Today, Hainuo Technology’s high-performance hollow glass microspheres have once again been featured in the *Science and Technology Daily* as an “Innovative China · Key New Product”!
As the first company in China to possess independent intellectual property rights and achieve industrial-scale production, Hainuo Technology’s proprietary manufacturing process has successfully broken the international monopoly, accelerating the pace of domestic substitution.
The full text of the report is provided below, inviting you to witness the formidable capabilities of this “Chinese lightweight materials” enterprise.
Recently, the China National Intellectual Property Administration published the “List of Candidates for National Intellectual Property Demonstration Enterprises (2025–2027)”, with Shanxi Hainuo Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Shanxi Hainuo”) featured on the list. As the first domestic enterprise to possess independent intellectual property rights and achieve industrial-scale production of high-performance hollow glass microspheres (hereinafter referred to as “hollow microspheres”), Shanxi Hainuo’s proprietary manufacturing process has broken through international monopolies.
“After more than a decade of intensive research and development, we have successfully developed a production process for hollow microspheres,” explained Shen Pengzhan, the company’s chairman. “The comprehensive performance of the hollow microspheres produced using this process has reached internationally advanced levels, with certain models leading the world in core indicators such as compressive strength and particle size distribution.”
Hollow microspheres are micron-sized hollow spheres made from alkali-lime borosilicate glass; they are filled with an inert gas, have an extremely thin outer wall, and are extremely lightweight yet highly compressive-resistant. Thirty-eight million hollow microspheres weigh just 1 gram, with a maximum compressive strength exceeding 180 megapascals. Thanks to their core characteristics of being lightweight yet high-strength, thermally insulating, corrosion-resistant and having low dielectric constant, hollow microspheres have become an indispensable key material in the advanced composite materials industry chain, with a wide range of applications.
Specialised materials essential for offshore oil extraction
Recently, at an operational base of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) in the eastern South China Sea, drill pipes were advancing into waters over a kilometre deep. On-site operators explained that, once drilling is complete, cement slurry containing hollow microspheres will be injected into the annular space between the wellbore and the surrounding rock formation, forming a low-density, high-compressive-strength cement ring that enhances the quality of cementing and ensures the safety of oil and gas development.
“This is a crucial stage in deep-sea oil and gas exploration and development. In deep-water cementing, the use of conventional high-density cement slurry can easily fracture fragile seabed formations, leading to drilling fluid loss,” said Shen Pengzhan. “Adding a certain proportion of hollow microspheres to the cement slurry gives it low density and high compressive strength, meeting the technical requirements for cementing deep-water offshore wells.”
For a long time, the hollow microspheres used in China’s oil extraction had to be imported from abroad. “Over 75 per cent of the domestic market share was monopolised by foreign products, and foreign companies imposed strict technological embargoes, monitoring the use of their products and forcing the return of unused materials and offcuts,” admitted Zhao Huilong, Board Secretary of Shanxi Hainuo.
In 2015, Shanxi Hainuo achieved a breakthrough in the mass production of hollow microspheres, which were immediately supplied to China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s (CNOOC) offshore oil operation bases in shallow waters. Supply volumes increased year on year from 80 tonnes during the trial phase to hundreds and then thousands of tonnes, expanding to cover all water depth operational ranges. To date, Shanxi Hainuo has supplied over 10,000 tonnes of hollow microspheres, achieving 100 per cent supply of CNOOC’s specialised hollow glass microspheres for cementing operations.
“The hollow microspheres we produce are on a par with foreign products in terms of performance, but cost only a third of the price of imports,” said Shen Pengzhan. “More importantly, we have achieved independent control over key technologies in the field of offshore oil cementing materials.”
Tens of thousands of experiments to solve industrial challenges
In October 2023, the China National Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation certified that Shanxi Haino’s ‘Engineering Technology and Application of Hollow Glass Microspheres for Offshore Oil Cementing’ had reached an internationally leading level.
As a high-performance material for offshore oil cementing, the industrial-scale production of hollow glass microspheres is no easy feat. “When we entered this field, we faced the dilemma of foreign technology embargoes and a lack of domestic precedents for industrialisation; we found ourselves in a ‘three-no’ situation: no technical drawings, no ready-made equipment and no specialist talent,” recalled Shen Pengzhan. He funded the establishment of a research and development team, starting with a 5-kilogram trial to work out the industrial production process.
In 2009, at the Shanxi Hainuo factory deep in the Taihang Mountains, the R&D team mixed raw materials such as silicon dioxide into a slurry and, after undergoing processes including grinding, homogenisation and firing, awaited the creation of the hollow microspheres. When the high-temperature spherisation furnace was first fired up and then cooled, the result was a pile of solid or agglomerated glass microspheres. “Moving from experimentation to industrial production, translating research into practical results is no easier than theoretical research,” said Shen Pengzhan. “Even the slightest deviation in the ratio of raw materials for the hollow microspheres can result in vastly different end products; if the sintering temperature is just a few degrees Celsius higher, the hollow structure may collapse.”
Stacks of yellowed notebooks containing experimental data rose high, whilst piles of defective products weighed heavily on their spirits. Through repeated trials and parameter adjustments—progressing from small-scale to large-scale trials and tens of thousands of trial-and-error attempts—the R&D team, through sheer hard work, identified all the key data and processes required for the industrial production of hollow microspheres by 2012: preparing a multi-component raw material slurry, forming green bodies via precision spray granulation, and then instantly strengthening them into beads using a high-temperature flame.
However, the breakthrough in the production process was only the first step. The dozens of specialised pieces of equipment required for the production of hollow microbeads were not available in China at the time; everything from drying equipment to the core pelletising furnace had to be developed in-house. For a single custom-made dryer, the R&D team travelled all the way to Jiangsu, working with the manufacturer’s technicians to refine the prototype six or seven times before achieving success. “As the core piece of equipment, the pelletising furnace had to be capable of precisely controlling the flame within the 600–1,000 °C range to ensure the hollow microbeads passed through the flame uniformly,” said Zhao Huilong. “We drew up the design blueprints and guided a manufacturer in the south through the production process; it took dozens of rounds of revisions before we finally produced a furnace that met our specifications.”
Starting from scratch and scaling up gradually, Shanxi Haino progressed from 5-kilogram trials to small-scale trials involving hundreds of kilograms, and then to tonne-scale pilot trials, adopting a ‘step-by-step scaling-up’ approach to tackle challenges such as adapting equipment for hollow microspheres and stabilising processes one by one. In 2015, Shanxi Haino established China’s first industrial production line, and in 2023, it completed the country’s only 10,000-metric-tonne-scale production line.
Advancing into the Blue Ocean of Hollow Microsphere Applications
“The Hainuo High-Performance Hollow Microspheres New Materials Industrial Park we are constructing in the Gaoping Economic Development Zone, Shanxi, has been included in Shanxi’s list of key provincial-level projects for this year. With the assistance of the relevant authorities, the land for the project has been secured. We are currently finalising the preliminary procedures, such as the environmental impact assessment and energy efficiency evaluation, and construction will commence shortly,” said Zhao Huilong.
This year, Shanxi Hainuo is investing 750 million yuan in the construction of the industrial park, which has a designed production capacity of 30,000 tonnes and is expected to be completed and come on stream next year. “Our current annual production capacity stands at 15,000 tonnes; with the addition of these 30,000 tonnes, the industrial park will become the world’s largest smart production base for hollow microspheres,” said Zhao Huilong. He added that once the industrial park is completed, hollow microspheres will not only be used in oil extraction but are also expected to find applications in sectors such as aerospace and electronics.
To this end, Shanxi Hainuo has established a research and development framework comprising “alliances – research institutes – engineering centres – workstations”, forming a comprehensive industry-academia-research-application matrix covering fundamental research, engineering transformation and industrial support, thereby continuously advancing innovation in hollow microsphere research and development.
Shanxi Hainuo’s hollow microspheres are expanding into fields such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, the low-altitude economy and modern construction. “We have also developed nine new products making their market debut, including hollow microsphere solid buoyancy materials, machinable polyurethane wood-like composite materials, and high-performance hollow glass microspheres with low particle size and low dielectric constant specifically designed for 5G applications,” said Shen Pengzhan. He added that several products have been validated for large-scale application by leading enterprises across multiple sectors, directly serving clients such as BYD and the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation.
Shanxi Haino is a state-level ‘Specialised, Refined, Unique and Innovative’ (SRUI) ‘Little Giant’ enterprise specialising in the production of hollow microspheres, with the goal of ‘becoming a world-leading enterprise in microsphere new materials’. Shen Pengzhan stated: ‘We intend to continue to deepen our expertise in the field of hollow microsphere new materials, thereby laying a solid foundation of new materials for the security of the nation’s strategic industries!’
Source: Science and Technology Daily
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