The Current Situation and Development Trends of China's Valve Industry
2023-04-19 10:00:01
Introduction
Valves are one of the indispensable fluid control devices in various sectors of the national economy. They are used in large quantities, cover a wide range of applications, and have complex varieties. The quality and technical level of valves are directly related to the safety production, economic benefits, and long-term development of the sectors that use them. With the development of the national economy, higher requirements have been put forward for the structural design, material selection, and production and processing technology of valves. How to improve product performance and reduce production and usage costs has increasingly attracted the attention of industry insiders.
1. The Current Situation of China's Valve Industry
Since the reform and opening up, with the rapid development of various industries, the valve industry has also developed rapidly. The number of manufacturers has increased rapidly, the production level has been greatly improved, the output of valves has increased significantly, and the complete set rate, complete set level, and complete set capacity of the valve market have all been greatly enhanced.
In Zhejiang Province alone, the number of valve enterprises has grown from a dozen in the early days of reform and opening up to more than 2,000 at present, with sales revenue reaching more than 30 billion yuan. Especially in Hangzhou, Ningbo, Taizhou, and Wenzhou in Zhejiang, Changzhou, Suzhou, and Yancheng in Jiangsu, Shanghai, Chengdu in the southwest region, Lanzhou in the northwest, and Anhui and other places, with the help of regional advantages and investments from large domestic and foreign enterprises, a complete valve manufacturing production chain has gradually taken shape. The formation of the production chain is conducive to the control of production, quality, and cost in the valve industry, enabling China's valve industry to develop in a healthy direction towards specialization, scale, and high-quality products.
2. The Current Situation of Valve Technology in China
Overall, valve technology in China has made great progress. Currently, it is capable of designing, producing, and testing more than a dozen categories, over 3,000 models, and more than 40,000 specifications of valve products.
During the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period, China's valve industry developed the 24-way rotary valve, valves for pneumatic conveying of solid materials (rotary feeders, conveying diverter valves, slide valves), a new generation of high-performance single and double-sided sealed triple-eccentric composite ring metal-sealed butterfly valves, high-temperature butterfly valves, soft and hard-sealed high-vacuum solenoid valves and manual pressure-resistant valves, GK-type pipeline ball valves, gate valves, ball valves, and regulating valves with inlaid wear-resistant ceramic sealing rings. In addition, high-temperature and high-pressure Y-type bellows globe valves, low-temperature bellows chlorine valves, subcritical and supercritical high-temperature and high-pressure globe valves, and biological antibacterial diaphragm valves have also been developed and produced. Some products manufactured by enterprises have filled domestic gaps and obtained national patents. For example, a new type of high-temperature and high-pressure temperature and pressure reducing device (valve) supporting supercritical units and a high-performance full-capacity safety valve developed by Hangzhou Huahui Valve Co., Ltd. obtained national patents in 2008 respectively; Zhejiang High and Medium Pressure Valve Co., Ltd. successfully developed China's first large-scale wind tunnel exhaust throttle and pressure regulating valve; Qinye Heavy Industry, the leading enterprise in the domestic metallurgical valve industry, obtained the eighth valve patent for an energy-saving, water-saving, and long-life hot air valve. The research and development of these products mark a significant improvement in the overall level of valve technology in China. However, there is still a certain gap between the overall level of domestic valve technology and that of developed countries in the world. Most domestic enterprises can only produce low-end products with low technical content and low added value. The development of new products is only to make some improvements on existing products or directly copy similar foreign products. Enterprises lack core technologies with independent intellectual property rights and high-end products with international competitiveness. High-temperature and high-pressure valves supporting thermal power units with a capacity of more than 600,000 kilowatts, nuclear power valves, special valves supporting the petrochemical industry, high-parameter and high-performance safety valves, and other products mainly rely on imports. Valve enterprises have weak R&D motivation, do not pay enough attention to the R&D of new products, and valve R&D mainly still depends on various research institutions.
3. The Development Trends of Valve Technology in China
The rapid development of energy projects and the urbanization process in China have brought rare opportunities for the structural adjustment and industrial upgrading of the valve industry. The future market for valves will mainly focus on industries such as the power industry, petrochemical industry, and urban construction.
(1) The large-scale construction of power stations. Power stations are developing from units with a capacity of less than 300,000 kilowatts to units with a capacity of more than 600,000 kilowatts, and even up to 1.3 million kilowatts. A large number of power station valves such as large-diameter forged and welded high-temperature and high-pressure pressure reducing valves and safety valves for subcritical, critical, and supercritical units are required. The large-scale nature of the equipment puts forward stricter requirements for the materials, structure, and reliability of valves.
(2) The gradual increase of the nuclear power industry. Nuclear power valves are widely used hydraulic pressure equipment in nuclear power plants. They connect more than 300 systems throughout the nuclear power plant and are key accessories for the safe operation of nuclear power plants. According to the "Medium and Long-Term Development Plan for Nuclear Power 2005-2020" formulated by the state, by 2020, China's installed capacity will reach 59.46 million kilowatts, with a total new construction investment of 450 billion yuan. A large number of gate valves, globe valves, check valves, butterfly valves, safety valves, main steam isolation valves, ball valves, diaphragm valves, pressure reducing valves, and control valves are needed.
(3) The oil development is shifting to the inland and the sea. With the start of the West-East Gas Pipeline Project and the development of the oil refining industry, oil pipelines have also developed rapidly. These pipelines have strict requirements for valves, and a large number of forged steel flat gate valves, double-disc butterfly check valves, angle throttle valves, and ball valves are needed. For the oil production, blowout prevention, water injection, gas injection, and underwater equipment systems of offshore oil production platforms, some special valves resistant to seawater and salt spray erosion need to be developed. These valves are required to have strong corrosion resistance, the ability to withstand abnormal external forces such as storms, and also require reliable sealing, flexible operation, and convenient maintenance.
(4) The urban construction system is gradually transitioning from the previously used low-pressure iron gate valves to environmentally friendly rubber plate valves, balance valves, metal-sealed butterfly valves, and center-line sealed butterfly valves.
The valve products applied in these large projects are gradually becoming larger in size, higher in parameters, higher in performance, and more automated, and the complete set ratio has increased significantly. Therefore, higher requirements have been put forward for the development and design of valves, prompting the development of valves to pay more attention to performance indicators such as product reliability and safety.
New synthetic materials, new alloy steels, and new processes provide new development directions for valve technology. For example, titanium metal can form a firm passivation film on its surface, showing excellent corrosion resistance in many strongly corrosive media. Synthetic materials such as polypropylene, polycarbonate, and nylon have been widely used in manufacturing valves for the chemical industry. The new sealing material, flexible graphite, has the characteristics of high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, and lubrication, and can be widely used in the production of high-temperature and high-pressure valves.
Currently, while analyzing and learning from advanced foreign technologies, valve enterprises should vigorously cultivate their own technical forces, increase R&D efforts, transform the manufacturing equipment and test and detection means that restrict the improvement of quality, and at the same time take into account the application of new materials, new technologies, and new processes in valves, and develop new products with high technology, high added value, and independent intellectual property rights.
4. Conclusion
Valve manufacturing enterprises in China should gradually improve the management system, increase investment in scientific research, pay attention to the cultivation of scientific research talent teams, strengthen cooperation with scientific research institutions and universities, widely participate in international technical exchanges, keep forging ahead, enhance their own scientific research and innovation capabilities, develop products with independent intellectual property rights, and comprehensively improve their competitiveness.
Cited from (Journal) Mechanical & Electrical Engineering, 2009 (10). Authors: Sun Li, Chen Lilong
