60 years of transformer industry changes

Since the founding of New China 60 years ago, China's power equipment industry has achieved a step-by-step leap. These gradually advanced equipments ensure the smooth development of the national economy and bear the glory and dream of the rejuvenation of the power industry. Let us turn our attention to TBEA Shenyang Transformer Group Co., Ltd. (formerly Shenyang Transformer Factory) and share the growth experience of this company born before liberation and after liberation.

In the 1950s, the construction of large-scale transformers was broken in the workshops and old machine tools. In 1952, China's first large-capacity transformer, the “5000”, was produced at the Shenyang Transformer Factory, which ended the history that China could not manufacture large-scale transformers. On September 24th, the reporter dialed the phone number of Liu Fengzhou, the party secretary of the former Shenyang Transformer Factory.

The 80-year-old Liu Fengzhou still has a clear idea: "On November 2, 1948, after the liberation of Shenyang, the military representatives entered the factory, and they rebuilt in the rubble. After three years of hard work, production has basically stabilized. In 1951, the factory Accepted the mission of the country to build China's first large-scale transformer of 5,000 kVA."

However, this task is not easy to accomplish. At that time, the subsidence could only produce railroad accessories and small transformers.

Poor conditions are bigger challenges. Song Caifei, a well-known Chinese expert in die-casting, worked in the early days of the founding of New China. He said: “At that time, the equipment left over from the factory's pseudo-Manchu era was very old. The factory area was large and railways were built, but there was not a decent building. Later, office buildings and large transformer workshops were established one after another, but the living facilities were pitifully low. There is a small two-story dormitory on the edge of the factory area, all of which are reserved for technicians from the south. This is a special care." In 1950, Song Caifei's family crowded into a house. The families of workers’ families are simple bungalows and the conditions are poor. Workers in the factory lived a very hard life, and the large stoves were full of sorghum rice.

Liu Fengzhou said that conditions were really tough at the time, but everyone had to take the factory as their home, work overtime, even sleep in the workshop, and many heroes emerged.

Wang Fengen's name is closely related to the 5000 kVA transformer. He entered the factory in 1948, started from a broken factory building and a few old machine tools, and promoted the leap of transformer technology in China by more than 100 workers. He became a famous labor model in the country.

There is no precedent to manufacture a 5000 kVA transformer that is difficult to imagine. The first process was stuck: no one of the transformer's insulation barrels would do - the previous insulation barrels were foreign. Insulation paper was rolled into a bobbin, and the party branch asked him to think of a solution. Wang Fengen, who was the head of the large transformer workshop, repaired the motor as a "Dana" (the most authoritative person in one aspect). He also had a good crane but hadn't built a machine, but his sense of responsibility prompted him to decide to complete the task. A test later, the rolled-up insulation cylinder was full of pleats. This special insulation material was not yet available in the country and was supported by the Soviet Union. Looking at piles of waste, he was in a hurry. Once, he took the puzzle home, and saw his wife ironing clothes, and sat down while squatting. When he came and went, he suddenly got up and ran out of the iron and ran out. The wife shouted at him and he did not look back. When he came to the factory, he pressed the iron with a push on insulating paper, solving the foaming problem of insulation paper that had been plaguing the factory for many years.

In order to "treat" the transformer, Wang Fengen once had a trip next to the machine for three days and three nights. Like a doctor, he listened to the sound of the machine and finally overcame the problem. Without the conditions for the production of large transformers, we have created equipment such as coiling machines, reeling machines, welding machines, neck-type large countertop punches, coiling machines, pipe stripping machines, and insulating tubes.

With the joint efforts of the entire plant employees, the large-scale transformer with a production capacity of 5000 kVA, which represents the highest level of production in the year, finally succeeded in getting off the assembly line and was aptly referred to by the workers as "The Five Thousand." The capacity of “Five Thousand” is 100 times larger than that before the liberation, and the voltage level is between 44 kV and 66 kV, which means that China's transformer manufacturing technology has entered a new era.

"At that time, everyone was happy and broke up, kicking drums and kicking off a commendation meeting. The large transformers such as the Wuji No. 1000 continuously provided support for the construction of factories, mines, power plants and rural areas in more than 20 provinces and cities in the country and became Guanting Reservoir. The supporting facilities of Dandong Power Grid, Jilin Power Grid and Angang, Baotou, Wuhan Iron and Steel and other national key projects also supported the production and construction of countries such as North Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia, and Yugoslavia,” recalls Liu Fengzhou.

In the 1980s, 500 kV transformers outperformed new generations of foreign products. In the late 1970s, after graduating from Wang Jing University, he entered the Shenyang Transformer Factory as a technician. “I studied magnetics in college and I was assigned to a high-voltage lab at the transformer factory. The main job was transformer design.” In an interview with reporters, Wang Jing was always proud of the job.

At that time, the market for transformers in the world was monopolized by large companies such as Siemens and Westinghouse. The production technology of 500 kV transformers was only in the hands of a few countries such as Canada. The transformer technology in China still stayed at the level of 220 kV.

Is it costly to buy abroad or to overcome difficulties? The latter chose the latter. "Design is not an easy task. At that time, engineers led several of us to work hard, looking for information, and making molds. It was really reckless. Through the thousands of experiments, it took a few years for the 500 kV transformer to be successfully manufactured." Wang Jing said. When large foreign companies have strong technical and financial support, the factory's laboratories can only rely on simple equipment and few pages of information. Successful, they have reason to be proud.

In 1980, the state approved the “Suspension of the 500,000 Volt Power Transmission and Transforming Measures Project” reconstruction project in order to fully implement the environmental conditions for the production of 500 kV transformers and transformers. At the end of 1983, the completion of the project, Shen has the capacity to mass produce 500 kV transformers and transformers.

Zhu Yinghao, chief engineer of the original settlement and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, has been insisting on the localization of 500 kV transformers. In September 1985, Gezhouba Power Plant required a 360,000 kVA 500 kV autotransformer. After signing a formal technical agreement with Shenhua, it was still unsure. At the same time, it ordered a plant in Japan and decided to relocate the production. For the spare parts. In June 1986, after the transformation products were shipped to Gezhouba Power Plant for successful commissioning, Japan had not yet made it. After it was created, the test run on the system was broken down in less than 10 minutes and could not be used. At that time, Japanese products cost millions of dollars, and the products used in the transformation only used several million yuan.

Zhu Yinghao also said: “There was a user who had imported a reactor for outdoor use from abroad and feared bad, so he requested to design a spare reactor of similar type. He traveled all over the country and no one dared to take it. Found us, I set up a 'military order' with him: to do what he asked, 'try before you buy'. The condition is that I dare to do, you have to dare to use. Analysis, research, check information, test, two years later The goods have fully met the required standards. He is quite satisfied. Our products are good after-sales service and save money."

"You dare to use, I dare to do it, believe me, we can do it again with complicated and difficult transformer products, and both of them will dare to join together and our national industry will develop. China's enterprises will never advance." Zhu Yinghao has been firmly convinced of this.

The reporter learned that the project of “Jin Liao 500 kV pilot line and complete power transmission and transformation equipment” participated in the transformation won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, “360,000 kVA 500 kV autotransformer used in Gezhouba Power Plant” and “ "Power transformer" national standard project won the second prize of national science and technology progress.

On June 16, 1995, President Jiang Zemin pointed out during the reconsideration visit: "I have experienced many changes. I was familiar with the former old leaders. Initially, only small transformers could be produced after the transformation and gradually developed into 110 kilovolts, 220 kilovolts, and 500 kilovolts. There are many hard-working staff here. It's the result of your hard work."

Into the new century, day and night fighting to create UHV transformers January 6, 2009, Jindongnan - Nanyang - Jingmen 1000 kv UHV AC pilot demonstration project officially put into operation. In many subsequent reports, many media have said in unison: In this project, you cannot see the complete equipment of foreign trademarks. Behind this, there are more than 100 domestic electric equipment enterprises participating in the event, and the same change has not missed this opportunity.

On July 17, 2009, the reporter saw in the final assembly shop in Shenye that there was no difference between day and night. From the beginning of July, 12 employees worked day and night to successfully assemble China's second ± 800 kV UHV converter transformer.

"In the world's UHV technology corners, we are leading the competition with the international giants," said Wang Changxu, deputy general manager of the reforms. Since the beginning of 2009, six million-volt high-voltage transformers have been manufactured and transformed into a peak in the international industry.

In fact, after the State Grid Corporation proposed the construction of UHV, some people believe that there is no mature commercial UHV equipment in the world, and there is a gap between domestic enterprises and similar international companies, and the development of key equipment such as transformers and controllable reactors. All of them will meet severe tests. On this basis, UHV equipment will be directly developed and used for commercial operation. The technology spans a great deal.

"The UHV has no obvious insurmountable technical obstacles." The State Grid Corporation of China has drawn this scientific conclusion based on extensive research.

Inspired by the State Grid Corporation of China, on October 12, 2007, the TBEA subsidence officially launched the construction of the world's largest power transmission and transformation industrial park in the Shenyang Economic and Technological Development Zone. The project uses ultra-high voltage and UHV AC and DC power transformers. The development of these products is at the core, and new high-tech products such as high-voltage transformers, bushings, high-voltage switches, and international complete sets of projects have been developed as manufacturing bases to build the largest one-time plant in the world with the highest production capacity and highest voltage rating.

On September 12, 2008, the National Development and Reform Commission formally authorized the transformation of TBEA to implement the "Ultrahigh Voltage Substation Engineering National Engineering Laboratory Construction Project." This is the only national engineering laboratory in the transformer industry in China. On December 19, 2008, the TBEA subsidence was recognized as a national high-tech enterprise.

For decades, the innovative ability to change has long been recognized by the world's peers. The new era of transformation, with its own unique technology, has propped up the backbone of China's power "highway" and created a UHV "broadband network" for the next round of rapid economic development in China.

People should not only ask that a company with a proud history and technical know-how is not a reformer. Why is there so many "first-in-a-first-sets" concentrated in it and can continue to achieve outstanding performance in the UHV sector?

The reporter learned from the fact that the development of the first UHV AC 1 million kVA/1000 kV transformer was not started from scratch. As early as 1998, it produced a 150,000 kVA transformer prototype. A strong technical reserve.

"The support of the national policy for the UHV and the support of the State Grid Corporation for the localization of equipment have strongly promoted the localization of UHV power transmission and transformation equipment," said Zhang Xin, chairman of TBEA.

Today's change is still progressing. "The relative output value of 4.5 billion yuan is really not long for 365 days a year. It is really not enough to use it 24 hours a day." On July 8, 2009, in an interview, the subtle changes in the manufacturing department of the subsidence express the change Human time concept. Today, after a sudden change, more than 10,000 workers have "three shifts," and the machines in the three large-scale equipment workshops have been operating for 24 hours. They are struggling hard for the electric power of the great motherland.