Anhui Forward | Feidong: The Hot Secret of "Constant Temperature Little Giant"

During the summer season, scorching heat reigns supreme. Anhui Huanrui Heating Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Huanrui Electric Heating") located in Feidong County, Hefei City, is currently experiencing a "hot" scene.

In this factory where machines roar, what is "hot" is not high temperature, but the "belts" running rapidly on the assembly line.

High performance self-regulating heat tracing products have been selected for display at the Anhui Innovation Hall.

Huanrui Electric Heating Supply Diagram

It's called high-performance self-regulating electric heating cable, "said Ji Chengzhi, founder and chairman of Huanrui Electric Heating. "At the beginning of this year, we achieved mass production of products with a temperature resistance level of 260℃, injecting a new round of 'hot' power into order growth."

What is a high-performance self-regulating electric heating cable? Ji Chengzhi introduced, "After being powered on, the heat tracing cable generates heat, and its resistance increases with the increase of ambient temperature. The output power automatically decays, thereby maintaining the temperature constant within the set range."

"At the end of last year, our factory successfully applied the temperature resistant 110℃ electric heat tracing cable to the CR450 high-speed train of Fuxing.It can ensure the normal operation of water tanks, drainage pipes and other equipment when the train travels to high-altitude areas, significantly reducing safety risks." Speaking of products,  Ji Chengzhi is full of pride.

Based on the precise temperature control characteristics of self-regulating electric heating cable, this product has been widely used in fields such as petrochemicals, high-speed railways, and infrastructure. In multiple key economic sectors, it serves as a "safety belt" for industry development.To forge this"safety belt", Huanrui Electric Heating has been fighting for more than ten years.

Workers are operating the electric heating cable sheath extrusion equipment.

Huanrui Electric Heating Supply Diagram

"Before 2014, the heat resistance temperature of domestic electric heat tracing materials was generally 85℃, and the core materials were monopolized by foreign countries. The domestic electric heat tracing industry was concentrated in the low-end market. " Ji Chengzhi recalled, " We were not willing to stay at this level forever and were determined to make some breakthroughs."

In 2014, Ji Chengzhi established a new corporate mission for Huanrui Electric Heating: "Replace imports with independent technology products and serve the global industry with Chinese solutions." Starting from this year, Huanrui Electric Heating concentrated its resources on research and development, formed the "115" industry innovation team in Anhui Province through the integration of industry, academia, and research, and established a postdoctoral research workstation and a high-performance self-regulating electric heating cable engineering technology research center.

The path of technological research and development is long and arduous, but perseverance will lead to success.

In 2018, Huanrui Electric Heating made significant breakthroughs in key areas such as the design and development of electric heat tracing materials, product production and testing processes, and the design of thermal control system solutions, successfully achieving domestic substitution.The company's electric heat tracing products have completed a comprehensive upgrade, and the company has also transformed from selling a single product to an EPC (full process service) model that covers design, production, installation, and after-sales.

In 2023, Huanrui Electric's 200℃ high-performance self-regulating products achieved full mass production.Under the paving of new products and technologies, Huanrui Electric Heating has broken through the foreign monopoly in the high-end market and won the bid for the framework bidding project of China National Offshore Oil Corporation's electric tracing materials for the first time.

By 2025,the temperature resistance level of high-performance self-regulating products produced by Huanrui Electric Heating has been increased to 260℃.This marks that in the field of self-regulating temperature electric heat tracing materials, Huanrui Electric Heating has achieved a level comparable to the current international leading level.

Technology is the discourse power of tech companies.As of now, Huanrui Electric Heating has obtained 1 international invention patent and 16 domestic invention patents, built a digital workshop, and its experimental testing center has been recognized by the National CNAS Laboratory, achieving full chain quality control from raw materials to finished products.

Meanwhile, Huanrui Electric Heating has obtained global authoritative certifications such as EAC from Russia, CE from the European Union, BV from France, and CSA from Canada.As a representative of Chinese enterprises, Huanrui Electric Heating has provided high-quality electric heating products, services, and solutions to more than 50 countries and regions around the world, including Russia, the United Kingdom, Poland, Finland, and Brazil.

Huanrui Electric Heating Factory. Photo by Ding Ji from People's Daily Online

The "hot" scene of Huanrui Electric Heating is a microcosm of Feidong County's promotion of high-quality development of enterprises.

At the end of 2023, Feidong County issued the "Several Policies for Promoting High Quality Economic Development in Feidong County", based on the actual situation of Feidong County, focusing on promoting the development of science and technology innovation enterprises.This policy makes specific arrangements in six directions, including encouraging technological innovation and research and development, continuously expanding effective investment, effectively stimulating consumption circulation, increasing financing support, supporting enterprises to grow and strengthen, and optimizing the development environment for enterprises.

The growth of Huanrui Electric Heating has reached a consensus with the demand for high-quality economic development in Feidong County.

With the help of the Feidong County Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Huanrui Electric Heating has successively won honors such as the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's specialized and innovative "Little Giant" enterprise, Anhui Province's manufacturing champion cultivation enterprise, Anhui Province's service-oriented manufacturing demonstration enterprise, and Anhui Province's innovative (pilot) enterprise. It has also successfully applied for and obtained multiple qualifications such as Anhui Province's digital workshop, Anhui Province's industrial design center, Anhui Province's industrial boutique, and Anhui Province's new products.

In terms of financial support, in the past three years, the Feidong County Bureau of Industry and Information Technology has provided 1.224 million yuan in funding support to Huanrui Electric Heating through high-quality development policies, including 224000 yuan in loan interest subsidies, effectively reducing the financing costs of enterprises and empowering their development with real money.

Next, we will focus on the layout of key industries, with leading enterprises as the guide, to encourage enterprises to increase independent innovation, promote the development of upstream and downstream industrial chains, and push Feidong County's industries to reach new heights, "said Ye Shaofei, Deputy Director of Feidong County Industry and Information Technology Bureau.

It is reported that in the past three years, Feidong County has allocated a total of 10.58 million yuan in subsidies for the construction of technology centers and industrial design centers to 66 enterprises;Provide a subsidy of 14.15 million yuan for brand cultivation, specialization, innovation, and new product research and development to 105 enterprises;Provided loan interest subsidies of over 53 million yuan to 357 enterprises.

Article transferred from People's Daily Online - Anhui Channel,  Ding Ji  edited by: Guan Fei, Zhang Lei