New ways for the development of high-tech industries
At the end of 2020, many scientists of the Belgorod State Technological University named after V.G. Shukhov became winners of various competitions, holders of awards and grants, including the prize named after the great engineer Vladimir Shukhov.
The award is given for scientific and technical research, engineering implementation and implementation of innovative products, contribution to the creation of educational programs, the practical implementation of patents and inventions that open up new directions in the creation of equipment, materials and technologies for their production. A worthy successor to the traditions of the great inventor and scientist was the director of the Chemical-Technological Institute of BSTU named after V.G. Shukhov. Professor spoke about his experience of participating in the competition, the developed innovative projects and the practical significance of his own developments. Condensed Matter Physics “The scientific direction of my activity is connected with the physics of condensed matter or with the physics of condensed matter. I think we can rightfully say that this is the most useful, from a practical point of view, branch of physics. In this case, the physics of condensed matter is considered in the context of changing the properties of the surface of solids by methods of chemical, physicochemical, or electrochemical modification. Materials obtained on the basis of such modified substances have a significant performance advantage over materials based on unmodified analogs. This technology has found effective application in the field of radiation materials science. More specifically, when creating structural radiation-shielding materials. By changing the properties of the radiation-protective filler and using various active additives, it is possible to obtain materials with a number of unique properties.
The results achieved in this direction were presented at the competition.
A new approach to the creation of radiation-protective materials Over the past 25 years, the university has been conducting systemic research in the field of radiation materials science under the guidance of the Honored Inventor of the Russian Federation, Professor Vyacheslav Pavlenko and his students. The scientific school he founded has become widely known both in Russia and abroad. In this area of research, more than two dozen candidates and doctors of sciences have been prepared, the materials developed have found wide application at the country's nuclear power facilities. I can proudly say that I am one of the students of this scientific school, the successor of its traditions, and Vyacheslav Ivanovich is my teacher.
His doctrine is based on a new conceptual approach to the creation of radiation-protective materials with increased operational properties, based on the use of substances with an activated or modified surface. This makes it possible to obtain functional materials with a number of unique properties. The basic principles of this concept were used in the development of structural radiation-shielding concrete with increased radiation-thermal resistance for thermal neutron power plants. They are based on the use of modified hydrosilicate and iron oxide KMA fillers with an activated surface. The uniqueness of the magnetite raw materials of KMA lies in the fact that due to the content of atoms of two and three valence iron in magnetite under radiation-thermal exposure, there is a significant strengthening of the radiation shielding material and an increase in its radiation resistance. To put it simply, concretes obtained on the basis of modified magnetite, under radiation exposure, not only retain their strength characteristics, but also significantly increase them.
The use of such materials makes it possible to provide the necessary radiological environment and a high level of safe operation of nuclear power plants under conditions of increased radiation and thermal loads. Research in this area and the results obtained open the way for the development of high-tech industries in the Belgorod region. Implementation of the developed materials The materials developed on the basis of modified iron oxide fillers KMA have found wide application at the facilities of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom.
They were used in the modernization and full-scale reconstruction of the power units of the Kursk, Smolensk and Leningrad nuclear power plants. The modernization of power units made it possible to extend their service life by 15 years and significantly increase the safety of NPP operation, which had a significant social and economic effect. As a result of the reduction in the duration of scheduled repairs only at the third and fourth power units of the Kursk nuclear power plant, up to 600 thousand MW of electricity is returned to the country's energy system annually. Development of heat-resistant radiation-protective materials
Currently, the team, within the framework of the state assignment of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, is conducting research on the development of heat-resistant radiation-protective materials for nuclear power plants with fast neutron reactors (BN). The construction of fast reactors of the Breakthrough project is a priority direction in the development of Russia's energy strategy until 2030. The main advantage of this type of reactors over thermal reactors is the possibility of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel and fabricating fuel cells in a closed nuclear fuel cycle. In this case, the thermal stability of the radiation protection for BN reactors should be almost two times higher than for thermal reactors. The developed methods for modifying metal hydrides allow increasing their thermal stability by more than two times, due to the creation of a multi-barrier system of energy "traps" of hydrogen on the surface. This opens up prospects for the use of these materials as neutron shielding for new generation nuclear power plants under conditions of increased radiation and thermal loads ”.