Young scientists from St. Petersburg have been interning in the People's Republic of China for over a month. In addition to conducting joint research with colleagues from Taiyuan University of Technology (TYUT), they continue to intensively explore the country's manufacturing sector by visiting landmark enterprises and industrial sites. Next on the list is TZCO, one of the largest factories in the country for the production of mining and construction equipment.
Traditionally, American, Japanese, and Swedish companies are considered market leaders in the production of heavy machinery, with many of their factories located in China. Purchasing these machines could allow China to save at least on transportation costs. However, the country is forging its own path. The TZCO company, for several decades, has successfully produced a wide range of products: quarry and hydraulic excavators, road and freight machinery, cranes, support foundations for offshore platforms, supporting structures for offshore wind turbine installations, and space industry equipment. In addition to its manufacturing capabilities, the company has its own research and development centers.
The company’s website emphasizes that it is "the most automated and robotic production facility in China," with 98% of welding operations carried out by robots.
«We visited this enterprise with great interest, which is considered the first industrial factory independently designed and built by China in 1950. We were shown the products manufactured by the factory and given a tour of the workshops. The scale is breathtaking! The production lines for bucket components of quarry and hydraulic excavators are fully automated, with robots handling the movement of blanks, welding and metal cutting, and transportation of finished products. The production lines for the components of quarry trucks used for ore transportation are partially automated; for instance, the connection of moving elements is done manually. Unfortunately, photographing the production process and equipment in the workshops is understandably prohibited, so most of what we saw will remain only in memory and notes. However, an exception was made for the Mining University delegation, allowing the postgraduates to take a photo against the backdrop of a fully assembled quarry dump truck», - said the head of the delegation, Valentin Morenov.
Such tours are essential for engineers of all disciplines working in the mineral and raw materials sector — from economists to construction specialists for mining enterprises and underground structures.
Yegor Odintsov, a postgraduate student from the Department of Mine Surveying, is working on numerical modeling of the development of the influence zone above the mining workings with his Chinese colleagues. To do this, he needs not only to recreate the geological conditions of the fragment of the rock mass under study using the equipment available at Taiyuan University of Technology but also to simulate the extraction of the layer for further analysis of the patterns of displacement and deformation spread. This would not be possible without understanding what kind of equipment will be used.
«Over the past 30 years, according to reports from Rostekhnadzor on the dynamics of mineral extraction, more than 10% of all fatal injuries have occurred due to violations in the management of the roof of the rock mass and the lack of monitoring of hazardous areas for water breakthrough into mining workings. The topic of my research is related to studying the patterns of the spread of water-conducting fractures in the worked rock mass. This area is particularly relevant due to the annual increase in the depth of accessible solid mineral deposits and the increasing complexity of mining conditions: the rise in the number of aquifers located near mining workings. A zone of technogenic fractures forms above the workings, and when it spreads to the lower boundary of the aquifer, it creates a dangerous hydraulic connection between the water body and the mining workings, leading to an increase in water inflow and, in some cases, partial or complete flooding of mining areas», - explains the postgraduate student.
After performing physical and numerical modeling using the proven methodology and software from Taiyuan University of Technology, Yegor Odintsov is developing a forecasting method for the development of water-conducting fracture zones, adapted to real mining and geological conditions. In the future, this will help ensure geomechanical safety during mining operations and prevent industrial accidents related to water breakthroughs into mining workings.
The research of Darja Borisova, a postgraduate student from the Department of Geoecology, is not only interesting and important for industry specialists but also for the entire global population, as it pertains to the quality of life for each of us. It concerns the technology and equipment for processing active sludge left after wastewater treatment, and the extraction of bioenergy and valuable chemicals from it.
«As a result of wastewater treatment using biological methods, a significant amount of spent activated sludge is produced, and its further handling poses a significant environmental challenge. Often, it is simply dried on filtration fields and then burned. Such a technology, for example, is implemented at the Southwest wastewater treatment facilities in St. Petersburg. However, there is a risk of environmental contamination from heavy metals accumulated in the sludge and the loss of valuable organic components — such as hydrogen, phosphorus, and volatile fatty acids — which could be extracted and utilized further. But activated sludge is very difficult to decompose, and the main problem is the destruction of cell walls», - noted Darja Borisova.
Currently, the young ecologist, in collaboration with scientists from the College of Ecology and Environmental Sciences at TYUT, is studying the possibility of using potassium ferrate (K2FeO4), which has strong oxidizing properties, as a reagent for the preliminary treatment of sludge. This substance helps break down cell walls and release proteins and carbohydrates, as well as generate hydrogen — a "green" fuel. This means that the technology could be applied in several areas simultaneously.
According to the research supervisor of the postgraduate student from the Chinese side, Professor Aizhuan Zhou, China's waters are critically lacking in organic substances. Due to the specifics of the diet, the population does not receive enough protein, and as a result, they must purchase dietary supplements to compensate for the deficiency.
«One of the objectives of the technology being developed is to extract organic substances from the sludge and add them during further water treatment, so that people do not have to buy supplements. The iron in the K2FeO4 compound reacts with the phosphorus, which is abundant in the used sludge, forming vivianite — a mineral, a hydrated iron phosphate. This valuable product could be sold as a fertilizer», - noted Professor Zhou.
To date, Darja Borisova has visited the wastewater treatment facilities in Taiyuan, where samples of water and sludge were collected, and, with the help of Chinese colleagues, she assembled electrochemical reactors combining biological and electrochemical sludge treatment. The entire experiment cycle will take about four months. As a result, answers will be obtained to questions such as: which types of bacteria are most effective in processing organic matter, what are the mechanisms for sludge disintegration, and so on. Further plans include the full implementation of the developed technology at wastewater treatment facilities.