Graphite Bomb will be divided into three key stages: first, the preparation of High-purity Graphite Filament; second, the design of the Explosion Dispersion System; third, the Simulated Power Grid Impact Test."

"Let's talk about High-purity Graphite Filament first," he pointed to the first picture,

"Ordinary graphite cannot meet our requirements; it needs to be purified and drawn using special processes. Specifically, we will use Chemical Vapor Deposition to decompose methane at high temperatures, depositing carbon atoms to form a high-purity graphite structure, and then extrude it into micron-sized filaments through special molds."

The chemistry experts began to discuss in low voices; some nodded, others shook their heads.

"This is theoretically feasible, but the process complexity is extremely high," an old expert commented, "Do we have the technical conditions for this?"

Li Mingyuan was confident, "I have already designed a simplified preparation scheme that adapts to our existing industrial conditions. It may not reach the ideal purity, but it is sufficient to meet the needs of initial experiments."

He continued to explain the second stage,

"The Explosion Dispersion System is the Hexin of the entire technology. We need to design a special explosive device that can provide precise high temperature and pressure in an extremely short time, causing the graphite filaments to break into tiny fibers rather than vaporizing or burning. This requires precise control of the explosion temperature, pressure, and duration."

Professor Chen, the explosion expert, stood up, "Chief Engineer Li, if I may speak frankly, this is almost impossible. Conventional explosives cannot provide such precise control."

"Conventional explosives indeed cannot," Li Mingyuan nodded, "That is why we need to design a Multi-layer Composite Explosion Structure, where the outer layer provides directional pressure, the inner layer controls temperature, and the middle layer regulates the explosion speed. The specific plan is here."

He handed Professor Chen a detailed technical description; the latter flipped through it quickly, his expression changing from skepticism to surprise,

"This... this design is very bold, but it is indeed theoretically feasible. However, the actual operational difficulty is immense."

"That is why we need the best explosion experts in the country," Li Mingyuan said with a smile, gesturing for Professor Chen to sit down, then continued to introduce the third stage,

"Finally, there is the Simulated Power Grid Impact Test. Once we successfully produce a Conductive Cloud, we need to verify its destructive effect on the power system. To this end, we will build a small simulated power grid, including generators, Transformers, and various electronic equipment, to test the short-circuit effect of the conductive cloud."

The electrical engineers whispered to each other, discussing heatedly.

"This part is relatively simple," an old engineer commented,

"But the key is whether the first two stages can succeed. If we can really create a Conductive Cloud, testing its destructive effect is not difficult."

After introducing the entire R&D route, Li Mingyuan looked around at everyone,

"Everyone, I know this project sounds crazy, but please believe me, it is feasible. I need everyone to set aside their prejudices, pool their wisdom, and overcome these technical difficulties together."

The atmosphere in the conference room remained complex, with skepticism, curiosity, and excitement intertwined. Although Li Mingyuan's technical plan looked complete, the vast majority of experts still held a wait-and-see attitude.

"Chief Engineer Li speaks well," Doctor Wang, the materials scientist, stood up, his voice carrying obvious reservations,

"But I suggest conducting small-scale concept verification experiments first. If even the basic principles cannot be proven, subsequent investment is a waste of resources."

Others echoed this, clearly unwilling to rashly devote all their energy to this project that sounded like "a fantasy."

Li Mingyuan was not surprised, "I completely agree with Doctor Wang's suggestion. Over the next week, we will concentrate our efforts on concept verification experiments. Experts can join the corresponding research groups based on their professional backgrounds."

After the meeting ended, the R&D team was divided into three technical groups, responsible for graphite filament preparation, the Explosion Dispersion System, and power grid testing, respectively.

Each group was equipped with corresponding equipment and personnel and began their respective R&D work.

Li Mingyuan was not fixed to any one group, but shuttled between the three, providing technical guidance and coordinating resources.

Soon, all the laboratories in the base were running, and various instruments and equipment worked day and night.

However, the initial experimental results were not ideal.

The graphite filament preparation group encountered the problem of insufficient purity; the graphite filaments produced contained a large amount of impurities, and the conductivity was unstable.

The explosion dispersion group faced even more difficulties; the first explosion experiment was almost a complete failure—the graphite filaments either vaporized completely or formed useless solid particles, and the expected conductive fibers did not appear at all.

Even in this situation, Li Mingyuan maintained astonishing calmness and confidence. He personally led the team to analyze the causes of failure, adjust technical parameters, and constantly try new schemes.

"The problem with graphite filament preparation lies in the insufficient precision of reaction temperature control," he said to the materials group, "We need to design a new temperature control system to ensure that the temperature fluctuation during the entire reaction process does not exceed five degrees."

"The key to explosion dispersion is the explosion speed," he explained to the explosion group again, "The current configuration is too simple to provide sufficient directional pressure. I suggest adjusting it to a three-layer structure, using low-speed explosives for the outer layer and specially made temperature-regulating materials for the inner layer."

Just like that, under Li Mingyuan's guidance, the team constantly adjusted the plan, trying again and again, failing again and again, and starting over again and again.

On the afternoon of the fourth day, a major breakthrough finally appeared—the materials group successfully prepared relatively pure graphite filaments, and the resistivity was close to the theoretical expected value.

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