Heat exchange equipment looks forward to localization and larger scale production

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There is a demand for domestic production and larger-scale development of heat exchange equipment. There has long been a call for the domestic production of large-scale petroleum and chemical equipment, but at present China still lacks the capability to design and manufacture large heat exchangers independently, relying instead on imports. Therefore, the **Science and Technology Support Plan** for the 11th Five-Year Plan designated the development of large-scale, high-efficiency energy-saving heat exchangers as a key task, and the 11th Five-Year Plan for the petroleum and chemical industries also listed large-scale heat exchangers as a priority area for development. The increasing scale of petrochemical plants requires larger heat exchange equipment. Currently, new plants as well as those that are being upgraded by petroleum and chemical companies both at home and abroad are becoming larger in size, a trend that is particularly evident in large-scale coal chemical projects, including those related to methanol, dimethyl ether, and the integrated production of fertilizers ； Conversion of large-scale fertilizer production plants from oil to coal, and from oil to gas ； Coal-to-hydrogen, indirect coal liquefaction, coal-based olefins projects ； Construction of large-scale ethylene, PTA, PX (p-xylene) projects and large-scale hydrocracking refineries. For a long time, China’s large-scale petrochemical projects have had to import everything from design to equipment; in particular, ethylene-related equipment relies almost entirely on imported complete sets. Chen Yongdong, deputy chairman of the Heat Exchanger Committee of the Chinese Society of Pressure Vessels, stated: \"The trend toward energy conservation in the petrochemical industry inevitably requires larger-scale plants, and such larger plants in turn lead to larger heat exchange equipment.\" Almost all chemical processing processes involve phenomena such as heating, cooling, condensation, and evaporation. Heat exchangers are key devices for achieving energy balance, and the rational use of energy in a system is primarily determined by heat exchangers. At present, the scale of heat exchangers in foreign natural gas liquefaction plants, large-scale refineries, and large-scale ethylene plants is already very large, while China lags behind in this regard. ” Therefore, China urgently needs to develop the design and manufacturing industry for large-scale heat exchange equipment in order to change the current situation where core process technologies are monopolized by foreign companies. The localization of large-scale heat exchange equipment faces numerous challenges. Chen Yongdong believes that domestic large-scale heat exchange equipment is currently in its initial stage of development, from nothing to something, and remains under the influence of foreign companies. Taking synthetic ammonia as an example, it is currently the main method used in China. They are the Texaco gasification process (there is also Shell’s gasification process currently), the Linde methanol washing process, and the Topsoe synthesis process. The heat exchangers used in this context are often required to be products from foreign companies, at extremely high prices. For example, a 300,000-ton synthetic ammonia plant requires heat exchangers covering an area of about 7,100 square meters, with a total capacity of less than 152 tons; yet foreign companies charge 35 million yuan for them. These technical barriers arising from manufacturing processes represent a major obstacle to the localization of heat exchange equipment in our country. Chen Yongdong explained that there is also a significant gap between the manufacturing and management standards of large heat exchange equipment manufacturers in China and those abroad. Taking South Korea’s DOOSAN and India’s L&T as examples, they not only possess the capability to manufacture large-scale equipment but also have well-established systems for research and development as well as the production of key components; moreover, their management standards are first-class. At DOOSAN, large heat exchangers are assembled in a manner similar to food production, with employees wearing clean uniforms, whereas many domestic companies do not even consider such things ； Furthermore, the enterprises are connected to the ports, allowing products to be loaded onto ships once manufacturing is complete, which perfectly meets the transportation needs of large heat exchange equipment. It is gratifying that some progress has been made in the localization of large-scale heat exchange equipment at present. Domestically produced large-scale coiled tubular heat exchangers have been successfully applied successively in the large fertilizer production facility of Shandong Hualu Hengsheng Chemical Co., Ltd., the ammonia synthesis plant of China National Petroleum Corporation’s Urumqi Petrochemical Branch, the ammonia synthesis plant of China National Petroleum Corporation’s Ningxia Petrochemical Branch, and the acidic gas removal project for the coal-to-oil conversion project at Sinopec’s Baling Branch. Domestically produced large plate-and-shell heat exchangers have also been successfully used in enterprises such as Wuhu Petrochemical. Among them, the localization of coiled tubular heat exchangers in Shandong Hualu Hengsheng saved over 33.2 million yuan in investment costs and 1,200 square meters in floor space. Developing large-scale heat exchangers is essential to boost the national industry. Heat exchangers account for around 40% of the total cost of oil refining facilities, and over 50% in chemical processing facilities; in some cases, this figure even reaches 70%. Therefore, it is of great significance to achieve domestic production of large-scale heat exchangers. The localization of large-scale heat exchange equipment first requires the attention of leaders at all levels in the research and development organizations as well as those using such equipment. On the one hand, R&D and manufacturing entities should raise their awareness and make significant efforts to achieve localization. On the other hand, some managers in domestic enterprises blindly believe that imported products are superior, and therefore there is a need to change their mindset of avoiding domestically produced equipment. The Zhenhai Ethylene Project and the Tianjin Ethylene Project, which are set to be completed in 2009, make extensive use of super-large heat exchangers; however, these large heat exchangers were all selected and approved by foreign engineering companies. This shows that domestic enterprises can only have the right to choose domestic equipment if they possess independent manufacturing processes. Secondly, the localization of large-scale heat exchange equipment requires enhanced research in fundamental disciplines. At present, the databases and large-scale computing software used by domestic engineering companies are mostly foreign products, which have shortcomings in areas such as process research, process testing, numerical simulation, and structural stress analysis, and require improvement. Third, the industries supporting heat exchangers need technological upgrades, such as the production of ultra-long seamless steel pipes, the forging of large-scale special forgings, and metallurgical technologies for special materials. Fourth, the localization of large-scale heat exchange equipment requires collective efforts and horizontal collaboration. It is difficult for a project to succeed with just one or two units and a few dozen people; only by fostering close collaboration among industry, academia, research institutions, and engineering companies can the localization of large-scale heat exchange equipment be achieved. “The “Development of a Large-Scale Coiled Tubular Multi-Stream Heat Exchanger” project within the 15th **Major Technical Equipment Development Program is a successful example of this. The Hefei General Machinery Research Institute and Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Maintenance and Installation Company formed a consortium, making significant contributions to the localization of large-scale coal chemical coiled tube heat exchangers in China.