Ksenia Yu. Vershinina

With the aim to develop petroleum sludge thermal recycling technologies, the parameters characterizing the combustion of these sludges in mixtures with spent oils, diesel fuel, and methanol are studied. In combusting petroleum sludge without additions, sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions are recorded in amounts four times higher than those produced in combusting diesel fuel. If petroleum waste is mixed with spent oils, the specific concentrations of SO₂ and NO (recalculated for the heating value and mass of fuel combusted) decrease by 20–29 and 7–10%, respectively, and by 30 and 35–40%, respectively, when combined with diesel fuel. The study results testify that there are wide possibilities for reducing the burden on the environment by subjecting petroleum sludges to thermal recycling. Their thermal inertia at the evaporation and thermal decomposition stage decreased most efficiently when mixed with methanol and diesel fuel. Despite the difference in some individual characteristics of the additions studied, all of them had a commensurable effect on the change in the integral indicator of petroleum sludge thermal recycling efficiency—it increased by 12–16%. It is shown that diesel fuel is the most promising addition. The introduction of this component results not only in obtaining better environmental and power performance of the process, but also in that the petroleum sludge viscosity is reduced by four times, due to which the fuel atomization is improved, and its more complete combustion is achieved in power generating boilers of various types. The results of experiments carried out on two facilities of different scales can serve as substantiation of the need to develop the problem area of petroleum sludge thermal treatment with heat generation.

The influence of binders on the strength of sawdust pellets is investigated. Two groups of binders are considered: commercial products (starch and lignin);

The problems of environmental pollution caused by the operation of power plants and engines motivate researchers to develop new biofuels. The environmental aspect of composite biofuels appears to have great potential because of the carbon neutrality of plant raw materials. This study analyzes recent advances in the production of biofuels and their application. The research findings on the properties of promising plant raw materials and their derivatives have been systematized. The most important stages (spraying, ignition, and combustion) of using biofuels and mixtures based on them in internal combustion engines have been analyzed. A separate section reviews the findings on the environmental aspect of using new fuel compositions. Most studies show great prospects for involving bio-components in the development of composite fuels. The real issue is to adjust existing engines and plants to non-conventional fuel mixtures. Another big problem is the increased viscosity and density of biofuels and oils, as well as the ambiguous effect of additives on burnout completeness and emissions. The impact of the new kinds of fuels on the condition of components and parts of engines, corrosion, and wear remains understudied. The interrelation of industrial process stages (from feedstock to an engine and a plant) has not been closely examined for composite liquid fuels. It is important to organize the available data and develop unified and adaptive technologies. Within the framework of this review work, scientific approaches to solving the above problems were considered and systematized.