On our planet, despite the fact that 70 % of the Earth's surface is covered with water, fresh water accounts for only 2,5 % of the total water volume, while 97,5 % is composed of mineralized seawater. While it is not possible to directly use seawater for drinking, agricultural, or industrial purposes, there are numerous countries that rely on seawater after the desalination process as a source of drinking water. The global average daily production of drinking water through traditional desalination processes is estimated to be 23 · 10⁶ m³. This process requires a large amount of fossil fuel. It is estimated that it takes about 10 million tons of oil to produce 1 million cubic meters of drinking water per day, which leads to additional carbonization of the atmosphere and contributes to the greenhouse effect and subsequent climate change.

The energy and desalination systems of the future must be economical, reliable and safe, ensuring maximum continuity of energy supply to consumers in all regions, especially in remote and rural areas. This can be achieved by developing energy systems based on renewable, primarily solar energy sources.

Currently, the most widespread, mass type of solar desalination plants in developing countries remain single-sloped solar desalination plants with direct heating of water by sunlight, which have the greatest availability due to the minimum cost of construction.

However, the freshwater production of traditional evaporative solar desalination systems is low, and even in countries with high levels of solar insolation, it does not exceed 2-3 liters per square meter per day, which is largely due to the high transparency of water (low blackbody coefficient) for photons in the solar spectrum.

In order to improve the efficiency of solar desalination systems, scientific research and engineering development of new principles and designs for solar desalination plants based on the use of heat carriers with nanoparticle additives, reverse osmosis systems, solar orientation systems, rotational and film methods for intensifying evaporation, and the use of hybrid systems, including those using heat generated by nuclear reactors, are being conducted. It is clear that such improvements and increased productivity of solar desalination plants lead to a significant increase in their cost and reduce the availability of desalinated water for millions of people in Africa and the Middle East.

This study proposes a method for increasing the productivity of a solar distiller for producing fresh water by converting the optical interaction of sunlight photons with the evaporating water into increased photon energy assimilation and increased "effective blackness" of the evaporation basin by placing black Ural stones (dunite) in it as photon energy absorbers and accumulators, which can significantly increase the temperature and evaporation rate of the water without significantly increasing the cost of the installation.

In the same climatic conditions, three solar desalination systems were studied: a traditional single-sloped solar distiller (TSD), a distiller with 10 kg of stones added (TSD-10), and a distiller with 20 kg of stones added (TSD-20). With a constant water level, adding stones reduced the mass of water in the pool and increased the «effective blackness» of the evaporation pool, significantly increasing the desalination capacity. The total daily volume of desalinated water was 3 L/m² for a traditional single-sloped solar distiller (TSD), 6 L/m² for a distiller with 10 kg of stones (TSDK-10), and 12 L/m² for a distiller with 20 kg of stones (TSDK-20).

 Reducing the volume of water and increasing the «effective blackness» of the evaporation basin significantly improves the efficiency of the solar distiller with minimal design changes and increased installation costs.

Modern system and market conditions dictate the requirement for forced unloading of nuclear power plants during periods of reduced energy consumption. Technologically, nuclear power plants are capable of following a planned load schedule during certain periods of the fuel cycle, with unloading during periods of reduced electricity demand, but this can reduce their economic efficiency and competitiveness. One way to maintain the economic efficiency of nuclear power plants is to produce commercial hydrogen using the unused electricity from the power plant's power unit. The cost of transporting hydrogen to the final consumer accounts for a significant portion of the overall cost of hydrogen production. This article analyzes the impact of different methods of transporting hydrogen on its cost. It has been established that the most expedient method for large daily hydrogen consumption is the use of a redesigned pipeline, with an average cost of approximately 2.029 $/kg for a distance of 100-400 km. For relatively low hydrogen consumption (up to 61.6 tons/day), it is advisable to transport it using vehicles with a capacity of 700 kg, with an average cost of approximately 2.24 $/kg. These results indicate the feasibility of implementing a commercial hydrogen production complex at a nuclear power plant. Centralized hydrogen production at a nuclear power plant has a number of positive effects on both the plant itself and the hydrogen consumer.

The combination of NPPs with a hydrogen complex based on the process of water electrolysis is an up-to-date way to regulate the daily load schedules, which makes it possible to accumulate unclaimed electricity during the hours of low energy consumption and use it during peak load hours with the unchanged power of the reactor and steam generators of the nuclear power plant due to the combustion of hydrogen and oxygen generated as a result of electrolysis in order to overheat the working fluid of the NPP STU and generate peak power. The main equipment of the hydrogen energy complex is a system of electrolysis plants, depending on the type of which the efficiency and capital investments of the entire hydrogen complex vary. In this work, the analysis of the main electrolysis technologies is carried out, the world experience in the development and operation of installations is studied, and the efficiency and cost indicators of the types of electrolyzers under study are revealed. According to the review, it was found that solid oxide electrolyzers have the highest efficiency, at the same time, this type implies the highest final cost due to the comparatively lower level of development and the initial stage of commercialization. Electrolyzers with a proton exchange membrane meet the average efficiency and cost, while alkaline electrolysis has a lower efficiency, which is compensated by minimal capital investments. It was also revealed that solid oxide electrolysis is effective in conjunction with nuclear power plants for the production of commercial hydrogen, which characterizes the need for further research and development in the field of combining high-temperature electrolyzers with a nuclear power plant.

The Russian energy development strategy through 2050 calls for the participation of nuclear power plants in regulating daily fluctuations in electrical load. This leads to variable operating conditions at nuclear power plants, which is ineffective due to premature wear of the plant's primary equipment, particularly the fuel cladding in the core, and the nature of chain reactions in the core associated with xenon poisoning. In this regard, this paper examines a system for additional feedwater heating in a NPP steam turbine cycle with recirculation of unreacted hydrogen. This system allows for safe increases in NPP unit capacity during peak electrical load hours while maintaining the plant's baseline operating mode. According to experimental and theoretical estimates, the hydrogen recirculation rate in the hydrogen-oxygen combustion chamber in the 0,2-2 MPa pressure range is 99,5-18,3%. The decrease in recirculation with increasing pressure is due to the active recombination of hydrogen with oxygen during the cooling of dissociated steam, as well as the increasing effect of hydrogen carryover in the condensate due to its increased solubility. With the recombination rate decreasing to 0,97 in the pressure range of 0,2-7 MPa, the hydrogen recirculation rate is 99,5-28,1%. The assessment showed that the absolute internal efficiency of the steam power cycle decreases as the hydrogen consumption for feedwater heating increases. The increase in gross efficiency of the NPP power unit is 0,73-1,78%, and the off-peak electricity conversion efficiency reaches 37,06-25,96%. Maximum efficiency is achieved at a pressure of 1,1 MPa in the hydrogen-oxygen combustion chamber.

Obtaining highly efficient production of electric energy is achieved by using a combined cycle of combined-cycle and gas turbine installations. The indicators of thermal emissions and specific fuel consumption have reduced values, the efficiency and mobility of the workflow are increased.

Let's consider the operation of the Bazian combined cycle electric power plant in Iraq, which has a capacity of 750 MW. This station is located in the Kurdistan region. It was put into operation in 2016. The main disadvantage of this production is a decrease in the energy efficiency of the installation in the summer. This is directly related to the high outdoor temperatures. These characteristics affect the volume and mass flow of gas. There is an increase in specific fuel consumption and a decrease in pressure in the compressor outlet pipe. Electrical power indicators are decreasing. This problem entails economic costs as a result of shutdowns of the entire system outside the planned schedule.

The problem can be solved by innovative developments in the field of cooling for combined installations. Heat transfer is intensified, control is restored and efficiency is increased. Consider such innovations as thermodynamic modeling and artificial neural network.

Thermodynamic modeling is the process of creating models capable of estimating thermodynamic values based on parametric data. The installation is evaluated, thermochemical processes are analyzed, theoretical and practical information data are systematized, and the results of interaction with high temperature values are predicted. The innovation uses the following types of software on a global level: ThermoLib, Chemical Workbench, OLI.

An artificial neural network is based on the close interaction of neurons with each other. First, the input data is received, followed by a series of computational actions to determine the solution, and finally, the overall final result is shown. The higher the synoptic weight of a neural connection, the greater the nodal impact between each other.

These innovative methods calculate productivity and assess financial feasibility using the MATLAB programming platform.

The rapidly developing solar energy industry, taking into account the global trend towards reducing the carbon footprint of production, requires a transition to maximizing the recycling of solar panels. This pressing issue necessitates the study of global recycling practices and the analysis of relevant methods. To this end, we have identified the main areas and techniques for recycling solar panels, based on the experiences of various countries that actively utilize solar energy. The functions of the largest recycling companies have identified the primary methods for separating solar energy waste, extracting valuable components, and reusing them in production. For example, CdTe module technologies have been developed that allow for a recovery rate of almost 90 % for glass and approximately 95 % for semiconductor materials by weight. However, the analysis revealed a critical lack of cost-effective recycling methods for thin-film modules (CIGS, a-Si) on an industrial scale, as well as insufficient maturity of chemical delamination technologies for separating polymer layers. This helps to reduce the environmental impact of the production process, increase its economic efficiency, and save 50 % of the material.

The problem of accumulating and disposing of ash and slag waste from thermal power plants remains one of the most pressing issues in the fields of energy and environmental safety. The ash produced during the combustion of coal can contain a large amount of various heavy metals. Since coal remains one of the main fuel resources in the energy sector, the problem of ash accumulation and environmental pollution by heavy metals is quite acute. The purpose of this review article is to analyze the composition of the ash from various coal basins used in Russian thermal power plants, identify the most common heavy metals, and compare their concentrations with the threshold value for industrial extraction. The analysis of available information in open sources was conducted, and diagrams were created to illustrate the distribution of coal-fired power plants across energy systems, the share of coal basins in terms of production and use in the energy sector, and the concentration of heavy metals in the most significant coal basins. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the most common heavy metals are zinc, chromium, lead, cobalt, and copper. The concentrations of heavy metals in the ash of most coal-fired power plants are insufficient for industrial processing in order to extract them. If it is not possible to extract heavy metals from the ash, the most promising approach is phytoremediation.

This article examines key areas of 3D modeling and virtual reality technologies in the context of the national program “Data Economy”, which covers personnel training and the digitalization of industrial sectors. It describes various promising areas and projects by type of virtual reality delivery, taking into account their advantages, achieved results, and implementation examples. The article substantiates the relevance of developing and implementing innovative projects using 3D modeling and virtual reality technologies. Information on eight innovative projects developed by the staff of the Centre for Science and Education “Ecology of Power Engineering” of the National Research University “MPEI” over the past seven years is presented, along with a description of the achieved or expected impact and information on their implementation. The developed training projects, used in training of the energy company employees in the fields of Thermal Power Engineering and Electric Power Engineering, include visualizations of the TGMP-314 steam boiler, 110 kV gas-insulated switchgear, T-250-240 steam turbine, and TVV-350 turbogenerator. The projects completed as part of R&D include simulators and interactive instructions for energy company operating and maintenance personnel, designed to practice specific skills and technological operations in training or exam mode.

The paper includes an economic impact assessment conducted using the project “Creation of Interactive Operating Instructions for the TGMP-314 Boiler”. The assessment results indicate the economic viability of implementing the R&D results.

Furthermore, the paper provides information on promising developments and projects using 3D modeling and virtual reality technologies that can be successfully applied in technical sectors, including the electric power industry.

This study addresses day-ahead multi-step load forecasting at 15-min resolution (24 h, 96 steps), where strong nonlinearity, non-stationarity and multi-scale mixing hinder accurate long-horizon prediction. We propose an EMD-dual-branch MLP framework with component-wise modeling and calibrated fusion. Specifically, the original load series is decomposed by empirical mode decomposition and reconstructed into a high-frequency component (HFC) and a low-frequency component (LFC) using a predictability-oriented split criterion. Two direct multi-output multilayer perceptron (MLP) predictors are trained separately for the HFC and LFC branches, with branch-wise Pearson-based feature selection applied to reduce redundancy and enhance interpretability. To mitigate reconstruction bias, a Global Affine fusion is applied as post-hoc calibration to mitigate reconstruction bias. Multi-objective hyperparameter optimization is performed via NSGA-II (Optuna) by jointly minimizing validation errors of the HFC and LFC branches. Experiments on UCI ElectricityLoadDiagrams (MT_232, 2012–2013) with IPMA temperature series (Lisbon) show that EMD_MLP achieves RMSE/MAE/sMAPE = 8.567/5.434/7.546, reducing RMSE by 16.6 % and 19.5 % versus MLP and LSTM; the NSGA-II variant further improves to 8.363/5.377/7.503 and yields a more stable horizon-wise error profile. The proposed method provides reliable high-resolution day-ahead load trajectories for operational scheduling such as unit commitment, reserve scheduling and market operation.

The paper presents the results of the development of technical solutions for the technology of liquid-phase reduction of iron and continuous steel production aimed at creating energy-efficient metallurgical production.

The main purpose of this work is to develop a comprehensive technology for the continuous production of hot-rolled sheet based on an innovative continuous-acting steelmaking unit (hereinafter SAND), which is based on the principle of liquid-phase reduction of iron. The main task is to create a technology for off-domain continuous reduction of iron with a carbon-hydrogen mixture by purging with natural gas, which makes it possible to maximize the use of fuel energy.

Based on the installation being developed, a master plan with the location of the main equipment is proposed. It takes into account the logistics of material flows when creating a new metallurgical enterprise. Special attention is paid to the development of recycling systems for secondary energy resources and the analysis of environmental performance indicators of the process.

The scientific and practical significance of the study is confirmed by the technical feasibility of introducing alternative steel production technologies, demonstrating a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared with aglocoxodomain technology, as well as the prospects for increasing the competitiveness of metallurgical production. The results obtained can serve as a basis for the development of a feasibility study for the design of an industrial installation.