Three circles of chemical engineering technology”

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The “three stages” of chemical engineering technologies: For a chemical engineering technology to be successfully put into production, it generally goes through three phases: preliminary research and development, engineering design, and project construction followed by commissioning and operation. The author defines the units responsible for completing these three stages as “three circles”: the technology development circle, the design circle, and the production technology circle. How are these three circles each formed? What is their current status and how are they developing? Where are the difficulties and areas for improvement? Drawing on my over a decade of experience in technology development and engineering design, as well as my extensive collaboration with various chemical manufacturing companies, I would like to share my views. I welcome any criticism and suggestions from everyone! The technology development community generally consists of various research institutions, universities, technology companies, manufacturing enterprises with technology development capabilities, and engineering firms with such capabilities. The main players here are various research institutes and universities. Thanks to the support of a large number of high-caliber talents, as well as excellent experimental platforms and facilities, they are often better equipped to achieve originality, make breakthroughs in major projects, and ensure sustainability in technological innovation. Technology companies, manufacturing enterprises with technical development capabilities, and engineering firms tend to place greater emphasis on timeliness. They are better at making breakthroughs or achieving technological improvements in niche areas or specific products for which they have years of experience, thereby developing their own proprietary technologies; of course, there is also collaborative development between industry, academia, and research institutions. The final outcomes take the form of specific products, production equipment, patents, proprietary technologies, works, complete sets of technical process packages, or other forms of research report documents. In recent years, various research institutions have developed some influential technologies, such as coal-to-olefins, coal-to-ethylene glycol, coal indirect liquefaction, and PSA pressure swing adsorption. Universities have independently developed or jointly developed with enterprises numerous distinctive technologies. Examples worth mentioning include Tianjin University’s distillation technology, East China University of Science and Technology’s coal gasification technology, Tsinghua University’s Jinhua furnace, and Dalian University of Technology’s low-temperature methanol washing technology. Technology companies also emerged in large numbers, each occupying a certain market share in its own niche area. Through continuous improvement, some of these technologies have become capable of competing with foreign technologies, and in some cases even surpassing them. However, looking at the overall state of chemical engineering technology, we still have a long way to go compared to tech companies in developed countries. In particular, our efforts in areas such as basic research and fundamental data seem somewhat unbalanced. Many technologies are essentially optimized and refined during the production of large-scale equipment; while this clearly shortens the technology development cycle, it also increases the number of accidents, resulting in certain costs. Overall, it still seems a bit short-sighted and eager for quick results. Production enterprises with technical development capabilities have, based on their own experience, years of research and development as well as practical application, and in line with market demands, developed a number of their own flagship products in recent years. Such as Wanhua’s MDI technology and propylene oxide technology, as well as Hualu’s DMF, ethylene glycol and their downstream DMC and EMC technologies. Engineering companies with technical development capabilities have, by leveraging their many years of experience in engineering design as well as through independent research and development or collaborative development, developed a number of proprietary technologies. Examples include Tianchen’s technologies related to lactam, **, and adipic acid; Saiding’s technologies related to coking and chemical production; Wuhuan’s urea production technologies; Jihua Institute’s technologies related to oil refining and chemical production; and Huisheng’s olefin separation technologies and complete set of cracking furnace technologies. In the process of developing technologies, it is also of utmost importance to pay attention to the protection of intellectual property rights, as well as to analyze and avoid infringement risks. Patent layout and the application for high-quality patents play a crucial role in intellectual property protection. The author has discussed with intellectual property experts the drafting of claims in patents. Different descriptions have a significant impact on the scope of protection afforded by a patent, as well as on its overall quality. Furthermore, in the early stages of technology development, patent searches and intellectual property navigation can provide valuable guidance for such development. In recent years, I have been pleased to see an increasing emphasis on intellectual property within the tech industry; many organizations have even established dedicated departments or companies for this purpose, which will contribute to the healthy development of the entire sector. At present, the development of better product technologies in China tends to be a rush to get involved in this area; within three to five years, there will be intense competition, and then it will come down to cost and product quality. Therefore, competition within the tech industry is also extremely fierce; as soon as a new technology emerges, many other tech companies appear almost simultaneously. As a result, technology licensing fees tend to become lower, competition among companies pursuing such projects becomes more fierce, product prices drop as well, and the profit margins shrink. This ultimately leads to increased competition across the entire industry. To succeed in competition and maintain their advantages, manufacturing companies and technology providers need to implement strict confidentiality measures; this not only increases costs but also limits normal communication between industries, hindering their own progress as well as that of the entire industry. Under such circumstances, a few exceptionally outstanding companies adopt a reverse-thinking strategy of being strict internally while being flexible externally. While maintaining their own advantages, they utilize various resources to learn from the successful practices of other companies, building on their strengths to overcome their weaknesses, and ultimately surpassing their competitors. Such companies can easily emerge victorious in competition. Against this backdrop, as members of the technology community, when we achieve a new, more advanced technological breakthrough, it is beneficial to take control of the market as much as possible and introduce the product technologies to the market in an orderly manner. This helps to protect the interests of the manufacturing companies, as well as those of the technology providers themselves. Another approach is to utilize strong technical skills and participate in the operations of manufacturing companies through cooperation, sharing the profits generated from the products produced over the long term – this is also a good option. Of course, throughout this process it is also necessary to continuously improve technology, create numerous technical barriers, raise the technical thresholds, and thus establish a strong moat effect. Currently, some outstanding technology providers are also implementing or attempting to implement these two strategies. In recent years, with the disappearance of the demographic dividend and the rising labor costs, to maintain relatively rapid economic growth, all industries must develop in directions that offer higher added value; the chemical industry is no exception. Therefore, the regulation of energy indicators is becoming increasingly strict, which actually forces enterprises to shift from high-energy-consuming bulk products to high-value, refined products. This therefore requires a large amount of advanced technology to achieve, but the development of such technology does not happen overnight; it takes years of accumulation. As a result, technology is often imported, and in China, it is those who are prepared first and make breakthroughs first that will gain control of the market. This can also be seen in the product strategies of various large-scale integrated refining and chemical projects, which aim to reduce oil production and increase chemical production. Work in the field of technology development offers high added value, but it requires significant investment, presents high difficulties, has long timelines, and involves considerable risks; of course, the returns are substantial once success is achieved. As a result, many companies are eager to join this camp and get a share of the profits. However, the development of technology itself is no easy task, as every stage—from pilot testing and scale-up testing to full-scale production—is highly challenging. Even after pilot testing has been completed and a large amount of data has been collected, the transition from pilot testing to full-scale production can prove difficult for many people. Moreover, the entire process is time-consuming and requires substantial ongoing investment in research and development, things that ordinary companies cannot afford. Therefore, it’s better not to take on tasks that are beyond one’s capabilities. The design community is composed of various large, medium, and small design institutes or engineering companies. The large companies in this sector are primarily composed of the nine ministry-level research institutes formerly under the Ministry of Chemical Industry, as well as SEI, Luoyang Institute, Global Institute, and Huisheng Engineering Company, which are affiliated with Sinopec and CNPC. They almost all possess comprehensive Class A qualifications, many have internationally leading engineering management systems, and they have a large number of highly skilled engineering and technical professionals as well as years of experience in domestic and overseas engineering projects. They are the companies truly capable of driving foreign engineering firms out of the market, and they are also competitors who can rival top international engineering companies in the global market. I was fortunate enough to work with or collaborate closely with some of these outstanding individuals, and thus got to appreciate their talents. Large engineering companies in the construction sector are generally skilled in the engineering design of large-scale projects, EPC, PMC, as well as digital delivery methods that have become popular in recent years. They all possess strong engineering capabilities, and each has its own areas of expertise—such as Tianchen Coal Chemical Industry, fine chemicals, SEDIN Coking, Donghua Water Treatment, Wuhuan Coal Chemical Industry, Hualu Ordnance, Chengda Natural Gas, as well as SEI, Luoyang Petrochemical Research Institute, and Huanqiu’s oil refining operations. In recent years, the author has also noticed that they tend, to varying degrees, to move in the direction of front-end technology development. Most of them adopt a model of collaboration with various research institutions, while some have established their own technology development departments or companies, and have recruited a large number of high-caliber engineers specializing in technology development. As competition in the engineering design market intensifies, the industry is highly competitive, and the profits from mere design projects are minimal. In earlier years, EPC projects generated considerable profits, but as the domestic market matured, the profit margins declined sharply. Coupled with market fluctuations, there was a risk of losses at the slightest carelessness. Overseas EPC projects involve more uncontrollable factors, greater uncertainty, and higher difficulties in achieving profitability. Given such factors and more, it becomes natural for large engineering companies to leverage their strong platforms and years of experience to venture into technology development areas with higher added value. In addition, some large companies have also expanded into downstream sectors, such as Wison and Tianchen. Medium-sized design institutes or engineering firms primarily evolved from former provincial or local-level design institutes. Most of them were established following the restructuring of public institutions. Generally, they are acquired by large enterprises in need of design services, or operate under a model where a large enterprise holds a controlling stake while core employees own shares. Medium-sized design institutes typically have a history of several decades; most hold Class-A qualifications in the industry and have accumulated some expertise in certain niche areas. They primarily serve markets in their respective localities. Each company’s development has its advantages and disadvantages; those that develop well manage to retain their talent while also attracting new talent. The established fields continue to leverage their resource advantages, and new fields are gradually developed to keep up with the pace of market development. Zhejiang Tianzheng is one of the outstanding examples in this regard. When development is poor, there is severe talent loss and it becomes difficult to attract new talents. At the same time, some old and undesirable practices continue to spread within the company, resulting in a concerning outlook for its future. Medium-sized firms generally focus on pure design projects; some of them have their own flagship products or EPC capabilities. Those that rely mainly on design tend to have a low output per employee, weak profitability, and limited competitiveness. Medium-sized farms with flagship products generally possess strong competitiveness and profitability, as well as a higher output per employee. Another group of medium-sized companies has EPC capabilities, but due to their smaller scale, they have weak bargaining power, which makes it difficult for them to achieve high profits from EPC projects. Of course, design or EPC projects undertaken using one’s own technologies generally yield a higher output per employee and substantial profits. However, there are not many such medium-sized factories; Ningbo Saiding and Sichuan Chenguang are among the best of them. Small design institutes or engineering companies usually operate through various local branches or affiliated institutions. Those that have developed successfully, thanks to years of experience and their unique approaches, attract a steady flow of talent and manage to obtain Class A qualification, thereby entering the ranks of medium-sized firms. In recent years, several small courtyards in Ningbo are representative examples of this. By adopting a higher annual salary system, a small engineering company has been able to avoid the issue of uneven bonus distribution that plagues many small and medium-sized firms, thereby attracting many talented individuals to join it. Another small engineering company has achieved good results by adopting flexible working hours, allowing its managers to form project teams on their own and decide on bonuses accordingly. Of course, these successful experiences are not universally applicable, but under certain specific conditions, they do play a positive role. The design community places more emphasis on the accumulation of engineering experience, as well as familiarity with, understanding of, and application of standards and specifications. It is a combination of theory and practice, a practical engineering project, but it also requires solid theoretical support; when the outcomes of practice do not match expectations, we need to analyze and understand them from a theoretical perspective. Here, there are hardly any cases of \"Huawei’s talented youths\" starting work with an annual salary of one million; in most cases, it takes years of hard work to achieve success, which is in line with the 10,000-hour rule. Moreover, the vast majority of people need to be on the project site for a long time in order to grow, because it’s impossible to understand, from an office setting, the intense conditions under which a machine operates, nor can we comprehend how the factory responds to emergencies such as water or power outages, or how to handle various other unforeseen situations. It’s even difficult to imagine how factory workers operate valves, conduct inspections, or carry out shift handovers. Therefore, it is reasonable for many engineering company employees to be required to have spent more than a year continuously on site at a project in order to be eligible for higher professional titles. Because this industry places so much emphasis on practical application, and practical experience is essential; moreover, theory must be applied in practice. After all, the next step in engineering is production, and we exist to serve production. If we know very little about production, it will be impossible for us to serve it effectively. The production technology sector is composed of various chemical manufacturing enterprises, covering areas such as oil refining, coal chemistry, natural gas chemistry, coking, and fine chemicals. Refining is the technology that was introduced to the country earliest. **The industry places a strong emphasis on having its own technologies, and the overall processes involved in refining are largely fixed – in other words, the crude oil determines the refining process. Through years of digestion, absorption, optimization, and improvement, the technology has now been mastered. In recent years, the newly built refining facilities have all been large-scale integrated petrochemical projects with a capacity of thousands of tons each, showing a trend of producing more chemicals from less oil, with the aim of making full use of available resources. By leveraging the advantages of large-scale platforms, these facilities seek to reduce product costs and expand into downstream areas to produce more high-value specialty products. However, the technology behind most of these high-value downstream products remains under foreign control. Currently, some technology companies or design firms have set their sights on this market. They are working together with large petrochemical enterprises, various research institutions, and universities to pursue technological breakthroughs, break monopolies, and address critical challenges. However, it will take some time; yet as long as there is a clear goal and direction, I believe the future looks promising. Coal chemical engineering is the most prominent chemical technology in China. Although it started later and had a weaker foundation compared to developed countries, it has developed very rapidly; virtually all large-scale, modern coal chemical projects are located in China and are operating steadily there. This is mainly related to China’s energy structure, which features an abundance of coal, a shortage of natural gas, and limited oil reserves. Whether it comes to strategic reserves or development, it is necessary for us to vigorously develop the coal chemical industry. Development here requires the conversion of raw coal into products with high added value, rather than a development model that is extensive, energy-intensive, and polluting. This requires a large number of professional and technical talents to support it, and talent is the decisive factor. A rather realistic scenario exists today: some excellent enterprises in the central region spend 500–1,000 yuan per ton on transportation costs to purchase coal from places such as Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang for use in producing downstream chemical products, thereby earning considerable profits each year. Meanwhile, many coal chemical enterprises located near the coal mines manage to make only meager profits or even suffer losses annually. Coal chemical industries generally rely on coal gasification platforms to convert coal into syngas, which is then used to produce various downstream products such as methanol, synthetic ammonia, urea, melamine, ammonium bicarbonate, sulfuric acid, dimethyl ether, ethanol, LNG, ethylene glycol, DMC, EMC, DEC, PGA, and olefins. The diversity of these products helps enhance a company’s ability to withstand risks, enables more efficient utilization of resources, reduces production costs, and improves the competitiveness of the products. Companies that perform well tend to adopt a flexible multi-product route with one input and multiple outputs. However, for new plant-scale projects, implementing a multi-product approach requires substantial financial support. Even investments in coal chemical projects that focus on a single product amount to several billion dollars; if a multi-product project is to be undertaken directly, the investment required can reach hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars. Many coal chemical enterprises that focused on producing only ethylene glycol in previous years are now facing considerable market risks. How to break this deadlock? Generally, there are two approaches. First: reduce management costs, save energy and minimize waste, such as reducing steam consumption, reducing the use of raw gas, and separating, purifying, and recycling by-products ； Second: Expand into products with higher added value, such as DMC, EMC, DEC, PGA, oxalic acid, oxamide, etc. Of course, these products will soon face issues such as saturation and price declines, along with other unfavorable conditions. Whether a company can maintain its first-mover advantage in the long term depends on its ability to pursue continuous technological innovation. The general approaches of natural gas chemical engineering and coal chemical engineering are somewhat similar, with the only difference being the raw material used: one uses coal as its raw material, while the other uses natural gas. Natural gas chemical processing generally involves converting natural gas into syngas, which is then used to produce downstream products. Similar to coal chemical industry, purification and conversion are also required; depending on the needs of downstream products, processes such as deep cryogenic separation and PSA hydrogen extraction are employed. Coking primarily involves using coal as a raw material to produce various types of coke. During the coking process, by-products such as coal tar and coke oven gas are generated. The comprehensive utilization of coal tar and coke oven gas constitutes the chemical processing sector of coking plants. The scale of coking is generally at the million-ton level or above, while the chemical products derived from coking are produced in smaller quantities on a smaller scale. Therefore, in the initial planning and design of coking plants, the chemical processes involved mainly refer to the purification of coke oven gas, including preliminary cooling, desulfurization, production of ammonium sulfate, benzene extraction, and ammonia vaporization. The coke industry is highly cyclical; when the market is booming, it can generate substantial profits due to economies of scale. However, during downturns, especially when prices fall below cost, things become very difficult. To better respond to market changes, increase the company’s profit margins, and enhance its competitiveness in the market. In recent years, many coking enterprises have been paying increasing attention to chemical products and investing more resources in their development. Examples of such initiatives include the production of methanol from coke oven gas, high-purity hydrogen from coke oven gas, LNG, the production of gasoline and diesel blend oils through the hydrogenation of coal tar, needle coke, and the production of ethylene glycol from coke oven gas and converter gas. The author has been involved in product planning for the chemical production sectors of some large-scale coking plants, and it often seems that these enterprises have the desire but lack the necessary resources. Coking companies generally have a weak foundation in chemical production, and a shortage of talent is the main reason for this. Of course, there are also companies that perform exceptionally well, advancing both coking and chemical production simultaneously and truly achieving integration between these two areas; Ningxia Baofeng is a typical example of such companies. Fine chemicals generally have high added value and high profits, but product innovation occurs rapidly, requiring continuous investment in technical research and development. The equipment used in this sector is highly versatile. The author has designed a complete plant project for fine chemicals; such plants have eight production workshops, one of which is dedicated to pilot testing – hundreds of products are tested there each year, and once successful, they are moved to other workshops for mass production. Among companies in the fine chemicals industry, Xinhecheng stands out as one of the best. In the field of production technology, each product generally goes through the following stages: project preparation, project construction, initial commissioning, stable operation, and improvement. Early project stages: investigation, research, technical evaluation, justification, decision-making, etc. Project construction phase: feasibility study, environmental impact assessment, safety assessment, and various approval and registration procedures; engineering design, material procurement, construction work, and project completion. The initial driving phase: It is necessary to develop a driving plan, organize the tasks for those who will drive, and prepare emergency plans for various accidents. All personnel must receive proper training and be on site. Although details determine success or failure and the process influences the outcome, it is during this phase that the actual results can be assessed. The success or failure of the initial operation determines the success or failure of the entire project; it is a reflection of wisdom and capability, especially when it comes to the use of new technologies in large-scale projects during the initial operation phase. The various situations are complex; it is necessary to discern the essence behind the surface phenomena, and by combining theory with practice, various solutions can be found. The author has been involved in or led the commissioning of side-line facilities costing hundreds of thousands, environmental protection projects costing tens of millions, as well as coal chemical projects costing billions. In particular, the various difficulties and challenges encountered during the initial operation of new technology projects are still vivid in my memory. There were periods of hope turning into despair, and then despair giving way to hope again, in a cycle that repeated itself time and time again, with peril at every step. But as long as one maintains hope in heart and does not give up, victory will eventually be achieved. The stable operation phase generally refers to ensuring the device operates in a safe, stable, long-term, efficient, and optimal manner through corporate management and the efforts of employees. The improvement phase is usually of great significance, as technology continues to evolve. Only by maintaining an open and proactive mindset can we keep making breakthroughs, continuously optimizing devices, upgrading products, and reducing costs. There are mainly two approaches here: one is to focus on energy savings and reduced consumption within the device itself, as well as improving product quality; the other is to achieve optimal utilization in conjunction with other devices, that is, to work toward the overall optimization of the entire factory. The above provides a brief overview of the technology development sector, the design sector, and the production technology sector. Although these three seem quite different from one another, they are actually closely connected, inseparable, and influence and promote each other. If the field of technology development incorporates the concepts of engineering and production, it will undoubtedly bring about significant economic and social benefits. If the design sector incorporates elements related to technology development, it will undoubtedly create a stronger competitive advantage, enabling it to achieve high added value and superior competitiveness ； If the production technology sector incorporates technology development and engineering, it will undoubtedly bring about sustained advantages in terms of low costs, high quality, and proprietary products. In summary, regardless of which circle we’re in, if we stay true to ourselves while closely and organically integrating these three elements, we will surely achieve extraordinary success.