In order to improve energy performance and simplify the system of frequency control of the speed of electric drives, the area of application of synchronous frequency-controlled electric drives with both dependent and independent frequency setting of the voltage supplying the engine is being expanded. This is due to the fact that, as compared with asynchronous variable frequency drives, synchronous ones undergo lower power losses and they have rigid mechanical characteristics without speed feedback. Also, the simplest law of frequency control, viz. a proportional one, which, however, provides the maximum electromagnetic torque of the engine unchanged at R1 = 0 at all frequencies due to the constant magnetic flux, is applicable to a synchronous frequency controlled motor. Characteristics and properties of permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) with the dependent frequency setting of supplied voltage (under vector control of PMSM) have been discussed and reviewed in technical literature quite sufficiently. It cannot be said about the PMSM with independent frequency setting reference which work under scalar frequency control. In the present article a comparison of properties and characteristics of vector and scalar frequency controlled PMSM is presented. For a scalar frequency controlled PMSM a function of the relative voltage g on the relative frequency a (g = f(a)) taking into account the PMSM parameters has been defined. The derived function g = f(a) differs from a proportional law of frequency control g = a. It is found that the influence of the parameters on the law of frequency control is small, and it can be applied without adjustment in most cases, in contrast to the frequency control of the asynchronous motor. For scalar frequency control, a method for determining the parameters of synchronous motors has been proposed in accordance with the parameters of synchronous motors with permanent magnets, which are given for operation under vector control. According to the presented methodology the OMRON SGMH-50D engine parameters have been determined for scalar frequency control and the function of g = f(a) have been computed.

The mechanical calculation of flexible wires of overhead lines and switchgears, in which in-phase or phase-to-phase spacers are installed, is under consideration. Spacers are considered as concentrated loads acting on the split phase. The formulas for determining the sag are given for a different number of spacers as a function of their number and the coefficient of concentrated forces. This takes into account the difference in suspension heights, tension insulators strings, wind and ice loads. These formulas, being presented in a form that is convenient for consumers, can be used for computer execution of the mechanical calculation of flexible wires in different climatic regimes, both in the presence and in the absence of phase splitting. The errors of replacing the spacers with a distributed load are demonstrated. Formulas are proposed that give the smallest error when replacing spacers with a distributed load. The greater the value of the concentrated forces from the tap-off lines and loops, the greater the error in calculating the sag of the switchgears wires. Therefore, it is not possible to replace them with a distributed load obtained by simply dividing the total load by the length of the span in the presence of the tap-off lines and loops.

Asymmetrical modes of the outdoor lighting network can be caused by disconnecting of a part of the luminaires in order to electrical energy savings at night; also – by asymmetry of voltage in power points. The possible alternative symmetric modes of energy saving to replace the incomplete-phase operation of the line have been analyzed. Calculations of various symmetric and asymmetric modes of the lighting line were carried out without taking into account and taking into account high harmonics up to the 39th one. Calculations have been performed with the programs of MathCad software. As light sources, in the calculations the widely used luminaries with high-pressure sodium arc lamps connected through electromagnetic start-up equipment were considered. Such luminaries are sources of high harmonics, and they distort the sinusoidal voltage. The values of currents, power, power loss, voltage drop in all areas of the lighting line, the voltage at the terminals of the lamps for each phase (operating parameters) are determined. The diagrams of the voltage distribution at the points of the lighting line are plotted for the considered modes of operation. The annual electric power consumption of the lighting line has been calculated for different variants of operation, and the obtained results have been compared. When refusing to disconnection of part of the luminaires at night and using a smooth transition to a lower voltage (symmetrical) at a power point or using two-stage ballast devices, uneven illumination appears less when the level of electricity consumption is comparable. The presence of voltage asymmetry at the power point, as well as the disconnection of one phase, leads to an increase in currents, power losses and voltage. The current in the zero working conductor can exceed the currents in the phase conductors (when calculated taking into account the higher harmonics). Accounting for higher harmonics allows one to determine the operating parameters more accurately, on the basis of which the electricity power consumption can be estimated.

Investigation of combustion of complex heterogeneous systems and particularly of twophase “combustible liquid – solid fuel” systems is topical because of the need to improve combustion of multicomponent and non-standard fuels as well as for resolution of specific ecological problems. The qualitative and quantitative peculiarities of combustion of two model combustible systems, notionally corresponding to the “sawdust – oil” and “wood chips – oil” mixtures are investigated numerically. The main peculiarity of the systems is volatility of the fluid component, being gaseous-flow driven inside porous media. A one-dimensional plain problem of combustion of compact layer with the ignition from the bottom and from the upper side is considered. It is demonstrated that due to low gas permeability of the fine-dispersed solid matrix (sawdust), air flow velocity is relatively low which results in slow formation of the combustion front (the characteristic time is tens of minutes). In case of coarse solid phase (wood chips), airflow rate is higher and corresponding time of temperature fronts formation is smaller (a few minutes). Both for the cases of fine-dispersed and coarse particles solid matrix phase, when set on fire from below, the fluid component is evacuated from the hot zone before the combustion front is formed. Since that, the main characteristics of the temperature front dynamics correspond to “dry” fuel system. In case of upper side ignition the combustion wave is formed at the time of the order of 100 s (when the used magnitudes of parameters are being used again), then it spreads downstream of the layer, accompanied by incomplete oxidation of solid fuel and complete combustion of oxygen. The effect of incomplete solid fuel combustion was noted earlier in the investigations of combustion of lean coal layer and some other systems. The velocity of the combustion wave propagation does not differ much for the cases of upper side and bottom side ignition. But the time of establishing the quasi-stationary velocity of the front to the steady-state value at the initial stage is much less in case of bottom side ignition. The results obtained by the authors can be utilized for optimization of multi-phase fuels combustion in compact layer, the regime parameters of in-situ combustion method of oil recovery increase as well as for improvement of some specific chemical processes.

The results of an experimental study of local modeling of convective heat transfer and aerodynamic resistance of staggered six-row bundles of bimetallic tubes with spiral knurled aluminum fins under transverse air flow in the range of its velocity alteration in a compressed bundle section of 1.9−11.0 m/s are presented. The velocity range covers the possible modes of operation of industrial air coolers (AVO). The fins with a diameter of approximately 57 mm are rolled on a steel supporting tube with an outer diameter of 25 mm. Tube finning ratio j = 19.26. Such tubes are widely used in the heat exchange sections of AVO of natural gas, in particular, at “Gribanovskii Engineering Plant” JSC (Russia). To measure the reduced heat transfer coefficients, an electric calorimeter had been developed by the authors with a power input of 600−1300 W. The temperature of the wall surface at the base of the fins did not exceed the range of 77–92 °C. The transverse tube spacing in bundles S₁was 64.0 or 68.0 mm, while the longitudinal spacing S₂ was 54.4 or 50.0 mm. The heat transfer of each transverse row of six-row bundles was measured, as well as the average heat transfer and aerodynamic drag, which are summarized by the similarity equation of a power type. The heat transfer rate of the last transverse row in the direction of air movement is 0–5 % lower than the heat transfer rate of the stabilized rows, and here new features of heat transfer variations in the insufficiently studied area of spacing changes S₁ and S₂ have been found. The thermal contact resistance (TCR) was measured in the range of the average temperature of the contact surfaces tк = (79–95) ^оС, and no dependence of the value of TCR on tк for the specified interval was found. The numerical average value of TCR was R_к = 2,13 × 10^–4 m²×K/W, which is typical for reliable mechanical connection of the finned aluminum shell with the supporting steel tube made of carbon steel. The results of variant thermal and aerodynamic calculations with the use of the obtained data established the technical and economic feasibility of placing tubes at the vertices of an isosceles triangle with spacing S₁ = 68–69 mm and S₂ = 55 mm with failure to use the location of the tubes along an equilateral triangle with S₁ = S₂' = 64 mm (where S₂' – is diagonal spacing). With Q = idem and other conditions being equal, the number of tubes on AVO decreases by 5.7 % with a decrease in power consumption to 4.0 %.

In the article the technique of an assessment of modes of operation of the heat engineering equipment used for heat treatment of concrete products in the conditions of programcontrolled heat supply according to the pattern of “heating – isothermal influence – cooling” has been developed. The method is based on the numerical solution of a non-stationary heat equation supplemented by equations describing the hydration process of a concrete product; also, it includes a system of initial and boundary conditions for its spatial structure. The method makes it possible to create tabulated functions of temperature and the degree of hydration of the time of heat treatment in any point of a 3D-product. The mathematical tools for calculating the functional dependencies of concrete hydration equipment with software-heated environment are presented. Numerical calculations of the concrete hydration process in the formwork are performed with respect to the symmetrical object. Based on the calculation of the temperature gradient across the minimal cross section of the product, a numerical analysis of the functions modeling heat supply mode depending on the processing time of a concrete product has been fulfilled. It is demonstrated that the maximum speed of the hydration process in a concrete product hardening is achieved at the maximum of time lag of isothermal cure. Additionally, with an increase in the duration of the product heating, the value of the maximum hydration rate decreases. It is concluded that the method of assessing the mode of heat treatment of concrete products being developed makes it possible to determine parameters for the calculation of the minimal useful heat required for the heat treatment of concrete products with spatially distributed parameters. The proposed method is applicable to calculate the temperature fields and the extent of hydration in the products of any geometric shape and volume in a software-controlled heating environment of industrial facilities for the accelerated hydration of concrete, and also affords the possibility of preliminary calibration prior to the assignment of relevant heat supply modes to the products being processed.

The increase in production and modernization of existing heat pumps are global trends in the development and implementation of heat pump technology. Application of refrigerant with zero potential ozone depletion relative to fluorinetrichloromethane and minimum values of global warming potentials relative to carbon dioxide is environmentally justified in pumps. Prospective are stage compression heat pump units and, also, consecutive and cascade schemes of inclusion which provide higher temperature of the heat carrier in the system of heat supply. Improving the efficiency of the heat pump depends on the perfection of the thermodynamic cycle, on the choice of the working agent and on the quality of the operation of the unit in off-design conditions of a temperature mode. The article presents the results of a study of the performance of stage compression heat pump. The concepts of application of the heat pump of two-stage compression of the working agent are formulated. Experimental researches has been fulfilled with the use of Altal GWHP26Н heat pump of 24.2 kW capacity operating on an eco-friendly refrigerants of R134a and R600а. The results of comparative calculation of performance indicators of one- and two-stage heat pumps are presented. Various schemes of realization of a thermodynamic cycle for one- and two-stage heat pumps are considered. The efficiency of two-stage heat pumps that implement thermodynamic cycle with supercooling of condensate and regeneration of steam heat of the working agent has been proved. The two-stage thermodynamic cycle of the heat pump is accompanied by minimal losses during the throttling of the liquid refrigerant, and it solves the problem of useful heat use to increase the temperature of the heated coolant for heating and hot water supply systems. Steam regeneration of the working agent at the outlet from the evaporator through the use of regenerative heat exchanger also provides the additional effect of minimization of thermodynamic losses and improving efficiency of cycles with vapor compression heat pumps in the conditions of large temperature differences in the evaporator and the condenser.