Author: Wen Yiwei Liu Fei.
Hezhou, the capital of heavy calcium in China.
In September 2023, the calcium carbonate new material industrial cluster in Pinggui District, Hezhou City, Guangxi Province was selected as a national characteristic industrial cluster for small and medium-sized enterprises.
In November, the calcium-based new materials team of Guangxi Academy of Sciences was selected as the "national" decision-making consulting expert team of China Association for Science and Technology.
The state pays attention to the calcium carbonate industry. This traditional industry, which was considered to be under great pressure on environmental protection in the past, is not only becoming a 100 billion sunrise industry that Guangxi focuses on cultivating through the innovation and breakthrough of scientists, but also makes the city of Hezhou achieve a gorgeous turnaround.
The Hometown of Longevity: The Dilemma of Environmental Protection in Resource-Rich Areas
Hezhou, Zhong Lingyuxiu, beautiful mountains and rivers, known as "China's hometown of longevity".
Hezhou is the largest producer of white marble (calcium carbonate) resources in South China. Hezhou's preliminary proven marble reserves reached 2.6 billion cubic meters, accounting for about 1 8 of the country's total marble resources. The "silver mountains" are scattered with mountains and rivers and green fields.
Rely on the mountain to eat the mountain. China is the world's largest producer and consumer of calcium carbonate, and Hezhou has become the largest heavy calcium carbonate production base in China.
Hundreds of years ago, Hezhou had a mining culture based on tin mining and smelting. More than 10 years ago, when people walked into Hezhou Wanggao, they saw an extensive production environment.
The yield of natural marble ore body is low (only about 30% on average), at that time, Hezhou City will produce about 2 million 5.8 million tons of waste slag and leftovers every year, due to the original extensive treatment method, the lack of low-cost, large-scale, high-efficiency resource utilization methods, waste slag and leftover material accumulation has become a problem that needs to be solved urgently by mining enterprises, processing enterprises and industrial development.
As a traditional industry in Hezhou, the stone calcium carbonate industry has become the focus of environmental protection with a large number of small and scattered enterprises, poor equipment, backward technology and serious pollution. The industry has entered a bottleneck.
Scientific and technological research: turning stones into gold to achieve circular economy
At the 2023 Guangxi Science and Technology Award Conference, the achievement of "R&D and Application of Integrated Technology for Resin Artificial Marble Manufacturing" led by the Guangxi Academy of Sciences won the first prize of Guangxi Science and Technology Progress Award in 2022.
Artificial marble technology is the key for scientists to solve the problem of marble waste resources and environmental unfriendliness. Modernization, large-scale, standardized and green production will lead a "low-end" industry to the road of green and sustainable development.
In 2012, Huang Zhimin, a scholar from Guangxi Academy of Sciences, led a team to take root in Hezhou. Based on the calcium carbonate industry, scientists have studied how to use scientific and technological innovation to string together the circular economy industrial system of Hezhou stone calcium carbonate.
Let's start with the problem app. The scientific research team not only revealed the internal factors of Hezhou marble mineral powder with coarse crystal structure that is 5% 10% lower than the cost of manufacturing artificial granite in other regions, forming a comparative advantage of profits, but also put forward a new idea of "applying microwave to artificial granite", and jointly with the Institute of Electronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (now the Aerospace Information Innovation Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences), the first "super-large artificial granite microwave rapid curing equipment", which solves the worldwide problem of artificial stone curing, and changes the artificial granite curing time from the conventional 1 0-15 days is shortened to 1 hour, and the compliance rate is as high as 99%.
Through "artificial granite", marble mineral powder, the largest source of pollution in Hezhou, has a new life. This systematic scientific and technological breakthrough has clarified and laid the scientific and technological foundation and competitive advantage of the artificial granite industry in Hezhou.
The circular economy is all about eating dry and running out. In view of the problem of environmental pollution caused by the difficulty of waste residue, the scientific research team innovates and develops high-quality utilization methods of waste, reuses the derivative waste in the production process of marble mine scraps and artificial granite, produces plastic products and artificial stone, and realizes the high-value recycling and reuse of waste.
Technology empowers the industry. After 1 0 years of grinding a sword, the scientific research team has gradually established a technical system for the whole industrial chain of calcium carbonate from mining, powder processing, artificial granite, high-performance calcium-based plastics and comprehensive utilization of waste, completed the quality and efficiency improvement of the industry, and promoted the average annual growth rate of the artificial granite industry in Hezhou at that time by about 30%.
Scientific research requires the perseverance and perseverance of scientists. Researcher Huang Zhimin, the leader of the team of the Guangxi Academy of Sciences, applied for a temporary position in Hezhou, with the goal of making scientific research achievements lead traditional industries to be reborn.
Formulate standards: build a national industry manufacturing highland of artificial granite
Years of dedication, the end of the fruit. In February 2023, the results of the Guangxi Academy of Sciences' "Resin-based Artificial Marble Processing Integration Technology and Product R&D and Demonstration" won the first prize of the 2022 "Non-metallic Mineral Science and Technology Award" in the scientific and technological progress category.
According to the third-party evaluation, the results have reached the international advanced level, and the products have been promoted to 29 provinces across the country and exported to overseas.
This achievement enables the cooperative enterprise to --- the technology and products of Guangxi Lisheng Stone Industry from 0 to 1, and become a leader in the industry. The annual output value of the enterprise is 300 million yuan, and the cumulative output value exceeds 1 billion yuan. The company has won the titles of national high-tech enterprise, national well-known trademark, Guangxi famous brand product, and new industrial products.
It is the original mission of scientists to make the results benefit the people and empower enterprises as soon as possible. Under the leadership of researcher Huang Zhimin, the team has successively formulated 4 national and industry local standards, and authorized 33 intellectual property achievements.
According to statistics, the results have driven a total of 9.2 billion yuan in the output value of the artificial granite industry in Hezhou in three years, and promoted the new output value of the calcium carbonate industry by 85.7 billion yuan, which has effectively boosted Hezhou City to be the "granite capital" and "heavy calcium capital" in China, and has become the largest artificial granite and heavy calcium carbonate production base in the country.
Technology knows no boundaries. In September 2022, Panzhou City, Guizhou Province** issued the "Panzhou Calcium-based New Material Industry Development Plan (2022-2027)" document compiled by the Guangxi Academy of Sciences. Guizhou, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang and other provinces and regions have successively sent invitations to Huang Zhimin's research team. Guangxi science and technology, to the whole country.
Industrial leap forward: science and technology lead Hezhou to break the circle and move forward
The total industrial output value of calcium carbonate industry in Hezhou City, Guangxi Province increased from 97 in 2014800 million yuan, rising rapidly to 35 billion yuan in 2022. Calcium carbonate has become the core pillar industry of Hezhou.
The industry is prosperous, and the city is prosperous. For many years, Hezhou's economy has been at the bottom of Guangxi. In the past three years, the average GDP growth rate of Hezhou ranked first in Guangxi, and the total GDP has been upgraded in Guangxi. Hezhou has become a dark horse city in Guangxi.
Today, Hezhou has embarked on a new road that is unique in the country in building a high-quality calcium carbonate green ecological circular economy industrial chain. Today's Hezhou, full of beautiful mountains and rivers, the hometown of longevity, worthy of its name.
Hezhou is moving towards the city of science and technology. Focusing on the calcium carbonate green ecological circular economy industry, led by scientists at the beginning, to the current market-oriented national innovation, Hezhou has achieved breakthroughs and leaps one by one.
One "stone" to eat more. At present, there are 28 high-tech enterprises in the field of stone calcium carbonate industry in Hezhou City, accounting for 50% of the total number of high-tech enterprises in the city.
Technology-led industrial clusters have emerged. Hezhou has successfully introduced more than 1 20 upstream and downstream projects of artificial granite, high-end powder, plastic masterbatch, coatings, new building materials, mechanical processing, resin production, and comprehensive utilization of waste, to supplement and strengthen the calcium carbonate industry chain.
With the help of science and technology, Hezhou has achieved the largest heavy calcium carbonate powder production base in the country, with an annual output of more than 17 million tons of heavy calcium and about 70 million square meters of artificial granite, and the output continues to maintain the first place in the country. Hezhou has embarked on a road of "green rise" of the calcium carbonate industry.
In October 2023, the Changhong Biodegradable Masterbatch Industrial Park project with a total amount of 3 billion yuan was officially put into operation. Led by the industry, Hezhou's resource advantages have been continuously released, undertaking the industrial transfer of the eastern and Greater Bay Area, and extending the high-end calcium carbonate recycling industry chain in Hezhou.
Made in Hezhou has gone to the world. This year, at the China-ASEAN Expo, China International Plastics Exhibition, Italy Verona Stone Exhibition and other international exhibitions, Hezhou calcium carbonate products shined.
The Hezhou Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Party Committee have identified the "golden rule" that science and technology are the primary productive forces, and the "gorgeous turn" of Hezhou's stone industry is the inevitable choice for Hezhou's industrial upgrading and building a circular economy and a green city. In the future, Hezhou will rely on science and technology to continuously upgrade the manufacturing industry, improve the industrial chain, build China's "masterbatch capital" and "world calcium capital", become a national calcium carbonate center trading market, and vigorously promote Hezhou manufacturing to the world.
*: Guangxi Academy of Sciences.