Northern Chinese wind farms face temperatures as low as -30°C, coastal power plants suffer high salinity and humidity, and western photovoltaic bases operate at high altitudes. These energy facilities have long struggled with chronic defects such as pipeline freezing, cracking, salt-induced corrosion, and unstable operation of water supply and drainage systems. Conventional insulation and electric tracing methods only offer temporary relief. The average winter failure rate of the industry’s water systems hits 12%, triggering frequent extreme-weather shutdowns and massive maintenance costs — a critical bottleneck restricting the stable operation of thermal and renewable power assets.
Liu Liqin, with nearly 30 years of experience in power engineering water supply and drainage design and serving as Chief Review Expert at Zhongke Shengchuang National Science and Technology Achievement Platform, has independently developed a full set of intelligent water system technologies adaptable to all climate zones. Verified through large-scale deployment across 32 major power stations and 57 units in 14 Chinese provinces, her integrated solutions have brought the overall pipeline failure rate down to under 0.5%, forming replicable standardized systems for extreme climate power infrastructure. This interview breaks down her original technological framework, real-world engineering results, and industry-wide promotion value.
I. Long-Standing Structural Flaws of Power Water Systems Under Extreme Climates
Journalist: Thermal power, wind and photovoltaic facilities in frigid, tropical and high-altitude regions suffer frequent water system breakdowns. What are the fundamental defects of mainstream industry solutions?
Liu Liqin: Over my nearly 30 years of practice, I have participated in dozens of gigawatt-scale energy projects spanning Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Hainan and other climate zones. Conventional anti-freezing and anti-corrosion designs carry four structural flaws that plague the whole sector.
First, passive insulation cannot sustain long-duration sub-zero temperatures. Rock wool and polyurethane wrapping only buffer short-term temperature swings. When temperatures stay below -20°C for 72 consecutive hours, pipeline blockage and cracking exceed a 25% probability. Northern wind farms average 150 hours of forced shutdown each winter for pipe repairs, with annual extra maintenance costs hitting over 8 million RMB per gigawatt-scale facility. Pipeline freezing failures of water systems were a key contributor to the massive blackout during the 2021 Texas winter storm.
Second, full-time electric tracing causes excessive energy waste and blind manual inspection. The industry’s standard constant-power tracing operates year-round without intelligent zoning, requiring field patrols across remote mountain and desert sites with massive blind spots. A single 30-kilometer pipeline consumes over one million kWh of electricity annually for tracing alone.
Third, single-layer anti-corrosion structures fail in high-salt coastal environments. Ordinary carbon steel and PE pipes suffer a yearly corrosion rate of 0.1 mm in seawater and saline groundwater, forcing full replacement after just 8 years and inflating lifecycle costs drastically.
Fourth, there is a lack of unified national design specifications covering all four climate types (severe cold, arid, high-temperature humid, high altitude). Design institutes rely on fragmented empirical formulas, pushing the industry’s engineering modification rate to 40%. Billions of RMB are wasted on post-construction retrofits nationwide.
Existing technologies only address isolated local issues without an all-in-one framework covering anti-freezing, anti-corrosion, intelligent operation and low-carbon optimization — this is the core driver behind my decade-long independent R&D.
II. Ten Years of Original R&D: The Four-Dimensional Full-Stack Water Technology System
Journalist: Your portfolio covers patents, copyrighted technical systems and proprietary software. What is your core innovation logic that cuts the industry-wide failure rate to below 0.5%?
Liu Liqin’s integrated system includes 5 utility model patents, 20 copyrighted technical frameworks and 3 independent intelligent software suites, built around four core modules: photovoltaic active anti-freezing, gradient anti-corrosion, digital twin early warning and cross-climate standardized design. Abandoning passive protection concepts, the four-dimensional framework eliminates failure sources from design, operation and maintenance stages.
1. Photovoltaic-Assisted Active Anti-Freezing System (Patent No. ZL 2023 2 1057050.4)
Instead of energy-intensive full electric tracing, the system deploys small photovoltaic arrays to generate heating media for pipelines, paired with zone-based intelligent thermostatic valves. The platform auto-adjusts power: low-load preheating above -15°C, full-power heating under -30°C, and automatic power cut during mild seasons. Field data from a 1GW Tongliao wind farm: annual freeze-related pipeline malfunctions dropped from 27 to 1 within two years of deployment, with the failure rate falling to 0.47%. The wind farm cuts tracing power consumption by 860,000 kWh each year and reduces carbon emissions by over 10,000 tons. Unlike single-function heating products, it combines self-sustained heat supply and intelligent zoning for fully unattended year-round stability.
2. Tropical Gradient Anti-Corrosion System (Tropical-Corrosion Sys Copyright)
A four-layer graded protection framework targets coastal high-salt environments: internal anti-corrosion coating, composite lining, outer thermal insulation anti-corrosion shell and external weatherproof housing, paired with real-time water quality sensors that automatically adjust corrosion inhibitor dosing. Deployed in Hainan and African coastal power stations, the yearly pipeline corrosion rate drops from 0.1 mm to 0.015 mm, extending equipment service life from 8 to 25 years and slashing pipeline replacement costs by 70%.
3. Digital Twin Intelligent O&M Software (Intelligent Anti-Freezing & Energy Efficiency Optimization V1.0)
Self-developed SVM water quality prediction and CNN fault identification algorithms power a full-pipeline digital twin platform fitted with temperature, pressure and corrosion sensors that sync real-time data to virtual models. The system predicts hidden risks 72 days in advance with meter-level fault positioning. Traditional troubleshooting requires over four hours; the software shortens average response time to 28 minutes, cutting unplanned downtime by 91%. A 300MW thermal power plant in Baicheng, Jilin recorded 18 consecutive months of zero water-system forced outages after adoption.
4. Cross-Climate Integrated Design Standards
Drawing operational data from 14 provinces, I led the drafting of two national power industry specifications: Design Standards for Climate-Adaptive Water Supply and Drainage of Wind Farms and Low-Temperature Optimization Guidelines for Thermal Power Circulating Water. The standards divide China into five climate zones with standardized equipment selection schemes, now enforced as mandatory internal design rules by 12 provincial power design institutes, bringing the national engineering revision rate down from 40% to 16%.
This closed-loop system addresses root causes via optimized design and pre-emptive intelligent warning, consistently stabilizing overall system failure rates below 0.5%.
III. Large-Scale Industrial Validation: Economic & Environmental Benefits Verified by Third Parties
Journalist: Your technologies have been commercially rolled out across multiple asset owners. Could you share quantified results backed by independent third-party evaluation reports?
Liu Liqin: Up to now, eight formal licensing agreements have been signed with ten unaffiliated power engineering firms, covering seven industrial sectors across 32 benchmark power projects and 57 operational units. All operational data is certified by third-party audit documents from local power associations and the China Electric Power Planning & Design Association.
Case 1: 1GW Tongliao Wind Farm (Severe Cold Region)
The facility originally recorded 27 freeze pipeline failures per year with annual maintenance costs of 8.9 million RMB. After full deployment of the photovoltaic anti-freezing system in 2023, only one minor blockage occurred across two heating seasons, achieving a 0.47% failure rate. Annual tracing power expenditure fell by 38%, labor maintenance costs cut by 28%, with an annual carbon reduction of 102,000 tons. The full retrofitting investment is recovered within two years. Independent inspection confirmed stable full-load operation at -32°C for 180 consecutive days without safety incidents.
Case 2: Suizhong 2 ×800MW Ultra-Supercritical Thermal Power Plant
After adopting the patented combined cooling system for main and auxiliary units, peak power output rose by 4.2% in summer while winter anti-freezing power consumption decreased by 19.5%. Each unit saves 14,965 tons of standard coal annually, cutting carbon emissions by over 126,000 tons. The retrofit solution is listed as a national recommended scheme for aging thermal power unit energy-saving upgrades.
Case 3: Songon 372MW Gas Power Station, Côte d ’Ivoire (Tropical Coastal Overseas Project)
Facing chronic saltwater pipeline corrosion, the facility deployed the gradient anti-corrosion suite and recorded zero pipeline leakage over two years of field operation. Chemical treatment costs dropped by 40%, and the full system complies with ASME international engineering standards, drastically cutting long-term maintenance expenses for overseas Chinese energy developers.
Aggregated third-party statistics: The full technology portfolio has generated 12.36 billion RMB in cumulative economic benefits across deployed sites. Annual national-wide savings include 423 million kWh of electricity and 8.06 million cubic meters of industrial water, with a total annual carbon dioxide reduction of 347,000 tons. Total technology licensing contracts exceed 6 million RMB, with repeat orders from industrial clients proving genuine market recognition.
IV. Cross-Industry Influence: Technology, Standards, Talent & Peer Evaluation
Journalist: Beyond technical R&D and commercialization, you serve as a national platform’s chief reviewer, drafted industry standards and published specialized monographs. How do your innovations reshape the long-term development of the whole sector?
Liu Liqin: Single-project retrofits only deliver localized gains. Real industrial transformation requires coordinated progress in standards, talent cultivation and technology appraisal. First, the three national specifications I authored unify design benchmarks nationwide, eliminating repetitive trial-and-error and massive upfront investment waste. Second, as an industrial professor under the national industry-education platform, I converted my full-climate technology system into six core training courses adopted by 47 universities, lifting graduate job matching rates from 48% to 91.6% and filling the industry’s senior technical talent gap. Third, as Chief Review Expert at Zhongke Shengchuang, I have completed evaluations for 15 cutting-edge energy technologies in the past two years, using the quantified indicators from my anti-freezing and anti-corrosion frameworks as industry appraisal benchmarks to guide R&D teams away from outdated technical routes.
Previously, the industry lacked unified quantifiable failure control metrics and fragmented climate-adaptive solutions. Multiple provincial power associations now promote my integrated technology as a benchmark reference, and six provincial design institutes include my patents and software as standard design tools. Most new gigawatt wind farms in northern China adopt this framework at the initial design stage, eliminating costly post-completion overhauls and slashing industry-wide investment waste.
V. Global Applicability & U.S. Market Deployment Plan
Journalist: Your technologies have been applied to overseas power projects. What matching value do they deliver for the U.S. power sector?
Liu Liqin: U.S. power infrastructure faces identical extreme-climate pain points as northern and coastal Chinese facilities. The Great Lakes and Minnesota regions see winter lows of -30°C, with a large stock of wind and thermal power plants over 25 years old suffering repeated pipeline freeze failures. California and Florida coastal power assets are plagued by high salt spray corrosion. Meanwhile, the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) offers substantial tax incentives for water conservation and carbon reduction equipment. My proprietary carbon accounting software fully aligns with EPA carbon measurement standards to precisely calculate emission reductions, enabling American power operators to claim full subsidy eligibility.
I wholly own AirPreheat Anti-Freeze Systems LLC registered in Delaware, U.S. In the short term, the company will deploy my photovoltaic heating, gradient anti-corrosion and digital twin systems to renovate aging wind and thermal assets across the American Midwest and northern states. A single 1GW power plant can cut annual outage losses by over 5 million U.S. dollars. In the medium and long term, I will establish local U.S. technical teams and cooperate with American universities to train specialized energy technicians, filling the U.S. industry’s technical gap in extreme-climate water supply and drainage design. Duke Energy has already launched technical exchange negotiations; their engineering team verified two years of operational data from the Tongliao wind farm and confirmed that my 0.5% failure rate technology outperforms existing U.S. commercial alternatives, supporting large-scale North American rollout. Global energy infrastructure shares common climate challenges, and my field-proven low-cost, low-failure solutions provide mature renovation pathways for U.S. grid resilience upgrades.
VI. Industry Outlook: R&D Roadmap for New Power Systems
Journalist: Wind and solar installations will keep expanding across all climate zones. What will be your core R&D priorities for power water systems in the next stage?
Liu Liqin: My future research focuses on three directions. First, integrated water-energy coupling systems for wind-solar-storage bases that cover hydropower, energy storage and hydrogen production facilities on one unified intelligent control platform. Second, full-cycle zero-carbon circulating water systems targeting a 95% industrial water reuse rate for large power stations. Third, lightweight international standard conversion tools to simplify GB and ASME code cross-compatibility and lower technology export costs.
Water supply and drainage pipelines are the "vascular system" of all energy facilities; their stability directly determines grid reliability. As new power systems scale up, I will continue developing original integrated technologies while advancing mutual recognition of Chinese and international industrial standards, delivering quantifiable, scalable low-failure water solutions to secure safe, low-carbon and cost-effective power operations globally.
Brief Profile of Liu Liqin
Liu Liqin is a top senior specialist in power engineering water supply and drainage with nearly 30 years of professional experience. She works as a Senior Engineer at China Power Engineering Consulting Group Northeast Electric Power Design Institute, serves as Chief Review Expert of the national-level Zhongke Shengchuang Technology Platform, and holds the title of Industrial Professor under the National Ten-Thousand Enterprises & Thousand-Schools Program. She possesses two high-value core credentials: Registered Public Utility Engineer (Water Supply & Drainage) and Full Senior Engineer. Her intellectual property portfolio includes 5 utility model patents, 20 proprietary technical systems and 3 specialized software suites. She has led the compilation of three national power industry standards, presided over dozens of domestic and overseas large-scale energy projects, and conducted review work for 15 core industrial technical achievements. She is a multiple winner of the First Prize for Excellent Power Engineering Design. She has published a professional monograph and multiple international academic papers. Her extreme-climate water technologies have been deployed across numerous Chinese provinces and overseas power plants, with technical cooperation ongoing with U.S. power enterprises. She is a cross-disciplinary industry leader integrating engineering practice, technological R&D, standard formulation, peer technical appraisal and international technology commercialization.
Publisher Information
Publication: Water Resources and Hydropower Technology
Editor-in-Chief: Wang Haifeng
Editorial Hotline: 010-63205981
Email: 13941816@qq.com Official
Website: https://sjwj.cbpt.cnki.net
