Breaking the dependence on imports! CCTV praised the good life of a Zhejiang University academician who is good at coal

Recently, China Central Radio and Television's "My Home, My Country" interviewed Cen Kefa, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor of the School of Energy Engineering at Zhejiang University, and told the story of his lifelong work in the energy field and his important contributions to the in-depth development and efficient utilization of China's energy.

From a leader in energy science who broke through water-coal slurry technology to an educator who trained a large number of energy talents, Cen Kefa has always integrated his personal ideals with national needs. With his scientific research pursuit of "daring to climb to the top" and his teaching style of "willing to be a stepping stone for others", he has interpreted the dual mission of a scientist and an educator, and attracted more young people to devote themselves to energy application and environmental science research.

He explored in the blackness of coal

Draw the bluest skyline

In 1957, Cen Kefa entered the School of Engineering of Zhejiang University, and was sent to study in Moscow the following year. Before leaving, his instructor, Mr. Qian Weichang, asked everyone what they wanted to study. Many students chose cutting-edge technologies such as "aircraft engines" and "rocket", but Cen Kefa chose the civilian industry - "coal combustion power generation technology". The reason behind this choice is simple, "China is a major coal-producing country, and coal is a major issue related to the national economy and people's livelihood." At the end of 1958, Cen Kefa entered the Moscow State Technical University of Bauman. He found that he was the only Chinese in the Institute of Power Engineering where he was. Four years later, he obtained a postdoctoral degree and returned to Zhejiang University to work.

In 1961, Cen Kefa took a photo in front of the teaching building of Bauman Moscow State Technical University

In 1961, Cen Kefa conducted experiments at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University.

After returning to China, Cen Kefa did not choose to work independently. He felt that the energy discipline was vast and boundless, and his four years of study had only explored the tip of the iceberg. With awe of knowledge and a desire to explore the discipline in depth, he resolutely decided to start as an assistant. This lasted for 21 years. In these long 21 years, Cen Kefa worked diligently and never slacked off because of his ordinary position. He went all out for every task. Because he knew that only by accumulating experience in this way could he learn solidly and lay a solid foundation for deep cultivation in the energy field in the future.
In the 1970s, many power plants in China switched to oil-fired power generation. However, as the global oil supply became tight, this model was too expensive and difficult to sustain. However, if coal-fired equipment was restored, time would not be available. At this critical moment, Cen Kefa proposed a bold idea: to use water-coal slurry instead. This caused quite a stir at the time, and everyone was questioning: How can coal burn if water is added?

The first step taken by Cen Kefa and his team was to develop a kerosene mixed fuel, that is, a ratio of half coal and half oil. Behind this is the task assigned by the state-the Anshan Iron and Steel plant burns a large amount of oil, and the power plant must not be shut down, otherwise the molten steel will condense and the consequences will be serious. This requires extremely high technical improvements. In more than two years, Cen Kefa has visited Anshan Iron and Steel more than 20 times, and he has been at the experimental site every time. In order to obtain first-hand data, scientific researchers must put on heavy protective clothing and enter a high-temperature furnace cooled to below 60°C after the experiment, and they get covered in dust every time. After an experiment, only the eyes and teeth are white. So there is such a saying in their team: "Don't talk about whether you are afraid of getting dirty or not, scientists who climb the furnace must be dirty!"

The scientific and technological research on oil-coal slurry was successful and won the first prize of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Science and Technology Achievement Award. The next step is to replace oil with water, and the development of water-coal slurry has become Cen Kefa's key research target. In the early 1980s, Cen Kefa made a special trip to the United States for inspection. Faced with the high price the United States sold the results of water-coal slurry, he made up his mind to develop independently. In order to overcome the difficulties of water-coal slurry combustion, Cen Kefa led the students to conduct experiments day and night. In 1982, the team successfully replaced oil in boilers and industrial furnaces with "water-coal slurry" mixed with coal, water and a small amount of additives. At this time, there is only one very critical last step left-going to the laboratory in the United States to verify the scientific research results.

Before the experiment began, the US side set many restrictions, allowing them to only watch the experiment and not direct the operation. According to the requirements, the US side had to produce various experimental data in about 10 days, but in actual operation, they failed to ignite the furnace successfully in 7 days. Seeing this, Cen Kefa keenly realized the problem and insisted on getting the opportunity to direct the experiment. With his experience, he accurately controlled the key parameters and successfully ignited the fire in just 1 hour.

Cen Kefa conducts experiments at Anshan Iron and Steel Group

This success is of great significance. If the experiment fails, China may have to rely on imported coal slurry. Now, the success of the experiment not only proves that China's independently developed coal slurry can burn, but more importantly, it allows the Chinese people to regain confidence in this field, breaking the foreign technology monopoly and laying a solid foundation for subsequent development. In 2009, the water-coal slurry technology won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. This technology saves about 2.5 million tons of fuel oil per year, and China has reached the international advanced level in this research field . Since then, Cen Kefa has led his students to overcome a series of technical difficulties related to coal, and has successively filled a number of national technical gaps.

Cen Kefa's award certificate

He is like coal

Burn yourself to light up others

While devoting himself to scientific research, Cen Kefa has always been at the forefront of teaching and educating people. He has always carried the scientific spirit of seeking truth throughout his educational career, and always encouraged students to boldly delve into research and think about how to solve problems.

89-year-old Cen Kefa in the laboratory In 1989, Cen Kefa took the lead in establishing the Institute of Thermal Engineering of Zhejiang University, and devoted his efforts to cultivating students in the professional construction. How to better cultivate students in practice? How to let students and young scientific research teams innovate and grow together? After years of exploration, he summed up the ladder mechanism of " professor group-doctoral students-master students-undergraduate students " for talent training; in terms of cultivating high-level outstanding engineering doctors, he successfully explored the innovative path of " mentor group training ".

Facing the changes of the times, Fellow Cen Kefa led the team to continuously carry out professional reforms. As early as 2001, Cen Kefa proposed the idea of ​​reforming the undergraduate majors of the School of Energy. He said: "We need to cultivate compound innovative talents who understand both energy and environmental protection, which is in line with the major needs of national strategic development." Under his promotion, Zhejiang University established the first energy and environmental system engineering major in the country in 2003. Similarly, in order to meet the country's needs for vigorously developing new energy, Cen Kefa promoted and established the new energy science and engineering major in 2010, laying the foundation for cultivating new energy professionals that the country urgently needs.

When dealing with students, Cen Kefa always strikes a balance between leniency and strictness. Some say: "Teacher Cen is very energetic. He holds group meetings in the morning, sometimes until the evening or even the early morning. Dinner is often just a box lunch." "Sometimes I excitedly bring my paper to him for review, but he finds a lot of 'thorns' and is very strict." At his 80s, Cen Kefa still personally guides students in starting a project, conducting experiments, and writing papers.

In addition to his iron-faced guidance on academic matters, Cen Kefa also has a caring heart for his students. "No airs" is the unanimous evaluation of Cen Kefa by teachers and students of the Institute of Thermal Energy. In the activities of the Institute of Thermal Energy, Cen Kefa would perform for everyone, and his harmonica solo "Moscow Suburbs Evening" was amazing. Qiu Kunzan, a professor at the School of Energy Engineering, said: "Teacher Cen cares about people and everyone's future. He cares about everything from the direction of research topics to personal families. He is like the core of a magnet, attracting students around him." Ni Jiangming, vice chairman of the Development Committee of Zhejiang University, is a student of Cen Kefa. What moved Ni Jiangming was that in order to give students more opportunities to exercise, Cen Kefa, as a mentor, personally went to Beijing to fight for the opportunity for him, who was still a graduate student at the time, to attend international academic conferences when the number of places to go abroad was limited.

Cen Kefa instructs students in doing experiments

Since the 1990s, Cen Kefa has rarely been the first winner. In fact, he has participated in all the award-winning projects and has been the person in charge of many of them, but he always puts his name at the end in order to allow more young people to step into the center of the academic stage. He believes that his position is to be an assistant.

Walking into the gate of the Thermal Energy Institute, the six golden characters "Seeking Truth, Unity, and Innovation" are clearly visible. Cen Kefa has deep feelings for his team: "These achievements are the result of the efforts of the entire team, and I am just one of them." He always believes that "only unity can do a good job in the discipline" and "you must have the spirit of being the protagonist and the mind of being a supporting role." Over the past 30 years, the Thermal Energy Institute has become a "scientific research iron army" with two academicians and a large number of national talents, undertaking more than 100 major scientific research projects.

In 2010, on his 75th birthday, Cen Kefa donated his savings of 3.5 million yuan to establish the "Zhejiang University Education Foundation Cen Kefa Education Fund" to encourage students to study hard and work hard. At that time, this was the largest donation from faculty and staff. The fund has now accumulated a total of 10 million yuan. He said: "I donate my income not to make students grateful to me, but to hope that students will study hard and repay the country and society."

Work never stops, and the journey never stops. Cen Kefa, now 90 years old, is still active in scientific research and education. Cen Kefa often said: "Talent training should start from the youth. I am not a master myself, but I hope Zhejiang University can train more future masters." Having studied energy issues for a lifetime, Cen Kefa himself is like fuel, igniting the flame of scientific exploration, illuminating others, and illuminating the starry sky of the nation's future.

(Source: CCTV's "My Country" program, Zhejiang University, etc.)