Recently, the P1 "Iron and Steel Metallurgy Pilot Plant Platform" developed and constructed by the pilot R&D team of NEU's "2011" Collaborative Innovation Center for Common Steel Technologies for HBIS Group successfully completed hot test and commenced operations at the Luoyang Advanced Manufacturing Development Zone in Henan Province. Li Xiangyu, Deputy General Manager of HBIS Group, Pan Songjun, General Manager of Jinye Company, Professor Li Jianping, Chief Professor of the NEU Pilot Plant Team, faculty members and students from the research team and engineering technicians from the construction unit attended the hot test and operation launch ceremony.
Modern steel production processes impose stringent requirements on smelting, rolling, and heat treatment, process equipment and, and the research and development of high-end products. The digital pilot plant R&D platform jointly established by NEU and HBIS Group through industry-academia-research collaboration aims to advance new material development and process equipment innovation. Adhering to the R&D and application model of "Problem/Requirement → Theoretical Research → Scientific Experimentation → Pilot Demonstration → Engineering Application," the platform addresses critical bottlenecks constraining corporate development by advancing cutting-edge, disruptive technologies for the steel industry, delivering innovative solutions, and establishing an integrated pilot plant R&D platform that merges material design, pilot-scale experimentation, digital technologies, and steel production lines. This initiative condenses a massive metallurgical production line onto a pilot plant experimental platform, using a small-scale pilot platform to simulate the production patterns of large-scale operations. Leveraging information technologies such as big data analytics, data mining, and machine learning, it enables advanced process and product development. This approach identifies the root causes of quality fluctuations and product defects, revealing the interplay between process conditions, material deformation, microstructural transformations, and mechanical properties in industrial processes. It provides technical support for quality traceability, process optimization, and intelligent decision-making. This approach yields innovative research outcomes that can be rapidly translated into productive capabilities.
The Phase I platform development comprises multiple pilot plant R&D innovations, including advanced specialty smelting, controlled rolling, controlled cooling, quenching and tempering heat treatment, and process control modeling software application development platforms. Among these, the multi-functional vacuum induction furnace and 1000kg protective atmosphere electroslag furnace are dedicated to the R&D of high-end specialty alloy materials and the preparation of customized alloy products; the 12,000 kN hot mill, as the core equipment, can simulate the hot rolling processes for wide plates, medium-thick plates, and hot continuous rolling. It features constant-temperature/isothermal rolling, synchronous/asynchronous rolling, low-temperature large-deformation rolling, online controlled rolling and controlled cooling, as well as precise thick plate quenching and tempering heat treatment capabilities. The maximum billet thickness of 420mm aligns with continuous casting billets at production sites, while the minimum finished thickness of 2mm enables the rolling compression ratio required for production rolling mills. This will provide critical R&D services for new product development at the Zhoukou Base's 5600mm wide and thick plate rolling mills. The pilot plant's process and equipment capabilities cover the entire production process of existing hot rolling lines, with key technical indicators surpassing the capabilities of existing pilot rolling mills both domestically and internationally. The establishment of this pilot plant will further advance HBIS Group's technological innovation, cultivate high-end technical talent, accelerate the commercialization of scientific achievements, and comprehensively enhance the technological capabilities and market competitiveness of the steel industry.
It is reported that through project collaboration, the NEU National Key Digital Steel Laboratory (DSL) and the Henan Iron and Steel Research Institute have established a regular teaching and research interaction mechanism. This partnership provides an exemplary application platform for transforming technological achievements, facilitating industry-academia-research integration, strengthening university-enterprise cooperation, and advancing the industrialization of new technologies derived from NEU's teaching and research endeavors.
