From June 16th to 18th, the “Control Valve Advanced Technology Training Course” sponsored by the Control Valve Branch of China Mechatronics Technology Application Association and co-organized by the School of Petrochemical Engineering of Lanzhou University of Technology was successfully held in Lanzhou.
More than 120 business leaders, technical directors, R&D engineers, and technical backbones from the control valve industry across the country participated in the training. During three days, university professors, experts from design institutes, technical leaders of user units, and technical experts from manufacturing companies gathered in Lanzhou to discuss the future development direction of the control valve industry. For China’s control valve industry, this is not only a technical training, but also an industry benchmark meeting. It can be seen from the curriculum that China’s control valve industry is moving from the “manufacturing era” to the “design era” and begins to move towards the “intelligent era”.
Control valves: the “hands, feet” and “throat” of industrial process systems
At the opening ceremony, Li Shiyou, dean of the School of Petrochemical Engineering of Lanzhou University of Technology, introduced the school’s talent training and discipline construction achievements in the direction of valves, hoping to further strengthen cooperation with the Control Valve Branch and jointly promote the progress of my country’s control valve technology. Song Yinli, chairman of the Control Valve Branch of the China Mechatronics Technology Application Association, said: Control valves are the “hands, feet” and “throat” in industrial process systems, and their accuracy, reliability and intelligence are directly related to the safe operation of petrochemical, electric power, coal chemical, metallurgy, aerospace and other industries. With the development of industrial Internet, digital twins and artificial intelligence technology, control valves are evolving from traditional mechanical products to smart terminal equipment. Future control valves will not only be able to regulate flow, but also be able to:
- Self-awareness
- Self-diagnosis
- Self-calibration
- Predictive Maintenance
- Data Transfer
This training course is held in the hope of combining theoretical research from universities, practical experience of enterprises and field application cases to help enterprises solve practical problems.
Domestic replacement of high-end control valves enters deep water areas.
Chairman Song Yinli made a special report on “Control Valve Market and Technological Innovation Suggestions”.
The report revolves around:
- High-end control valve development goals
- Domestic alternative market space
- Technological innovation direction
- Industry competitive landscape
An in-depth analysis was conducted.
At present, my country’s control valve market has gradually broken through from mid- to low-end domestic substitution to high-end fields.
The future market focus will be on:
✔ High temperature and high pressure control valve
✔ Ultra-low temperature control valve
✔ Control valve for severe working conditions
✔ Special material control valve
✔ Intelligent control valve
The rapid development of petrochemical, coal chemical, LNG, hydrogen energy, energy storage and other industries has also created huge market space for high-end control valves.
Control valve design must return to the nature of fluids.
Zhang Xiheng, Secretary General of the Control Valve Branch, taught “Basic Knowledge and Design Methods of Control Valve”. Course highlights:
- Basic theory of fluid mechanics
- Flow characteristic design
- Analysis of regulating characteristics
- In-valve flow field control
- Control valve design methods
For a long time, many companies still rely on experience design.
In the future, control valve competition will increasingly rely on theoretical foundation and design capabilities.
Only by understanding the laws of fluids can we truly design high-performance control valves.
Special working conditions have become the core competitiveness of enterprises.
Zhao Wenbao, senior engineer of Wuzhong Instrument Co., Ltd., gave a lecture on “Optimal Design of Control Valve Structure and Selection for Special Working Conditions”.
The course focuses on:
- Cavitation conditions
- Flash conditions
- High pressure differential conditions
- Noise control
- Erosion resistant design
- Structural optimization design
Intelligent positioned are becoming an important entrance to the digital upgrade of control valves.
In the future, a positioned may generate more data value than a valve.
Intelligent positioners are becoming the new “brain” of control valves.
Zou Jing, deputy general manager of Shenzhen Wanxun Automatic Control Co., Ltd., shared “Control Valve Intelligent Positioner Technology”.
The course focuses on:
- Online diagnosis
- self-tuning technology
- Failure warning
- Data collection
- digital communication
- Remote operation and maintenance
Wait for the core technology to be developed.
In the past, the positioner was just an accessory to the control valve. Today, it is becoming the “brain” of the control valve. With the development of the industrial Internet, digital factories and predictive maintenance, users are no longer concerned only about whether the valve can operate, but also:
Is the valve healthy?
When might it fail?
Is it possible to provide advance warning?
Can equipment data enter DCS and factory management systems?
The new generation of intelligent locators feature the following:
- Online diagnosis
- health management
- Failure warning
- Data collection
- Remote operation and maintenance
Intelligent positioners are becoming an important entrance to the digital upgrade of control valves.
In the future, the value of data generated by a positioner may far exceed that of a valve itself. Whoever masters the intelligent positioner technology will have the initiative to upgrade the intelligent control valve.
In a sense, the competition for high-end control valves is gradually shifting from competition in mechanical structure to competition in software, algorithms and data capabilities.
Executive agencies enter the intelligent era.
Shao Jie, deputy general manager of Changzhou Power Station Auxiliary Equipment Co., Ltd., introduced the “Intelligent Valve Electric Actuator Integrated Design Method.” The actuator has been gradually upgraded from a simple driving device to:
- Industrial Internet nodes
- Data collection terminal
- Edge computing devices
- Intelligent control unit
The integration trend of control valves, actuators and positioners is becoming more and more obvious.
In the future, the actuator market may even grow faster than the valve body market.
Simulation design becomes standard for R&D.
Professor Yu Jianping from Lanzhou University of Technology brought “Control Valve Fluid Dynamics, Thermodynamics and Numerical Simulation Calculation Methods”.
Course highlights include:
- Ansys structural analysis
- Fluent flow field simulation
- Thermodynamic calculations
- Stress analysis
- Vibration analysis
- Numerical optimization design
Rely on experience in the past. Now rely on simulation. The future depends on data.
CFD and CAE capabilities have become important thresholds for high-end control valve companies.
AI is beginning to enter the valve industry.
Professor Song Xueguan of Dalian University of Technology shared “Artificial Intelligence Empowers High-Performance Valve Design and Manufacturing”
Artificial intelligence may be used in:
- Parameter optimization
- Flow field prediction
- Structural design
- Process optimization
- Failure prediction
- Equipment health management
AI is changing the valve design paradigm. In the future, design engineers may play more of an AI trainer role.
Whoever masters AI design tools first will have the opportunity to make breakthroughs first.
Domestic substitution ultimately relies on on-site verification.
Pei Bing’an, technical director of Sinopec Guangzhou (Luoyang) Engineering Company, shared the application status and localization suggestions of petrochemical control ball valves.
Technical experts from PetroChina Lanzhou Petrochemical Jining shared their experience in control valve maintenance, failure analysis and on-site operation and maintenance.
Design institutes and user units have released a common signal: domestic substitution has entered the deep water zone.
Now the competition is no longer: “Can it be used?” Rather: “Can it operate stably in the long term?”
The competition in the future will be:
- Full Life Cycle Management
- Operations and Maintenance Capabilities
- Reliability Level
- Service System
Through this training, we can see that the future development path of the industry has gradually become clear:
Phase 1: Domestic substitution.
Phase 2: Digital Design.
Phase 3: Intelligent Control.
Phase 4: Artificial Intelligence.
Phase 5: Full Life Cycle Management.
In the future, competition among control valve companies will no longer be just price competition. Rather:
- Competition in design capabilities;
- Competition in simulation capabilities;
- Competition in software capabilities;
- Competition in intelligent capabilities;
- Competition in service capabilities.
The greatest value of this Lanzhou training class is not only the training itself.
It fully demonstrates the future development route of China’s control valve industry:
Basic theory → Simulation design → Special working conditions → Intelligent accessories → Intelligent actuators → AI applications → Domestic substitution → Full life cycle management.
For valve business owners, the most important investment in the future may not be new machine tools. Rather:
✔ Build a simulation team
✔ Cultivate fluid engineers
✔ Layout intelligent control technology
✔ Strengthen school-enterprise cooperation
✔Introduction of AI design tools
✔ Build a digital factory
What will eliminate companies in the future is not necessarily price. It’s a technical generation difference.
The control valve industry is undergoing a new round of technological revolution.
The next Chinese high-end control valve faucet may be born among these companies that are learning, developing, and transforming.
It is worth mentioning that the intelligent exhaust valve has been the first to be integrated into TWS‘ intelligent control system and put into practical application, while general valve categories such as butterfly valves, gate valves, and check valves are also being continuously upgraded. It can be seen that the intelligent transformation of China’s control valve industry is moving from a single product breakthrough to a systematic evolution of all categories and all scenarios.
Post time: Jul-27-2026
