The Global Energy Association has identified winners of the first cycle of the Global Energy Youth Program. The winners are researchers from Russia and China. Each of them will receive a monetary reward in amount of USD 16, 000 (1 million rubles). Three scientists have won in the Idea' nomination and one person in Startup'. This year, projects submitted for the competition were related to the fields of energy efficiency, use of the organic renewable materials instead of fossil resources, and analysis of the widespread influence of electromagnetic radiation on humans. Applicants from the UK, Hong Kong, China, the UAE and Russia took part in the contest.
Photo provided by the press service of the Global Energy Association
The Global Energy Association has many years of successful experience in implementing grants and awards for young researchers from Russia. Since 2019 the Association has expand this initiative by launching the Global Energy Youth Program. The first international winner is Tianshu Ge (China). She is an Associate Professor at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. For the contest, she presented her project in High-Efficient Dehumidification Air-conditioning Heat Pump System for Rail Transit Vehicles'. The air conditioning system accounts for more than 1/6 of total energy consumption worldwide. The question of how to increase the energy utilisation efficiency of current air conditioning system is an urgent task for modern energy science. In her project, the scientist offers a number of technical solutions that will increase the efficiency of the system. The air conditioner carries out two functions - air cooling and dehumidification. To realize the dehumidification function, the air conditioning system must operate at a lower temperature (about 5-7°C), which leads to a decrease in the COP of the system. In order to maintain the efficiency level, Ms. Tianshu proposes to apply a special desiccant to the metal surface of conventional refrigerant heat exchanger. This new solution will increase the corresponding operation evaporation temperature of the refrigerant to 15-18°C and will double the COP of the system. This new air conditioning system can be implemented anywhere from private houses and office premises to supermarkets, public transportation, subway, and high-speed trains.
Another winner of the Global Energy Youth Program is Roman Mishnev, Research Associate at the Belgorod National Research University. His project Promising Steel for Energy Efficiency in Thermal Power Plants' won in the Idea' nomination, field of Traditional energy'. The scientist's developments make it possible to generate electrical energy at the coal power plants in a more environmentally friendly and cost-effective way. The specialist suggests using the new type of martensitic heat engineering steel while producing components of turbines and steam pipelines. The new material withstands loads of temperatures up to 650°C. By now, the operating temperature of modern turbines does not exceed 545°С. The increase in the operating temperature enhances the efficiency of thermal power plants. The use of new material not only improves the energy efficiency of the facility, but also saves the amount of fuel burned. According to the scientist, the economic profit from the use of new steel exceeds 5 million rubles per day at one power plant.
Evgeniy Naranov, Research worker at A.V.Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis, has become the third winner in the nomination of Idea' in the area of Non-Traditional Energy', with the project named Production of High-Quality Products from Bio-Oil Using Ru-Contained Catalysts'. There is no secret that the development of energy based on fossil materials only, and the impact of anthropogenic influence on environment threatens the development of humanity. Young scientist believes: The only real replacement for fossil materials is their renewable analogue and particularly plant biomass. It has carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in its elemental composition, so it can be used both for electricity generation and for the production of fuels and chemical products. The advantages of using biomass are extremely large amounts of available resources (for example, annual volume of wood waste in Russia is 1 billion cubic meters) and lack of influence of burning fuels derived from biomass on the carbon balance in the biosphere'. For its conversion into fuel, several stages are necessary. On the first stage, during the pyrolysis, liquid products, the so-called bio-oil are formed. To convert it into fuel it is necessary to clean it from a large amount of oxygen-containing compounds. According to the author of the project the most promising technology is the process of hydrotreating bio-oil using noble metal catalysts, in particular, ruthenium, because they are most active in removing oxygen. The scientist considers his novation able to solve the problem of processing biomass waste, reduce the negative environmental impact, and will also allow the production of additional useful products at the enterprises of the oil refining and petrochemical industries.
Evgeniy Titov, Associate Professor of the Department of Electrification of Production and Life' of Polzunov Altai State Technical University has become the winner in Startup' nomination in the area of New Ways of Energy Application'. He participated in the contest with the project named Intellectualized Monitoring System for Electromagnetic Compatibility'. The scientist has created the system, which allows providing multi-parameter monitoring of the electromagnetic environment in domestic and industrial environments. The proposed technology gives an accurate picture of the danger of electromagnetic radiation, and predicts a change in the electromagnetic environment at the facilities that are extremely important for ensuring human safety and the effective functioning of electrical equipment. During the period from 2016 to 2019, the project has been implemented at the industrial facilities in Siberia for 13 times. The amount of money saved on monitoring one large enterprise was over 1 million rubles. According to the scientist's calculations, the cost of conducting full electromagnetic monitoring of a small room (40 m³) is 30,776 rubles. The use of his system leads to reducing the cost of full examination of one object by 30,000 rubles (97%).
It is noteworthy, that in 2014 Evgeny Titov became the winner of the XI All-Russian contest of youth scientific projects in the field of energy, which has been held by the Global Energy Association since 2004. The scientist says: This victory had become a starting point for my further achievements in science. With the money allocated by the Association, our team modernised the hardware and software complexes for monitoring the electromagnetic environment while developing measures to protect objects from electromagnetic radiation. Developing the complex to the level of an intelligent system allowed me to win this year'.
The Award ceremony will be held in Moscow on December 12, 2019. The winners of the Global Energy Youth Program in the Idea' nomination will receive a grant of USD 16,000 (1 million rubles ) each for the further development of their projects within the next year. The scientist who won in the Startup' nomination will be granted a personal award of USD 16,000 (1 million rubles). Earlier the Association has organized contest for young scientists only in Russia. 69 Russian scientists with research projects were recognised the winners of the Energy of Youth Program and received a total of USD 715, 000 (45 million rubles) for the development of their projects and 4 researchers with introduced innovations that were awarded personal prizes of 4 million rubles each.
About the Global Energy Association
The Global Energy Association develops international research and projects in the field of energy. The Association operates with the support of the leading Russian energy companies PJSC "GAZPROM", "FGC UES", PJSC, PJSC "Surgutneftegas". The Association manages the Global Energy Prize, organizes the eponymous summit, and implements the Global Energy Youth Program.
The Global Energy Prize is an international award for outstanding scientific research and technological development in energy. Since 2003, the Global Energy Prize has been awarded to 39 Laureates from 13 countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Japan, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the UK and the USA. According to IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence, the Global Energy Prize is one of TOP-99 international academic awards with the highest prestige and significance. In the prestige rating of the International Congress of Distinguished Awards (ICDA) the Global Energy Prize is in the category of "Mega Prizes" for its laudable goals, exemplary practices and the overall prize fund.
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