The issue of improving the energy-efficiency of container-based gas chemical plants for methanol production in field conditions is considered. The relevance of the direction is determined by the necessity for development of remote Arctic hydrocarbon fields. The object of research is energy-efficient conversion of waste gases energy and surplus thermal energy in small-scale system of methanol production using technology of synthesis gas generation by non-catalytic partial oxidation of natural gas. Approaches to the design and analysis of structural solutions for microturboexpander units are considered. A technique combining traditional approaches to the calculation of equipment and modeling by the finite element method in ANSYS is proposed. The developed methodology facilitates calculation of design parameters for microturboexpanders and allows taking into account peculiarities of working medium, thermobaric conditions and gas flow characteristics.
Modern trends in the global energy market linked to the Sustainable Development Goals often lead to the adoption of political decisions with little basis in fact. Stepping up the development of renewable energy sources is an economically questionable but necessary step in terms of its social and ecological effects. However, subsequent development of hydrogen infrastructure is, at the very least, a dangerous initiative. In connection with mentioned above, an attempt to examine hydrogen by conducting an integral assessment of its characteristics has been made in this article. As a result of the research conducted, the following conclusions concerning the potential of the widespread implementation of hydrogen in the power generation sector have been made: as a chemical element, it harms steel structures, which significantly impedes the selection of suitable materials; its physical and volume characteristics decrease the general efficiency of the energy system compared to similar hydrocarbon solutions; the hydrogen economy does not have the necessary foundation in terms of both physical infrastructure and market regulation mechanisms; the emergence of widely available hydrogen poses a danger for society due to its high combustibility. Following the results of the study, it was concluded that the existing pilot hydrogen projects are positive yet not scalable solutions for the power generation sector due to the lack of available technologies to construct large-scale and geographically distributed infrastructure and adequate international system of industry regulation. Thus, under current conditions, the risks of implementing such projects considerably exceed their potential ecological benefits.
