"We must challenge the impossible and take the path of self-reliance, self-improvement, and independent innovation!" Having been engaged in scientific research for more than 30 years, Liang Hongwen has repeatedly turned the impossible into possible and achieved key breakthroughs.
Liang Hongwen is a well-known expert in domestic styrene based thermoplastic elastomer new materials (TPE-S), a leading talent in the synthetic rubber industry of Sinopec, and a senior expert in the chemical and materials fields of Sinopec Group. Over the past 30 years, I have been committed to the research and development of new materials for thermoplastic elastomers. Multiple achievements have filled the domestic gap and made China's styrene based thermoplastic elastomer new material industry stronger. Baling Petrochemical has become one of the three major research and development centers in the world, with production capacity ranking first in Asia and second in the world. The product has been used for the construction of important facilities such as Chang'an Street in the capital, the Olympic Bird's Nest, and the Shanghai F1 International Circuit, making positive contributions to economic and social development.
In the 1970s, a new thermoplastic elastomer styrene butadiene styrene polymer (SBS) material was developed abroad. Compared with traditional rubber, this new material has excellent performance and convenient processing, and is used in various fields such as road paving, building waterproofing, daily consumer goods, packaging, and automobiles. Later, American and Japanese companies successively launched a new generation of hydrogenated styrene based thermoplastic elastomers (SEBS) and more high-end SEPS products. In the late 1980s, domestic SBS products broke through the complete set of industrial production technology. However, due to the complex control of the polymer microstructure of SEBS and the high technical threshold, industrial production in China has been delayed. Countries such as the United States and Japan have obtained huge profits through product technology monopolies, and the supply of imported products is difficult to guarantee, which seriously restricts the development of China's styrene based thermoplastic elastomer industry.
In 1996, Liang Hongwen started from scratch and embarked on a long journey of independent research and development of SEBS. From laboratory trials to pilot trials and then to industrial production, the ups and downs are self-evident. Ten years of sharpening a sword, in 2006, Liang Hongwen led the independent research and development of a 10000 ton SEBS complete set of technology, which achieved industrialization at Baling Petrochemical Company in Yueyang, Hunan, becoming the first industrial device in China, breaking foreign technological monopolies in one fell swoop. The annual conference of synthetic rubber industry evaluated this: "The successful application of SEBS industrialization technology by Baling Petrochemical is a significant progress in China's basic polymer materials in the past decade and a landmark achievement in the field of synthetic rubber."
The breakthrough in technology did not make Liang Hongwen complacent at all. He constantly overcame difficulties and developed two major series of 18 SEBS grades, completely freeing the application of domestic styrene based thermoplastic elastomers from the constraints of foreign enterprises. The use of this complete set of technology has achieved a production and sales volume of 90000 tons/year of SEBS, with an annual added output value of 1.5 billion yuan and a profit and tax of 500 million yuan. It has also obtained more than 20 national invention patents, realizing the leapfrog development of SEBS preparation technology and products in China from scratch, from existence to precision, and from precision to strength. In 2014, the project won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, and Liang Hongwen was the first recipient to receive the award at the Great Hall of the People.
After breaking through the technical blockade of SEBS, Liang Hongwen turned his attention to SEPS products with better transparency, comfort, and more high-end application areas. From 2008 until 2017, Liang Hongwen used scientific perseverance to cultivate another new material flower, and for the first time, developed a complete set of SEPS process technology with independent intellectual property rights in China. The 20000 ton/year industrial plant using this complete set of technology was completed and put into operation in 2017, ending China's history of not being able to produce SEPS. Baling Petrochemical Company became the third supplier in the world with the ability to produce SEPS. The industrialization of domestically produced SEPS has led to the gradual normalization of sales prices for long-term high priced SEPS products in China.
Infusion tubes and bags are widely used infusion equipment in the medical industry. Due to the toxic effects of plasticizers in soft PVC on the human body, their use in the production of medical infusion tubes and bags has been explicitly prohibited in regions such as Europe, America, and Singapore. Developed countries using SEBS instead of soft PVC can solve the toxicity of plasticizer precipitation in soft PVC to the human body. Liang Hongwen has successively presided over the research and development of medical elastomers, including the Key R&D Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology during the 13th Five Year Plan, the Biomedical Material Production and Application Demonstration Platform of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Key Project of Hunan Province. He has also developed a specialized brand for medical SEBS. The medical SEBS products developed by him have filled the domestic gap, reducing the price of medical SEBS from imported 50000 to 65000 yuan/ton to less than 30000 yuan/ton, significantly reducing the price and promoting the upgrading of national health.
HSD type lubricant viscosity index improver is an indispensable additive for high-end lubricants, and its supply is exclusively monopolized by Runyinlian, one of the world's four major lubricant companies. Every year, lubricating oils used in China in the fields of large span, high shear resistance, and high thickening ability need to import this additive. Liang Hongwen led a technical team to develop lubricant adhesive products that meet the requirements, eliminating the embarrassing situation of domestic dependence on imports. This has greatly helped to promote the development of high-end materials and lubricants in China, improve the international competitiveness of the industry, and is of great strategic significance, especially in the field of heavy-duty machinery.
The cement ring joints and seams of oil and gas wells, especially shale gas wells, are prone to leakage due to complex geological conditions, resulting in safety and environmental problems caused by wellhead pressure. Existing solutions cannot solve the problem of leakage, which limits the development of oil and gas wells and makes them costly. Liang Hongwen has developed a new type of elastic material added to cement slurry, which reduces the gas leakage rate of shale gas well cement sheath from the original 90% to 10%, solves the problems faced by oil and gas well exploitation, and helps the national energy supply.
As an authoritative expert in the domestic TPE industry, Liang Hongwen has won one National Science and Technology Progress Second Prize, two Chinese Patent Excellence Awards, three Hunan Province Science and Technology Progress Awards, and seven Sinopec Science and Technology Progress Awards in the new journey of developing world-class elastomer new materials; 37 invention patents have been applied for, including 19 authorizations; Three international PCT patents and one authorization. Received numerous honors such as "Outstanding Patent Inventor of Hunan Province" in 2009, "Leading Talent in Science and Technology Innovation of Sinopec Group" in 2016, "National Excellent Science and Technology Worker" in 2016, "Sinopec Group Science and Technology Innovation Merit Award" in 2022, and "Touching Yueyang · Top Ten Unity Figures" in 2023.
He has always been loyal to the enterprise and career. Many private and private bosses in China have repeatedly offered him a high salary olive branch, but he politely declined. He often said, "You can't rush for quick success in your work. The company has given me such high treatment and built such a good platform. I have greater responsibility and more achievements in state-owned enterprises. If I leave, I am nothing." He is never tempted by interests or temptations.
The true portrayal of Liang Hongwen's decades of unwavering commitment to technological innovation is that he never speaks of hardship and never fears difficulties. He deeply rooted himself in the hot land of Yueyang, forging ahead towards the grand road of building a world-class production and research and development base for new elastic materials.
