The supervisor of IEE thermomolecular energetic laboratory, professor V.A. Eroshenko has recently been to Katowice (Poland) together with his postgraduate student Oleksiy Evtushenko. He delivered lectures there with their total amount of 12 hours. The lectures were on the introduction to the thermomolecular energetics (TME) for Masters, young scientists and professors.
V.A. Eroshenko founded this direction in science in early 80s of the XX century. The main idea of this direction was to use the interphase surface in the condensed system" liquid – the capillary-porous body which is not moisturized with its liquid" as a working substance instead of gas or steam. The total volume of the system depends on the level of pore filling with the liquid. As the pore filling starts at the certain Laplas capillary pressure rate which depends on the surface tension of the liquid and the surface tension depends on the temperature, this heterogeneous system can be used as the working substance for converting the thermal energy into the mechanical and vice versa. For works in this branch which were classified as scientific discoveries, the specialized academic council of the Rocket institute №1 (Moscow) conferred the doctor’s degree of technical sciences on V.A. Eroshenko in 1990 without writing the thesis. The famous rocket launcher Katyusha and the rocket R-7, which led the spacecraft with the first cosmonaut Y.O. Gagarin to the near-earth orbit, were created at this institute.
Our correspondent is talking to professor V.A. Eroshenko .
– Dear, Valentyn Andriyovych, why were you invited to Katowice?
– My postgraduate Oleksiy Evtushenko had a half-year internship at one of the leading research centers of Europe – Institute of Chemistry in Clermont-Ferrand of Blaise Pascal University (France) in 2012 thanks to the grant of the Ministry of education and science (MES) of Ukraine. He conducted research on characteristics of heterogeneous working bodies under the guidance of professors Jean-Pierre Grolier and Jean-Marie Nedelek.
Here Oleksiy got acquainted with the head of the Institute of Chemistry in Katowice (Poland) doctor Myroslaw Horanzhebskiy who got interested in thermomolecular energetics and invited me to deliver the course of lectures at Slaski University (Silesia). He also invited Oleksiy Evtushenko to participate in discussions and debates concerning directions of the possible cooperation.
– How were your lectures met by the listeners?
– The listeners (professors, researchers, undergraduates) perceived the lectures quite well. They were especially impressed with the realization of thermomolecular energetic principles in engineering decision including the space technique.
– Your postgraduate told me that people clapped after every lecture. How do you think, why?
– The western scientific audience is always amazed with the original idea and its practical realization. It happens especially when they hear that from the author of these ideas himself. I want to add that the qualified audience can distinguish the platitude from the new scientific and technical information that can’t be always found in the scientific publications. Before my arrival the researchers became familiar with the main publication of our laboratory from the prestigious science journals of the world.
– And what are your impressions from this trip?
–In short, I couldn’t imagine what big experimental research is conducted in the centre of Silesia – Katowice and what modern equipment they use. For example, the laboratory of nanophysics and spectroscopy, where they study the solid surface under the high vacuum, looks like the space station. Electron microscopes built into this"space station",have the parting ability in 10 angstroms (the size of water molecules).
In the laboratory of the dielectric relaxation of materials under the high pressure it is possible to measure pressure capacities up to 15,000 bars. The range of experimental facilities is purposed for the research of the ultrasound transmission in the mediums of a high pressure and the wide temperature interval.
Doctor Horanzhevskiy showed a new experimental installation called"transmissiometer"it allows to research thermo mechanical processes under high pressure (up to 7000 bar) – to test the work of the surface creation (specific value 200-1,000 square meters per 1 gram of the pore matrix) and heat effects in the temperature range from -50 to +400° С.
In general there are 77 new laboratories at the new building of the Silesian interuniversity education and interdisciplinary research center! Laboratories receive 1 million Euro and more from the government every year.
– Did you discuss the perspectives of your further cooperation?
– Doctor Horanzhevskiy and his colleagues from the physics department offered cooperation for the fundamental development of a new direction"in engineering thermodynamics".Beside this, the head of the Institute of chemistry guaranteed an access of the scientific brainpower from KPI (students, postgraduates and young researchers) to the modern equipment at his laboratory.
We also set the constructive connections with a famous Polish scientist Heinrich Flakus. He works in studies of hydrogen connections nature in the condensed medium. Detection the hydrogen connections nature and mechanism of their direction opens big opportunities for creation of new Energo Engineering on the basis of thermomolecular energetics.
Warsaw professor Radzio Stanisław (the Polish academy of science, Institute of physical chemistry, the construction department of Engineering Science), the executive of development of " transmissiometer "told that he was ready to participate in development of the experimental equipment for needs of thermomolecular energetics.
– And what was the result?
– We signed an agreement about research cooperation in the field of thermomolecular energetics and development of Polish-Ukrainian project in fundamental research of peculiarities of heterogeneous working bodies. Joint research of mechanisms of the molecular reaction in heterogeneous working bodies, pore bodies synthesis with a given geometry and topology of the pore space, fluids synthesis with given physical characteristics, research of thermo dynamical and energetic characteristics of heterogeneous working bodies, nature of the surface tension and hydrogen connections etc. It is planned to organize exchanges between researchers and students for both countries.
– What else would you like to say?
– At the beginning of this year the Academic Senate of NTUU "KPI" listened to the vice-chancellor’s report of the academician of the National academy of sciences M.Y. Ilchenko in scientific studies of the university. He was concerned about the reducing of the financing of the research and scientific and engineering from the national budget of Ukraine in 2013, a considerable reduction in drawing of new kinds of equipment by the industry during the years of independence and the portion of innovation active enterprises, a low percentage of article published in leading science journals of the world. All this effects the situation in research at our university. Under these conditions our international partners which have well-equipped laboratories give us an opportunity to continue research on the world level.