China's inverter air conditioner market drives the development of electronic expansion valves

The electronic expansion valve is a throttle valve in the refrigeration system, which plays a role in controlling the flow of the refrigerant. It is mainly used in the control of the inverter air conditioner system in the field of household air conditioner production. On the fixed-speed air conditioner, the capillary flow and the thermal expansion valve are used to control and regulate the refrigerant flow rate of the refrigeration system.

The driving method of the electronic expansion valve is that the controller calculates the parameters collected by the sensor, and the pneumatic regulating valve sends an adjustment command to the driving plate, and the driving board outputs an electric signal to the electronic expansion valve to drive the action of the electronic expansion valve. Complete in a few seconds. From the perspective of the matching requirements of the air conditioner, the electronic expansion valve adapts to the development requirements of refrigeration and electromechanical integration, and provides conditions for the intelligent control of the refrigeration system. It is a promising regulator valve self-control energy-saving component.

According to relevant forecast data, China's inverter air conditioner sales will achieve more than 100% growth in 2010. The full start of the inverter air conditioner market has made the upstream parts supply chain closely adjust to the needs of the whole machine factory, and the electronic expansion valve is one of the important parts for assembling the inverter air conditioner.

As the main manufacturer of domestic electronic expansion valves, the relevant person in charge told the "Electric Appliance" reporter: "The electronic expansion valve business is developing rapidly. From January to June 2010, about 1.7 million sets of electronic expansion valves were produced and sold, almost exceeding the whole of 2009. The sales volume in 2010 will exceed 3 million sets."

At present, in the field of household air conditioner production, the frequency conversion system composed of electronic expansion valve and inverter compressor has superior performance. Through the combination of the large-scale flow regulation characteristics of the electronic expansion valve and the frequency conversion characteristics of the inverter compressor, the inverter control in the true sense of the air-conditioning operation is realized. Wei Xianrang, Minister of the Second Technical Center, said: "The electronic expansion valve can adjust the air conditioner to enter a better working condition. The operating frequency of the inverter air conditioner compressor is constantly changing according to the indoor and outdoor environmental temperature, and the operating frequency of the electric control valve compressor changes. After that, the cooling capacity flowing through the pipeline also changes, and must be adjusted by the electronic expansion valve to adapt to the changing working state of the compressor."

"Strictly speaking, a large part of the inverter air conditioners that are being sold in the market cannot be regarded as real inverter air conditioners." A person in charge of the procurement department of an air conditioner manufacturer revealed to reporters that "the inverter air conditioners produced by some valve companies still use capillary tubes or Thermal expansion valve. It is understood that the air conditioner using capillary control refrigerant flow rate, when the actual operating frequency is higher than the design frequency, the system cooling capacity is about 20% lower than the air conditioning system equipped with electronic expansion valve. Thermal expansion valves are used in the design of air conditioning systems, and system matching is also limited to some extent by the function and performance of thermal expansion valves.

In fact, the use of electronic expansion valves in inverter air conditioning systems for better control and energy efficiency has long been widely recognized in the industry. “Capillary purchases cost only a few cents, while electronic expansion valves require tens of dollars,” said a valve manufacturer. "Electric Appliance" reporter learned that controlling the production cost is the fundamental reason why the whole machine factory chooses the capillary for the frequency conversion system. Regardless of whether it is an air conditioner or an electronic expansion valve manufacturer, it was said in an interview that the application of electronic expansion valves in inverter air conditioners is an inevitable trend. With the standardization and ordering of the development of the inverter air conditioner industry, the inverter air conditioner market will expand, which will more effectively drive the growth of the production and sales of electronic expansion valves.

In the field of electronic expansion valve production, there are not many companies with certain scale and competitive strength. The production of inverter air conditioners in Japan is relatively early, and the penetration rate of inverter air conditioners in the Japanese market is very high. At the same time as the market develops simultaneously, companies such as the Japanese Heron Palace and the Fuji Machine have more patent rights in the production technology of electronic expansion valves. It is currently the largest electronic expansion valve manufacturer in China. In 2000, it developed an electronic expansion valve for air conditioning. In 2002, it began mass production and put it on the market. The self-operated regulating valve has its own intellectual property rights in the electronic expansion valve for inverter air conditioner. Form four series of Q, O, R, S. The competitive landscape of the electronic expansion valve market is highly concentrated. In this regard, Wei Xianrang believes: "The principle and structure of the electronic expansion valve is relatively simple, but the production process requirements are very strict. Many small factories can not meet the high standard production and fitting accuracy of electronic expansion valves, can not participate in market competition, get the market Share."

In 2010, the purchase of electronic expansion valves by air-conditioning companies continued to increase. According to industry sources, the industry's gross profit margin for electronic expansion valves is around 30%, which is quite attractive. In order to meet the requirements of the supplier, electronic expansion valve manufacturers began to increase productivity and increase production capacity. Wei Xianrang said: "At present, Shanghai regulating valves are increasing production capacity by increasing production lines." On August 13, 2010, 6 million sets of electronic expansion valve energy-saving projects for inverter air conditioners were completed and accepted. This project is the 2010 central budget investment plan project. , received a national special subsidy of 4.5 million yuan. Through the acquisition of advanced production equipment, the company has independently developed an electronic expansion valve for inverter air conditioners that replaces R22 refrigerant with new refrigerants R407C and R410A, and realizes the annual production capacity of 6 million sets of electronic expansion valves.

It is also known that the main raw material of the electronic expansion valve is copper, and the procurement cost accounts for more than 60% of the production cost. The unstable copper price is likely to cause the profit rate of the enterprise to drop.