NPC Deputy Jin Jinyao: Calls for Encouraging the Construction of Large - scale Rubber Mixing Centers

At this year's Two Sessions, Jin Jinyao put forward two proposals in the field of industrial manufacturing: "Encouraging the Construction of Large - scale Rubber Mixing Centers" and "Encouraging the Flexible Construction of Green Molding Centers to Consolidate Basic Industrial Links".

In the "Proposal on Encouraging the Construction of Large - scale Rubber Mixing Centers", he proposed that improving quality and efficiency, as well as clean production, have always been important research and development directions for enhancing the level of China's rubber manufacturing industry. The mixing/blending process is the first and also a crucial and energy - consuming procedure in the processing of rubber and other polymer materials, accounting for over 40% of the energy consumption in the entire production process. Thus, the development trends of intelligent rubber - mixing centers will be towards green, intelligent, unmanned, digital, energy - saving and environmentally - friendly features.

At present, some tire enterprises have established intelligent manufacturing centers. However, when looking at the Industry 4.0 configurations of various enterprises, the level of intelligence and automation of the rubber - mixing centers is the lowest in the whole factory, and there is still a great deal of research and development work to be done. In addition, in recent years, the domestic rubber compound industry has developed rapidly, but the designed scales vary greatly. There is a lack of effective guidance and planning. There are numerous small rubber - compound enterprises. Although they can meet local demands, from an industry perspective, the degree of homogenization is relatively high, and it remains necessary for industry associations or relevant authorities to conduct research and provide guidance.

Rubber - mixing centers are conducive to the implementation of new technologies. New techniques such as wet - mixing, tandem - mixing, continuous - mixing, rubber gear - pump filtration, and the low - temperature one - step method can gradually be demonstrated and implemented in enterprises like rubber - mixing centers, which is beneficial for the production of high - quality rubber compounds.

Jin Jinyao stated that large - scale rubber - mixing centers equipped with complete environmental protection facilities can address issues such as high pollution, dispersion, difficulty in centralized management, numerous leakage points, and the inability to invest in environmental protection equipment in small - scale rubber - mixing centers. Moreover, large - scale operations can reduce mixing energy consumption. For example, by using the 420 + 800 - liter and 580 + 1000 - liter tandem internal mixers produced by Yiyang Rubber & Plastics Machinery Group Co., Ltd., the energy consumption per kilogram of rubber compound can be reduced by up to 25%, highlighting the scale effect.

Jin Jinyao believes that innovative rubber - mixing technologies, such as the world - class chemical rubber - mixing technology industrialization project, the first large - scale integrated innovation project in the rubber industry chain, have set an example for the large - scale, specialized, and characteristic development of rubber - mixing centers. Support should be given to similar projects.

Therefore, Jin Jinyao proposed the following:

(1) Establish a wide - ranging industry - university - research institute alliance. Leverage the intellectual resources of universities, the capital investment of the industry, and the scientific research achievements of research institutions to form an organic and complementary alliance. In large - scale rubber - mixing centers, the adjustment and feedback of polymer equipment, polymer processing technology, and polymer formulation technology can be effectively coordinated. This can effectively avoid the information isolation between manufacturing enterprises and production enterprises due to confidentiality reasons. Equipment manufacturers can provide guidance on processing technology, facilitating the industrialization of polymer formulation technology.

(2) From a strategic industry perspective, by introducing technical talents, and equipping with complete integrated environmental protection equipment, specialized rubber - mixing equipment, and a systematic environmentally - friendly automated weighing and feeding system, large - scale rubber - compound centers can be constructed to more effectively serve China's rubber industry. It is hoped that relevant associations and other competent departments will provide preferential support to the rubber - compound production industry, which is conducive to the promotion and application of new materials, new processes, and new equipment, as well as the improvement of quality and efficiency in the rubber products industry, thus achieving the sustainable development of the rubber industry.