How a triumphant CASE-IN from the Kemerovo region turns waste from a thermal power plant into a material for energy

Artyom Kuznetsov, a first-year master's student at the Institute of Energy of KuzSTU, won a scholarship from the President of the Russian Federation. By the time he started his master's degree, he already had scientific publications, engineering competitions, and work on applied energy problems. Artyom is currently continuing research in the field of thermal power engineering and is looking for a new use for one of the waste from coal–fired thermal power plants, fly ash.

Artyom "got involved" in his scientific work during his bachelor's degree. He co-authored the article "Comparison of the characteristics of sorbents from hard coals of grades D, DG and G", published in the journal "Izvestiya Tomsk Polytechnic University. Georesource engineering". In parallel with his studies, the student tried himself in team engineering projects.

In 2025, together with the KuzSTU team, Artyom became one of the winners of the acceleration program "Laboratory of Energy", organized by IRNTU with the support of En+. The participants worked on a case study on alternative methods of thermal insulation and walling of boiler units. Another major result was the silver medal in 2026 in the direction of Petrochemistry in the final of the XIV season of the International Engineering CASE-IN Championship, which is held with the support of the Presidential Platform "Russia – the land of opportunities". He is also a master's student and a scholarship holder of the Andrey Melnichenko Foundation.

Kuzbass Polytechnic University provides students with the opportunity to engage in scientific work in their first bachelor's degree courses, work with teachers and research teams, participate in engineering championships and accelerators, and interact with the largest enterprises in the region. For many students, such an environment becomes an opportunity not just to complete a study project, but to gradually form their own research trajectory.

Today, together with his supervisor, Konstantin Ushakov, Associate Professor of the Department of Thermal Power Engineering at KuzSTU, Artyom is developing research related to fly ash. It is a fine-grained material that is formed during the combustion of coal in thermal power plants. Researchers are considering the possibility of using it to create a solid thermal insulation material for power equipment.

The work has already gone beyond the first laboratory experiments and has moved on to the scaling stage. The researchers presented the interim results to the specialists of the Siberian Generating Company, and now possible areas of further cooperation are being discussed.

"For me, the scholarship of the President of the Russian Federation is primarily an indicator that the chosen direction and the work done are highly appreciated. Of course, this is also a serious financial support. In my master's degree, I want to continue my research on fly ash. This work will become the basis of my final qualifying work, and in the future, possibly, my PhD thesis," says Artyom.

At the same time, Artyom is already combining his scientific work with work at a Siberian generating company. He tries to leave his free time for sports, and connects his immediate professional plans with energy. Now one of the main goals is to continue work on thermal insulation material based on fly ash and bring the research to a result that can be applied in practice.

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