1. The status of the general metallurgical valve market
Among metallurgical valves, general valves for iron and steel metallurgy have the greatest market demand, with an annual amount of 5 to 6 billion RMB. Metallurgical valves are affected by harsh factors such as corrosion, wear, and erosion during use. In order to ensure the operating performance and safety of valves, valves used in blast furnaces, converters, coke ovens, gas pipes and other equipment generally need to be replaced every 2 to 3 years. According to statistics, in the iron and steel industry of black smelting, the annual demand for valve spare parts is about 50 million RMB per 10 million tons. At present, the domestic crude steel production capacity is about 1 billion tons, and the annual demand for metallurgical valve spare parts is about 5 billion to 6 billion RMB. The metallurgical valve market is relatively stable.
 

2. The market status of dedicated metallurgical valves

In the dedicated metallurgical valve market, the annual demand for spare parts of dedicated metallurgical valves is about 1 billion RMB. Compared with general metallurgical valves, benefiting from the implementation of the "dual carbon" strategy, the growth rate of demand for dedicated metallurgical valves for energy conservation, emission reduction and environmental protection will be significantly higher than that of general metallurgical valves.
 
Carbon emission reduction and new methods for production capacity replacement promote the demand for metallurgical dedicated valves, which are mainly reflected in three aspects. First, the demand for spare parts for existing production capacity is the main demand of metallurgy at present, and the characteristics of product demand change from batch to individual, customization of small batches. The second is the replacement and relocation projects that eliminate outdated production capacity. At present, it is necessary to pay attention to other projects to be implemented due to the large-scale construction of the metallurgical industry about to be finished. The third is energy saving and emission reduction technology transformation projects and maintenance projects. Pay attention to the relevant requirements for technical performance of valves, and do a good job in technical reserves and product development.
 
Under the pressure of energy reduction and emission reduction, the demand for dust removal systems and waste heat recovery valves has increased significantly. In terms of valves, there are mainly triple eccentric butterfly valves and glasses valves.
 
3. Prospects of metallurgical valves in 2022
About 80% of the production capacity of China's steel industry is distributed in six provinces, namely, Hebei, Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan and Liaoning provinces. In 2022, SO2, smoke and dust emissions, waste water, COD and ammonia nitrogen emissions will still be the focus of the ecological environment and other departments, and there are still rigid demand opportunities for related valves. Non-ferrous metal smelting enterprises are also under the pressure of environmental protection supervision.
 
Before the end of 2022, significant progress has been made in the ultra-low emission transformation of iron and steel enterprises in key regions, and the transformation of about 60% of the production capacity will be completed. The ultra-low emission transformation process of steel enterprises in other regions will also be started and advanced rapidly according to the requirements. The innovative application of source emission reduction technology in iron and steel and other metallurgical enterprises, zero gas emission, sintering flue gas circulation and other clean production processes will continue to be implemented, creating opportunities for valve enterprises, which must be actively paid attention to.
 
4. Status and key points of metallurgical valve technology
China's metallurgical valves have developed rapidly in the past fifteen years, and they can completely replace imported ones. Taking the valve used for the Baosteel Zhanjiang project as an example, all domestic valves are used. This shows that we are already at the world's advanced level in the metallurgical industry. However, compared with imported metallurgical valves, the technical level of metallurgical valves in China still needs to be improved, such as heat treatment processes for materials, surface finishes and control accuracy of control valves.
 
Speaking of the technology research direction of the metallurgical valve, manufacturing and informatization of equipment are the main tasks. In terms of equipment manufacturing, materials research is carried out for valves, mainly to meet the working conditions of high pressure, low noise and wear resistance. In terms of driving devices, they must be strengthened to meet the requirements of high frequency, high precision and great torque. As for information, with the deepening of information interconnection, the interconnection and intelligence of all things, the impact on the on-site management of industrial enterprises is becoming more and more profound. The intelligent level of metallurgical valves must be further improved. A leading enterprise in the industry has carried out in-depth exploration about this. The Valve Butler system based on 5G Internet of Things technology has initially completed one-code content reading and database building of online valve files. The realization of big data and informatization has been well received by the owners.
 
At present, the domestic substitution of metallurgical valves focuses on regulating valves. Metallurgical control valves are mainly used in steam systems and nitrogen systems. The adjustment accuracy of domestic valves cannot reach that of imported valves. At present, the main suppliers are joint ventures and foreign enterprises. This segment will be the focus of future research on domestic valves.
 
5. Conclusion
It should be noted that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, driven by strategies such as "dual carbon", low carbon, environmental protection, green development concepts will be increasingly valued and implemented by various industries. The demand trend for metallurgical valves reflects this situation. Other downstream fields of valves, such as petroleum, chemical, electric power, water treatment, and papermaking valves, will also have the same development tasks. It is recommended that the industry should draw inferences about other cases from one instance, pay more attention, and seize opportunities.