Май 2024 г.

Российская наука и мир (по материалам зарубежной электронной прессы)

CONTENTS / ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ


• Influence of mycotoxins on milk quality indicators in cows
• Ural Federal University: Zirconium dioxide powder developed for crowns and implants in the Urals
• L’expansion de la «porte des enfers» en Sibérie : un indicateur alarmant de l’urgence climatique et une menace croissante
• Convergence science in the changing Arctic
• Russian archaeologists uncover ancient settlement close to the Iraq-Iran border
• New photocatalyst to improve decarbonization and other chemical reactions
• Rock tumbles from high cliff in Siberia - then prehistoric species discovered inside
• Assam: Extinct Mussel Genus rediscovered after 168 years in Brahmaputra river basin
• Research shows acetic acid salts simplify the production of heavy oil

Одна из крупных проблем молочного животноводства - наличие микотоксинов (споры плесневых грибов) практически во всех кормах для животных, особенно растительных. Российские исследователи изучили негативное влияние микотоксинов на качество молока, установив, в частности, что микотоксины в высоких концентрациях влияют на метаболизм аминокислот.

Russian researchers have found that feeding lactating cows with fodder containing mycotoxins had an adverse effect on several milk quality indicators. The mycotoxins reduced feed consumption, milk yield and also had a negative effect on haematological and biochemical blood parameters of experimental cows.
In cows that received feed more contaminated with zearalenone and aflatoxins, the activity of liver enzymes increased. These mycotoxins have hepatotoxicity, hematotoxicity and genotoxicity.
The research, led by vets and scientists from the Moscow State Academy of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology, was carried out around 200km east of Moscow in the dairy complexes of Lednevo breeding farm in the Yuryev-Polsky district in Vladimirov region. Its purposes were to scientifically substantiate the influence of mycotoxins on quality indicators of milk in cows in a large livestock complex.
The research parameters
At each of the complexes, 20 cows were selected. Milk samples were taken to determine the content of fat, protein, casein, albumin, globulins, lactose, total solids and dry skimmed milk residue using an automatic milk composition analyser.
Analysis of mycotoxin residues in milk was carried out using liquid chromatography mass spectrum. To determine haematological parameters and to perform biochemical tests, BioStstemsA25 automatic analyser was used from the United States.
The results
The results of automatic Foss analyser showed a decrease in dry matter content in milk from cows that received feed with a higher concentration of mycotoxins (10.44 0.22 versus 14.71 0.45%). Therefore, the researchers said mycotoxins in high concentrations affect amino acid metabolism.
Glycine, serine and threonine are amino acids that produce glucose. Glucose, in turn, is an important metabolic factor, and changes in glucose metabolism due to exposure to mycotoxins can affect amino acid metabolism in the mammary gland.
The study: "The Influence of mycotoxins on quality indicators of milk in cows in a large livestock complex" has been published in the RUDN Journal of Agronomy and Animal Industries.

Ученые Уральского федерального университета и Института высокотемпературной электрохимии УрО РАН создали керамический материал на основе диоксида циркония, не уступающий зарубежным аналогам. Помимо стоматологии, такой материал может использоваться в различных отраслях промышленности, от радиотехники до авиации.

Scientists from the Ural Federal University and the Institute of High-Temperature Electrochemistry of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have created zirconium dioxide ceramics for crowns and implants. It is not inferior to foreign analogs (Japan, Germany, Switzerland) in terms of strength and quality. In terms of cost, the final products have yet to be evaluated. The researchers and the industrial partner plan to start mass production of ceramics by 2027. The work is being carried out with financial support from the Priority 2030 program.
"We have been working on the development of zirconium dioxide ceramics for a long time. Such ceramics due to their unique properties such as strength, heat resistance, stability in an oxidizing atmosphere, high chemical and biological inertness, etc. can be used in many high-tech industries: from refractory and electrical insulating products, products for the chemical industry, vacuum technology to structural parts for nuclear power, radio engineering, aviation, and metallurgy. As there are difficulties with the supply of imported materials, we must establish the production of domestic materials for aircraft construction, turbine construction, and medicine as soon as possible. For this purpose, the Institute of High-Temperature Electrochemistry together with the Ural Federal University are creating a joint center for ceramic materials," explains Yuri Zaikov, the scientific director of the Institute of High-Temperature Electrochemistry of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Scientists have created a kind of analog of the powder of the world leader: the Japanese company Tosoh, which has been developing such powders for pressing for more than 40 years. Nowadays it isn’t easy to find disks made of such powders on the Russian market, and the cost of those that can still be bought has increased significantly.
"The samples that we have manufactured and tested are guaranteed to have a strength of at least 900 MPa. Within a year, we plan to raise this figure to 1000-1100 MPa. Then it will be possible to conduct tests in accredited laboratories, test for biological compatibility, and enter the market. We plan to launch mass production of the powder in Russia, at least 10 tons per year, by 2027," says Maxim Mashkovtsev, Associate Professor at the UrFU Department of Rare Metals and Nanomaterials.
Companies producing powder and CAD/CAM disks and manufacturers of technical ceramics are interested in the implementation and commercialization of the project.
"The key supplier of dental zirconia ceramics to our market is China. Chinese materials are cheaper than their Japanese and European counterparts. We take this into account and realize that our materials must be competitive in terms of quality, production volume, and price. We calculate the business model with our partners and understand that the cost of our powder should be at the level of 7-8 thousand rubles per kg," says Maxim Mashkovtsev.

Российские и немецкие ученые установили, что Батагайский кратер в Якутии - крупнейший в мире термокарстовый провал в вечной мерзлоте - быстро увеличивается под воздействием глобального потепления. За последние 10 лет ширина кратера увеличилась на 200 метров, достигнув почти километра, а объем таяния вечной мерзлоты составляет около 1 млн м³ в год. В результате этого процесса выделяется от 4000 до 5000 тонн углерода в год, что напрямую влияет на водные и наземные экосистемы.

Le permafrost sibérien, souvent perçu comme un géant endormi dans le climat mondial, se révèle sous une nouvelle forme alarmante à travers le cratère de Batagay, surnommé la « porte de l'enfer » ou « porte des enfers ». Ce phénomène de fonte accélérée expose des défis écologiques et géologiques majeurs.
Le permafrost sibérien, couvrant d’immenses étendues du nord de la Russie, joue un rôle crucial dans la régulation du climat mondial de par son stockage massif de carbone. Récemment, des chercheurs de l’Université d’État de Moscou et du Alfred Wegener Institute en Allemagne ont mis en lumière une manifestation alarmante de la dégradation de ce permafrost : le cratère de Batagay, découvert pour la première fois en 1991.
Ce phénomène, exacerbé par le réchauffement climatique, a été étudié et documenté dans une publication récente de la revue Geomorphology. Leur étude révèle non seulement l’expansion rapide de ce méga-affaissement, mais aussi les implications écologiques considérables de cette transformation.
Elle entraîne une libération massive de carbone organique précédemment piégé dans le permafrost. Ce phénomène aggrave le réchauffement global. Il soulève des questions critiques sur la stabilité des écosystèmes arctiques et la gestion future des terres gelées.
La dynamique d’un géant, le cratère Batagay
Le réchauffement climatique provoque une hausse des températures et des précipitations dans l’Arctique, affectant profondément le permafrost. Selon le GIEC en 2021, cette augmentation thermique entraîne une profondeur accrue de dégel saisonnier. Elle active des processus de dégradation du permafrost, résultant souvent en des mouvements massifs de terrain. Cela provoque des affaissements ou des effondrements du sol.
Ces affaissements créent des ravines ou des crevasses qui s’élargissent progressivement, emportant avec eux des matériaux dégelés, auparavant stables sous forme de glace. Les matériaux, composés de boue, de roches et de sédiments riches en eau glacée, glissent alors vers des zones plus basses, souvent en suivant le relief naturel du terrain.
Le cratère de Batagay constitue le plus grand méga-affaissement de la planète. Il se situe dans les hautes terres de la Yana, en Sibérie. Ce phénomène géologique s’est formé à partir d’une ravine déjà présente. On le répertorie pour la première fois par des images satellites en 1991.
Depuis lors, l’effet combiné du réchauffement de l’air et de l’augmentation des précipitations dans la région a accéléré la fonte du permafrost. Cela entraîna alors une expansion continue du cratère. En 2014, le cratère mesurait 790 mètres de large. Mais des mesures récentes indiquent qu’il atteint désormais près de 990 mètres. Il a grandi de 200 m en moins de 10 ans !
La récession annuelle du mur de tête, où le sol glacé s’effondre en arrière sous l’effet de la dégradation, est estimée à environ 12 mètres par an, soulignant l’intensité et la rapidité de l’érosion dans cette zone. La partie effondrée du flanc de la colline, qui est tombée 55 m sous le mur de tête, fond également rapidement et s’enfonce en conséquence.
Impacts écologiques profonds
L’expansion du cratère de Batagay constitue un indicateur de changements écologiques profonds influant directement sur le climat global. Le recul du mur de tête expose des couches de permafrost qui ont été gelées pendant des millénaires. Cela libère des gaz à effet de serre comme le méthane et le dioxyde de carbone précédemment emprisonnés.
Selon les recherches, une région de glace et de sédiments équivalente à plus de 14 grandes pyramides de Gizeh a fondu depuis l’effondrement de Batagay. Et depuis 2014, le volume annuel mobilisé s’élève à environ 1 million de m³. Ce processus entraîne la libération de 4000 à 5000 tonnes de carbone organique par an. Un chiffre effrayant compte tenu du rôle de ce gaz à effet de serre dans l’accélération du réchauffement climatique. Les auteurs de l’étude, en utilisant des modélisations géologiques 3D et des relevés de terrain détaillés, ont souligné que la quantité de carbone organique libérée pourrait être encore sous-estimée. Notamment en raison de la complexité des interactions entre les couches de permafrost et l’atmosphère.
La transformation rapide du cratère de Batagay influence considérablement l’environnement local et global. L’expansion du cratère modifie les cours d’eau environnants, entraînant des changements dans la qualité et la distribution de l’eau. Cela affecte directement les écosystèmes aquatiques et terrestres.
Selon l’étude, la libération massive de matériaux issus du permafrost, notamment des sédiments riches en nutriments et en matières organiques, altère la composition chimique de l’eau. Cette modification peut provoquer une augmentation des algues et une réduction de l’oxygène disponible. Ces variations perturbent la vie aquatique et menacent la biodiversité. De plus, ces changements affectent les communautés locales dépendant de ces ressources hydriques pour leur agriculture, leur pêche et leurs besoins quotidiens. Ils modifient ainsi leurs modes de vie traditionnels.
Un avenir sombre ?
Globalement, l’impact de l’expansion de Batagay sur le climat est également alarmant. Comme le précisent les auteurs, la libération accélérée de carbone « pose des défis significatifs pour les efforts de mitigation du changement climatique, car elle ajoute à la charge anthropique de CO₂ déjà présente ». Le suivi de ces changements est crucial pour anticiper et atténuer les impacts à long terme de ces émissions sur le climat mondial.
Le cratère Batagay « continue de croître activement », écrivent les chercheurs. Mais il y a une limite à son extension. Le permafrost restant à l’intérieur du cratère n’a que quelques mètres d’épaisseur. De fait, « la possibilité d’un approfondissement supplémentaire a pratiquement déjà été épuisée en raison de la géologie du substrat rocheux sous-jacent ».
Néanmoins, ce phénomène de libération accélérée de carbone reste un exemple concret de la rétroaction positive du réchauffement sur le permafrost. Ainsi, le réchauffement entraîne plus de dégel, qui à son tour libère plus de gaz à effet de serre. Cela perpétue ainsi le cycle du réchauffement. Ces processus nécessitent une attention et une action internationale urgente pour comprendre pleinement leur portée et limiter leurs effets destructeurs sur le climat global.

Конвергентная наука объединяет знания и методы из различных научных областей для решения сложных проблем. Одной из таких проблем современности является Арктика, испытывающая резкие и быстрые изменения, влияющие на ее природу, обитателей, промышленность и инфраструктуру.
Коллектив ученых из России, США, Великобритании, Норвегии, Финляндии, Франции и ОАЭ опубликовал статью, посвященную использованию конвергентного научного подхода на примере исследований российского полуострова Ямал.

The Arctic is undergoing rapid changes that affect its natural environment, its people, and its role in global-scale natural processes. The interplay of climate change, industrialization, and other stressors makes the Arctic an intriguing subject for convergence science - an approach characterized by communication and integration across disciplines to address specifically defined problems.
The aim of convergence science is to generate new paradigms and ways of viewing problems that reach beyond any single discipline. Despite the rising popularity of this concept over the past decade, few publications have addressed the practical specifics of how to put it into practice - and none have focused on the Arctic.
Now, a new paper in Earth's Future, by Ivanov and others, aims to do just that. In 2020, a team of Earth system scientists, ecologists, anthropologists, and engineers, representing a range of countries and cultural identities, organized a series of workshops to explore how to apply convergence science to the changing Arctic. In particular, they focused on how climate change and industrialization are driving change in the Yamal Peninsula.
Located in northwest Siberia, the Yamal Peninsula of Russia extends more than 700 kilometers north into the Arctic Ocean. It is home to Indigenous Nenets residents living in small villages or leading nomadic lifestyles as fishers and reindeer herders. It also holds vast natural gas reserves, leading to the development of industrial infrastructure and new towns over the past 50 years.
Workshop participants started out in their disciplinary comfort zones and then gradually integrated disciplines by identifying links between different natural, social, and industrial elements of the Yamal Peninsula.
This approach enabled the participants to develop a shared language of communication, ultimately leading to the formulation of several top-level science questions, such as "How do warmer winters and seasonal shifts transform human and reindeer lives in the tundra?" Additional questions emerged from each top-level question, such as "How does human activity modify top-down control of trophic interactions in tundra food webs?"
In addition to sparking new research questions, this paper could serve as a blueprint for how to apply convergence science to studying Arctic change.

Российские археологи провели полевые исследования на границе Ирана и Ирака в рамках совместной российско-иракской экспедиции. Впервые были проведены раскопки в Телле Ваджеф, древнейшем известном земледельческом поселении в провинции Майсан.

Russian archaeologists have conducted their first fieldwork in Iraq’s Maysan Province after several decades, in a sign of growing cooperation between Baghdad and Moscow.
Iraq, Syria and Iran are often referred to as the cradle of civilisation and are among the richest archaeological regions in the world. Their landscape has layers of ancient history, home to the remnants of Mesopotamian, Persian, Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian civilisations. Meanwhile, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers saw the birth of writing, the discovery of the wheel and some of the earliest known cities and empires.
The report on the expedition in April was presented by the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow on May 14. Arriving in Iraq as part of the Russian-Iraqi Joint Expedition Programme marked the first foreign expedition in Maysan Province and pointed to a return of academics from abroad to the central provinces of the country after decades of absence due to war and several invasions.
On the Iranian border
For the first time, excavations were carried out at the settlement of Tell Wajef, located 5 km from the Iranian border and about 10 km from the low foothills of the Zagros Mountains. According to the researchers, the settlement of Tell Wajef is notable for its location "at the border of the non-irrigated farming zone and the alluvial plain of Mesopotamia, where human life is only possible with the use of irrigation or the resources of the wetland ecosystem of the internal delta of the Tigris and Euphrates."
This suggests that the settlement may have emerged during the prehistoric period when the southern Mesopotamian plain was initially being settled by sedentary populations. During the fieldwork Russian archaeologists identified two construction horizons made of mudbrick architecture and several cultural layers.
Numerous fragments of painted ceramics, small plastic objects and several ornaments were unearthed. The decorations on the ancient pottery were applied with bitumen and ochre. A curious human figurine was also excavated, with its head broken off in antiquity. A bitumen spot was found on the back of the figurine, possibly indicating it was attached to a vertical surface using bitumen. The discovered artefacts, as the researchers note, have a syncretic appearance, combining elements of the Ubaid culture of Mesopotamia and a culture related to the Hazineh-Mehmeh period of the Zagros zone.
6th millennium BCE
Most uncovered deposits date back to the second half of the 6th millennium BCE. Also, remains of structures made from river stone, attributed by experts to the Old Babylonian period, were also excavated by the joint task force. The findings suggest that the settlement of Tell Wajef existed in a period preceding the emergence of the Sumerian civilisation, one of the most advanced and influential civilisations of its time.
"Results of the work at Tell Wajef are promising for determining the system of contacts between the plain near the Zagros foothills (Trans-Tigris corridor) and the alluvial plain of Mesopotamia," summarised the leaders of the research, Shahmardan Amirov and Alexei Jankowski-Diakonoff.
"Based on the conducted archaeological research, it can be asserted that to date, Tell Wajef is the oldest known sedentary agricultural settlement in Maysan Province."
Overall, the excavated site represents a tell covering about one hectare. However, its exact parameters have yet to be determined.

Для утилизации парниковых газов (реакция превращения углекислого газа в метан) в основном используют дорогие и сложные катализаторы - золото, платину, палладий. Исследовательская группа из Сколтеха, Института катализа им. Г.К.Борескова СО РАН и Томского политехнического университета экспериментальным путем подтвердила, что гораздо более дешевый фотокатализатор на основе пентаборида вольфрама и диоксида титана по эффективности ничуть не уступает благородным металлам.

The use of greenhouse gasses is one of the most popular directions of the global trend toward decarbonization - reducing the carbon footprint from production and human activities. In the process of converting carbon dioxide into methane, the main catalysts used today are gold, platinum, and palladium, which are expensive and complex. A research group from Skoltech, Boreskov Institute of Catalysis (Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences), and Tomsk Polytechnic University conducted an experiment and proved that a new photocatalyst based on WB_5-x-WB₂ tungsten boride and TiO₂ titanium dioxide can compete with noble metals. It significantly increases the efficiency of chemical reactions and is much cheaper than the catalysts used today. The results are presented in a new study in the Applied Surface Science journal.
WB_5-x, tungsten pentaboride, was previously synthesized as a cheaper alternative for diamond cutters used on drilling equipment in the oil and gas industry. Skoltech Professors Alexander Kvashnin from the Energy Transition Center and Artem R. Oganov, who heads the Material Discovery Laboratory, and their colleagues leveraged a machine algorithm that predicted the stability of WB₅, and then obtained samples by sintering tungsten and boron in a 1-to-7 ratio at temperatures up to 1,500 degrees Celsius and pressures up to 7 gigapascals. The method for synthesizing superhard tungsten pentaboride was subsequently refined in collaboration with Tomsk Polytechnic University, making its production more efficient and economical.
"We have identified properties that allowed us to assume that tungsten pentaboride is not only promising for oil production, but can also become a good catalyst. In the past, we only knew the crystal structure, stability information, and mechanical properties of the material. We have put in a lot of effort to predict the adsorption and catalytic properties of tungsten pentaboride through computer modeling and calculate the reaction barriers. Then we turned to our colleagues, who confirmed the results experimentally," shared Aleksandra Radina, a study co-author and a PhD student at Skoltech’s Materials Science program.
Researchers from Tomsk Polytechnic University synthesized a powder of higher tungsten boride using a previously developed technology, while their colleagues from Boreskov Institute of Catalysis used the synthesized material as a cocatalyst for two reactions - converting carbon dioxide into methane and producing hydrogen from an aqueous solution of ethanol. According to the results, WB_5-x-WB₂ tungsten boride increased the efficiency of the first reaction by a factor of four and that of the second by a factor of 23. Structural analysis methods such as high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and others have confirmed the new WB_5-x-WB₂/TiO₂ catalyst is responsible for increased reaction efficiency. Studies using these analytical techniques were performed at Boreskov Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
"The simulation data showed that the higher tungsten boride should work as an active catalyst material for producing hydrogen from ethanol, and the experimental results confirmed our predictions. As our material has not been previously considered as a catalyst, the question of screening chemical processes arises, where it could prove to be a more effective catalyst compared to traditional materials," said Professor Alexander Kvashnin from Skoltech’s Energy Transition Center, the leader of the study.
As the authors point out, the new photocatalyst can be effective not only in the reactions considered above. Most importantly, the research opens up a new direction for applying materials based on borides and carbides of transition metals, including high-entropy ones. Currently, a team from three organizations is actively exploring the use of new materials in various catalytic processes with applications in photocatalysis, petrochemistry, and so on.

Ученые Зоологического института РАН, Санкт Петербургского государственного университета и Кузбасского государственного краеведческого музея описали новый вид хищного динозавра, найденного в Кемеровской области на реке Кия. Представитель семейства ноазавридов из клады цератозавров получил название Kiyacursor longipes.

As a river carves the landscape of western Siberia, water slowly erodes the rocky cliffsides. The current exposes layers upon layers of sediment that took millions of years to form, but just decades to wash away. Recently, a large chunk of rocky matrix loosened from its layer near the top of the cliff, then tumbled down toward the water. Inside, the fossilized remains of an undiscovered species were waiting 40 million years to be revealed. The partial skeleton of a medium-sized theropod dinosaur, including vertebrae, ribs, legs, feet and part of the shoulder, were discovered sticking out from the rock, according to a study published May 15 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, and lead author Alexander O. Averianov, a researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences. "There are thousands of small bones (microvertebrate remains) of fishes, amphibians, lizards, crocodiles, tritylodontid synapsids, mammals, dinosaur teeth, but big dinosaur bones are quite rare," Averianov told McClatchy News in an email. "(These) big bones come from the high level on the cliff and are collected mostly from the fallen blocks."
The pieces belong to a noasaurid ceratosaur, a kind of fast running, non-avian dinosaur that stands on two large legs with two smaller legs tucked on the front of its body, according to the study. Researchers measured the leg bones and found the fossilized creature had "unique hind limb proportions" compared to other known species, according to the study. The dinosaur also has "ostrich-like" feet, with the third toe extended and longer than the second, a feature that established the find as a new species, researchers said.
Named Kiyacursor longipes, or the long-legged Kiya River runner for its discovery along the Kiya River, the dinosaur is estimated to be just over 8 feet long from head to tail, according to the study. But it was not fully grown. The medullary cavity, the inside of bones that hold bone marrow, had stopped expanding, meaning the dinosaur wasn’t a juvenile. And the bones showed signs of a slowing growth rate, suggesting it was more than 3 years old "but it did not reach adult size and it was still actively growing at the time of death," researchers said.
The long-legged Kiya River runner lived during the early Cretaceous period, researchers said, a time about 100 million years ago directly following the Jurassic period. Western Siberia is rich with paleontological evidence and other dinosaurs that lived around the same time are found in multiple periods, according to the study. This means that, unlike other transitions between periods that started after mass extinction events, the transition from Jurassic to Cretaceous was "smooth," and considered to almost be like "a real ‘Jurassic Park’," researchers said. The Kiya River is in western Siberia, in south-central Russia.

Сотрудники ФИЦ комплексного изучения Арктики им. Н.П.Лаверова УрО РАН и Университета Дибругарх (Индия) описали два вида пресноводных мидий, обнаруженных в штате Ассам в бассейне реки Брахмапутра. Моллюски считались вымершими с середины XIX в.

Researchers at Dibrugarh University made a splash with the exciting discovery of two new freshwater mussel genera in Assam’s Brahmaputra River basin: Pseudoscabies and Assamnaia. The significance lies in Assamnaia’s rediscovery. This genus, thought extinct for 168 years, represents a momentous event for biodiversity conservation.
The research team, led by Dr. Jyotish Sonowal (Centre for Biotechnology and Bioinformatics) and Prof. Devid Kardong (Department of Life Sciences), collaborated with Dr. Ivan Bolotov of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Their findings, published in the esteemed Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, highlight the global importance of this discovery.
"Assamnaia’s reappearance after over a century underscores Assam’s remarkable biodiversity. It emphasizes the urgent need to protect and conserve the region’s natural treasures for future generations," said Prof. Kardong. "Both Pseudoscabies and Assamnaia are endemic to Assam, solidifying its position as a global hotspot for freshwater mussel diversity. This discovery also showcases nature’s resilience and the intricate web of life within our freshwater ecosystems," he said.
The uncovering of Pseudoscabies and Assamnaia marks a significant milestone in biodiversity research. The researchers hope this finding will raise awareness about safeguarding Assam’s fragile ecosystems and inspire further studies into the region’s rich biodiversity.
"These new genera exemplify Assam’s unique aquatic environments and the importance of regional biodiversity conservation," Prof. Kardong said. "As we continue to unveil the wonders of the natural world, collaboration is crucial to ensure the long-term survival of all species, regardless of their rarity or obscurity," he added.

Казанские ученые обнаружили, что ацетаты меди и никеля в сочетании с обработкой паром снижают вязкость тяжелой нефти более чем наполовину. Тяжелая нефть обладает повышенной плотностью, что затрудняет ее добычу, а предложенный метод позволяет снизить энергозатраты.

According to the official website of the Russian Science Foundation, Kazanian scientists managed to find out that acetates - salts of acetic acid with transition metals - in combination with steam treatment reduce the viscosity of heavy oil by 58%. This approach was 19% more effective than steam alone, which is widely used in oil production. The proposed method will help to improve the energy efficiency of applied technologies. The results of the study, supported by a grant from the Presidential Program of the Russian Science Foundation, were published in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.
Despite the desire to shift from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources, conventional oil and gas currently account for about 80% of energy consumption and serve as valuable petrochemical feedstocks. However, conventional oil is projected to run out in about 50 years, so oil producers are starting to use less accessible heavy oil. Due to the difficulties associated with extraction, the production of petroleum products based on heavy oil is very expensive. Moreover, the crude has to be additionally purified from high-molecular impurities - resins, asphaltenes, and others, which are contained in heavy oil in large quantities.
Most often superheated steam is injected into the reservoir to extract such oil. In this case, as a result of transition of steam to water, the formation heats up and oil becomes more mobile. This method of oil production is energy intensive, and to make it more efficient, it is possible to inject catalysts into the reservoir along with steam. These compounds ensure the elimination of the heaviest components of oil - resins and asphaltenes. This provides increased oil recovery of the reservoir, and the extracted oil is easier to transport and process.
KFU scientists proposed to use salts of acetic acid with transition metals (acetates) as a supplement to steam treatment to reduce the viscosity of heavy oil. These compounds serve as catalyst precursors - sulfide particles of the corresponding transition metals are formed in the formation. They act as an active form of catalyst that affects the chemical bonds between carbon and sulfur in resins and asphaltenes.
First, the authors modeled the standard steam treatment of heavy oil samples in an autoclave. It turned out that this approach reduced the viscosity of the oil by 39%. Then the researchers added acetates of various metals - lead, magnesium, sodium, zinc, copper, and nickel - to the autoclave and compared the properties of oil that underwent such a combined (steam-catalyst) treatment with the results of the previous experiment, which used only steam. Acetates of copper and nickel, combined with the action of steam, reduced the viscosity of the original oil by 58%, which is 19% higher than the results of treatment with steam alone. This effect was achieved due to the fact that the catalyst accelerated the breakage of chemical bonds in the long molecules of resins and asphaltenes.
The authors proved that the amount of heavy high-molecular fractions in the oil really decreased by analyzing the chemical composition of oil before and after thermocatalytic action. It turned out that under the action of steam the share of heavy compounds decreased from 38% to 36%, while with the addition of nickel acetate - from 38% to 24%. The content of light hydrocarbons and aromatic compounds in this case increased by 14 percentage points (from 62% to 76%). These effects combined to produce a 58% reduction in viscosity.
"We have demonstrated for the first time that metal acetates can be used for steam-heat heavy oil extraction technologies. These inexpensive and safe compounds will help improve the energy efficiency of existing technology. In the future, we plan to conduct tests in conditions of a real oil-bearing reservoir to prove the possibility of using the proposed approach in practice," says Firdaws Aliyev, Senior Research Associate of the Laboratory of In-Situ Combustion.

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