It is estimated that there are currently over 500 drying equipment manufacturers in China, with annual sales exceeding 3 billion yuan. In terms of quantity, China can be considered as the world's largest producer of drying equipment. But most of the drying equipment production enterprises in our country have low technical level, and some even have no technology to speak of.

In China, the application of drying equipment has a history of several decades. In the past 20 years, the drying equipment industry has developed rapidly. With the efforts of engineering and technical personnel, most industrial models can be manufactured in China, basically reversing the situation of drying equipment relying on imports, and a large number of drying equipment manufacturing enterprises have emerged. It is estimated that there are currently over 500 drying equipment manufacturers in China, with annual sales exceeding 3 billion yuan. In terms of quantity, China can be considered as the world's largest producer of drying equipment. But most of the drying equipment production enterprises in our country have low technical level, and some even have no technology to speak of. A group of "miscellaneous brands" with low investment and low technological content have squeezed the market with a large number of low-quality and low-priced equipment, which not only affects the overall image of China's drying equipment, but also causes "internal competition" in domestic drying equipment prices, making it difficult for the overall competitiveness of China's drying equipment to be fully utilized.

Insufficient research and development constrains development

There is a significant gap between China's drying equipment and * in terms of automation control level, appearance quality, completeness, and functional combination. The main problems are weak technological innovation ability and regional concentration.

The lack of theoretical research is a major bottleneck restricting the development of drying equipment. The physical properties of the dried material are diverse, and relying solely on a few drying equipment cannot meet the production needs. Theoretical research is the foundation for developing new drying machines. The development of drying technology in China requires the cultivation of a group of theoretical researchers and drying technology developers to improve the technological content of drying equipment in our country. In recent years, although some colleges and research institutions in China have been working in this area, the manpower and material resources invested are far from enough. There is still a considerable gap in theoretical research between China and countries such as Denmark, Canada, and Japan.

At the same time, various drying equipment enterprises still lack a qualified experimental process. So far, neither the drying equipment factory nor the theoretical research unit has a complete experimental base. Drying is a highly experimental technique, and both theoretical research and drying equipment manufacturing rely heavily on experimental methods. Through experiments, theoretical workers can summarize many rules in the drying process, and equipment manufacturers can determine various process parameters through experiments. However, many organizations have overlooked the importance of experimentation. Some equipment factories do not even have a set of experimental equipment, and there is a great deal of blindness in equipment design.

At present, the weak experimental methods mainly include several aspects. Firstly, equipment manufacturers have insufficient understanding of the experimental process and consider it optional. The second reason is that there are many types of experimental equipment and the investment is huge, which is beyond the affordability of ordinary enterprises. Building a comprehensive experimental base is an urgent task for the research of drying technology in China. Thirdly, there is a lack of experimental personnel, resulting in weak analytical abilities for experimental results. Some companies do not have a technical personnel, and there are even no drawings in the equipment production process. They rely solely on the estimation and experience of mechanical processing personnel to produce equipment worth hundreds of thousands or millions of yuan. This phenomenon is not uncommon in the drying equipment industry.

Another reason that constrains the development of the industry is that although there are numerous drying equipment factories in China, these factories are mainly concentrated in a few regions. One important reason for the concentration of a large number of low-level enterprises is the ease of imitation. Dozens or even nearly a hundred companies produce the same model, resulting in situations where you can do it and I can do it, and you can't do it and I can't do it either. The manuals and promotional materials of each company are identical, with astonishingly similar content, while the products are rare. The outcome of this situation can be imagined.

Independent innovation is the only cure

To solve the existing problems in the industry and free the entire industry from the dilemma of costly mutual imitation and price wars, we must wholeheartedly start from basic theoretical research, automation technology, and other fields, and meticulously cultivate our own independent innovation capabilities.

Basic theoretical research is the foundation for developing new technologies, and only the development of drying technology can promote the progress of drying equipment. China should establish dry basic research bases in colleges and research institutions. Thoroughly studying the drying mechanism lays a theoretical foundation for technological development, which will gradually lead China's drying equipment onto the path of independent innovation.

The low automation level and outdated control methods of domestically produced drying equipment are common problems. At the current level of automation, it is not difficult to solve the control problems in drying equipment, but what is lacking is the reasonable combination of self-control technology and drying equipment. As mentioned earlier, different materials have different requirements for the dryer. Similarly, there are significant differences in the requirements for control measures among different materials. The role of automatic control in dryers *, but its one-time investment is also a concern for people, and sometimes the investment in control equipment even exceeds the investment in the mechanical part of the dryer. Reasonably determining control schemes for drying machines and drying processes, and determining appropriate control measures for specific drying projects, are also topics that should be studied at present.