VPSA Plateau Oxygen Generation of National Key R&D Projects (NKPs), Led by PKU PIONEER, Passed First-Year Review

In April 2025, the project titled "Development of Alkaline Earth-Based VPSA Oxygen Generation Adsorbent and Equipment on Plateau", led by PKU Pioneer, passed the first-year acceptance assessment as a "Revealing the List and Taking the Lead" project under China’s National Key R&D Program in the "High-end Functional and Intelligent Materials" category.

The National Key Research and Development Programs (NKPs) is currently China’s highest-level R&D initiative. It primarily focuses on major public welfare research projects that are crucial to the national economy and people’s livelihoods, as well as key scientific and technological challenges that affect industrial core competitiveness, overall independent innovation capabilities, and national security to break through technological bottlenecks in key areas of economic and social development. Each key project is designed to cover the entire innovation chain, with the ultimate goal of achieving both groundbreaking fundamental discoveries and practical, application-oriented outcomes.

To enhance the practical application of major innovation outcomes, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, for the first time in 2021, established the “Revealing the List and Taking the Lead” projects under the 14th Five-Year National Key R&D Program. Highlighting the role of end users, these projects focus on key research tasks that are urgently needed by national strategies, have clear application orientations, and have clear end users.

In March 2023, the Ministry released the “Revealing the List and Taking the Lead” project list for High-end Functional and Intelligent Materials, targeting low-energy, cost-effective, and highly reliable oxygen supply solutions for extreme environments of China's plateau regions to solve challenges related to the vacuum pressure swing adsorption (VPSA) oxygen generation equipment and systems adapted to high-altitude conditions.

PKU Pioneer is one of the earliest enterprises in China to engage in the research and development of VPSA and PSA oxygen generation technology. It has undertaken multiple medium- and large-scale VPSA industrial oxygen generation projects in plateau regions. Due to the thinner air and lower oxygen content in high-altitude areas, achieving key performance indicators such as unit energy consumption, product oxygen gas purity, and flow rate for VPSA oxygen equipment is significantly more challenging than in lowland regions.

This key project will focus on meeting the oxygen demands in extreme environments of China’s plateau regions. It aims to develop cost-effective and efficient oxygen adsorbent materials based on alkaline earth metals, uncover the long-term stable operational mechanisms of adsorbents under extreme conditions, study dynamically adjustable and highly efficient VPSA oxygen generation processes, and develop VPSA oxygen generation system suitable for high-altitude environments to ultimately achieve demonstrative applications. This requires the research team to have a deep understanding of the core technical challenges of VPSA oxygen generation processes in order to further explore the effectiveness of alkaline earth metal-based adsorbents.

Large-Scale VPSA Oxygen Plant Built by PKU Pioneer for a Metal Smelter on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

After the release of the project list, the High-Tech Research and Development Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology organized open applications, expert review, and on-site defenses for the "Development of Alkaline Earth-Based VPSA Oxygen Generation Adsorbent and Equipment on Plateau" project. Mr. Tang Wei, General Manager of PKU Pioneer and the project leader, presented at the defense meeting. His report covered the background and research objectives of the VPSA oxygen generation project for plateau regions, the research content, key innovations and technical approaches, expected outcomes and benefits, the strengths and foundations of the research team, task division and project timeline, as well as organizational management and risk analysis.

After careful evaluation, in November 2023, the Ministry of Science and Technology selected PKU Pioneer as the lead organization for the project. The project is jointly undertaken by Qinghai University, Tibet University, Tsinghua University Shanxi Institute of Clean Energy, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing Gaoxin Huakang Technology Co., Ltd., and Hebei Tianchen New Material Technology Co., Ltd., to carry out application-oriented demonstration research across “Development and Large-Scale Production of Low-Cost, High-Efficiency Alkaline Earth Metal Oxygen-Generating Adsorbents”, “Mechanism of Stable Adsorbent Performance and Efficient VPSA Oxygen Production Processes Under Plateau Conditions”, "Modular Integration and Systematic Control Strategies for Plateau VPSA Oxygen Production Equipment" and "Performance Evaluation and Digital-Intelligent Operation & Maintenance of Oxygen Production Demonstration Units in High-Altitude Regions".

The plateau VPSA oxygen generation R&D project has a 3-year implementation period. It will undergo on-site inspections, evaluations by end-users and third-party assessments, and will be carried out in real application scenarios, with a strong emphasis on end-user involvement to determine success based on practical outcomes. As a key component of the 2023 National Key R&D Program’s “High-end Functional and Intelligent Materials” initiative, the project led by PKU Pioneer will enhance the core competitiveness of China's gas separation industry, strengthen overall innovation capabilities, and provide an application model for oxygen supply processes in high-altitude, oxygen-deficient environments. The project aims to deliver lower-cost oxygen supply, improve living conditions, and support major public welfare initiatives.

PKU Pioneer’s self-developed adsorbents， specialized gas separation equipment design and intelligent control system have earned the trust of industrial users worldwide. As a world-leading supplier in VPSA and PSA gas separation technologies, PKU Pioneer has provided over 500 complete sets of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide generation systems for various industrial applications, including steelmaking, non-ferrous metallurgy, glass and fiberglass production, papermaking, chemical processing, etc. PKU Pioneer has also achieved multiple national-level breakthroughs in VPSA oxygen generation and PSA CO purification technologies. Leading the way in both technology and project implementation, PKU Pioneer will continue to contribute to national strategic goals and promote sustainable industrial development through advanced gas separation solutions.