Chemical Equipment Market Embraces New Development Opportunities, Innovative Products Lead Industry Upgrading

Driven by both green transformation and intelligent upgrading, the chemical equipment market is ushering in a new round of growth opportunities, with particularly outstanding performance in subdivided segments such as heat exchangers and filters.

Recent industry analysis reports indicate that the scale of China's chemical equipment market is expected to reach 1.2 trillion RMB by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) maintained at around 8%-10%.

This growth primarily thanks to the expansion of the chemical industry and the surge in demand for chemical products from emerging fields. Among these, reactors, as core equipment in chemical production, account for approximately 29.17% of the total chemical equipment market size, while the heat exchanger market holds a 23.33% share.

01 Market Size Continues to Expand, Heat Exchangers and Filters Perform Prominently

As a supporting industry for sectors like petrochemicals, environmental protection, pharmaceuticals, and food, the chemical equipment industry has maintained a stable growth trend in recent years. Within the subdivided markets, heat exchangers and filter equipment have performed especially outstanding.

Data shows that by 2026, the size of China's heat exchanger market will rise from 868.9 billion RMB in 2022 to 992.1 billion RMB, with an average annual compound growth rate of 3.4%.

The filter market also shows a positive growth trend. Titanium rod filters, as a highly efficient filtration device, are experiencing continuously rising demand in industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food and beverage, and water treatment.

02 Technological Innovation Becomes the Driver, High-End Equipment Sees Breakthroughs

Recently, a series of technological breakthroughs and innovative products have emerged in the chemical equipment field, driving the industry towards high-end and intelligent development.

The successful hoisting of the 3000-ton class "Jinhua Furnace," jointly developed by Lu'an Chemical Machinery Group and Tsinghua University, marks a significant breakthrough for China in the field of gasifier technology.

This equipment employs a combined technology of "coal-water slurry + water-cooled wall + radiant steam generator." It not only has wider coal adaptability and shorter maintenance and start-up times but also offers significant economic benefits.

In filtration technology, the "High-Efficiency Lubricating Oil Dehydration and Purification Membrane Equipment" developed by Shandong Haihua Group was rated as a major technical equipment achievement (first set) in Shandong Province for 2025.

This equipment is the first globally to realize the technical route of "energy-saving physical method for efficient dehydration and regeneration purification of lubricating oil," solving a long-standing industry problem and breaking foreign monopolies.

03 Intelligent and Green Dual-Drivers Accelerate Industry Upgrading

The chemical equipment industry is rapidly developing towards intelligence and greenness.

Intelligent upgrading has become an inevitable industry trend. In 2025 and beyond, more and more chemical equipment will be equipped with intelligent sensors and control systems, enabling real-time collection, transmission, and analysis of equipment operational data.

By mining and utilizing this data, companies can achieve optimized equipment operation, fault prediction and diagnosis, improve production efficiency, and reduce equipment maintenance costs.

Green environmental protection needs are also driving equipment innovation. The research, development, and application of new environmentally friendly chemical equipment are accelerating. Efficient waste gas and wastewater treatment equipment can achieve standard-compliant emission of pollutants during the chemical production process.

Energy-saving chemical equipment, such as heat exchangers and compressors using new materials and structural designs, can effectively reduce energy consumption. In the coming years, the market size for green and environmentally friendly chemical equipment will maintain an annual growth rate of 15%-20%.

04 Filtration Technology Pursues Excellence, Demand for High-End Consumables Rises

In the field of filters and consumables, as downstream application areas increasingly demand higher purity and precision, the market demand for high-end filtration products continues to climb.

Pleated filter cartridges, as an important component of filtration systems, are seeing continuously enriched product types, including polypropylene (PP) pleated cartridges, PES pleated cartridges, high-temperature gas sterilization cartridges, general fine cartridges, sterilizing fine cartridges, and more.

The titanium rod filter market is also showing a stable growth trend. QYResearch shows that the global titanium rod filter market size was approximately $227 million in 2024 and is expected to reach $293 million by 2031, with a CAGR of 3.6% during this period.

These filters, made from sintered titanium powder or titanium alloy rods, are renowned for their corrosion resistance, high strength, and excellent permeability, making them very suitable for liquid and gas filtration in industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food and beverage, and water treatment.

05 Industry Events Build Platforms, Technical Exchange Promotes Cooperation

To promote industry technical exchange and business cooperation, the 17th Shanghai International Heat Exchanger and Heat Transfer Technology Exhibition will be held as a themed zone of CTEF2025 China International Chemical Equipment Expo at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre from June 5-7, 2025.

The exhibition will gather Fortune 500 companies, central state-owned enterprises, large listed companies, as well as leading enterprises such as national manufacturing champion demonstration enterprises and national-level "Little Giant" specialized and sophisticated enterprises.

It will comprehensively present new products, new technologies, and high-value-added application scenarios in the field of heat exchangers and heat transfer, analyze industry upgrade directions, and connect global buyers to build a one-stop procurement platform.

06 Future Development Prospects are Promising, Multiple Opportunities Boost Growth

The future development of the chemical equipment industry will closely rely on technological innovation, environmental policies, and the synergy of the global industrial chain, and its growth potential remains broad.

As the chemical industry moves towards high-end, intelligent, and green development, customers are placing higher demands on the performance, intelligence level, energy saving, and environmental protection of chemical equipment.

The demand for high-end and customized products is also growing constantly. In high-end chemical fields, such as new energy materials and high-end fine chemicals, the requirements for equipment precision, stability, and corrosion resistance are extremely high.

By 2025, the market size for high-end and customized chemical equipment will account for about 35% of the total chemical equipment market size and will continue to maintain a growth trend in the coming years.

With the further implementation of the "Dual Carbon" strategy, industrial energy-saving needs are accelerating. Heat exchangers, as core equipment for energy efficiency upgrades, are seeing their application scenarios extend from traditional fields like petrochemicals, power, and metallurgy to emerging fields like bioengineering and medicine.

The intensive landing of large-scale ethylene projects, nuclear power plants, wind power bases, environmental protection projects, and seawater desalination projects brings continuous demand for industry expansion.

Industry experts point out that in the coming years, chemical equipment enterprises need to closely follow the trends of intelligent and green development, strengthen technological R&D and innovation, and provide high-performance, high-efficiency, and environmentally friendly product solutions to gain a competitive advantage in the market.