Chen Junwu is in Luoyang Wangcheng Park
In the cold winter, the ancient capital Luoyang, the temperature in the morning was close to zero degrees Celsius. An elderly man with gray hair and a clear face slowly walked in the morning light, passed through the bustling crowds, and headed to the office building of Sinopec Luoyang (Guangzhou) Engineering Company located on the west bank of Jianhe River.
"The country has entered a new era. Although I am older and have a little physical strength, I can still continue to make some contributions." In front of the copier at the end of the corridor, the elder said while printing the information. The sunlight gently sprinkled on his slightly hunched back. "Now I am just a 'cheerleader' for young people. Yesterday they sent me a project information. I have to think about some data..."
This 91-year-old "cheerleader" is Chen Junwu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a founder of the technology of catalytic cracking in China. He once led his team to create many "firsts in the refining and chemical technology field, making pioneering contributions to my country's fluidized catalytic cracking technology from nothing to something and from weak to strong.
leads the way to raise "Golden Flower"
To this day, there is still a stone tablet in front of the northern catalysis workshop of Fushun Petroleum No. 2, with the words "China's first fluidized catalytic cracking device - May 1965". This device, known as one of the "Five Golden Flowers" of China's oil refining industry, condenses the hard work of many oil workers, and Chen Junwu is the designer of this device.
Fluid catalytic cracking is a key technology in the refining industry. It has the characteristics of low investment, low operating costs, and strong adaptability of raw materials. It is one of the most important transformation processes in petroleum refining. At that time, there were only a few dozen sets of such devices around the world, and the technology was blocked layer by layer.
In 1959, the Daqing Oilfield, which emerged from nowhere, provided the country with sufficient crude oil, but the domestic refining technology at that time could not keep up with the needs of the development of the situation. Most of the technology used was the Soviet Union at that time. It could not effectively and deeply process crude oil, nor could it be possible to refine light oil products with more quantity and higher quality. "It's like having the best rice, but still not having delicious white rice." Chen Junwu's metaphor.
At that time, China urgently needed independent research and development of new oil refining technologies.
In the winter of 1961, the Ministry of Petroleum Industry decided to draw backbone forces in scientific research, design, manufacturing, infrastructure and production, and carry out self-reliance to carry out five new refining technologies, including fluidized catalytic cracking, platinum reforming, delayed coking, urea dewaxing, and related catalysts and additives, to change the backwardness of my country's refining industry technology as soon as possible. These five projects were later called the "Five Golden Flowers" of the oil refining industry.
34-year-old Chen Junwu was appointed as the designer of my country's first fluidized catalytic cracking device.
However, what should the device look like, how to design and how to manufacture it? Chen Junwu often sits at desks for more than ten hours a day, and his mind is full of data and solutions.
After more than three months of intense work, the main technical solution has been completed. In early June of that year, the former State Science and Technology Commission decided to select personnel to visit Cuba, and Chen Junwu was among them.
"Standing under someone's device, my first reaction was to remember the scene of the first English class in middle school in my teens. The teacher read in pure English: Alibaba came to the cave and shouted, "Seah, sesame, sesame, open the door." After more than 50 years, Chen Junwu recalled the situation at that time, and his eyes were still flashing. "The door to the treasure was finally opened, and it suddenly became clear."
However, the factory was in a state of shutdown at that time. Although advanced technology was in front of him, no one could guide him. All he could see was a huge tower tool and English information that he had never seen before. Time is tight, and Chen Junwu doesn’t have a day off or entertainment, he just races against time to work and work.
And beside him is the world-famous tourist destination - Varadero Beach. "The blue coast and white beaches are so beautiful, I have never been there once." When I returned to China after the inspection, Chen Junwu's luggage did not contain a single piece of foreign goods, and he was covered with more than 20 notebooks filled with learning experiences.
The information can only be used as a reference, and the design must be completed by yourself, especially the main equipment must be developed by our country. Hundreds of sets of instruments, thousands of valves of size, and nearly 20,000 meters of thick and thin pipelines must be accurate and foolproof in the design.
Under the leadership of Chen Junwu, more than 1,000 design drawings were completed in 1963, and construction and production preparation began in 1964. Chen Junwu was "sucking" at the scene day and night, looking for one, and looking for the other; having a meeting here and answering questions there, busy like a spinning top that kept spinning.
On May 5, 1965, when the first ray of dawn in the morning brushed across the horizon, the 600,000-ton/year fluidized catalytic cracking device located at the southern end of Fushun Petroleum No. 2 showed the majestic posture of steel bars and iron bones. After more than four years of hard work, the first "golden flower" independently developed, designed and installed by my country was successfully put into production at one time, driving my country's oil refining technology to span 20 years and approaching the world's advanced level at that time.
Innovation is not only a career development
Looking at Chen Junwu's resume, his 70-year career has always revolved around two words: oil.
Chen Junwu's ancestral home is Changle, Fujian. He was born in a scholarly family in Beijing in March 1927. He was influenced by good family education and culture. Chen Junwu developed a strong interest in chemistry knowledge during middle school. In 1944, 17-year-old Chen Junwu was admitted to the Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Engineering, Peking University with outstanding results.
At that time, Chinese people were in vain and industrial and mining enterprises were in decline. In 1946, Chen Junwu, who was in the second year of college, visited Fushun and saw the coal-to-oil factory left by the Japanese for the first time. China's backward oil industry and the embarrassment of being controlled everywhere had a huge impact on him. He immediately made a volunteer in his heart: to win the bow and be strong, and he must devote himself to the oil industry and contribute to the rejuvenation of the country and the nation with what he learned.
For the oil dream in my heart, and for four years of college life, Chen Junwu integrated all his youth into the pages and notes. On the eve of graduation, Chen Junwu organized and bound his study notes over the past few years with the title of "Chemical Engineering and Me - a section of Junwu's journey of seeking knowledge", divided them into 18 categories, each with a cover, and the total thickness was 20 cm.
At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the foundation of the refining industry was extremely weak and could be said to be poor and lax. The new People's Republic urgently needs "black blood" to inject vitality into development. After graduating from college, Chen Junwu only stared at "oil".
At that time, Northeast was the place where heavy industry was the most concentrated in China, and Shenyang was the largest industrial city in Northeast China, and its working and living conditions were relatively superior. Chen Junwu's mother and family were in Shenyang, and everyone advised him to stay in Shenyang to work.
Surprisingly, Chen Junwu insisted on going to Fushun.
He is still thinking about the coal-to-oil factory he visited in Fushun with his classmates. He was worried about what the country was anxious about and wanted it. This was his original belief and never changed.
Refused to keep his relatives. In December 1949, Chen Junwu joined the Liaoning Fushun Mining Bureau as he wished and became a technician at the Artificial Petroleum Plant (later renamed Petroleum Plant III). He plunged into the workshop and devoted his enthusiasm to the factory restoration project. Faced with the reality of lack of technical information and simple production conditions, he and technical experts and old workers overcame many difficulties and forgot to eat and sleep for the factory to resume production. With his rich knowledge reserves and diligent and rigorous work style, Chen Junwu has successively completed technical innovation tasks such as steam injectors and distillation heating furnaces, and gradually grew into a young technical backbone.
In April 1956, Chen Junwu joined the Communist Party of China.
"My sisters are all Communists. I have always felt that the cause of the Communist Party is a great cause. I am willing to fight for this cause for life. This is how the original volunteer for joining the party was written." Now, 91-year-old Chen Junwu still has a firm tone. "From the day I joined the Communist Party of China, I have been prepared to support the country and devote my life to science, without regrets!"
At the end of 1969, according to national needs, Chen Junwu moved to Zhuyuangou, a Fushun Design Institute of the original Ministry of Petroleum Industry, located in the mountainous area of western Henan, and has since established himself in Luoyang.
In order to process more Daqing crude oil, in the temporary simple board room, Chen Junwu and his colleagues racked their brains to develop a joint distillation-catalytic cracking device. In 1972, this device, known as "one top two", was successfully trial operation in Jinzhou .
In 1978, the National Science Conference was grandly held in Beijing, and Chen Junwu attended the conference gloriously and was commended.
In the same year, Chen Junwu served as the deputy director and chief engineer of Luoyang Oil Refining Design Institute. The first rapid bed fluidized catalytic cracking device designed by him was successfully trial operation at the Urumqi Oil Refinery, and the first 1.2 million tons/year fully lifting pipe fluidized catalytic cracking device was successfully driven at the Zhenhai Oil Refinery, Zhejiang Province.
In 1982, the 500,000 tons/year coaxial catalytic cracking device of the Lanzhou oil refinery built in accordance with the technical plan proposed by Chen Junwu was put into production, and won the first prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award and the National Excellent Design Gold Award. In the same year, he presided over the national "Sixth Five-Year Plan" task including "Distribution and industrial application of Daqing's atmospheric residual oil catalytic cracking technology, and the use of independent technology to build a new catalytic cracking device."
In 1985, the catalytic cracking technology of residual oil with independent intellectual property rights was industrialized in the Shijiazhuang oil refinery, and won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award in 1987.
In 1989, a 1 million tons/year catalytic cracking device with both coaxial structure and efficient regeneration was completed and put into production at the Shanghai oil refinery. In 1994, this technology obtained the first invention patent authorization in the field of catalytic cracking engineering technology in my country.
It is precisely with the joint efforts of several generations of Chen Junwu and others that my country's fluidized catalytic cracking technology has gone from a deserted area to a beautiful garden. Up to now, my country has built hundreds of fluidized catalytic cracking devices of various types, with a total processing capacity of more than 150 million tons, making it the second largest country in the world after the United States.
In 1990, 62-year-old Chen Junwu had reached his retirement year. This year, he was awarded the title of "National Master of Engineering Survey and Design" and was elected as a member of the Department of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences a year later. Many media wanted to interview him, and many publishing institutions at home and abroad sent him letters to him, asking him to include him in various celebrity dictionaries, but he refused.
Scientists' eyes are always ahead.
Faced with the reality that my country lacks oil resources and the increasing dependence on crude oil imports from year to year, Chen Junwu believes that the research and development of oil substitution is very necessary and urgent, which is not only related to people's livelihood, but also to national energy security.
He turned his research direction to the national petroleum substitution strategy, cooperated with the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and guided the completion of the industrial amplification of methanol-to-olefin (DMTO) technology and its industrial promotion and application, opening up a new technological route for the deep transformation and utilization of my country's coal resources. In January 2015, DMTO technology won the first prize of the 2014 National Technology Invention Award.
Entering his 80s, Chen Junwu has invested a lot of energy to pay close attention to the development and progress of many strategic issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, carbon emission reduction and oil replacement of hydrogen energy production, transportation, storage and transportation technology.
Look at life indifferently and honestly
In the eyes of most people, Chen Junwu is a great scientist who is admirable, and in the eyes of his daughter, Chen Junwu is a particularly simple person.
"Dad has no high requirements for life and can easily satisfy it. He can buy tickets and squeeze into the bus alone, or eat a bowl of noodles at a roadside stall." The youngest daughter Chen Xin remembered that her father's normal life was to go from one device to another.
Task, pressure, responsibility... Every word is heavy to mention, but no matter how busy it is, Chen Junwu always lives a calm and composed rhythm.
He always emphasizes that every achievement embodies the hard work of a large number of people working together, and the honor is naturally attributed to the collective. Only by sharing it with most people can you feel at ease.
In 1985, the catalytic cracking technology of residual oil with independent intellectual property rights was industrialized in the Shijiazhuang oil refinery, and two years later won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. On the list of main completed personnel, there are no names of Chen Junwu, the leader of the research team, and the deputy leader, , Min Enze, .When submitting the materials, Chen Junwu specifically proposed that several other scientific and technological personnel from Luoyang Design Institute who contributed to this project should be included in the award list and not listed on himself.
In Chen Junwu's life dictionary, the word "self-interest" seems to have never appeared. Chen Xin admitted frankly: "My father always said that the road had to be walked by himself. Our family and those close to him had never received any benefits and care from him."
In July 2014, Luoyang Engineering Company, which had been in the past half a century, moved south to Guangzhou. Two-thirds of the personnel moved to Guangzhou to work. According to the level of treatment, the company leaders arranged a 180-square-meter resettlement house for Chen Junwu when planning housing. After hearing this, Chen Junwu refused to say it: "I am old and work and live in Luoyang. Why do I want a house as big as Guangzhou?!"
Chen Junwu is so stingy when spending the money of the country and the collective money. After taking up the leadership position, he declined the treatment of being a secretary and a special car, and insisted on walking to work for nearly 20 years. When he goes on business trips, he often cares about saving taxi fares and the money he spends on hotels.
What is little known is that Chen Junwu also has a very generous side.
When he was working in Fushun, he handed over the prizes he received from his technological innovation to the group and other colleagues for use. After relocating to work in Luoyang, he donated his bonus to the company's kindergarten, to outstanding private teachers, and donated 40,000 yuan to establish a youth excellent science and technology paper reward fund. On an important anniversary of the party, he would pay an extra amount of party dues.
In August 1994, Chen Junwu learned from the newspaper that Zhang Zhengwei, who was admitted to Fudan University in Xin'an County, Luoyang City, was worried about tuition fees, so he wrote a letter overnight, expressing his full support for Zhang Zhengwei to complete his university studies.
Before the start of school, Zhang Zhengwei came to Chen Junwu's house as promised. Chen Junwu not only gave him 3,000 yuan in tuition and living expenses, but also prepared a schoolbag containing various school supplies and a large suitcase containing razors, wool sweaters, leather shoes and other daily necessities for him, and told Zhang Zhengwei: "During college, I will bear all the study fees and living expenses, you just need to study with peace of mind."
Since then, Chen Junwu remitted money to Zhang Zhengwei on time every year until Zhang Zhengwei graduated from university, with a total fund of tens of thousands of yuan. After graduation, Zhang Zhengwei entered Shanghai Huashan Hospital and has now become a business backbone. "Academician Chen is my mentor, and I can't do this because of his help." Zhang Zhengwei was full of gratitude to Chen Junwu. He would visit him whenever he returned to Luoyang.
People who have received help from Chen Junwu are not just Zhang Zhengwei. Some have solved temporary difficulties, and some have changed their lives because of this.
In 2010, Chen Junwu, who is over 80 years old, took the lead in establishing the Henan Provincial Petroleum Supplemental Alternative Energy Research Academician Workstation at the School of Chemical Engineering and Energy of Zhengzhou University, to guide the team to engage in research and demonstration work on biofuels. He went to Zhengzhou University to give lectures many times, and at the same time gave careful guidance to the Sun Peiqin team of Zhengzhou University through email and other means, and also trained four postdoctoral fellows including Sun Shaohui. In January 2016, the team's research results were presented in a monograph "Technological and Economic Assessment of Bio-Based Fuels", providing an important reference for national energy strategic decision-making.
During the past six years, Chen Junwu has not received any remuneration paid to the School of Chemical Engineering and Energy. When the team achieved phased results, the college once again paid the remuneration he deserved for six years of part-time jobs, Chen Junwu proposed to donate all of the nearly 200,000 yuan to reward and support outstanding young students in the school's chemical field.
That day, Chen Junwu made a special trip to Zhengzhou University to participate in the donation activity. He declined the teacher and student request for hospitality, but happily accepted a bouquet of flowers from the students. He said that he would give the flowers to his wife who was ill in bed.
"A person's life is just a short moment in the long river of history. He should live a valuable and meaningful life." When it comes to what he does, Chen Junwu is always dull. "Dedication to society should be endless, and the acquisition from society can only be stopped in moderation. I have worked hard to do this and made some contributions, which is enough."
Spring breeze and rain to cultivate pillars
On March 17, 2017, Chen Junwu was 90 years old.
To celebrate the teacher's birthday, his disciples gathered in Luoyang and prepared to give him a special gift.
On this day, the on-site teaching activity of the Catalytic Cracking Advanced Study Class and Expert Class in Luoyang was held in the academic lecture hall of the Luoyang Engineering Company Office Building. When the 90-year-old teacher slowly walked onto the podium, the audience stood up and the applause continued.
The more than 140 students who were listening to the class in the audience spanned several generations, many of whom were "big names" in the petroleum and petrochemical industry, some of whom had retired, had gray hair and some young faces.
After resigning from the administrative leadership position, Chen Junwu ordered three things for himself: book, lecture, and education. "The competition in the future market is essentially a competition for scientific and technological strength. We must first improve the overall basic theoretical level and scientific and technological quality of scientific and technological personnel." In Chen Junwu's mind, the desire to cultivate talents is particularly strong and urgent.
In early 1992, through strict examinations and inspections, Chen Junwu identified three people as his "master-apprentice" trainees from the young engineers of Luoyang Engineering Company. He signed a training contract with three trainees and promised to give them lectures during the prescribed time, including lunch break.
In the following three years, Chen Junwu fulfilled his contract meticulously and conscientiously. He taught students once a week, gave more than 10 classes a month, and often led students to the on-site practical teaching.
Since there is no precedent to follow, it took Chen Junwu a lot of energy to sort out just one handout. He systematically organized and condensed the experience and theories he had accumulated over half a century of exploration, like holding a baton and passing it to later generations without reservation. Chen Junwu is willing to give all this and never get a penny.
At the same time, Chen Junwu strongly realized that in order to cultivate higher-level elite talents for the Sinopec industry, it is necessary to break the door and establish an advanced training class with innovative ideas and unique teaching methods. His proposal was strongly supported by the leaders of the Petrochemical Corporation at that time.
Under the direct promotion of Chen Junwu, in 1992, the first advanced training class for catalytic cracking in Sinopec started. There are only 8 formal students, and the selection conditions are extremely strict. For example, you must have more than 4 years of working experience in a factory catalytic cracking device and are already a senior engineer or a process technician who is close to a senior engineer.
"Catalytic cracking is the core device in the oil refining field. Academician Chen believes that the person who is most familiar with the current situation of catalytic cracking technology are front-line operators and technical cadres. By improving their technical level, they will improve the overall professional and technical level of the oil refining industry." Ling Yiqun, deputy general manager of of Sinopec Group, was one of the eight formal students at that time, at the age of 30. He said that being selected for such a "master class" is so lucky for a young technician in a catalytic workshop in the refinery.
"From science, he fully respects the technical achievements of domestic and foreign companies and sister units. He objectively introduces and analyzes the technical characteristics of each company during his lectures, so that students can experience it themselves." When talking about the first time he came into close contact with a master, what impressed Ling Yiqun the most was Chen Junwu's extensive knowledge and broad mind.
After 3 weeks of high-intensity intensive study, the students returned to their respective jobs, but each of them brought a "big homework" with a large number of questions and a period of more than one year - collecting and sorting out the original data of the catalytic cracking device in their unit, performing process and engineering calculations according to the methods proposed during the lecture, and then conducting targeted analysis and research based on the calculation results and combining the technical problems that arise in the device, and finally propose a solution.
In Ling Yiqun's eyes, this "big homework" is worthy of its name. In an era when computers were not yet popular, completing homework was mainly done by hand, and the calculation volume was so huge that it was unimaginable that every student took more than a year to complete it. In order to accurately calculate a set of devices using material balance, Ling Yiqun even asked the factory for dispatch several times to empty a material tank and then reload and measure it to obtain accurate first-hand data.
“At that time, no one would use this method to analyze the device and make this request. Everyone was confused and thought I was joking."Ling Yiqun said with emotion, "After studying with Academician Chen, you will feel a complete transformation. When you look at the device again, your mind is full of problems. "
Let students have the ability to discover deep and directional problems. This is the guiding ideology throughout Chen Junwu's entire teaching process.
After the first catalytic cracking advanced research class was completed, the second and third phases were held one after another, and the third phase lasted for 10 years. The "Chen's Continuing Education Project" created a teaching method that is completely different from the academy style, from the practice of catalytic cracking equipment in the enterprise and then back to the technological progress of catalytic cracking equipment in the enterprise, allows all students to continue to benefit in their careers, and has also cultivated a group of elite talents without degree certificates for China's petroleum and petrochemical industry.
More than 20 years ago, these students who were tempered by "big homework" were ordinary front-line technicians. After returning to the company, most of them grew from technicians to technical leaders. Many of them later became accomplished experts in the petroleum and petrochemical industry, and a large number of important leadership positions such as general managers, deputy general managers, and chief engineers of the company.
During the years of learning and interacting with Chen Junwu, Ling Yiqun found that the balance view taught by Chen Junwu in the advanced research class was constantly expanding and updating. "This is the spirit and strategic vision of scientists, constantly learning, catching up and surpassing. "Now, the "Comprehensive Discussion on Petroleum Substitution" written by Chen Junwu at the age of 82 has become the most important reference book in Ling Yiqun's work.
Liu Xiaoxin, the newly retired deputy general manager of Shijiazhuang Refining and Chemical, is the "Secretary-General" of Chen Junwu's Advanced Research Class. She has been responsible for the contact between teachers and students for many years. However, she believes that she is not a qualified "Secretary-General".
One day in 2006, Chen Junwu passed by Shijiazhuang and planned to visit Gu Qixiong, an old colleague who had worked with him in Fushun and retired from Shijiazhuang Refining and Chemical. At that time, the main members of the Shijiazhuang Refining and Chemical Team, including Liu Xiaoxin, were all students of Chen Junwu's Catalytic Cracking Research Class. Chen Junwu was afraid of trouble for others, so he specifically asked Gu Qixiong not to disturb anyone.
After giving the "seal order" to his old colleague, Chen Junwu rushed to Gu Qixiong's house with trains and buses. After staying for one night, he quietly returned to Luoyang the next day. "After he left, we realized that he had come to our company's living area. He felt very sad at that time. "When Liu Xiaoxin recalled the hurried back and forth of the teacher who was nearly 80 years old, he choked up. "He is so stubborn, afraid that when he comes, it will affect the company and our work. ”
Whenever I think of my mentor, Liu Xiaoxin always thinks of a sentence in the prose of the famous writer of the Song Dynasty, " Mr. Yan's Ancestral Hall Records ": "The clouds and mountains are vast, the rivers are vast, the wind of the gentleman, the mountains are high and the waters are long. ”
Chen Junwu went deep into the scene
Chen Junwu is guiding work
as light as water Weiruoshan
In life, we will always face all kinds of troubles and temptations, what we value, what we underestimate, what we stick to, what we abandon, it is like an invisible ruler, measuring the thickness of our character and indicating the height of our realm.
In his career, Chen Junwu has been pursuing excellence and excellence throughout his life, serving the country with science and technology, exploring and innovation, writing books and cultivating talents, and dedicated his life to the petrochemical industry of the motherland, with outstanding achievements. In his life, Chen Junwu is modest and low-key, trying his best to keep ordinary. He does not want the media to promote himself more, and he avoids even refuses interviews from reporters many times. He attaches importance to the interests of the country and the collective, but he regards honor and fame and fortune very lightly; he does his work to the extreme, but lives a life extremely simple and simple. No one asks him to do this, but he is willing to do so. Being indifferent to fame and fortune and being willing to be a ladder is a natural manifestation of Chen Junwu's family and country sentiment, and it is also the unchanging background and perseverance of a scientist.
He enjoys being obsessed with scientific research for life, and is happy to teach and solve doubts with selfless teaching. Chen Junwu's willingness to dedicate comes from his sincerity. He imparts what he thinks, learns, thinks, research and gains to every student, giving support and helping others to move forward, so that people can look far and wide, but he has no regrets and enjoys it.The development and progress of a country and an enterprise requires someone to do a lot of good things that lay the foundation for future generations, and benefit the long-term, and requires a lot of such unknown efforts. Those who are willing to be "paving the road" should not only have the foresight of "predecessors plant trees, and future generations enjoy the shade", but also have the mind of "success does not have to be mine", be based on the present and look at the long-term, always put career development first, keep fairness and integrity in your heart, and take promoting talent growth as your responsibility.
To learn from Chen Junwu, we must be like him - to "people" with a dedication, to "things" with a selfless heart; to "fame" with a peaceful heart, to "position" with a indifferent heart; to "benefit" with a contentment, to "power" with a fear, to transform his noble spirit into the power of faith, the power of responsibility, the power of struggle, and the power of struggle.
(This version of the manuscript was written by interviews with Xu Xu, Li Jianyong and Ji Hongmei)
