Two 0.5 ton electroplating plants in Vietnam

I. Project Overview

With the rapid expansion of the hardware and electronic surface finishing industry in Southeast Asia, large electroplating industrial parks in Vietnam are accelerating the upgrade of clean heating equipment. The park strictly enforces dual standards including clean energy access, environmental emission requirements and stable process heating. It conducted a global screening for steam heat source equipment compatible with electroplating production lines.

After multiple rounds of on-site inspections, working condition simulation tests and comparisons with domestic and overseas industry cases, the park finally decided to purchase two sets of 0.5-ton Kaida steam generators. The complete equipment has completed cross-border transportation, on-site installation and commissioning, and has been officially put into use for constant-temperature heating throughout the electroplating process. This marks the successful implementation of Kaida thermal energy solutions in Vietnam’s industrial park, demonstrating the brand’s strength as it goes global and enters the Southeast Asian market.

II. Core Customer Pain Points

Vietnam’s electroplating industrial park hosts dozens of hardware and electronic electroplating manufacturers. The original conventional heating equipment fails to meet modern production requirements and local environmental policies, bringing four prominent challenges:

1. Poor process temperature control and high electroplating defect rate The full electroplating workflow, including degreasing, pickling, plating solution thermostating and workpiece drying, demands strict temperature precision. Old-fashioned boilers suffer from delayed temperature rise and volatile steam output, causing unstable temperature of the bath solution. This leads to incomplete workpiece degreasing, peeling and uneven thickness of plating layers, with continuously rising rework and waste costs.
2. Tedious annual inspection for special equipment and high labor costs for operation & maintenance Traditional large-capacity boilers require annual filing and special equipment annual inspections. Overseas parks lack professional certified operation and maintenance personnel, and the inspection procedures are complicated. Once the equipment shuts down for maintenance, the entire electroplating production line will be interrupted, resulting in severe production loss.
3. Severe energy consumption waste and high long-term operating costs Old equipment requires long preheating time and has no adaptive load adjustment. It consumes liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) through idling during intermittent production of the production line, with thermal efficiency below 85%. High gas costs squeeze the profit margin of products for many enterprises in the park.

III. Kaida Customized LPG Steam Generator Solution

Considering the actual working conditions of the Vietnamese park: no natural gas pipeline network, centralized LPG supply, continuous electroplating production and simple overseas operation & maintenance, Kaida delivered a complete heating solution with two parallel 0.5-ton LPG-specialized units to fully resolve all pain points of the park:

1. LPG-specialized combustion system adapted to local gas supply conditions in Vietnam Equipped with an LPG-version combustion system, the equipment requires no natural gas pipeline laying and can be directly connected to the park’s LPG storage tank. Featuring flexible installation, it fits the energy supply environment of Southeast Asia.
2. Variable-frequency constant-temperature steam to stabilize electroplating production processes Intelligent variable-frequency load regulation enables stepless temperature control from 25% to 100%. The bath solution temperature is stably maintained within the process specification range to ensure thorough degreasing and uniform plating layers, greatly cutting electroplating defect rates. It supports full-range electroplating processing of hardware and electronic components.
3. Inspection-exempt safety design, freeing overseas parks from cumbersome annual inspections The total water volume of the unit is less than 30L, so it is not classified as special equipment. No special equipment registration or mandatory annual inspection is required, and overseas factories do not need to hire certified boiler operators. It is equipped with multiple interlock protections against water shortage, overpressure, flameout and overheating. It operates steadily in the acid and alkali corrosive environment of electroplating workshops with a high safety factor, greatly simplifying overseas operation and maintenance workflows.
4. Instant steam generation + condensing energy saving to drastically reduce LPG consumption Steam is generated within 5 seconds after startup without long preheating, enabling on-demand startup and shutdown matching the production line. The tail condensing waste heat recovery structure achieves a thermal efficiency of over 96%, saving 20%–30% LPG compared with conventional equipment. The two 0.5-ton units can run independently or operate in parallel under full load. Automatic start and stop of individual units during staggered production eliminates idling waste and effectively reduces long-term gas costs for the park.
5. Modular parallel layout to meet park expansion demands Two 0.5-ton units are installed in parallel. The total steam output can be flexibly adjusted according to the production capacity of enterprises settled in the park. When new electroplating production lines are added later, additional units of the same model can be directly connected without modifying basic pipelines, delivering strong expandability. Featuring an integrated structure, the equipment can be put into production after cross-border transportation and on-site connection of water, electricity and LPG, facilitating overseas installation and commissioning.

IV. Post-Implementation Results

One month after commissioning, the heating renovation project of the Vietnam electroplating industrial park achieved remarkable results and won unanimous recognition from the park management and settled factories:

1. Electroplating yield increased by 12%: Constant-temperature high-dry steam stabilizes temperatures across all processes. Defects such as workpiece peeling, pinholes and plating delamination are greatly reduced, and rework material and labor costs drop significantly.
2. Operation & maintenance labor cost halved: The inspection-exempt model removes the need for annual inspections. It runs automatically via touchscreen one-click operation. Local ordinary workers can operate it after simple training, eliminating the need for foreign certified special equipment maintenance engineers.
3. LPG energy consumption reduced by 26%: Condensing energy saving plus variable-frequency on-demand energy supply drastically cuts the monthly gas expenditure of the park compared with the old heating equipment, shortening the payback period of investment.
4. Flexible and controllable production capacity: The dual-unit parallel design enables dual units running at full load during daytime to support multiple electroplating lines, while a single unit operates for low night-time production to avoid energy waste, matching the park’s staggered production mode.
5.  

This project of two 0.5-ton LPG steam generators for the Vietnam electroplating industrial park serves as a benchmark case of Kaida Thermal Energy’s overseas expansion into Southeast Asia. With LPG-specialized units customized for overseas working conditions, exclusive constant-temperature heating technology for the electroplating industry, and inspection-exempt low-maintenance design, Kaida has overcome multiple overseas barriers related to environmental protection, energy and operation & maintenance. With stable and reliable equipment performance and one-stop cross-border supporting services, Kaida has gained market recognition among Southeast Asian industrial parks.

In the future, Kaida will continue to deepen its presence in overseas industries including surface treatment, chemical engineering and food processing. It will launch a full range of steam generators for gas, LPG and electric heating adapted to the energy structure and environmental regulations of different countries. With high-quality domestic industrial thermal equipment, Kaida will keep expanding its global footprint and deliver energy-saving, safe and integrated stable steam heat source solutions for the global manufacturing industry.