Why does China, a big country in valves, need to import foreign valves?

Why does China, a big country in valves, need to import foreign valves?

First, where does the name of valve power come from?

In the map of the global industrial field, China has stood proudly at the forefront and is a well-deserved valve manufacturing country.

After years of hard work, the scale of China valve industry is spectacular. There are more than 6,000 valve enterprises scattered all over the country, covering various types and specifications of valve products from developed coastal areas to inland industrial centers, and building a huge and complete industrial system. According to statistics, in 2023, China's valve output reached 6,938,600 tons, up 7.45% year-on-year. This figure directly shows the majestic productivity of China valves.

These enterprises are rooted in many key fields, such as petrochemical industry, coal chemical industry, electric power, environmental protection, metallurgy, etc., and supply a steady stream of "power sources" for major national projects and key projects. For example, the giant gas transmission valve in the West-to-East Gas Transmission Project, the nuclear-grade special valve in the nuclear power plant, and the high-temperature and high-pressure valve in the large-scale thermal power plant all demonstrate the strength of the "Made in China" valves, which firmly support the cornerstone of national industrial development.

Why does China, a big country in valves, need to import foreign valves?

Second, the "valve figure" in various industries

In the field of petrochemical industry, valves can be called the "throat artery" to ensure the smooth operation of production. From the exploitation and transportation of crude oil, to the cracking and refining in the refining process, and then to the synthesis of various chemical products, valves are everywhere. On the oil pipeline of a large refinery, giant gate valves accurately regulate the flow of crude oil to ensure the proper supply of materials for different reaction devices; In the high-pressure polyethylene production workshop, the special ball valve endures high temperature and high pressure, and the inlet and outlet of gaseous raw materials are strictly controlled. If there is a slight difference, the product quality will be greatly reduced and even safety accidents will be caused.

The power industry is also inseparable from the escort of valves. In thermal power station, the boiler feed water control valve is like a precise "faucet", which can adjust the feed water in real time according to the power generation load to ensure the stable output of steam; The bypass valve of steam turbine can quickly divert steam when the unit starts or stops or fails to protect the equipment from impact. Nuclear power plants have more stringent requirements for valves. Nuclear-grade check valves and safety valves are the core components of the nuclear reactor safety system, which shoulder the heavy responsibility of preventing radioactive media from leaking and relieving pressure in an emergency, and are the key defense lines to protect nuclear safety.

In metallurgical industry, valves control the circulation rhythm of high-temperature melt, gas and cooling water, from the hot air system of ironmaking blast furnace to the oxygen supply link of steelmaking converter to the cooling device of steel rolling production line. The butterfly valve with high temperature resistance and wear resistance can stably adjust the hot air flow at the outlet of the ironmaking blast furnace to ensure the continuous and efficient ironmaking reaction; The pneumatic gate valve in steelmaking workshop, with its rapid response, accurately controls the amount of oxygen injected, helps the purity of molten steel reach the standard, and lays the foundation for the casting of high-quality steel.

Water treatment industry is another important stage for valves. In the urban water supply system, gate valves and butterfly valves of various calibers are distributed all over the pipe network to regulate the distribution of water flow and meet the diversified water demand of residents' life and industrial production. In the sewage treatment plant, stop valves and check valves work together to accurately control the sewage treatment process, prevent sewage from flowing backwards and spilling, ensure the discharge up to standard after treatment, and protect the health of the water environment.

In the field of architecture, valves also have an irreplaceable position. The water supply and drainage pipeline system of residential buildings, small ball valves and angle valves ensure the convenient opening and closing and flow adjustment of daily water; In the central heating system, the balance valve and temperature control valve allow the warm current to be evenly delivered to every household to maintain the comfortable indoor temperature; The ventilation and air conditioning system of commercial buildings, fire dampers and regulating valves are the key to fire safety and temperature and humidity control, and build a safety barrier for crowded places.

3. What are the advantages of foreign valves?

(1) Exquisite craftsmanship

Foreign valve manufacturing technology is like a carefully carved work of art, showing extraordinary skill in many details. Taking KSB Company in Germany as an example, in order to meet the stringent requirements of radiation resistance of nuclear-grade valve sealing materials, special welding powder is widely used for cobalt-free welding in a pioneering way. Through sintering of welding powder and post-weld heat treatment, the welding parts are ensured to have high strength and toughness, and can effectively resist radiation erosion, thus escorting the safe operation of nuclear facilities. French Willand Valve Company is unique in the optimization of welding process. It integrates preheating before welding, automatic welding and post-welding treatment on the same advanced equipment or the same precision machining production line. With the help of automatic control system, it accurately controls the temperature of each link and realizes the seamless connection of the whole welding process. This not only greatly simplifies the welding process and improves the production efficiency, but also guarantees the high-quality forming of complex welds. Even in the face of difficult welding tasks such as straight line and curved line connection, it can easily realize accurate and stable automatic welding and ensure the sealing performance of the valve.

(2) Strict quality control

Foreign valve enterprises are almost harsh on quality control, which has created excellent stability and reliability of products. Many well-known foreign valve manufacturers, the quality of their products can generally meet the international authoritative standards such as API, JIS and BS. At the source of production, with advanced technology, the internal quality of casting blank reaches a very high level, the dimensional accuracy error is controlled in a very small range, the surface is smooth and flat, and it can be accurately adapted to special machine processing without additional renovation, greatly reducing the machining allowance and rejection rate. The finished valve has a beautiful appearance, and the trademark lettering is clear and regular, which shows the brand process. As the key defense line of valve sealing, packing and gasket are rich in varieties and specifications, and are finely matched according to different working conditions, which can effectively prevent leakage in high temperature, high pressure, strong corrosion or high vacuum environment. The automatic control valve has outstanding performance, the performance parameters run stably for a long time under complex working conditions, and the flow adjustment is accurate, which provides solid support for the precise control of industrial production processes. The service life of general valves is far beyond the routine, easily reaching 1-2 maintenance periods or even longer, effectively reducing the equipment operation and maintenance costs and downtime risks.

(3) Advanced process

The production process of foreign valves is highly intelligent and refined, which is a powerful guarantee for efficient and high-quality output. From the beginning of parts processing, almost all of them are completed by numerical control equipment. Turning, drilling, milling, boring and other processes are carried out accurately under the program instructions, and the processing accuracy is almost micron-level, and the processing efficiency is doubled compared with the traditional process. Employees can conveniently access parts processing drawings and programs through the operation console of CNC processing equipment. After clamping workpieces and starting the programs according to the process requirements, they can synchronously monitor the operation of multiple devices to realize the operation of one person and multiple machines. After the parts are processed and qualified, they will be transferred to the assembly workshop. With the help of advanced information management system, employees can brush the tracking card after the parts are completed, and the processing information can be fed back in real time, which helps enterprises to accurately grasp the production progress, scientifically count the workload and efficiently track the quality problems. Warehouse management is also remarkable. With the introduction of three-dimensional computer management system, warehouse management personnel input production instructions and quantities, and the system automatically sorts and packages the required parts and components, and accurately delivers them to the assembly workshop, which is efficient and correct throughout the process. Throughout the production process, the civilized production in the workshop is strictly implemented, the environmental sanitation is carefully controlled, and the dust and rust prevention measures are comprehensive. All parts of the product are finely polished and deeply cleaned, and the valves are strictly cleaned and dried before assembly, ensuring that the valves are delivered in a flawless state, which has injected strong power into the global high-end industrial field.

Fourth, the reason why China imported valves.

(I) Demand for high-end valves

The booming high-end manufacturing industry in China, such as aerospace, deep-sea exploration, high-end chip manufacturing and other fields, put forward almost harsh requirements for valve performance. The regulating valve in the fuel control system of aero-engine needs to realize precise flow regulation for dozens of times per second under extreme temperature and pressure changes to ensure accurate control of fuel injection. Any slight deviation may lead to engine performance degradation or even failure. Valves of deep-sea mining equipment have to withstand the high pressure and strong corrosive environment of thousands of meters deep sea and run stably for a long time to ensure the smooth operation of mining operations. However, domestic valves still have shortcomings in the research and development of special materials and precision manufacturing technology, and some high-end products are difficult to meet the demand in the short term and can only rely on imports.

(B) differences in standard systems

There are many differences between domestic and foreign valve standards. Taking the design standard as an example, American standard valves pay attention to practicality and universality, and the structural design is simple, which is convenient for mass production and maintenance. The European standard valve emphasizes safety and reliability, has high design redundancy and strong adaptability to extreme working conditions. In terms of material standards, some advanced foreign standards control the composition and impurity content of special alloys more accurately to ensure the stability of materials in complex environments. Due to the long-term compliance with the national standard system, some domestic enterprises need extra design adjustment, testing and certification when docking international projects, which consumes a lot of time and cost. Some enterprises tend to directly purchase foreign valves that meet international standards in order to ensure the progress and quality of the projects.

(C) the global supply chain

Under the wave of globalization, multinational enterprises have globally laid out production bases and supply chain systems. Some foreign-funded enterprises in China have designated foreign brand valves in their global unified equipment procurement list, which is based on the trust established by long-term cooperation with suppliers in their home countries, and secondly, these valves have good compatibility with equipment in other factories around the world, which is convenient for unified operation and maintenance management. At the same time, internationally renowned valve manufacturers, with their extensive global sales network and fast supply cycle, can respond quickly to urgent orders and deliver them on time to meet the requirements of enterprise production continuity, which also urges some domestic enterprises to purchase valves in the international market.

Five, the road to self-improvement of domestic products

(A) technical difficulties

Many domestic valve enterprises resolutely set off the banner of independent research and development and bravely climbed to the peak of high-end valve technology. As a leader in the industry, Zhejiang Linuo focuses on high-end control valve fields such as large caliber and large pressure difference, high temperature and high pressure and ultra-low temperature, and continues to cultivate deeply. Its R&D team optimized and improved the materials and driving torque of the key components of the control valve. After numerous tests, it successfully broke through the balance problem of material strength and toughness, and made the valve run stably under extreme working conditions. At the same time, Industry-University-Research is deeply integrated with the scientific research strength of colleges and universities, and the frontier theoretical research of colleges and universities collides with the practical experience of enterprises to stimulate the spark of innovation. For example, Zhengxi Valve cooperated with the Institute of Technology, and cooperated with the research and development on the platform of Zhi Orange PLM. Starting from the initial research and development team with only a few people, it overcame casting defects, launched high-performance wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant ball valves, won considerable orders, and started the transformation journey from OEM to independent research and development, injecting impetus into the advanced domestic valve technology and gradually narrowing the gap with the international advanced level.

(2) Standard pilotage

On the international standard stage, China's valve power is rising strongly. Hefei General Machinery Research Institute bravely took the lead in formulating "ISO 22153 General Requirements for Industrial Valve Electric Devices" on behalf of China, which filled the gap in the industry and became a major milestone in the field of international standards for China's valve industry, paving the way for valve electric devices to "go out to sea". Baoyi Group and other enterprises have actively participated in the revision of international standards, participated in the discussion of several key standards, and integrated China technology and experience into the global valve standard system. China has also accelerated the construction and improvement of its own standard building. All enterprises strictly regulate the production process and product performance based on national standards and business standards. From raw material screening to finished product testing, the whole process ensures excellent quality, drives the high-quality development of the industry with high standards, and promotes the domestic products of valves to run smoothly at home and abroad with compliance and excellent quality.

(3) Industrial synergy

The upstream and downstream of the valve industry go hand in hand and play a collaborative innovation movement. Minmetals Smart Workshop (Nan 'an, China) high-end valve intelligent manufacturing industrial park is a model. Relying on the strong strength of central enterprises, it integrates local resources, builds an industrial space integrating production, research and development, warehousing, display and testing, and attracts leading enterprises such as high-end valve manufacturing and intelligent fire protection to form a close industrial cluster. Enterprises in the park share technology, talents and market resources, and work together to overcome industrial problems. For example, in the research and development of special valve sealing materials, upstream and downstream enterprises join forces with scientific research teams in universities to open up links in basic research, material preparation and product application, and accelerate the transformation of results. All links in the industrial chain are closely engaged, and the parts suppliers are precisely customized according to the requirements of the OEM. The OEM provides system solutions for downstream users, so as to work together to optimize the industrial ecology and boost the domestic products of valves to break the waves.

VI. Future Prospect of Valve Industry

Looking into the future, China valve industry has bright prospects and unlimited opportunities. With a complete industrial system, continuously improved technical strength and increasingly optimized standard quality system, China Valve will be able to break through the bottleneck and solve problems. In the journey to high-end and intelligent, the gap with the international advanced level is continuously narrowed, and more high-quality and high-performance valve products are used to inject the majestic "China Power" into the global industrial development, so that the gorgeous turn from "valve power country" to "valve power country" becomes a reality.