Reprinted from wechat official account released by Pudong

LNG (liquefied natural gas) carrier is a special ship that transports liquefied natural gas at a low temperature of - 162 ° C. It is known as the "pearl in the crown" of the world shipbuilding industry together with aircraft carriers and luxury cruise ships. In the manufacturing process of this kind of ship, a key component - ultra-low temperature valve is required. Before that, domestic shipping enterprises mainly relied on foreign imports to use such components. In recent years, Hudong Shipbuilding Valve Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Hudong Zhonghua shipbuilding (Group), has made major breakthroughs in the research and development of LNG ultra-low temperature valve products, successfully broken the foreign monopoly, and provided a strong guarantee for the localization of a full range of marine ultra-low temperature valve products in China.

In the ultra-low temperature test area of Hudong valve, a cryogenic test operation for marine ultra-low temperature valve products is under way. The reporter saw that under the liquid nitrogen environment of minus 196 ℃, the staff put four marine cryogenic valves filled with helium into them and observed the corresponding data changes on the instrument.

Minus 196.5 degrees Celsius, minus 197.3 degrees Celsius... With the digital tumbling on the instrument panel, the displayed temperature in the valve is rapidly approaching the liquid nitrogen temperature in the experimental environment. "The temperature of the LNG used in the ship is - 162 ° C, but the temperature of the liquid nitrogen used in the valve test in the factory is - 196 ° C, which is far lower than the working temperature of the LNG," explained Di Jiuwang, the chief technical expert of Hudong valve. "This shows that the valves tested are in a low temperature state and the situation is very stable."

During the epidemic period, the R & D work of enterprises did not stop. The R & D team stuck to its work post and made every effort to promote the product development of a large-diameter ultra-low temperature hydraulic stop valve, which was finally successful. After testing, the test performance index of the product not only fully meets the relevant international standards, but also its main performance even exceeds that of the international similar products.

Although the product technology is excellent, it is ultimately up to the market to speak. To break the monopoly of foreign products, enterprises should not only develop products that meet international standards, but also pass the certification of classification societies and the recognition of ship owners.
According to the actual application statistics of ships under construction, the number of Hudong valve products used in the whole ship has reached 520, accounting for 65% of the total number of low-temperature valves in the whole ship. At the same time, the low-temperature valve product line built by the enterprise focusing on the LNG industry chain has also been expanded to six series, which not only breaks through the monopoly of foreign countries, but also far exceeds the coverage of similar foreign enterprises.