Xu Niansha is a guest at the "China Economic Lecture Hall" and reveals the stories behind the heavy weapons of a great power

The China Economic Lecture HallCCTV Finance ChannelThe large-scale special column launched is a high-end platform for interpreting national economic policies, economic phenomena, social development, humanities, and technological revolution. The guests are authoritative figures, focusing on the most pressing economic topics in society, and serving as a hall for conveying policies, knowledge, and viewpoints. The program is practical and can answer real-life social dilemmas; It also has a revealing nature, telling you the most shocking behind the scenes details; At the same time, it also has foresight and the ability to anticipate future policy directions.

Xu Niansha, President of the China Machinery Industry Federation, has served as Vice Chairman of China Machinery Industry Group Co., Ltd. and Chairman of China Poly Group Corporation. He organized and led related enterprises to successfully complete major technical equipment and key core component research tasks in various fields such as aerospace engineering machinery and power equipment. His research achievements have won multiple special and first prizes in mechanical industry science and technology.

On March 31st, Xu Niansha was a guest at the "China Economic Lecture Hall" and vividly told the stories behind XCMG Machinery, represented by the "3000 ton super mobile crane," "15000 ton meter tower crane," and "new energy mining truck," from engineering artifacts to mechanical weapons and then to national heavy equipment, interpreting the extraordinary Chinese economy and unleashing the Chinese wisdom that affects the world economy.

1、 The birth of a 3000 ton super mobile crane

On November 28, 2023, at the site of the Yingkou Dashiqiao Xintai 200 MW wind power project, the world's first 3000 ton all terrain crane gently pulled the 25 ton and 95 meter long wind turbine blades to a height of over 100 meters, accurately docked them, and installed the wind turbine hub in place. The difficulty of installing large and heavy wind turbine blades at an altitude of over 100 meters and accurately aligning them with the wheel hub is unprecedented. Traditional cranes are simply unable to complete this project. The first wind turbine of China's first wind power plant was the Vestas wind turbine from Denmark in 1986, with a power of 55 kW, a diameter of 15 meters for the impeller, and a height of 40 meters; Nowadays, the power of onshore wind turbines in China has reached 10 megawatts, with impeller diameters greater than 230 meters, and offshore wind turbine impellers with diameters of 292 meters. Faced with various challenges such as raw materials (high-strength steel), hydraulic systems, precise control, and transfer, XCMG's R&D personnel did not back down. Eventually, they developed a 3000 ton wheeled crane with a body weight of 317 tons, a maximum arm length of 173 meters, a lifting weight of 190 tons, and a height of 160 meters. A "small tofu block weighing a thousand pounds" - the key component in the control system is the hydraulic valve, which contains a tofu sized solenoid valve hidden inside the lifting arm, measuring 16 * 4.4 * 6.8 centimeters with an accuracy of 2 microns. The control arm length extends and retracts, determining the lifting capacity of the crane, the height of the wind turbine, and the efficiency of the entire wind power plant.

Xu Niansha said: The 3000 ton crane has been successfully developed, with the highest technological content and the greatest research and development difficulty. It is known as the "summit of Mount Everest" in the world's engineering technology. However, our construction machinery industry has not stopped and is continuing to move forward vigorously. Now we have a 4000 ton crane, which can meet the lifting height of 170 meters and the weight has increased to 230 tons. If there is a greater demand, it can also reach a height of 180 meters to improve efficiency and reduce costs for users. Nowadays, enterprises such as XCMG, Zoomlion Heavy Industry and Sany Heavy Industry have the core technology and production capacity of thousand ton engineering cranes, and have driven a group of supporting enterprises to improve their R&D and manufacturing levels.

2、 Development of high-end ultra large tower crane

China is a major wind power and bridge country. Among the top ten bridges in the world, there are 8 suspension bridges, 8 arch bridges, and 9 cable-stayed bridges. Behind these world-renowned Chinese bridges, the strong support of our country's construction machinery is indispensable.

Changtai Yangtze River Bridge is the first river crossing channel integrating expressway, intercity railway and first-class highway in the Yangtze River. It is a super large bridge with super load and super long span. The design height of the bridge tower is 350 meters, equivalent to the height of an 88 story building, making it the tallest bridge tower in the world. The main tower is divided into three parts: upper, middle, and lower. The upper tower column is composed of 10 steel towers, and the largest steel tower weighs 323 tons. If this bridge tower is the world champion, then the tower crane that built it is the invisible champion. Construct a 350 meter bridge tower with a tower crane height greater than 379 meters and a total weight of nearly 4000 tons. It involves various aspects such as technology, process, and control, many of which are groundbreaking challenges. XCMG, Zoomlion and other engineering machinery enterprises, as well as bridge construction design and construction units such as China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co., Ltd. and China Communications Second Navigation Engineering Group Co., Ltd., as well as component manufacturing enterprises, have closely cooperated and worked together to tackle various global challenges. They adopt a "pump control+valve control" scheme, with synchronized lifting of six oil cylinders on both sides, equipped with multiple intelligent sensors to monitor the cylinder stroke in real time, ensuring smooth lifting of the tower crane. This is a technological innovation in the field of tower cranes, and the cost has been reduced by 70%; To ensure smooth tower crane construction, the R&D team, in collaboration with Tongji University, has come up with a perfect solution: each layer of the connection between the bridge tower and the tower crane is pre embedded with a conical structure, each with 10 bolts. After the bridge is completed, the screws can be removed after the tower crane is dismantled and poured into concrete. This technology has also been applied to the Ma'anshan dual-use Yangtze River Bridge and the under construction Zhangjinggao Yangtze River Bridge.

Our domestically produced tower cranes are not only used in bridge construction, but also in projects with large volume and weight such as the Hualong One, solving practical needs, driving industrial development, and providing guarantees for the construction of major national projects. Nowadays, enterprises such as Zoomlion, XCMG, Fushun Yongmao, and Liugong have the R&D and manufacturing capabilities of high-end tower cranes. With the support of technological innovation and the assistance of engineering machinery, China Bridge has been able to continuously overcome obstacles and communicate with the world. After more than 50 years of development, China's construction machinery industry has basically formed a complete system, capable of producing more than 4500 specifications and models of 22 major categories of products, and has the ability to independently innovate and upgrade products.

3、 New Energy Mining Card: Policy oriented to Market oriented

High quality development has put forward new requirements for the construction machinery industry, and green and intelligent have become the main themes of transformation and upgrading. The driving environment of a mining car is completely different from that of a family sedan. The roads are rugged, dusty, time-consuming, windy, and extremely cold. Some extremely cold mining areas even require 24-hour uninterrupted operation in minus 50 degrees Celsius weather. XCMG visited different mining enterprises, collected road spectra as data to establish a simulation environment, and used this environment to design new structures, add shock-absorbing structures, and achieve vibration values that meet their own strength requirements. Then they forced the supplier to improve the structure of their own box to meet the special needs of this mine. With the application of artificial intelligence Internet technology, the intelligent process of enterprises in the construction machinery industry has accelerated. XCMG, Sany Heavy Industry, Zoomlion, Liugong, Shanhe Intelligent, Shandong Lingong and other enterprises have proposed solutions around the construction of smart mines, which has also driven the development of a number of private high-end supporting enterprises. After successful research and development, the quality and effectiveness of the new energy mining car are very good. The enterprise found it both practical and cheap, so it changed from policy orientation to market orientation, and the enterprise's research and development innovation is more motivated.

The core of new energy mining cars is the issue of batteries, and the cost of one battery can account for more than 30% of the entire vehicle. A 700 kilowatt hour three axle electric truck has a battery capacity equivalent to about ten times that of a new energy sedan. In the case of heavy downhill driving, a fuel truck can transport 20 round-trip trips with one full tank, while a new energy mining truck can transport 30 trips. The cost is greatly reduced and the efficiency is greatly improved. The improvement of battery performance in mining trucks has not only changed the application of mining industry in road heavy trucks, but also achieved cross industry breakthroughs. The development of new energy mining cars was initially in response to the national policy of building green mines.

4、 Construction machinery companies are dancing contemporary ethnic dances

What is the level of China's machinery industry compared to the world's high-end products?

Xu Niansha finally said: Although our construction machinery is not the world's number one, most of them are in the world's number one formation, and the gap with the world's number one is constantly narrowing. We are constantly making new progress in the construction of advanced R&D and manufacturing systems, which is more practical for China, which has a large area, a large population, a low starting point, and uneven development. From engineering artifacts to mechanical weapons, and then to major national heavy equipment, the mechanical industry, as a key foundational sector, plays a crucial role in supporting China's construction of a modern industrial system and the creation of a high-level industrial chain. Firstly, we need to fill in the gaps and weaknesses of the industrial chain, enhance its resilience and safety level. Secondly, we need to forge the strengths of the industrial chain development and accelerate its modernization. Thirdly, we must adhere to the innovative and integrated development of the industrial chain, carry out collaborative innovation, and form a diversified and efficient development model that integrates host enterprises, component enterprises, basic material enterprises, and universities, accelerating the formation of new quality productivity.

Some people once referred to our Chinese industrialists as dancing on the edge of the knife, while our construction machinery companies are dancing ethnic dances, which are contemporary ethnic dances. Learn and absorb advanced knowledge and technology, innovate and improve, so that our machinery industry will continue to grow and make contributions to the realization of Chinese path to modernization.

Information source: CCTV APP/Text editing: Guo Guangli/Editor in charge: Chen Hongmiao