【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Processing Equipment】2322-2025: Chongqing CHUANYI’s Domestic-produced Large-Diameter PDS High-Frequency Ball Valves
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Give praise and encouragement to the achievements made in China’s chemical engineering technology and equipment; your participation in discussions is the greatest encouragement. **********************【Ten Years of Great Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】Regularly updated summary posts are available – feel free to join the discussions: https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html ***************** Recently, the PDS high-frequency ball valve, independently developed by Chongqing Chuanyi Control Valve Co., Ltd., was delivered on a large scale as part of a new batch. Under the full supervision of a third-party inspector, this batch of products successfully passed user acceptance and have been delivered to the customer’s production site. At the beginning of 2025, the development project for this batch of PDS high-frequency ball valves was launched. Faced with stringent technical requirements such as the processing of 16-inch large-diameter valve bodies, a service life of over one million opening and closing cycles, and high wear resistance, the R&D team embarked on a race against time to meet these challenges. At the outset of the project, a cross-departmental team was quickly assembled to tackle the challenges. Drawing on previous technical expertise, the design team used 3D modeling and simulation techniques to further overcome the key technical barriers ； The supply team dynamically allocates resources based on the technical specifications of various products to ensure that critical components are matched accurately ； The planning and scheduling team optimizes production scheduling nodes on an hourly basis. During the intensive efforts in the first month, the R&D team focused on process optimization and material selection, ensuring that the overall performance of the product met international standards. At the same time, through innovative integration of the supply chain, the procurement cycle for key components has been reduced from 60 days to 30 days, providing a solid guarantee for early project delivery. At the end of February, the project entered the countdown to acceptance. Third-party and user expert teams conduct on-site supervision during manufacturing to strictly control the performance of high-frequency operations as well as key technical parameters. At the end of March, 168 PDS high-frequency ball valves passed the tests with stable performance that met all requirements, all under the supervision of a third-party testing agency. The acceptance signatures represent not only recognition of these products but also an authoritative verification of Chuanyi Co., Ltd.’s capability to achieve full domestic production across the entire supply chain. Previously, the PDS high-frequency ball valve, independently developed by Chuanyi Control Valves, has been operating continuously and stably in Dushanzi Petrochemical’s 550,000 tons per year polypropylene plant for over 40 months, completing a total of 3 million high-frequency opening and closing cycles. Its wear resistance and control precision have, as proven by practical use, reached international advanced levels. At present, the PDS high-frequency ball valve has been validated through benchmark projects such as Dushanzi Petrochemical and Sichuan Petrochemical, resulting in a comprehensive database of domestic applications that provides strong support for the substitution of imported equipment with domestically produced ones in the petrochemical and chemical industries.
On June 30, 2022, the China General Machinery Industry Association and the China Machinery Industry Federation organized, in Beijing, Chongqing and other locations, an evaluation meeting for the high-frequency ball valves used in the product unloading systems (PDS) of polypropylene plants – products that were developed jointly by Sichuan Petrochemical Co., Ltd. of China National Petroleum Corporation and Chongqing Chuanyi Control Valve Co., Ltd. The meeting was held both in person and via video conference. The appraisal meeting was co-chaired by Huang Li, President of the China General Machinery Industry Association, and Sui Yongbin, former Chief Engineer of the China Machinery Industry Federation. The expert panel of the appraisal committee is composed of experts from Hefei General Machinery Research Institute, Sinopec Guangzhou Engineering Co., Ltd., Lanzhou University of Technology, **Valve Quality Supervision Center (Zhejiang), Quanzhou Petrochemical Co., Ltd., Global Engineering Co., Ltd., Wanhua Chemical Group Company, Hubei Sanning Chemical Company, Zhongfei Petrochemical Co., Ltd., and other organizations. The experts present listened to the summary report on the development efforts, reviewed documents related to design, manufacturing, testing, inspection, and quality assurance. Some of them visited the production and testing facilities and witnessed some of the tests. The expert group believes that the structural design of the product prototype is reasonable and the materials used are appropriate; the product has undergone tests regarding strength, sealing, switch operation, and lifespan, and the results meet the requirements of the joint development agreement and relevant standards. Since its deployment in October 2019 on Sichuan Petrochemical’s 450,000 tons per year polypropylene plant, this series of products has been operating well, delivering significant economic and social benefits. The appraisal committee ultimately reached the following conclusion: The developed PDS high-frequency ball valve possesses independent intellectual property rights, its key performance indicators are at an advanced level compared to similar international products, and it can be widely applied in polypropylene and polyethylene plants as well as in facilities operating under similar conditions.
The basic price of such equipment ranges from over 400,000 yuan to three or four million yuan; especially for high-end products, this implies higher profits. We are determined to focus on developing advanced technologies for the key equipment used in the chemical industry. The PDS high-frequency ball valve is primarily used in polypropylene plants. It features a high frequency of operations and fast response times (with the fastest actuation time being 1.5 seconds per operation). It must be able to perform at least one million operations without any internal leakage over a period of 4 years, and it also requires high levels of wear resistance and impact resistance. The company has established a technology R&D team of around 10 people. The first challenge ahead is dealing with surface-hardening materials; fortunately, through years of research and experimentation, the company has developed various process formulations. This time, after thorough research, the team selected the optimal formulation from over a dozen options. The material issue has been resolved; the next step is to focus on the processing techniques. In particular, the roundness of the ball in high-frequency ball valves must be improved to 1 micron, the hardness must exceed HV2000, and the surface roughness must be above 0.2. Through the joint efforts of the team, continuous research and repeated verification, it was finally delivered to Sichuan Petrochemical in October 2019, becoming a successful example of achieving domestic substitution. Over the following two years or so, the technology R&D team continued to improve and refine the product through iterative optimizations, developing independently a complete set of key equipment for grinding and matching processes. Six invention patents and 12 utility model patents were filed for this work, and these technologies were put into use at companies such as Harbin Petrochemical and Dushanzi Petrochemical. New products are making an increasingly greater contribution to businesses. Data shows that in 2023, Chuanyi had 52 new regulating valve products under development or in the industrialization stage, and the output value of these new products accounted for over 70% of the company’s annual output value.
【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】Significant progress has been made in domestic high-pressure diaphragm pumps between 2022 and 2025; units capable of operating at 25 MPa have passed industrial validation. https://bbs.hcbbs.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=5691700 (Source: Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum)
【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Processing Equipment】Major breakthroughs achieved in domestic high-pressure diaphragm pumps between 2023 and 2025; 25MPa units have passed industrial verification. https://bbs.hcbbs.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=5691700 (Source: Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum)