Visionary Leaders
They measure the business empire from the commanding heights of the era.
Huang Yanping
“To do scientific research, you have to sit on the bench, and truly valuable results take time to accumulate.”
In 2009, a handwritten note changed his scientific research direction: "The United States is working on supercritical carbon dioxide power generation. The industry generally believes that it is not feasible. Do you want to give it a try?" 16 years later, the world's first commercial supercritical carbon dioxide power generation unit "Super Carbon One" was commercially launched in Liupanshui, Guizhou, and its power generation efficiency increased by 85%. Huang Yanping: What flows here is not just carbon dioxide, but also the backbone of Chinese researchers. In the spring of 2009, Huang Yanping, chief scientist of CNNC, received a handwritten note. There was a short inquiry on the paper: "The United States is working on supercritical carbon dioxide power generation. The industry generally believes that it is not feasible. Do you want to give it a try?" He immediately made up his mind: If others can't do it, it doesn't mean that we can't do it. Sixteen years later, on December 20, 2025, the world's first commercial supercritical carbon dioxide generating unit "Super Carbon No. 1" was put into commercial operation in Liupanshui, Guizhou. A small note, 16 years on the bench. He was getting hot from sitting. 1. Note: A note, 16 years on the bench Huang Yanping is the chief scientist of China National Nuclear Corporation and the chief designer of "Super Carbon One". Before 2009, he had been engaged in research related to supercritical water reactors for a long time, and accumulated solid scientific research experience and engineering knowledge in the field of traditional power generation technology. At that time, Sun Yu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, received a handwritten note handed over by his trustee, which allowed him to capture the changes in new power generation technology. Supercritical carbon dioxide power generation is a new scientific research track. There is almost no mature research system in China. There are widespread technical doubts in the industry. Related R&D work in many countries around the world has stalled.
Huang Yanping
Asia Cover Character｜Huang Yanping: One note, 49 failures, he built the world's first "super carbon" generator set
Asia's "Cover Man" Magazine·Pattern
Total Issue 060-ACF-2026
【Abstract】
In 2009, a handwritten note changed his scientific research direction: "The United States is working on supercritical carbon dioxide power generation. The industry generally believes that it is not feasible. Do you want to give it a try?" 16 years later, the world's first commercial supercritical carbon dioxide power generation unit "Super Carbon One" was commercially launched in Liupanshui, Guizhou, and its power generation efficiency increased by 85%. Huang Yanping: What flows here is not just carbon dioxide, but also the backbone of Chinese researchers.
In the spring of 2009, Huang Yanping, chief scientist of CNNC, received a handwritten note.
There was a short inquiry on the paper: "The United States is working on supercritical carbon dioxide power generation. The industry generally believes that it is not feasible. Do you want to give it a try?"
He immediately made up his mind: Just because others can’t do it, doesn’t mean we can’t do it.
Sixteen years later, on December 20, 2025, the world's first commercial supercritical carbon dioxide generating unit "Super Carbon No. 1" was put into commercial operation in Liupanshui, Guizhou.
A small note, 16 years on the bench. He was getting hot from sitting.
1. Note: A piece of paper, sitting on the bench for 16 years
Huang Yanping is the chief scientist of China National Nuclear Corporation and the chief designer of "Super Carbon One". Before 2009, he had been engaged in research related to supercritical water reactors for a long time, and accumulated solid scientific research experience and engineering knowledge in the field of traditional power generation technology.
At that time, Sun Yu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, received a handwritten note handed over by his trustee, which allowed him to capture the changes in new power generation technology. Supercritical carbon dioxide power generation is a new scientific research track. There is almost no mature research system in China. There are widespread technical doubts in the industry. Related research and development work in many countries around the world has stalled, and it is considered by the industry to be a technical direction that is difficult to implement.
At the beginning of the official launch of the project, the scientific research team was extremely streamlined, with only Huang Yanping and one graduate student. The entire scientific research system was built from scratch, and exploration was started with only basic scientific research equipment. The mainstream view in the industry is that the heat exchange performance of carbon dioxide is far inferior to that of traditional medium water, and there are technical barriers that cannot be broken through in core processes such as turbine adaptation and precision heat exchanger manufacturing. This research and development path has no practical value.
Faced with industry-wide doubts and blank research areas, Huang Yanping always adheres to his initial judgment.
“If others can’t do it, it doesn’t mean we can’t do it.”
A piece of paper, 16 years on the bench.
The first person on the bench was chosen by himself.
2. Blockade: the independent road that was "bombed"
The implementation of supercritical carbon dioxide power generation technology cannot be separated from the support of the core precision equipment vacuum diffusion welding machine, which is the key hardware foundation for the R&D and manufacturing of the entire unit. In the middle stage of the project, there is no corresponding equipment manufacturing capacity in China, and core equipment is completely dependent on overseas imports.
In 2017, in order to promote the progress of the project, Huang Yanping led a team to conduct research and inspections at overseas equipment manufacturers, hoping to learn equipment technology and introduce core equipment. However, overseas companies have set up strict access barriers. The scientific research team is unable to enter the laboratory to visit the core technology and can only view the equipment shell from the outside.
The staff of the other party clearly informed that only three people in the world have access to the laboratory, directly shutting out the domestic scientific research team. Shortly after the inspection, the core technology of vacuum diffusion welding and supporting equipment were included in the international commercial control list, and overseas exports to China were comprehensively restricted, directly cutting off all paths for domestic technology introduction.
The external technology blockade completely blocked the possibility of leveraging overseas resources, and also strengthened Huang Yanping's determination to independently research and develop the entire chain. He gave up all external dependence, disassembled the equipment principle from scratch, explored process parameters, and built a self-research system.
“Since it’s not for sale, then we’ll do it ourselves!”
They thought the blockade could stop us, but it blocked the equipment but not the determination.
If you sit on a cold bench for a long time, your legs will become numb. But stand up and run faster.
3. Attack: 829 days, 49 tests, one ton of scrap iron
In the development process of the entire unit, the core heat exchanger is the most difficult technical barrier to break through, and it is also the core bottleneck restricting the commercialization of supercritical carbon dioxide power generation technology. In order to overcome this key problem, Huang Yanping led the team to launch a closed and continuous attack that lasted for 829 days.
For more than two years, the laboratory has maintained round-the-clock operation, and scientific researchers have repeatedly adjusted the technical framework and optimized the manufacturing process. The team has completed a total of 27 optimizations of the overall technical solution, iteratively polished 218 versions of welding parameters, and conducted trial production tests again and again. A large number of test samples that did not meet the standards were eliminated and scrapped. The accumulated waste weighed several tons and occupied almost half of the laboratory warehouse.
Long-term, high-intensity research and continuous test failures have put young scientific researchers under tremendous pressure, and many team members have fallen into self-doubt. After another test failed, a young engineer could not bear the pressure and cried silently in the laboratory.
As the general person in charge of the project, Huang Yanping always maintains a stable mentality, calms the team's emotions, stabilizes the overall pace of attack, and never allows the project to stall midway.
“Keep trying and never give up halfway.”
The accumulation of countless failures finally led to technological breakthroughs. One early morning in the middle of winter in 2021, the 49th process test was successfully completed. A continuous and stable green operating curve popped up on the monitoring screen, and all core parameters of the unit met the standards. The deadlock that had lasted for several years was completely broken. The scientific research team, which had been suppressed for a long time, ushered in a long-lost breakthrough and excitement in the laboratory late at night.
49 failures, 1 success. Every failure is one step closer to success.
The third leg of the cold bench is welded out of scrap iron.
4. Breakthrough: Can’t China produce 100 kilowatts?
After the breakthrough in core heat exchanger technology, the development of high-power turbines became a new stumbling block in front of the team. It was also the key reason why the industry determined that this technology could not be commercialized on a large scale. At that time, overseas industry experts reached a unified conclusion that supercritical carbon dioxide power generation technology could only adapt to low-power test scenarios and could not be implemented on a large scale. They clearly asserted that China was unable to develop stable operation units of more than 100 kilowatts.
After learning that Huang Yanping's team is determined to develop megawatt-class supercritical carbon dioxide power generation units, many foreign experts have a negative attitude and are not optimistic about the Chinese team's ability to tackle difficult problems.
From 2018 to 2019, the unit entered the critical stage of complete machine verification, and technical hazards broke out intensively. The unit would shut down frequently when the load reached 20 to 30%, and the system stability was extremely poor. The team repeatedly checked the hardware, debugged parameters, and optimized the program, but was still unable to locate the core problem.
The long-term continuous attack day and night put Huang Yanping under physical and mental pressure, and his hair turned white. He always adhered to the front line to follow up every debugging and every set of data. During a business trip to Beijing, he received a call from the laboratory late at night. The team completed final debugging and optimization, and the unit successfully achieved full power and stable operation.
This breakthrough enables the world to realize the stable operation of megawatt-class supercritical carbon dioxide simple cycle at full power for the first time. The megawatt-class supercarbon turbine dry gas sealing technology conquered by the team is the first in the world, filling the technical gap in the industry and completely overturning overseas technical conclusions.
They say China cannot produce hundreds of kilowatts. We answer with facts: yes.
The fourth leg of the cold bench is welded firmly with the backbone of the Chinese people.
5. Commercial transportation: 16 years later, “Super Carbon No. 1”
After all the core technologies have been conquered, at the end of 2023, the "Super Carbon No. 1" generating unit will officially enter the construction stage. Compared with a controllable and stable laboratory environment, industrial site construction conditions are more complex. Traditional equipment operating habits and slight deviations in on-site installation will lead to abnormalities in precision unit parameters.
In order to ensure the landing accuracy and operational stability of the unit, Huang Yanping's team is stationed at the construction site to connect the construction process one by one, rectify non-standard operations, refine the full set of equipment installation operating specifications, have zero tolerance for the slightest deviation, repeatedly disassemble and debug, and verify parameters to avoid technical risks caused by on-site construction to the greatest extent.
On December 20, 2025, after 16 years of continuous hard work, the world's first commercial supercritical carbon dioxide generator set "Super Carbon No. 1" was officially put into commercial operation at the Shougang Shuigang Base in Liupanshui, Guizhou.
Actual measurement data shows that the power generation efficiency of the unit has increased by more than 85%, the net power generation has increased by more than 50%, and the equipment footprint has been reduced by half, significantly optimizing the energy consumption and space cost of traditional generating units. After being put into operation, the unit can add more than 70 million kilowatt-hours of additional power generation to the base every year, directly increasing the company's income by more than 30 million yuan.
According to industry authoritative estimates, if this technology is fully popularized in the national steel industry, the annual new clean power generation will be equivalent to approximately one-eighth of the annual power generation of the Three Gorges Power Station, which has great value in energy upgrade and low-carbon development.
"What flows here is not just carbon dioxide, but also the ambition of Chinese researchers."
In 2016, he warmed up this cold bench.
For a technology that was previously judged as unsolvable by the world, we started from scratch and became a global leader.
ending
In 2026, Huang Yanping will be 58 years old.
From the handwritten note that opened a new track in 2009, to the official commercial launch of the world's leading "Super Carbon One" in 2025. From the complete blockade of overseas equipment and technology with no way out, to 829 days and nights of hard work, 49 repeated tests, and the accumulation of tons of waste, to 16 years of dedicated persistence.
For sixteen years, he sat on the scientific research bench that no one cared about, blazed a completely independent localization path in the global technology no-man's land, and achieved a disruptive breakthrough in new power generation technology.
If you sit on a cold bench for a long time, you will always get hot.
A true scientist does not conquer the frontier, but blazes a trail in no man's land.
Data source
Regarding Academician Sun Yufa’s note in 2009 that started 16 years of research: Science and Technology Daily reported on January 27, 2026.
Regarding the successful commercial operation of "Super Carbon One" on December 20, 2025: Liupanshui Municipal Government official website released on December 21, 2025; Xinhua News Agency on December 20, 2025.
Regarding the increase in power generation efficiency by more than 85%, net power generation by more than 50%, and reduction of land area by half: People's Daily reported on page 06 on January 24, 2026; Liupanshui Municipal Government official website.
Regarding the foreign technology blockade, being "bombed" out, and the team independently tackling the problem: Science and Technology Daily reported on January 27, 2026.
Regarding the 829 days of continuous closure, 49 tests, and one ton of scrapped parts: Science and Technology Daily reported on January 27, 2026.
Regarding the annual increase in power generation by more than 70 million kilowatt hours, the increase in revenue by more than 30 million yuan, and the nationwide power generation equivalent to one-eighth of the Three Gorges: reported by The Paper on February 5, 2026; Guizhou Daily.
Regarding the core sentence "What flows here is not just carbon dioxide, but also the ambition of Chinese researchers": Science and Technology Daily reported on January 27, 2026.
[1] CNNC official website, www.cnnc.com.cn
[2] "Huang Yanping: In-depth analysis of industries related to CNNC", China National Nuclear Corporation Annual Report
[3] Collection of Huang Yanping’s public speeches and media interviews
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