Internal Combustion Engines: Energy Conservation & Emission Reduction Path
The burner industry is a significant sector within the manufacturing and equipment industry. Burners serve as the primary power source for vehicles such as cars, motorcycles, construction machinery, agricultural machinery, ships, railway locomotives, geological and oil drilling equipment, internal combustion power generation equipment, military, and special-purpose machinery. The burner industry forms the basis for the transformation of traditional industries and serves as a technological means for their upgrading.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China 60 years ago, this foundational industry has grown from small to large and from strong to stronger.
The Aspiration from "Big" to "Strong"
From simple imitation to gradual independent development, and then to the introduction, assimilation, and re-innovation of advanced technological equipment, the burner industry in China has emerged from nothing, grown from small to large, and transformed from weak to strong.
In 2008, China produced 61.12 million burners with a total power of 10.3 billion kilowatts, making China a true manufacturer of burners in terms of scale. From initial simple imitation to gradual independent development, and then to the introduction, assimilation, and re-innovation of advanced technological equipment, along with every step of China's industrial development, the burner industry has emerged from nothing, grown from small to large, and transformed from weak to strong.
Over these 60 years, there have been numerous technological breakthroughs and innovations, witnessing the rapid improvement in technological proficiency and production and sales volumes of China's burner industry. At the same time, it has expanded both domestic and international markets, gradually integrating into the global burner industry system through a difficult process.
Currently, independent development, assimilation, re-innovation, and integrated innovation are becoming the mainstream of technological innovation in the burner industry. The introduction of key assembly technology and independent development and management have become the dominant forms. In the field of passenger car engines, technological development focuses on assimilation, re-innovation, and based on the proportion of complete vehicles, self-brand products in the passenger car engine field account for 30% of the total. In the field of commercial vehicle diesel engines, a development model dominated by independent and integrated innovation has formed, and based on the proportion of complete vehicles, self-brand diesel engines account for more than 60% of the domestic market share. In the agricultural machinery system, there is a self-developed market for multi-cylinder diesel engines, and "Made in China" diesel engines basically meet the demand for supporting power in China's agricultural machinery.
After 60 years of struggle, the Chinese burner industry has higher hopes and aspirations, looking forward to transforming from "big" to "strong". The China Internal Combustion Engine Industry Association has made projections for the future of the industry. The goal of China's burner industry is to strive to become a powerful manufacturer of burners while already being a large-scale manufacturer. It plans to achieve steady growth through further industrial restructuring. By 2015, with a 7% growth rate, China's burner production will maintain its first-place position globally. By 2020, China will be built into a global power in the burner industry. By then, the burner industry will achieve the formation of independent innovation capabilities; major products will be based on independent development; a solid foundation for components and parts will be established; entry into the international procurement system will promote the simultaneous development of related industries, including the automotive and agricultural machinery industries; a comprehensive sales and service system will be established. Ultimately, the burner industry will become a high-tech industry that significantly supports national economic growth; it will provide cost-effective, user-satisfying, and internationally competitive burner products; and it will become an increasingly important component of the global powertrain.
Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction is the Clear Direction
China's burner industry has accelerated its process of aligning with international standards in terms of technology and environmental regulations with a focus on energy conservation and emission reduction.
How can the transformation from "big" to "strong" be achieved? Energy conservation and emission reduction are crucial pathways. In the view of industry insiders, the focus of innovation in the burner industry is on energy conservation and emission reduction, which are also the technological breakthroughs for many burner enterprises in China.
The sustainable development challenges posed by resources and the environment have made energy conservation and emission reduction an inevitable choice in today's society. The characteristics of the burner industry and burner products determine the primary role of the burner industry in the process of energy conservation and emission reduction. Of course, people are also seeking new energy sources that can fundamentally achieve resource conservation and zero emissions. However, the current consensus within the industry is that for a considerable period, burners using petroleum resources as energy will remain the primary power source. In the face of this situation, it is crucial to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction in burners through technological renovation and innovation.
Xing Min, Executive Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the China Internal Combustion Engine Industry Association, introduced that China's burner industry has accelerated its process of aligning with international standards in terms of technology and environmental regulations with a focus on energy conservation and emission reduction. In terms of fuel injection technology, China has independently developed electronically controlled gasoline and diesel engines that meet emission standards above Euro III, and many enterprises have established software and hardware platforms for the development of electronically controlled fuel injection technology. Independent research and development of high-pressure common rail fuel injection systems have achieved results. In terms of turbocharging and intercooling technology, turbocharging technology has been widely adopted in China's diesel engines for vehicles. In terms of electronic control technology, China can currently develop the electronic control system for the entire power plant. In the past decade, the number of patents related to burners in China has increased nearly tenfold. In recent years, the emission particles of diesel engines for vehicles in China have been reduced by 50%, and nitrogen oxides have been reduced by 40%.
While meeting the needs of sustainable social development, market demands are also changing, with an increasing proportion of high-quality engine demands. Taking automotive burners as an example, the emission standards for passenger cars are becoming stricter, and the rising oil prices also make consumers have high economic requirements for car engines. In addition, Xu Changming, Director of the Resources Development Department of the National Information Center, analyzed the commercial vehicle engine market and concluded that with the improvement of consumers' purchasing power and the value of transported goods, as well as stricter energy conservation and environmental protection regulations for commercial vehicles, consumers' demand for high-end commercial vehicles and subsequently high-quality engines will gradually increase. This demand can only be met by the burner industry through energy conservation and emission reduction. Innovate to create new energy-saving and emission-reduction products and manufacture high-quality products through technological renovations for energy conservation and emission reduction.
Structural Adjustment Facilitates Industrial "Qualitative Change"
For the qualitative transformation of the burner industry from "quantity" to "quality", structural adjustments and improvements are also necessary, with energy conservation and emission reduction serving as the direction for guiding structural adjustments.
Apart from technological breakthroughs achieved through continuous research and development innovation, the qualitative transformation of the burner industry from "quantity" to "quality" also requires structural adjustments and improvements. At this time, energy conservation and emission reduction serve as the directional indicators for guiding structural adjustments.
According to Xing Min's analysis, "The golden era of continuous and rapid growth for the burner industry over the years has passed." The burner industry in China is facing a period of adjustment. Despite having an advantage in burner production, there are still disadvantages in terms of industrial structure and product mix - scale benefits are not prominent, there is a lack of group advantages and brand recognition, there is no competitive advantage at the high-tech level, and there is insufficient R&D and innovation capability. The China Burner Industry Association believes that enterprises should be guided to increase efforts in restructuring and integration, actively promoting strategic restructuring and integration among burner equipment manufacturers and between burner manufacturers and supporting enterprises; promoting and facilitating cooperation among main equipment manufacturers and related industries (supporting enterprises), adopting different methods such as capital replacement, collaborative cooperation, and strategic partnerships for diversified cooperation featuring strong exchanges (related products), complementarity (advantages), and mutual benefit (sharing information, a common supplier, a common market service system, etc.).
Regarding product mix adjustment, the Burner Industry Association believes that first, it is necessary to establish and improve the overall load spectrum for China's burner products, establish and improve technical regulations and technical standard systems in four aspects: power, economy, environmental protection, and reliability, and establish and improve technical standard systems for components and parts; second, it should vigorously advocate for independent intellectual property rights and independent innovation, focusing on designing new product families with improvements to old products as a supplement, so that the industry's independent intellectual property rights and independently designed and developed products account for more than 70%, and products equipped with some new technological transformations account for no more than 30%, laying a solid foundation for the products to reach a higher technological level. At the same time, the Burner Industry Association also advocates for implementing the green manufacturing plan as a priority, which involves promoting remanufacturing technology, selecting 10 typical enterprises for energy conservation, emission reduction, and green manufacturing in the industry, organizing related enterprises to learn from them and share experiences; promoting green manufacturing technologies, enhancing enterprises' awareness of green manufacturing, and solving technical and other issues in green manufacturing; actively assisting the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in establishing a project reserve library for technological transformation for industrial energy conservation and emission reduction, recommending energy-saving and emission-reduction technologies in the burner industry, and transforming reserve projects.
Through various adjustments, the burner industry will achieve "further concentration of production, significant improvements in economic benefits, substantial enhancements in enterprises' development and innovation capabilities, and a new level of technological sophistication for products."