The CASE-IN Championship once again demonstrated the high level of Kuzbass students

KuzSTU summed up the results of the qualifying stage of the Student League of the XIII season of the International Engineering CASE-IN Championship.

Each team faced real industry challenges. For example, miners have been looking for ways to improve the efficiency of drilling and blasting operations, reducing costs and increasing safety. The partner of the Mining business was ALROSA, a global leader in the diamond mining industry. The Explosive Efficiency case was devoted to the analysis and improvement of drilling and blasting operations at ALROSA fields.

The victory was won by the ORANGE team consisting of students of the Mining Institute, who are also members of the Black Gold student scientific community: Angelina Maryina, Alexander Zevaev, Yaroslav Yerashov and team captain Stepan Amosov. He has a lot of experience behind him – this is the third time he has participated in the championship.

"I did not specifically assemble an experienced team, but took the guys from the SS. I wanted to tighten them up, so to speak, to show that such events are interesting and winning them is real. This is the second case in a row during the academic year, where my SNO participants and I take the prize. I think we will not stop there – there are still many victories ahead!" shared Stepan Amosov..

As a solution to the case, the guys proposed the comprehensive implementation of an unmanned vehicle fleet, which includes dump trucks and drilling rigs, as well as the use of an automated drilling monitoring and control system for continuous field scanning.

"The dump truck is equipped with a kit that allows you to control the hydraulics, gearbox, steering wheel and navigate using scanners spread throughout the body of the car. This technology is suitable for any manufacturer's equipment, both new and existing equipment in the field. The operator will be able to control six cars remotely. We propose to do the same with drilling rigs, which require two people per three machines to control. And they can be controlled from anywhere in the world," the students said.

According to the team, this solution will significantly increase the productivity of the BVR and the production volumes at the fields as a whole, as well as reduce the number of personnel and downtime. In addition, it will increase safety, as there will be fewer people at risk in the workplace. And due to the precise coordinated actions of the automated system, unmanned vehicles and drones, the impact of BVR on the sides of the quarries will be reduced.

The transition to unmanned dump trucks is a technology that is only being introduced to the Russian market, but has been successfully used abroad for a long time. The GeoTim team, which includes Vyacheslav Vinogradov, Vladimir Podya and Sofya Korneva also chose this option as one of the most promising solutions and took second place.

In addition, the students suggested another way to modernize drilling and blasting operations, namely– the use of a turbolizer. This is a curved plate that is placed together with an explosive charge, its main purpose is to create a turbulent flow of explosive products, which contributes to a more uniform distribution of explosive energy and improved rock crushing.

According to the team members, this technology will reduce explosive consumption by 5-6% due to more efficient use of explosive energy without loss of crushing quality; due to increased radial pressure, reduce the size of the average piece of rock by 15-20%; reduce the cost of further processing by 10-12%.

The thermal power companies were also focused on innovation in their solutions, they fulfilled the task of providing remote consumers with heat, taking into account modern technologies and environmental requirements. Referral Partner Teploenergetika – Gazprom Energoholding LLC – I set the task for the participants: to propose and justify a method of heat supply to a consumer with a maximum load of 1.0 Gcal/h, located far from centralized heat sources. The students had to not only analyze various heat supply options, but also evaluate the feasibility of using non-gas energy sources and heat accumulators.

The Thermoids team coped with the task best of all. Under the guidance of the captain Pavel Fadeev's students at the Institute of Energy, Egor Yeremeyev, Maxim Pazderin and Dmitry Slizhuk, took the first place.

The guys considered all possible solutions to the problem, starting with traditional ones – a gas supply system, pyrolysis, a heating network, an electric boiler – and ending with alternative methods such as a solar collector, heat pump, and biomass combustion. After evaluating each option according to the seven most relevant criteria, they came to the conclusion that pyrolysis is the most effective solution. As a result, the team proposed using a pyrolysis plant to provide consumers with heat and hot water.

Instant pyrolysis ensures the production of a large amount of gas in the shortest possible time. Also, the low degree of necessary aftertreatment of the gas indicates its high suitability for heating systems," the team members noted.

Students suggest using woodworking waste and sunflower seeds as raw materials. According to the technological scheme of production, raw materials enter the pyrolysis plant through a conveyor belt, and the output is synthesis gas with a maximum capacity of 450 kg/h, which is burned in a hot water boiler to provide consumers with heat and hot water.

"In addition to synthesis gas, we receive associated resources that we can use. For example, the solid residue is perfect as a sorbent for wastewater treatment or reclamation of agricultural land, pyrolysis liquid as an additive to low–grade fuels. It also provides for the sale of heat to nearby enterprises if they are interested," said Pavel Fadeev, captain of the Thermoids team.

The solution is able to fully utilize waste from processing plants, reduce the cost of tariffs, reduce harmful emissions into the atmosphere and the risk of fires.

The NAGL team, which took the second place, went the other way. Gleb Kondulevich, Larisa Toplakaltsyan, Artyom Kuznetsov and Anastasia Zhdanova proposed a boiler house that uses waste from local industries as fuel – husk and wood chips. The main innovation of this solution is the gasification unit, which will maximize the use of waste and generate additional energy.

"First, the fuel is burned by heating the water in the boiler. Steam is generated, which drives the turbine and generates electricity. But the process doesn't end there. Some of the fuel is sent to a special gasification unit, where, under the influence of superheated steam, solid waste is converted into combustible gas and ash. Hydrogen is extracted from this gas by adsorption, which is then burned, creating additional steam. It rotates the second turbine, providing additional power generation," explained team captain Anastasia Zhdanova.

The guys from the RosTeplo team, who took the third place, also suggested using sunflower husks as fuel. To ensure the necessary heating capacity, the students chose a block-modular boiler house.

However, a problem has arisen: the waste is located at a seed treatment plant seven kilometers from the boiler house. Conventional fuel delivery could complicate the process, so the students found an innovative solution – to use an air transport system. This would make it possible to efficiently and cost-effectively transport the husk directly to the boiler room, ensuring uninterrupted heat supply.

"The installation works like this: a fan pumps air, which serves as a transporting agent. When the flow passes through the tapering nozzle of the injector, its velocity increases, creating a vacuum. Due to this, the sunflower husk is sucked into the mixing chamber, forming an aerial mixture. Next, this mixture is piped from the treatment plant to a cyclone installed in the boiler house. The flow slows down there, and the air separates from the fuel ready for combustion," said Vladislav Korenkov, captain of the RosTeplo team.

The International Engineering CASE-IN Championship once again showed a high level of student training. The winners did not just offer ideas, but developed solutions that can be applied in practice!

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