Doomsday Bunker Upgrade Chapter 74: Energy problems caused by hypoxia

　　 After learning that there would be an oxygen problem, Chen Xin took a lot of attention to 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 about three days without drinking water.

　　 But if people don’t breathe, they 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 is also greatly increased.

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

　　 Only relying on the photosynthesis of plants to maintain the oxygen cycle in a confined space, this kind of experiment has been done for a long time, and even the Federation also 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 night, photosynthesis stops, and the oxygen needed for plant respiration and the oxygen needed for human respiration will soon exhaust the limited oxygen in the confined space.

Not only is the confined space unable to maintain such an oxygen cycle, but 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 second experiment of 　　 Ecosphere, 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 maintain Human survival needs.

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

　　Due to 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 a non-natural environment, this problem is actually not difficult to solve, that is, the use of fill lights to provide 24 hours of uninterrupted light for plants, and to promote plants to maintain uninterrupted photosynthesis.

　　 If a plant performs photosynthesis 24 hours a day, the oxygen provided can not only be used for its own breathing, but it can also be provided for the survival of humans living together.

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

　　 is not before the disaster, the sun, a super-large sustainable energy source that is almost infinite, provides the earth with a steady stream of light and heat.

Until the dust cloud blocks the sunlight, people can rely on the sun to enjoy the abundant energy it brings, whether it is photosynthesis or solar power generation, which requires no 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 humans in the last days, these two traditional energy sources have become the key to ensuring human survival.

　　Especially coal resources, whether it is for 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 actually higher than that of ordinary gasoline.

After all, even if it is -35 diesel, it 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 a high grade diesel, its price is much more expensive than ordinary gasoline.

　　 When he first entered the shelter, Chen Xin only needed 10 liters of gasoline a day to generate electricity to meet all of his electricity consumption. After upgrading the planting greenhouse, he now consumes 20 liters of fuel per day. The light time is due to the system upgrade. The provided -10% light time requires only about 12 hours of light exposure to the plants every day.

　　 Now if the planting greenhouse is allowed to maintain light 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 by Chen Xin can be used for one year, and it may only be enough for 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~IndoMTL.com~ He determined that he had to upgrade the shelter's power system.

　　 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.

It is a feasible method to improve the efficiency of the generator, but the effect will not be too big. After all, saving energy by 5%-10% sounds like a lot, but it is nothing more than actual consumption. It’s just a few more days to let the fuel run out.

　　 So the most appropriate way is to make the shelter self-sustaining, so that energy consumption and the output of the shelter can balance out and form a cycle.

　　 Thinking of this, Chen Xin naturally missed the algae circulating oxygen generator he told Mo Qingyan.

This system can produce oxygen and algal biomass, which can not only provide oxygen, but also produce biogas for fuel cells to generate electricity, which consumes electricity, water and carbon dioxide.

Water resources are no longer a problem after Chen Xin can extract groundwater. Moreover, the water consumption of algae cultivation is not large. In addition, it can be recycled. Chen Xin is not worried about the problem of water resources.

As for the issue of carbon dioxide, after the whole system is in operation, the carbon dioxide produced by the combustion of biogas can be collected to supply the algae for photosynthesis consumption. If it is 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 the help of external resources.

The only problem is power consumption.