The PE pipeline industry needs to be adjusted and upgraded

A few days ago, at the seminar on the application of special carbon black masterbatch in polyethylene pressure pipes and engineering plastics held in Jiangsu, experts such as the secretary general of the China Plastics Association Plastic Pipeline Special Committee called for the safety of gas and drinking water. In order to meet the requirements of the international standard - the service life of 50 years, the relevant departments should issue coordinated policies as soon as possible, strengthen the management and self-discipline of the relevant industry, and promote the adjustment and upgrading of the industry. Don't miss the golden development opportunity period brought by China's urbanization to the pipeline industry.

China is the country with the largest production and application of plastic pipes in the world. In 2011, the output reached 10 million tons, an increase of 19% over the previous year. Among them, PVC pipes account for 50%, PE pipes account for 30%, and PP pipes account for 10%. PE pipes are mainly used for gas, municipal water supply, agricultural drinking water, irrigation and drainage pipes, etc. Among them, PE pressure pipes are about 1.7 million tons. According to statistics, due to its excellent characteristics and convenient laying, the application of plastic pipes has skyrocketed, and its share in the pipeline market has exceeded 30%.

However, the PE plastic pipe industry also has obvious "sickness". First, the production capacity is obviously excessive. Due to the rush in the past few years, there are more than 3,000 domestic pipeline companies, most of which are small and medium-sized, with a total production capacity of 20 million tons; second, the pipeline market is relatively chaotic, and some companies are pursuing profits. , adopt a low-price strategy, use PE63 or even recycled materials as raw materials, and use the backward process of "white and black" to produce low-end products; third, the market share of high-quality products is relatively low, and there are fewer pipeline products that are actually produced with mixed ingredients, and there are also As a result, the gas industry is reluctant to purchase gas pipes produced by domestic mixed ingredients, and purchases imported products at higher prices, resulting in the production capacity of Sinopec's PE100 mixed ingredients production line being emptied.

According to the analysis of Shao Cangwei, Secretary-General of Shanghai Chemical Building Materials Association, the main reason for the uneven quality of pipes in the market is that many enterprises do not implement the national standard mixing process, but adopt the "white and black" route, that is, adding PE white material to the white material. Low-cost carbon black masterbatches are directly processed into pipes. This process often causes uneven distribution of carbon black particles and insufficient carbon black content, which will reduce the strength of the pipeline, and cause serious hidden dangers to the pressure resistance, stress cracking performance, hygiene and safety of the pipe, and the service life of less than 50 years. . This kind of "white and black" process, the raw materials are easy to be adulterated, and it also brings great difficulty to industrial and commercial administrative law enforcement.

So why is there still "white and black" production in China? Chen Xinhua, technical director of Suzhou Guojia Polymer Technology Co., Ltd. believes that the national standard for water supply pipes is recommended. White and black" method. The new version of "Sanitation Standards for Drinking Water" has been implemented nationwide since July 1 this year. In order to prevent the pollution of drinking water by substandard pipes, the relevant state departments should revise the standards. To learn from European and American practices, the national standard for raw materials must be enforced.

According to Wang Zhanjie, in the next few years, the production of plastic pipes in my country will maintain a growth rate of about 10%. By 2015, the total national output is expected to exceed 13.2 million tons, and the market share of plastic pipes in various types of pipes in the country will exceed 50%. %, the overall level of the industry has reached or is close to the international advanced level. He believes that in order to promote the healthy growth of the industry, relevant government departments, associations and enterprises such as industry and commerce and quality inspection should work closely together to make a good "combination punch" of industry adjustment and upgrading.

He believes that enterprises should consciously become a model of industry self-discipline, innovation and development. Suzhou Guojia Company has independently developed special carbon black masterbatch for PE compounding ingredients, which has become one of the few domestic companies that has passed the 10,000-hour pipeline pressure test of the Chemical Building Materials Testing Center.

Upstream raw material enterprises should take the initiative to cooperate with pipeline manufacturers and end users such as urban gas companies and municipal companies to provide technical solutions. Sun Xuhui, manager of the plastics department of Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical, said that Shanghai Petrochemical was the first company in China to introduce Borealis' 250,000-ton full-density bimodal polyethylene technology to produce PE compounding ingredients. Among them, YGH041T black pipe material passed the Swedish national test and inspection in 2005. The international certification of the PE100 level of the research institute is ready to learn the practices of multinational companies and provide excellent services and technical support for customers and their customers.

In order to ensure the safety of the industry, five gas companies in the gas industry took the lead in establishing the "G5+" organization, insisting on purchasing PE pipes of famous brands with high standards. In this regard, Wang Zhanjie believes that the PE pipe industry should do a good job of cooperation. At present, PE raw material enterprises such as Sinopec and PetroChina, as well as leading enterprises in the plastic pipe industry, are fully capable of producing PE pressure pipes of international level. The company plans to establish a "PE gas pipeline quality assurance alliance" with a reasonable threshold with the support of China City Gas Association and gas company users. This matter has been brewing for two years, and plans to start related work next year. Strong support to jointly promote the healthy development of PE pipeline industry