In the carbon fiber industry chain, the precursor stage has long been viewed as a critical bottleneck. In August 2026, an appraisal in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, revealed that domestically produced 5,000-ton DMSO dry-jet wet-spinning PAN-based precursor equipment has reached internationally advanced levels overall, with two key metrics—DMSO recovery steam consumption and polymerization reactor temperature uniformity—achieving global leadership. This signals a substantive turning point in the long-standing reliance on imported equipment for high-end carbon fiber precursor production.
The Industry Benchmark of the Technological Breakthrough
Precursor quality directly determines the tensile strength and modulus of carbon fiber, and the alignment of equipment with process parameters is the cornerstone of precursor stability. The appraised project was developed over two years by Jinggong Technology in collaboration with Zhejiang Huachuang Carbon Fiber Technology Co., Ltd., Donghua University, and Zhejiang University of Technology. Its core value lies in solving the heat transfer lag and mixing inhomogeneity challenges during the engineering scale-up of high-viscosity polymerization systems.
Specifically, the 60 m³ large-capacity polymerization reactor, featuring a special stirring and scraper synergistic structure combined with a jacket hot water and coil cold water heat exchange system, controls temperature uniformity within ±0.4°C—a precision that is critical for homogeneous polymerization of high-viscosity systems. Simultaneously, the multi-stage symmetric pressure distribution technology (header-branch-spinning position) achieves a terminal pressure deviation of only ±1% for the high-viscosity PAN dope at 60°C and approximately 1.6 MPa, with spinneret outlet pressure fluctuation as low as 1‰. These figures directly underpin the uniformity of filament fineness and precondition the stability of downstream carbon fiber quality.
Industrial Transmission: From Equipment to Capacity
For carbon fiber producers, the advancement of equipment ultimately translates into capacity and cost. The system operates at a spinning speed of 280 m/min with an annual capacity of 5,000 tons per line, implying lower capital and operational costs per unit of output for the same floor area. More notably, in the DMSO recovery stage—recovery rate above 99.5%, steam consumption no more than 2.2 t/t, and purity of recovered DMSO at 99.88%—this indicator directly influences the ton-cost competitiveness of precursor, given that solvent costs represent a significant share of production costs.
From a value chain perspective, the localization of precursor equipment will shorten procurement lead times and reduce maintenance costs, thereby lowering the price threshold for precursor materials. For downstream carbon fiber composite manufacturers, this means a more stable supply and greater pricing flexibility. In high-end applications such as aerospace, wind turbine blades, and hydrogen storage tanks, where batch-to-batch consistency is paramount, the improved equipment precision is timely.
A Model of Regional Industrial Clusters and Collaborative Innovation
The appraisal being held in Shaoxing is not coincidental. The Shaoxing region and its surroundings have formed an industrial agglomeration spanning from chemical fiber raw materials to carbon fiber composites. As a local equipment manufacturer, Jinggong Technology’s collaboration with the provincial manufacturing innovation center and universities offers a model of industry-university-research integration. This synergy shortens the technology transfer period and mitigates the risk of independent R&D.
For other domestic carbon fiber industrial clusters, this case highlights that breakthroughs in high-end equipment are not isolated technical achievements but the result of system integration—encompassing polymerization, spinning, solvent recovery, and MOM-based intelligent production management with visual control. Full-process digitalization is the underlying support for stability.