In this study, a methodology is developed to evaluate the technical and economic parameters of a grid-connected wind power plant in Syria. The methodology was used for designing a grid-connected wind power plant in the area close to the Al-Sukhnah town (in Homs province), which is one of the most promising areas in Syria to build wind farms. Technical assessment of a 12 MW grid-connected wind power plant, which consists of 8 wind turbines with rated power of 1.5MW for each one, is performed using the WindPRO software. The following tasks are carried out in WindPRO: the microscale numerical modeling of the wind flow of the area with consideration the terrain and roughness, determination of wind resources at wind turbine tower height, selection of suitable wind turbine and definition of energy production. The results of the technical assessment show that the wind power density in the power plant site at wind turbine tower height is 333–459 W/m² with average annual wind speed of 6.5–7.7 m/s, energy production is 38391.1 MWh/year with consideration the losses, capacity factor is 36.5% with full load hours of 3199 h/year. Economic assessment of the considered power plant is performed in Excel program. The following economic indicators are calculated in Excel: net present value (NPV), discounted payback period (DPP), internal rate of return (IRR), profitability index (PI), the normalized cost of energy (LCOE). The results of calculations show that the proposed grid-connected wind power plant is completely profitable for conditions in Syria.

The paper deals with the issue of choosing the electric power of a wind-driven power plant (WDPP) when working together with a gas turbine unit (GTU). The paper touches upon the problem of improving the efficiency of energy supply to towns by creating combined sources based on small CHPP and wind turbines.

The authors have proposed a scheme of the combined source, which includes the installation operating on organic fuel and the installation operating at the expense on a renewable energy source – wind. In order to determine the effectiveness of the source, we have developed a mathematical model which helps to calculate the quantitative and economic indicators. The initial data used are: the daily graph of electrical loads; the graph of thermal loads of heating, ventilation and hot water; the average monthly temperature and wind speed; the dependence of changes in the electrical power of wind turbines on wind speed. According to this mathematical model, the combined source is calculated (GTU with a capacity of 2.5 MW and wind turbines with a capacity of 100 kW). Annual electric-power generation at gas turbines is 26717,703 MW·h / year, wind turbines – 92,917 MW·h / year. Economic indicators are also defined – net present value (NPV), discounted profitability index, internal rate of return and payback time.

The paper makes a comparative analysis of the payback period of the proposed scheme depending on the change in the installed capacity of wind turbines from 100 to 1500 kW. Analyzing the obtained values of NVP and the payback time, it can be concluded that as the power of wind turbines increases, the economic efficiency of the energy complex decreases. This is due to increased investment in wind turbines, a change in the starting speed of a wind power plant, as well as a decrease in electrical energy production due to wind turbines. The conclusion is made about the expediency of using in the combined scheme of a wind-driven power-plant with a capacity of 100–300 kW, with a payback time of about 10 years.

Hydrogen, when used as a fuel, has the most minimal impact on the environment and is a viable, promising, but insufficiently studied alternative fuel. World demand for its production may increase by tens and hundreds of times, and alternative energy sources — renewable and non-renewable, including nuclear ones — are needed to meet it.

The paper discusses the characteristics of these sources, shows the important role of nuclear energy.

The development of hydrogen production stimulates the development of the symbiosis of nuclear and hydrogen energy in conjunction with renewable energy and allows the formation of a new sustainable global energy system — alternative energy.

There is a general agreement about the consideration that the fossil fuels are a limited resource and the emission of carbon dioxide and other harmful products are the main cause of the global warming and climate change. The interest for decreasing the fossil fuels dependence and reducing the greenhouse gases emissions represents a top priority. The biomass is a renewable resource useful for biodiesel and bioethanol production. The latter, most plentiful, is currently considered as green ethanol produced from biomass by biological processes. Meanwhile, membrane reactors represent an innovative and intensified technology for the production and the simultaneous recovery of high-grade hydrogen in only one stage. Here, we describe an efficient medium-temperature (T = 400 °C) bioethanol steam reforming process in a thin (~5 mm of metallic layer) supported Pd-based membrane reactor packed with a not commercial Co(10%)Pt (3%)/CeO₂-ZrO₂-Al₂O₃ bi-metallic catalyst at space velocity between 1900 h-1 and 4800 h-1 and reaction pressure between 1.5 and 2.0 bar. A real bioethanol mixture coming from industry is supplied to the membrane reactor for producing high grade hydrogen, reaching 60% of ethanol conversion (versus ~ 40% of the equivalent conventional reactor) at 400 °C, 2.0 bar and 1900 h-1, meanwhile recovering almost 70% of the hydrogen produced during the bioethanol steam reforming reaction with a purity higher than 99%. This would make the delivery of hydrogen for PEM fuel cells supplying – and hence the use of green bioethanol as a practical hydrogen carrier – feasible.

In this work, a low-temperature plasma initiated in liquid media between electrodes has been 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, organic compounds (alcohols, esters) as well as direct water-hydrogen emulsions obtained by ultrasonic treatment are used. It is shown that hydrogen productivity from emulsions is not less than that from individual substances.

Optical spectroscopy is used to confirm the formation of atomic hydrogen in the reactions of plasma decomposition of liquids. The measurement of the amount of the gas mixture formed during the decomposition of organic liquids shows 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 is shown that this is an energy-efficient method for the conversion of liquid-phase compounds, stimulated by a thermally nonequilibrium plasma producing active particles: excited molecules and radicals, which allows one to initiate chain reactions, including energy-branched ones, and thereby significantly accelerate the process of liquid conversion and lower the temperature at which such a conversion can occur.

Nowadays interest in supercapacitors as energy storage devices for microelectronics is growing. The development of energy storage systems is related to the development of technologies for producing new materials, in particular the new porous carbon materials. The attraction of these materials is due to the unique combination of chemical and physical properties of carbon, namely: high electrical conductivity; developed specific surface area; corrosion resistance; thermal stability; controlled porous structure; operational decisions and a possibility of use as a part of composite materials; high purity; relatively low cost of the final product.

In this work, we have obtained an experimental sample of superconducting carbon black with the necessary physical and chemical properties by thermal-gas-chemical processing of carbon black. One of the most common activated carbons used in the supercapacitors production – Norit DLC Supra 30 was chosen as the object for comparison.

The paper presents the results of experimental studies of the porous structure parameters as well as the electrochemical properties of the experimental superconducting highly porous carbon black during cycling in the galvanostatic mode in a solution of sulfuric acid (3.55 M H2SO4). Moreover, it provides a comparative assessment of the porous structure parameters and distribution of the pores according to the size of the research objects – VPU TK-7 and Norit DLC Supra 30. We have found that the experimental sample of the highly porous superconducting carbon black VPU TK-7 has higher stability and specific capacity indicators compared with the existing commercial Norit DLC Supra 30 carbon material sample which has a narrower pore size distribution. Apparently, this might be related to its chemical purity and synthesis conditions, due to which the optimal structural and textural properties are formed. Further studies will determine the conditions for the targeted synthesis of special domestic carbon materials for various electrochemical systems.

Bismuth telluride and compounds based on it are the basic materials for the production of thermocouples p- and n-type operating at low temperatures. Products based on these are commercially mass-produced. In order to improve the thermoelectric characteristics of materials and increase the efficiency of products, it is necessary to make changes to a well-established technological process, which can be associated with significant difficulties. Therefore, relevant is the task of improving the thermoelectric figure of merit of bismuth telluride with minimal changes in the technological process of obtaining it. One option to solve it is to optimize the process parameters of hot pressing. The paper studies the influence of the parameters of the hot-pressing process (pressing pressure and holding time under pressure) on the thermoelectric properties of n-type Bi₂Te₂.₄Se_0.6 solid solution doped with Hg₂Cl₂ calomel. We have obtained the samples using powder metallurgy technology, including synthesis of the material, followed by hot pressing. An increase in the exposure time of a sample under pressure during hot pressing is found to lead to a significant change in electrical properties due to an increase in the concentration of charge carriers and their mobility: the coefficient of thermo-emf decreases on average by 3.5%, electrical conductivity increases by more than 12%. In this case, the thermal conductivity practically does not change, since the increase in the electronic component of thermal conductivity associated with an increase in the concentration of charge carriers is compensated by a decrease in the phonon component. As a result, thermoelectric figure of merit increases by 3.7%. Increasing the dwell time with a simultaneous increase in the compacting pressure increases only charge carrier mobility, their concentration does not change. Therefore, the thermo-emf coefficient remains unchanged, the electrical conductivity increases by 3.0%. Thermal conductivity decreases by 5.3%, due to a slight change in the electronic component (in comparison with the previous production mode) with a significant decrease in the phonon component. As a result, thermoelectric figure of merit increases by 10.0%. Thus, the conditions for the production of n-type bismuth tellurides significantly affect their thermoelectric properties, the selection of the optimal hot-pressing mode allows us increasing the thermoelectric figure of merit without changing the main stages of the technological cycle.