How To Turn The Small Stone "Weaving" The National Flag Into A Big Industry

On August 1, the first continuous basalt fiber deep processing project in Hebei was officially put into production at China Fiber New Material Technology (Chengde) Co., Ltd., which is expected to create a 10 billion level new industry.

Not long ago, Chang'e 6 completed the "earth excavation" of the moon back and carried a "stone version" of the five-star red flag, which made many people know basalt fiber, a magical material, for the first time, and also understand the broad industrial prospects of basalt, which "turns stone into gold".

North China is one of the areas where basalt is relatively concentrated in China. The basalt resources in Zhangjiakou and Chengde, Hebei are particularly rich and high-quality.

Based on the resource advantage, how does Hebei transform it into an industrial advantage? How can the small stone that "weaves" the national flag extend a longer industrial chain?

On August 1, an aerial photograph was taken of the paddock energy storage equipment manufacturing industrial park where China Fiber New Material Technology (Chengde) Co., Ltd. is located. Photographed by Li Jiaze, reporter of Hebei Daily

　　 ■ From stone to material, the value increases by a thousand times

At 11:18 on August 1, in the drawing workshop of China Fiber New Material Technology (Chengde) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as China Fiber Technology), a bunch of golden filaments leaked from the bottom bushing of basalt continuous fiber drawing unit furnace. These filaments are the basalt fiber, a new material that became popular because of the "stone version" of the national flag some time ago.

Half an hour later, the processing of a roll of continuous basalt fiber was completed, marking the official launch of the first continuous basalt fiber deep processing project in Hebei.

Basalt fiber cloth, basalt fiber felt, basalt fiber composite... Next, several basalt projects of China Fiber Science and Technology will be put into production, which is expected to create a 10 billion level new industry.

Zhongxian Technology was invested and established by Chengde Xinding Mining Co., Ltd. From selling stones to selling materials, why does this enterprise layout the whole basalt industry chain?

Green grass, flowers, winding paths, simple pavilions... Climbing to the top of Shetugou in Weichang Shanwanzi Township is like coming to a mountain park.

"This is the only national level green mine of basalt in China. The exposed black rock mass in the distance is the basalt mine. The path under the foot is paved with basalt slabs, and the roadbed is padded with basalt sandstone." Shao Naijie, the production director of Chengde Xinding Mining Co., Ltd., introduced.

The basalt in Hebei is one of the oldest, most abundant and most complete basalt groups in China. The basalt resources in Zhangjiakou and Chengde are particularly rich and high-quality. Through preliminary exploration, the reserves of basalt ore in the paddock alone are more than 10 billion tons.

Due to its hard texture and strong corrosion resistance, basalt has become the best sand and stone material for building roads, railways and airport runways. Most basalt ores mined in the early period of Xinding Mining were broken into sand and stone for sale. "At the lowest price, every ton of sand and stone is only 40 yuan." Shao Naijie said that good resources did not sell at a good price.

In 2013, Xinding Mining completed a basalt facing stone production line, with an annual output of 4 million square meters of various facing stones. If converted into tons, each ton will be sold for about 500 yuan, and the price will increase more than 10 times.

But Xinding Mining is not satisfied. As the utilization rate of facing stone ore is only 30%, they still think it has caused a waste of high-quality resources. After many investigations, Xinding Mining has taken continuous basalt fiber as the new direction of transformation and upgrading.

After the establishment of Zhongxian Technology, it began to specialize in the R&D and improvement of continuous basalt fiber technology and equipment.

"Our ore has been tested by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and is rated as Grade A, with stable chemical composition, and can be used as basalt fiber raw ore," said Weng Shiming, founder of China Fiber Science and Technology.

"The diameter of the wire pulled today is 10 microns, roughly one tenth of the hair, and one ton can sell for 15000 yuan." On August 1, Weng Shiming pointed to a roll of continuous basalt fiber just off the line, and said that after debugging in the later stage, continuous basalt fiber with a diameter of 4.5 microns can be produced, with each ton more than 100000 yuan. Compared with selling sand and stone materials, the price has increased more than a thousand times.

"We can also weave silk into cloth, and the price can be doubled again. We can also make cloth into bulletproof clothing, fireproof clothing, and so on, and the price can be increased, so that 'turning stone into gold' from legend to reality." Weng Shiming said.

What is more valuable is that the raw material used to produce continuous basalt fiber at present is the sawdust generated when cutting stones. Xinding Mining has accumulated 700000 tons of sawdust in more than 10 years, and these wastes can achieve 10 billion output value in the future.

It is estimated that 1.1 tons of basalt ore can produce 1 ton of continuous basalt fiber, with a utilization rate of more than 90%. The whole production process is made by melting basalt ore at high temperature and then drawing through alloy bushing, without any waste discharge. "The 0.1 tons missing are basically water, which has evaporated," Weng Shiming said.

"In another five years, we will completely abandon the basalt facing stone industry and make the continuous basalt fiber and composite material industry bigger and stronger, so that good resources can generate high value," Weng Shiming said.

On August 1, in the drawing workshop of China Fiber New Material Technology (Chengde) Co., Ltd., the staff were stacking the continuous basalt fibers just produced. Photographed by Li Jiaze, reporter of Hebei Daily

　　 ■ Gather scientific research resources to make "turning stone into gold" a reality

Two small test machines are placed in the laboratory on the second floor of Zhongxian Technology. The formula of each furnace of raw ore of Medium Fiber Technology must be adjusted through tests before being put into production.

Maintaining the stability of fiber filament performance is a difficult problem in the industry, and also a bottleneck restricting the development of continuous basalt fiber and its composites in China.

Weng Shiming introduced that the main components of basalt are silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide, iron oxide, calcium oxide, magnesium oxide, etc. The composition ratio of each basalt mine is different, even the composition ratio of ores in different areas of the same mine is different. The basalt fiber diameter is calculated in microns, and the corresponding basalt fiber raw material formula needs to be adjusted due to different ore composition.

"It is an extremely complex process from basalt raw stone to fiber, scale and other midstream products, and then to the downstream multi scene application, involving different processes, parameters and formulas." Dr. Liu Changjiang, from the basalt fiber material research institute of Hebei University of Geosciences, said that this complexity is not only reflected in the fact that stones from different origins need to connect with different production processes, It is also reflected in the continuous research on how to give full play to some properties of raw materials even for the same product and process.

This determines that scientific and technological research and development plays an extremely important role in the extension of basalt industry chain.

Relying on the high-quality basalt ore resources in the paddock, China Fiber Science and Technology has carried out in-depth cooperation with Chinese Academy of Sciences, Southeast University Basalt Fiber Production and Application Technology National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center, East China University of Science and Technology and other universities and research institutes to carry out upgrading and innovation in basalt fiber production and application technology, We will make every effort to build a whole industrial chain for comprehensive development and utilization of basalt.

"We subdivide the entire industrial chain into several links, each link looking for the corresponding top team in China to tackle key problems in R&D, and ultimately achieve the effect of 1+1>2," Weng Shiming said.

China Fiber Technology is the first all battery kiln technology in China, and has developed and applied the latest tank kiln equipment. In the 1.0 version of the tank, the leakage plate has only 400 holes. The 30000t tank kiln of Zhongxian Technology is the largest in China, with 2400 holes in the leakage plate. Weng Shiming said that the improvement of this equipment alone can save more than 30% of energy for enterprises.

In addition, in cooperation with universities and scientific research institutes, Zhongxian Technology has also developed a new high-performance continuous basalt fiber formula. The performance of the fiber produced with this formula is stable, and the elastic modulus, tensile strength, dispersion coefficient and other data are at the domestic first-class level.

"It took two years and five months from the establishment of Zhongxian Technology to the success of wire drawing, and behind it is the unremitting efforts of 20 R&D teams," Weng Shiming said.

Adhering to such a long R&D cycle and gathering so many cutting-edge scientific research resources is a big test for many enterprises.

Not long ago, Yuxian Xinyuan Basalt Mining Co., Ltd., a supplier of raw material basalt, was famous for the popularity of the "stone version" five-star red flag on the back of the moon.

Zhu Zhaochun, the person in charge of the company, revealed that they started the research and development of downstream basalt products several years ago. Different from drawing basalt into fiber, they chose to extend the industrial chain by melting basalt into liquid at high temperature and then pouring and pressing it into new building materials or tableware. At present, the research and development of related products has been basically mature, and the company is planning a new production line, which is expected to be put into production next year.

"Our R&D expenses have accumulated to more than 5 million yuan." Zhu Zhaochun said frankly that for a private enterprise like them, it is not a small amount to spend so much money on R&D.

"The development of basalt industry chain depends on scientific research and innovation, but huge R&D investment is a real problem." Liu Changjiang believes that to solve this problem, not only need to guide enterprises to increase scientific research investment, but also need to fully mobilize the enthusiasm of universities and scientific research institutions, through building public laboratories, establishing basalt technology and industrial alliances, Provide adequate intellectual support for the development of basalt industry.

On July 31, aerial photography was taken of the basalt mine of Chengde Xinding Mining Co., Ltd. located at the top of Shetugou Mountain, Shanwanzi Township, Weichang. Photographed by Li Jiaze, reporter of Hebei Daily

　　 ■ Create a whole industry chain and open up a new world of new material industry

"The new factory we are building in the paddock economic development zone will build a model room. Except for the electric lights, all other items will be made of basalt fiber composite materials," said Zhou Hongwei, deputy general manager of Zhongxian Technology.

Standing in front of the aerial view of the China Fiber Science and Technology Industrial Park, Zhou Hongwei described the enterprise development plan in detail. The raw material storage workshop is connected to the tank furnace wire drawing workshop through pipes, and the fan can accurately control the raw material delivery. The first battery kiln newly built in China can produce 10000 tons of continuous basalt fiber filament annually. Weaving workshop, furniture manufacturing workshop, automobile lightweight workshop, etc. are arranged in order, classified and organized.

"The first phase of the project is planned to be completed within three years, all of which will be put into production, and will provide the market with basalt fiber with different performance requirements and various military and civilian products of basalt fiber." Zhou Hongwei introduced that, according to the market share of products developed at this stage, the total output value of basalt fiber and composite materials of the company will reach 5 billion yuan in three years. The second phase of the project focuses on thermal insulation and anti explosion products, ultra long sea based wind power blades and other fields, with a total output value of more than 10 billion yuan.

From basalt fiber in the middle reaches to application scenarios in the downstream, Zhongxian Technology is committed to building the whole basalt industry chain.

"If we can't open up a broader market, 'turning stone into gold' will only be empty words." Liu Changjiang explained that at present, basalt materials are still a very small segment in the material field, and there has not been sufficient upstream and downstream division of labor and cooperation. Many enterprises producing basalt fiber have finally stopped production because they do not have stable downstream "digestion" channels.

Therefore, to expand the basalt industry, it is critical to open the whole industry chain, especially to extend the application of downstream products and promote the development of application scenarios.

Liu Changjiang believes that Hebei is fully capable of realizing the development of the whole basalt industry chain, and "grafting" existing advantageous industries and new basalt materials is a good path. For example, Hebei has a good industrial base of composite materials, and a large number of glass fibers will be used in production. As a kind of light and high strength material, basalt fiber can completely replace glass fiber in part by virtue of its advantages in physical and chemical properties, environmental protection in the production process, etc., to achieve the integration and reasonable distribution with glass fiber in the market.

"In this way, it not only expands the application scenarios of basalt products, but also promotes the further upgrading of advantageous industries, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone," Liu Changjiang said.

It is understood that relevant enterprises in Hebei have begun to try in this regard.

Hengrun Group Co., Ltd., located in Zaoqiang County, is an enterprise producing composite materials.

"We have been paying attention to basalt fiber materials for four or five years." Liu Jufang, director of strategic development of the company, said that glass fiber and carbon fiber would be widely used in the production of composite products. The price of glass fiber is low, and carbon fiber is light and strong, but the price is also high. Compared with these two commonly used fibers, basalt fiber has moderate price, high and low temperature resistance, corrosion resistance and very high cost performance.

Last year, Hengrun started the experimental research on basalt fiber, adding basalt fiber to several existing products to make small test blocks, and collected and verified a number of data for demonstration. On this basis, the company has developed a molded product of threaded bars.

"This product gives full play to the seawater corrosion resistance of basalt fiber, and can be used in the field of ocean engineering in the future to replace steel bars." Liu Jufang introduced that although the company's application of basalt fiber is still in the experimental stage, basalt fiber, as one of the four high-performance fibers focused on development in China, will certainly bring new space to the company's composite product research and development.

The strong interest of enterprises in basalt fiber fully reflects the development potential of this new material.

At present, Guizhou, Sichuan and other places have begun to take action to accelerate the layout of basalt fiber industry chain. How does Hebei transform its basalt resource advantages into real industrial advantages?

Liu Changjiang suggested that Hebei should strengthen overall planning as soon as possible, increase policy support, formulate basalt industry planning suitable for regional development according to local resources and industrial status, and further clarify the direction of industrial development. He suggested that in the planning, we should also pay attention to the organic connection and cooperation with innovation, finance and environmental protection policies, actively guide and standardize the orderly and rapid development of basalt industry, and accelerate the formation of the whole industrial chain.

"We expect that the extension of the basalt industry chain will not only open up a new world for Hebei's new material industry, but also inject new vitality into other industries," said Liu Changjiang.

(Source: Hebei Daily)