The paper presents a generic technique to calculate the consumption of synthetic gas and fuel for the specified electrical power, temperature in the anode fuel utilization factor, specific expenses of fuel equivalent to develop electric and thermal energy, power efficiency for various natural fuels (methane, coal, petroleum products, etc.) and synthesized ones (methanol, ethanol, etc.) in synthesis gas with subsequent use of it in the SOFC.

The paper researches into the influence of fuel types: hydrogen, methane, motor diesel fuel, ethanol, gasoline and methanol – on fuel utilization factor, specific expenses for the production of electrical and thermal energy, efficiencies of the catalytic burner, fuel cell solid-oxide battery and electrochemical generator. The overall level of fuel utilization for the cogeneration power plant based on SOFC with hydrogen fuel and methane surpasses the level of modern combined-cycle cogeneration plant, and with diesel, ethanol, gasoline, and methanol surpasses the level of cogeneration combined heat and power plant CHPP on the basis of the internal combustion engine.

The investigation has shown that the best fuel is hydrogen and the worst is methanol on the level of energy performance.

For hydrogen, fuel utilization factor and specific expenses of fuel for production of electric and thermal energy releasing in heat networks equal to 1; 0.122 kg equivalent fuel/kWh and 34 kg of equivalent fuel/GJ, respectively, while for methanol, these indicators equal to 0.359; 0.475 kg equivalent fuel/kWh and 83,7 kg of equivalent fuel/GJ. For other fuel types, these energy indicators lie between the specified values.

The paper deals with the photovoltaic panels application for water heating purposes. We have developed and tested the mathematical models for traditional and PV-based water heaters. Modeling shows that the area ratio for PV-based and collector-based water heaters with close productivity is about 1.6–2.3 for Russian southern regions and 1.2–1.6 for northern ones. PV-based water heating systems are shown to have several advantages compared to collector-based ones, including close capital costs in Russian conditions and simpler installation and operation, especially in northern regions of the country.

The paper classifies the commercial controllers for PV-based water heating systems. Modern commercial PV water heating systems are supplied with maximum power point (MPP) tracker technology controllers. Cost for such special controllers is quite high, and several manufacturers make them. The most of manufacturers consider PV water heating systems as a part of “smart home” or way to utilize excess of energy produced by PV array. Thus, the researches of possible improvement and cost decrease for PV water heaters are actual. It is shown that the possible way to simplify and make cheaper the whole PV water heater is to make it without controller but to use constant resistance element as electric load. In this case, PV array productivity decrease can be compensated by additional PV panels in the array, and the year heat production is higher than for collector-based system with comparable capital cost.

According to earlier estimates, the Russian coasts have a high potential of wave and wind energy. At the same time, the use of several types of renewable energy sources (RES) allows us to overcome the inherent drawback–the inhomogeneity in time of the energy flow. Nowadays in Russia and abroad, the results of satellite observations, mathematical modeling and reanalysis data are widely used to assess the potential of wind and wave resources. The maps, the atlases, the databases and other information resources (both printed and electronic) are developed for use in the design, mathematical modeling of the power plants performance on the base of RES including hybrid ones.

The paper presents the results of developing a Web Atlas of wave and wind energy for the coastal zone of the seas in the Russian Federation, demonstrates the methods for calculating wave and wind characteristics (SWAN spectral wave model), as well as data sources (wind speed reanalyses NCEP / CFSR and NCEP / CFSv2 for the periods 19792010 and 2011-2016). As the characteristics of the energy potential, mean annual values of the height of significant waves, length, period of waves, flux of wave energy, average specific power of the wind flow are calculated and analyzed. The tools for developing a Web Atlas prototype are discussed in detail. Web Atlas is based on the classical three-tier model which includes a storage subsystem (database server), a subsystem for analyzing and publishing data (directly a GIS server), and a Web application subsystem providing a user interface for interacting with data and mapping services (web server). The implementation of the Web Atlas has been carried out for the Black Sea waters. It is planned to further develop the atlas covering the coastal waters of all the seas of Russia.

The paper theoretically studies the possibility of energy transformation of fast and epithermal neutrons to energy of coherent photon radiation at the expense of a neutron pumping of the active medium formed by nucleus with longliving isomerous states. The channel of the nucleus formation in isomeric state as a daughter nucleus resulting from the nuclear reaction of neutron capture by a lighter nucleus is taken into consideration for the first time. Assessment of neutron flux spectrum parameters providing transition from the main state into one of the excited ones for the nuclei of isotopes ₅₄Xe¹³⁰, ₁₀Ne²² is made. It was shown that to transit the isotope nuclei into the excited state by forward neutron scattering on the nuclei it is necessary to “select” the isotopes not only with great specific energy of nucleons coupling but also with a small value of the neutron absorption cross section. Moreover, the paper performs the analysis of cross sections dependence of radiative neutron capture by the nuclei of gadolinium isotopes Gd¹⁵⁵ and Gd¹⁵⁶. As a result, the speed of Gd¹⁵⁶ nuclei formation is stated to exceed the speed of their “burnup” in the neutron flux. It is provided by a unique combination of absorbing properties of two isotopes of gadolinium Gd155 and Gd156 in both thermal and resonance regions of neutron energy. We have formulated the conditions required for making isotope nuclei excited by forward neutron scattering on nuclei and for storing nuclei in excited states. The relation which allows estimating processes parameters of neutron capture by nuclei, formation and decay of nuclei isomeric states is obtained as a result of analytical solution of differential equations system of nuclide kinetics taking into account the decay of nuclei isomeric states. The paper makes the possibility analysis of neutron pumping of the participating medium created by the hafnium isotope nuclei. The properties of hafnium isotopes nuclei is found to do not allow providing conditions for population inversion of energy levels due to the formation of hafnium nuclei in isomeric state Hf^178m2 in the neutron flux. The paper shows the possibility of excess energy accumulation in the participating medium created by the nuclei of the pair of gadolinium isotopes Gd¹⁵⁵ and Gd¹⁵⁶ due to formation and storage of nuclei in isomeric state at radiative neutron capture by the nuclei of the stable isotope with a smaller mass. It is concluded that when the active medium created by gadolinium nuclei is pumped by neutrons with the flux density of the order of 10¹³ cm^-2·s^-1, the condition of levels population inversion can be achieved in a few tens of seconds. The wave length of the radiation generated by the medium is 0.0006 nm. Sintered ceramics Gd₂O₃ based on enriched in the 155-th isotope of gadolinium can be considered a possible active medium. Thus, there is a possibility of creation of the laser techniques of new generation with the parameters providing its application in pulse power engineering of the future.

In this work, a low-temperature plasma initiated in liquid media between electrodes is shown to be able to decompose hydrogen containing organic molecules resulting in obtaining gaseous products with volume part of hydrogen higher than 90%. As feedstocks, the direct water-hydrogen emulsions obtained by ultrasonic treatment and action of electric field are used. Hydrogen productivity from emulsions is shown to be not less than that from individual substances. The measurement of the amount of the gas mixture formed during the decomposition of organic liquids demonstrates that the output is highly dependent on the discharge current, and also on the volume of the discharge which can vary depending on the distance between the electrodes in the reaction chamber. In current experiments, the discharge current is from 4A to 8A, the discharge voltage depending on the type of liquid is 30-45 V.

It has been established that using the acoustoplasmic method allows the use of raw materials of the lowest quality, i.e. there is no need to spend expensive cleaning to remove impurities. A significant advantage is also the absence of toxic and difficult to digestible by-products of this synthesis, as well as the fact that the gas mixture leaves the reactor at a low pressure (0.2-0.3 atm) which facilitates its primary transportation. Hydrogen-containing gas can be used as fuel directly after synthesis, i.e. does not require separation, since in addition to hydrogen contains only impurities of CO₂ and water vapor. A by-product in the production of hydrogen by the acousto-plasma discharge method in the decomposition of organic liquids is carbon formed in the form of agglomerates of nanoparticles of different structures and precipitated during the reaction at the bottom of the reaction chamber.

As the results of analyzes and stoichiometric calculations have shown, most of the carbon and oxygen contained in the molecules of the initial liquid are consumed to form these by-products, so that the gaseous mixture formed is significantly enriched in hydrogen. Nanoparticles obtained and their agglomerates can also be used as fillers, dyes, components of composite materials, etc.

The method of oxygen isotope exchange with the gas phase equilibration have been used to obtain the temperature dependences of the oxygen surface exchange and diffusion coefficients with proton-conducting oxides La_1–xSr_xScO_3–δ (x = 0; 0.04; 0.09) in the temperature range of 600−900°C at oxygen pressure 1.01 kPa. The paper determines that the diffusion and oxygen surface exchange coefficients increase with the increasing of the strontium content in the oxides. We have found out the rates of the individual stages of the oxygen exchange process on the surface of the oxides. It is shown that oxygen incorporation is rate-determining stage of the oxygen exchange on the surface of the undoped oxide, whereas for the strontium-doped oxides La_1–xSr_xScO_3–δ (x = 0; 0.04; 0.09) with increasing of strontium concentration, the difference between the rates of dissociative adsorption and oxygen incorporation decreases so that for the oxide La_0,91Sr_0,09ScO_3–δ the stage of dissociative adsorption of oxygen becomes rate-determining stage. The paper analyzes the possible reasons of these differences in oxygen surface exchange kinetics. Moreover, the paper using the obtained oxygen diffusion coefficients that have been recalculated in the oxygen-ionic conductivities according to the Nernst-Einstein equation performs the contributions of the oxygen-ion and proton components of the total conductivity of oxides La_1–xSr_xScO_3–δ (x = 0; 0.04; 0.09) in the wet reducing atmosphere (pH₂O = 2.35 kPa, pO₂ = 10⁻¹⁵ Pa). Proton transference numbers are shown to be close to unit in the temperature range of 500–600 °С at the wet hydrogen-containing reducing atmosphere.

In recent years, the appearance of high-power fiber lasers, more efficient and easier to operate than other types of lasers, made it necessary to conduct systematic studies and develop a technology for cutting glass by the method of controlled thermal splitting. The paper considers the question of the possibility of high-speed cutting of glass by modern lasers with a power of up to several tens of kilowatts in the near-IR radiation range. In order to achieve the goal set in the work, the problem of determining the field of elastic stresses arising in a glass plate when it is heated by laser radiation has been solved. The method of investigation is based on the theory of thermoelasticity.

We have proposed a mathematical model for calculating the three-dimensional temperature distribution and elastic stresses caused by the irradiation of the glass by a moving laser beam and have presented the results of numerical simulation of temperature fields and elastic stress profiles at different irradiation spot velocities. At high radiation powers, the maximum achievable cutting speed of glass is shown to be directly proportional to the power. The data on the speed of Bohr glass at low radiation powers (less than 400 W) available in the literature we have extrapolated to a high power (up to several tens of kilowatts). The investigation shows that the cutting speed can reach 70 cm / s at a laser radiation power of 20 kW. For cutting large-sized glass sheets in mass production, the fiber ytterbium lasers having a wavelength of 1.065 m are recommended. These lasers meet the requirements for power level, irradiation stability and service life. In addition, they have the ability to transport radiation through a fiber optic cable and the ability to automatically control the spatial location of the radiation spot. The results obtained can be used to develop new technologies for cutting glass on industrial lines for the production of float glass, in the process of cutting glass sheets and cutting 3D articles. The method of laser controlled thermal splitting, in comparison with other methods of laser cutting glass, is more efficient and stable, and also has a much wider range of applications, because allows increasing in several times the thickness of the divided glass.

The paper presents the results of the numerical simulations of pumping a copper vapour laser by a repetitively pulsed induction (electrodeless) discharge. We have investigated the version of the laser with an annular discharge volume formed by two coaxial cylinders. Such coaxial chamber is shown to be more appropriate for the induction pumping than the conventional cylindrical chamber. In the first case, higher coupling factors in the transformercoupled circuit of the induction discharge as well as rather high curl electric field are achieved. Moreover, from the ecological point of view, the coaxial chamber appears to be safer for the surrounding personnel in terms of their exposure to electromagnetic radiation. The present work briefly presents the physical model of the laser which describes the dynamics of the plasma parameters, the kinetics of the inverse population of the working levels for the laser on self terminating transitions as well as the development of the induction radiation. The paper also presents the electrical equations describing the simplest source of electrical pump pulses. The thermal characteristics of the working medium are estimated and the design calculations of the chamber are performed. The numerical experiments have found that, in contrast to the case of a conventional copper vapour laser with aperiodic discharge, in the regarded versions of the copper vapour laser the pump pulse is realized as a train of high-frequency damped oscillations. The analysis of the physical processes occurring in the plasma of the high-frequency discharge is carried out. The pulsed behaviour of the Joule heat power is shown to release results in pronounced pulsations of the electron temperature. This fact, however, does not significantly affect the operation of the laser on self-terminating transitions. In the optimal pumping regimes, subtle oscillations are merely observed for the inverse population of the copper atom working levels and for the intensity in the radiation pulse. High output laser characteristics achieved in the numerical simulations demonstrate the potential for efficient pumping of the copper vapour laser using the inductive method which is new for such lasers.