【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】From 2048 to 2024, China’s first EVA ultra-high pressure reactor and intercooler were successfully developed

Thread Content

Safety first. Prevention first – let’s give praise and support to the achievements made in China’s chemical engineering technology and equipment. **********************【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】A continuously updated summary post is available; feel free to join the discussions at https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Engineering Forum) ***************** EVA stands for ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, a type of polymer that is widely used in fields such as photovoltaic materials, hot melt adhesives, and the high-end shoe manufacturing industry. In recent years, with the upgrading of domestic industries, the demand for EVA has been continuously growing. In contrast to this huge demand, domestic EVA materials cannot yet be supplied in a safe and stable manner. Due to foreign technological blockades and monopolies, China has always been in a passive position in the field of manufacturing EVA high-pressure polyethylene complete sets of equipment and related processing technologies. Among these, the greatest technical challenge is the design and development of ultra-high pressure equipment at the source in the EVA industry; meanwhile, the research, development, processing, and manufacturing of ultra-high pressure straight tube materials, which are the core components, represent an even greater difficulty. 　　As a large-scale equipment manufacturing enterprise that has been based in Jiyuan for over 50 years, Zhongyuan Special Steel is one of the few suppliers in China’s high-end equipment industry that offers ultra-high pressure vessels, deep-hole machining products, as well as extremely long and fine components. To effectively address the bottleneck issue related to the core components of EVA production equipment, this company collaborated with Hefei General Machinery Research Institute on research efforts that lasted nearly 2 years. From structural optimization to performance assurance, from manufacturing processes to dimensions and appearance, even the most precise methods of drilling require repeated experimentation; alone, the forging process underwent 6 trials. To date, the company has overcome various technical challenges related to the use of special steel materials in the production process of this device, as well as the high-precision machining techniques required for ultra-long and ultra-fine deep holes; it has thus filled a gap in domestic technology, with all its performance indicators reaching international standards. 　　 In November 2024, China’s first EVA ultra-high pressure reactor and intercooler were developed successfully at Henan Zhongyuan Special Steel Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Zhongyuan Special Steel), located in the Jiyuan High-Tech Zone, and production on a large scale began. This marks a breakthrough in China’s EVA plant technology and manufacturing sector, as it has broken the foreign technological monopoly and achieved a ‘zero-based breakthrough’, enabling independent production capabilities. It is reported that the EVA ultra-high pressure reactor and intercooler developed and produced by Zhongyuan Special Steel have a total length of 17 meters for their straight sections, with the thinnest part of the tube wall being only 17.5 millimeters. They are capable of operating safely and stably in complex media at pressures of 3000 KG and temperatures of 300°C. These components will be used in the project related to the \"High-End New Materials 3# 700,000-ton LDPE-EVA Plant (Tubular) Reactor Intercooler\" carried out by Zhejiang Rongsheng Holding Group – Zhejiang Petrochemical Co., Ltd. In the future, once the equipment is put into operation, it is expected that each production line will be able to produce 350,000 tons of EVA per year, which will help to fill the gap in domestic EVA production and further enhance the resilience and security of China’s EVA industry supply chain.