At the Shougang Science and Technology and Management Innovation Conference, the Hot-rolled High-strength Enamel Steel and User Key Technology Development Project led by the Research Institute of Technology and participated in by the Jingtang Company and Shougang Co., Ltd. won the first prize for Science and Technology in Shougang. Since SRT480, the double-sided enamel steel developed in this project, was launched in China, it has yielded one national standard, five patent applications, five published papers and the development of a series of products and related technologies, demonstrating the independent innovation ability of Shougang in the field of plate manufacturing.

Coordinating the management of the water environment, water resources and water ecology is the key field and link for promoting the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature. The development of the economy and society, water shortages and improved water treatment standards have put forward higher requirements for the upgrading of sewage treatment equipment. Enamel steel tanks for use in sewage treatment equipment have been welcomed by the environmental protection industry because of their advantages such as strong corrosion resistance, long service life and easy installation. The larger the capacity of enamel steel tanks, the higher the strength requirements of the plates, and before 2016, no special enamel steel plates existed in China that were capable of constituting tanks with a capacity of more than 6,000 m3.

Hot-rolled high-strength enamel steel has long presented a problem in the industry due to its extremely difficult production. The improvement of enamel performance in steel plates is contradictory to the improvement of its mechanical properties. It is very difficult to obtain high strength with a low carbon composition, but while increasing the carbon content can improve the strength, it causes defects such as bubbles and pores to appear easily on the surface of the enamel. In addition, the strict requirements for scute burst resistance in double-sided enamel steel plates must be taken into account. In order to overcome this production problem, the Shougang Research Institute of Technology, Jingtang Company and Shougang Co., Ltd. jointly assembled a team composed of elites in R&D, process, equipment, production and many other fields to focus on tackling technical difficulties.

Science and technology constitute the primary productive force. Only by making breakthroughs in core technologies can we grasp the initiative of development. Previously, Shougang had no experience in the production of hot-rolled enamel steel, while foreign high-level steel mills kept their relevant technologies strictly confidential. Insisting on self-reliance, Shougang’s enamel steel product development and process research team boldly designed a special component system for enamel from the perspective of performance and scute burst mechanism without any preceding examples for reference. In terms of scute burst performance, as there were no relevant detection and evaluation standards at home and abroad, the team conducted exploration and verification, and successfully established a set of unique methods for realizing accurate scute burst judgment and performance improvement. Through the process control of the rolling cooling mechanism, the team successfully developed SRT480, the first double-sided enamel steel to be produced in China. The release of this product raised the strength of the national standard to 480 MPa and made it the current mainstream brand in China. The R&D team made persistent efforts to realize the comprehensive unification of the enamel properties, mechanical properties and scute burst resistance of products through the independently developed hot rolling precipitation inhibition + enameling process precipitation and low-carbon technology between the porcelain layer and steel and iron interface, thereby completing another leap forward in the production of enamel steel in Shougang. As Shougang’s representative "high-end, characteristic and differentiated" high-quality plate product, the SRT550 ultra-high-strength enamel steel developed by the team has exceeded the existing national standards to become the enamel steel with the highest strength level at home and abroad.

Only when scientific research achievements become productive forces can they reflect the value of innovation. The transformation from laboratory to production line is undoubtedly the most critical link in the transformation of achievements. Shougang’s enamel steel team closely focuses on market orientation and customer needs, promotes productivity improvement through technological upgrading, and creates high-end products with core technologies. At present, Shougang's high-strength hot-rolled double-sided enamel steel for assembling tanks has achieved the full coverage of thickness specifications from 3 to 15 mm and earned a market share of 75%, making Shougang the largest supplier of such products in China. Products such as sewage treatment tanks, water storage tanks and landfill leachate treatment tanks made from Shougang’s enamel steel not only meet the domestic demand, but are also exported overseas, successfully landing in countries and regions in Europe, South America and Southeast Asia. Shougang’s team has opened up the "blue ocean" of the market amid fierce industrial competition by virtue of its excellent R&D and manufacturing strength.

Zhang Zhimin, Chief Researcher of the Research Institute of Technology and the person in charge of project R&D, said that the R&D team will focus on product innovation, take "forging long plates" as the main direction, give full play to the organizational advantages of "one institute with multiple centers", continuously optimize the product structure, focus on key technologies “lacking independent innovation” and key needs in downstream industries, and strive to achieve new breakthroughs in increasing the proportion of high-end enamel steel products and expanding the characteristic product market in the next step.