Nexson Group France (“Nexson”) and Nexson (Beijing) Industrial Technology Co., Ltd. have formally signed a global strategic cooperation agreement with Shaanxi Zhituo Solid Phase Additive Manufacturing Technology Co., Ltd. (“Shaanxi Zhituo”) on printed circuit heat exchangers (PCHE). Building on each side’s core strengths, the two parties will focus on taking this vacuum diffusion bonded PCHE product — more efficient in heat transfer, more compact in structure and higher in design strength — into deep global cooperation.

This global partnership combines European high-end heat transfer know-how with China’s advanced manufacturing strengths. It is a concrete exercise in deep integration of international technology R&D and domestic smart manufacturing that will help upgrade high-end PCHE products, accelerate global market development, and deliver more efficient, energy-saving thermal management solutions to offshore, energy, chemical, new energy and advanced manufacturing customers worldwide.

Shaanxi Zhituo Solid Phase Additive Manufacturing Technology Co., Ltd.

Shaanxi Zhituo is a high-tech enterprise integrating development of high-end diffusion bonding equipment, process development, and design and manufacture of printed circuit heat exchangers (PCHE). Through its self-developed core processes, it has reached internationally leading levels in product precision control, batch production, cost optimisation and performance iteration. It has built a complete system covering R&D, design, production and testing, and is a mainstay of China’s high-end PCHE manufacturing sector.

Nexson Group France

Nexson Group France is a global leader in high-end heat exchange equipment. After years of work in heat transfer technology, it has built a full product system covering gasketed plate heat exchangers, plate-and-shell heat exchangers, fully welded plate heat exchangers and spiral plate heat exchangers, serving oil and gas, refining, marine and offshore, new energy, industrial refrigeration, food and pharmaceuticals, HVAC and general industry. It also operates a global sales network with local service capability, a broad market footprint, and rich customer resources and operating experience.

Nexson (Beijing) Industrial Technology Co., Ltd. is the group’s sole investment entity in Asia-Pacific, coordinating business across China and the region and responsible for R&D, production, sales and service of the full range of high-efficiency heat exchangers. Its modern factory in Huairou, Beijing is one of the group’s three manufacturing centres, equipped with multiple automated production lines and following unified global production standards. Products supply the China and Asia-Pacific markets and are exported to Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Americas.

Printed circuit heat exchangers: extreme compactness, outstanding performance

The printed circuit heat exchanger (PCHE) is built for duties conventional heat transfer technology cannot handle, and represents the top level of modern thermal engineering.

Micro-channels are first etched chemically into metal plates, and the plates are then fused into a single body by vacuum diffusion bonding. This solid-state process needs no filler material and produces no conventional weld joints, so the mechanical strength of the finished structure approaches that of the parent metal.

Against conventional shell-and-tube heat exchangers, the advantages are pronounced:

Much smaller volume and weight: for the same heat duty, volume is only 1/6 to 1/10 and weight 1/4 to 1/7 of conventional products.

Industry-leading heat transfer efficiency: thermal efficiency of up to 98%, a new high for the industry.

Extremely wide duty range: stable at working pressures from 0.2 to 100 MPa (1,000 bar), with an applicable temperature range from –200 °C to above 1,100 °C.

Supporting the global low-carbon transition, positioning for future energy markets

This cooperation fits closely with Nexson Group’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments and its direction towards green transformation. With its very high energy efficiency and advanced thermal structure design, the PCHE will become a core technical pillar for decarbonising heavy industry and developing clean energy.

The product targets the core fields of the global energy transition, with main application markets including:

Supercritical CO₂ (sCO₂) power systems: for high-efficiency sCO₂ power generation, focused on industrial waste heat recovery.

Hydrogen: core heat exchange solutions for high-temperature solid oxide electrolysis (SOEC) green hydrogen production and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) power generation.

LNG and marine: liquefaction units, regasification systems (LNG vaporisers), and onboard subcoolers for carriers and floating storage and regasification units (FSRU).

Specialty chemicals: high-efficiency reaction equipment under strongly corrosive, severe thermal shock duties.

Nexson Group’s innovative design capability combined with Shaanxi Zhituo’s hard-core manufacturing technology aims to build a world-class benchmark in integrated thermal solutions and help customers across industries achieve green, low-carbon and sustainable industrial development.