The students of the Department of Thermal and Alternative Energy of the Institute of IATS won the International Competition of Student Research Papers ‘Black Sea Science’.
This competition is held annually under the auspices of the Black Sea Universities Network, an association of higher education institutions in the Black Sea region, and the ISEKI-Food Association, the European Association for the Integration of Food Science and Engineering Knowledge in the Food Industry. Odesa National Technological University (ONTU) is a member of these associations, and this year's competition was held on its premises.
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The jury consisted of 144 expert scientists. Of these, 92 represented 23 foreign countries: Angola, Benin, the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the UK, Greece, China, Turkey, Oman, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Estonia, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Poland, Georgia, Romania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, and Moldova.
The competition. At the first stage of the competition, 358 papers from Ukrainian and foreign universities were accepted for consideration, including universities in Oman, Lithuania, Germany, Serbia, Poland, Romania, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Uzbekistan. According to the terms of the competition, the works had to be innovative or exploratory in nature within a particular field. At ONTU, the competition was held in the following areas: ‘Food Science and Technology; Economics and Management; Information Technology, Automation and Robotics; Energy and Energy Efficiency; Ecology and Environmental Protection.
Works. The students of the Department of TAE (Thermal and Alternative Energy) prepared research papers in the areas of Energy and Energy Efficiency and Ecology and Environmental Protection. According to the results of the first stage of the competition, master student Polina Skrypnyk, whose supervisor is associate professor Volodymyr Sereda, received 95 points for her work on ‘Technoeconomic analysis of direct air capture in the climatic conditions of Ukraine’. Bachelor's degree applicants Taras Oliferuk and Vladyslav Dovhan, supervised by senior lecturer Tetiana Sheleshei and assistant Inna Bednarska, received 90 points for their work ‘Design of heating and ventilation systems of a three-room residential building with application of solar heating system’. Khrystyna Matusevych and Viktoriia Syvachenko's paper ‘To calculate and design a bioenergy plant for the production of biogas from agricultural waste’ was awarded 79 points, and Angela Hranishevska and Vladyslav Sapon were awarded 75 points for their paper ‘Calculation of solar collector design for a typical building’.
Therefore, Polina Skrypnyk, Taras Oliferuk and Vladyslav Dovhan became finalists and were invited to participate in the second stage of the competition. They presented their work at an online conference. Based on the results of their presentations and reports, the jury selected the winners.
The essence of the projects. What developments did the representatives of Kyiv Polytechnic share with the scientific community? Polina Skrypnyk: ‘My work is dedicated to the technical and economic analysis of direct air in the climatic conditions of Ukraine. It is known that carbon dioxide capture is critical for reducing the effect of greenhouse gases and maintaining climate stability, given the threat of global change caused by an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This paper considers the technology of direct air capture using solid sorbents as a possible and promising option for mitigating the effects of climate change in Ukraine. I also compared the use of liquid and solid sorbents in direct air capture systems, presented the chemical and physical properties of the most promising ones, and developed a mathematical model of direct air capture of carbon dioxide using solid sorbents. She also carried out a technical and economic analysis of the direct air capture system and determined the optimal modes of its operation. She proved that the adsorption capacity of sorbents, air flow and desorption temperature are the key factors that affect the performance and operating costs of a direct air capture system: the MOF-177 sorbent can capture 6.67 tonnes of CO2 per year, and Zeolite13X can capture 30.15 tonnes of CO2 per year, respectively. In addition, the cost of capturing 1 tonne of CO2 from MOF-177 is $919, and from Zeolite13X - $113. I believe that the work is relevant.’
Taras Oliferuk: ‘Energy-efficient technologies are becoming more and more commonplace in our lives. We, as power engineers, urge everyone to save energy (both heat and electricity) and develop energy-saving industries. In my work with Vladyslav, we designed the heating and ventilation systems for a three-room apartment building using a solar heating system. In our country, due to its climatic characteristics, heat supply to housing and the public sector in winter is the most energy-intensive component. Despite the strict requirements for the thermal insulation characteristics of building structural elements, this situation is unlikely to change. However, solar energy has a number of advantages compared to, for example, small hydropower and wind power. A solar installation neatly ‘hidden’ on the roof of a building will satisfy even a conservative owner. It could be said that the only reason why solar panels are not yet on the roof of every building is the relatively low gas prices. However, the intensity of sunlight, unlike pricing, is much more predictable. Therefore, increased light intensity can significantly increase solar energy production, making this factor important in the planning and optimisation of solar power plants. Studies such as ours help to develop more accurate and efficient strategies for the use of solar energy, contribute to sustainable development and the rational use of alternative energy sources.’
Vladyslav Dovhan: ‘In our work with Taras, we performed all the necessary calculations for design and operation: envelope structures, including the calculation of standard and actual heat transfer resistances; limiting moisture condensation, infiltration, heat gain; heat losses of the entire building, etc. We specified the heat output of heating devices and the useful heat transfer of pipelines inside the building; we selected the required number of heating devices for the building under study. We calculated the hydraulic network of the heating system in accordance with the given connection diagram and the accepted route; we selected the diameters of the pipelines. We also calculated the ventilation and hot water systems; determined the total capacity of the heating and hot water systems. Of course, there were a lot of calculations and modelling involved. The calculations were carried out in the classroom in the Environmental Protection Strategy scientific club, and the modelling was carried out as part of the Environmental Aspects of Energy club.
Results. Polina Skrypnyk gained 11 more points in the second stage of the competition, bringing her total to 106 points for both stages, so she took third place. Taras Oliferuk and Vladyslav Dovhan received 21 points in the second stage, with a total of 111 points, so they took first place. All participants and supervisors were awarded certificates, and the winners' works will be published in the competition's collection of works (if desired).