【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Processing Equipment】1629–2022: China’s first 1,500-meter deep-sea horizontal clamp connector

The Guinness World Record for the deepest human dive is 332 meters; in deep-sea environments at 1,500 meters depth, rapid connection between underwater production facilities can only be achieved using ROVs equipped with specialized connection devices. During deep-water connections, the coaxiality error at both ends of the deep-sea horizontal clamp connectors is less than 0.2 millimeters. Hu Xiaoming, an expert from CNOOC Group, commented: \"The successful development of deep-sea horizontal clamp connectors represents a significant step forward in the localization of marine engineering equipment in China, enabling independent control over this technology.\" ” Always committed to solving real problems for enterprises, Wang Liquan from the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Harbin Engineering University led his team to explore various solutions; they have been researching deep-sea connectors for 16 years, and the continuous improvement of these products has contributed to the growth and development of the team. Today, the team has not only achieved remarkable results in projects such as the **National Natural Science Foundation**, major special initiatives, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s high-tech ship programs, but it has also won praise from the industry thanks to its strong capabilities.

In 2007, Professor Wang Liquan from the Mechanical and Electrical Manufacturing program at the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering was deeply shocked while attending an American offshore technology exhibition; the top-tier manufacturing equipment displayed in the core exhibition area all came from Europe and the United States, with almost no representation from China. “When a team needs to choose a research direction, it should pick the **one that is most needed**. ”Wang Liquan focused on offshore oil and gas engineering and led his team to begin research on equipment for connecting underwater production systems. “Once a connector in an offshore oil field leaks, it can cause a catastrophic accident of marine pollution. ”“Switching to domestic technologies that are not familiar with carries too much risk. ”Many companies are reluctant to use domestic connector technologies, and when they seek to cooperate with foreign companies, the foreign parties reject any cooperation related to key technologies such as connectors. Just like two parallel lines, domestic research institutions and enterprises can never merge together. On one hand, there are domestic designs that strive to make breakthroughs but are not dared to be used; on the other hand, domestic companies try hard to break free from foreign constraints yet suffer from a lack of reliable domestic products. “\"Even though they knew it wouldn’t be useful, the team persisted in working on it,\" said the team, which approached the development of connectors with great enthusiasm; yet over the years no practical applications were seen, and some members began to lose confidence. But Wang Liquan does not think so; “**Research that is truly necessary is the kind of research that matters, and the directions that are beneficial for the team’s future development are the valuable ones – one must persevere in pursuing them regardless of the consequences. If there are mature connector manufacturing companies everywhere in the country, is it still necessary for our universities to conduct research? ” Starting with the \"863 Program\" projects, Wang Liquan, despite a lack of sufficient funding for these projects, led his team in continuing research in related fields, focusing entirely on achieving technological breakthroughs. There is an unwritten rule in the team: projects are required to meet standard 1, but the team’s efforts must achieve 1.2, 1.3, or even 2. Over 16 years of research, the team often covered the costs themselves. “The demands from the applying organizations represent the most valuable directions for scientific research efforts; we are determined to pursue them at any cost. ”Wang Liquan led his team to focus on research in underwater non-welded connections, continuously making progress in breakthroughs in deep-sea connector technology.

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