In Shanghai Fusheng Economic Development Zone, there is a specialized and innovative enterprise focusing on humidity control materials and intelligent humidity management platforms. Their services and technological research cover the entire country, with their Humidity Cube series products reaching markets in Europe, America, and Southeast Asia. The company has become a standard-setter in the industry and a hidden champion in its niche market.

In early June, Shen Yuehua, chairman of Shanghai Hengyuan Polymer Materials Co., Ltd., returned to China after attending a new product launch in New York City, immediately organizing mass production of a new humidity control material (humidity adjusting gasket). In the laboratory, Shen Yuehua and researchers verified the product's performance again. The gasket inside the bottle cap looks ordinary, but it's actually an innovative product where a gasket originally only with buffering and sealing functions has been enhanced with a "humidity adjusting" function. Furthermore, this "humidity adjusting" function is not the traditional unidirectional moisture absorption-based drying function, but rather a dual-function of both moisture absorption and moisture release, achieving precise two-way humidity control to a specific humidity value. Without Shen Yuehua's detailed explanation, it's hard to imagine that the material can control humidity so intelligently.

Shen Yuehua (second from right) at a new product launch in the United States

Compared to granular silica gel products, the fiber humidity control material, using plant fiber as a base material and composite polymer materials, is also a green and low-carbon product. Shen Yuehua told reporters that in the first half of this year, a third-party organization calculated the product's carbon footprint, showing that the carbon emissions per kilogram of fiber desiccant with the same moisture absorption capacity were reduced by about 300% compared to silica gel desiccant. Combined with excellent structural design, the fiber material can also be integrated with the outer packaging, reducing direct contact with the product, ensuring safety and non-pollution, and reducing the risk of leakage or accidental ingestion.

While touring the company's various innovative products, reporters also discovered humidity-adjusting panels similar to tiles. In discussions with Shen Yuehua, reporters learned that the humidity-adjusting panels use the porous structure of inorganic minerals as an adsorption carrier, forming a stable water activity after being compounded with polymer materials, thus creating humidity-adjusting panels with a target humidity and high moisture absorption and release capacity. At the same time, Shen Yuehua further explained to reporters the essential difference between commonly known diatomaceous earth or calcium silicate board humidity control materials and Humidity Cube humidity control panels: the former is "qualitative" humidity control, without a specific target humidity; the latter is "quantitative" humidity control, not only having a specific target humidity but also a humidity control capacity 3-5 times higher than the former. Shen Yuehua explained that the former is actually the adsorption carrier used in the latter; without the composite polymer material, humidity control panels relying solely on natural porous structures cannot form stable water activity and become "intelligent".

Humidity Cube humidity-adjusting panel

Shen Yuehua frankly stated that the research and development of humidity control materials wasn't initially planned but rather evolved through over 20 years of understanding market and customer needs, leading to the development of the Humidity Cube series of products. Most industries, including pharmaceuticals, food, electronics, textiles, chemicals, and home furnishings, currently only use desiccants to reduce humidity. However, all materials have an optimal humidity for preservation; it's not always better to be drier. Poor humidity control can lead to product quality degradation, reduced production efficiency, equipment damage, and even health problems. Shen Yuehua believes that as various industries advocate for high-quality product development and people's awareness improves, the demand for humidity control will increase, and the requirements will become more stringent.

Shanghai Hengyuan Polymer Materials Co., Ltd. was founded in 2002. In 2008, the company became a production, education, and research base of Fudan University, receiving national innovation funds. "Research and industrialization of new degradable fiber humidity control materials" was identified as a national 863 project for technological transformation. During the 2010 World Expo, the company launched its first-generation humidity control materials in the cultural relic preservation field, providing humidity protection for bronze artifacts in the China Pavilion and oil paintings in the Mexico Pavilion, thus gaining recognition.

Relying on the scientific research advantages of Fudan University, Shen Yuehua led the team to overcome difficulties, persistently strengthening technological innovation and R&D investment. The formulas, materials, and processes of humidity control materials have been continuously upgraded and iterated. In 2019, the company and Fudan Zhangjiang Research Institute jointly established a humidity control material joint research center. Starting from the actual application scenarios of the industry and based on research on different humidity control mechanisms, various "cross-border" combination solutions were proposed, making the company a leader in some niche areas. For example, for the temperature and humidity standards of cultural relic storage rooms, the traditional solution is to use air conditioning and fresh air systems 24 hours a day to maintain constant temperature and humidity. However, Hengyuan's humidity control panels are the best supplement to the power system. Attached to the walls and ceilings of the storage room, they can save a lot of electricity while maintaining the temperature and humidity standards of the storage room. "By using our humidity control panels, the operating time of the air conditioner can be greatly reduced, with measured energy savings of up to 80%." said Shen Yuehua.

Currently, the company's products and services are widely used in cultural relic preservation, 5G base stations, new energy vehicles, power cabinets, tobacco, and other fields. As a high-tech achievement transformation project in 2022, the "reversible moisture absorption and release humidity control package" is a low-cost alternative solution for solving dew condensation, mainly used in equipment such as 5G base stations, new energy vehicles, and power cabinets. In the past two years, this product has become a star product of the company.

Over 20 years, from initially producing unidirectional moisture-absorbing desiccants to bidirectional, precisely controlled humidity control agents, and then to intelligent terminal and software system humidity management systems, the company holds more than 50 core patents, including 5 Chinese invention patents, 5 US invention patents, and 3 Canadian invention patents. As an innovator and pioneer in the humidity management industry, "Hengyuan Polymer" has become a standard-setter for humidity management in many fields such as cultural relic preservation, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, biology, communications, and electronics.

To implement the dual-carbon strategy and achieve high-quality development, more and more industries are constantly upgrading their demand for humidity control. "Hengyuan Polymer" focuses on energy saving and emission reduction, creating a service-oriented intelligent humidity management system. The company's developed intelligent humidity management system, through the establishment of data models, monitors, warns, and controls in real-time on the cloud, thereby improving intelligence and energy efficiency, achieving the linkage of various power systems, and making energy saving more intelligent. With the upgrading and renewal of manufacturing, the future intelligent management system will be applied to a wider range of scenarios. "In many energy-saving and emission-reduction technical paths, not only materials are needed, but also intelligent terminals and algorithms. The temperature and humidity management system, as a solution, can help other enterprises reduce costs and increase efficiency, reduce energy consumption and emissions, while meeting standards." said Shen Yuehua.

With market patents for customized precise humidity control formulas, the company's products have entered overseas markets such as the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Singapore. Shen Yuehua stated that humidity management is a niche market that affects the improvement of product processes in various industries. Bidirectional humidity control and intelligent humidity management are emerging industries both domestically and internationally. Hengyuan's strategic goal is to use new productivity as a driving force to strive to create a world-renowned Chinese brand and bring Humidity Cube to the world.

Reporter: Zhang Yongchang

Editor: Zhu Yiting

Editors in charge: Li Lin, Jiao Qianqian