Joint start — RUDN University announced the results of the student research paper contest

The project “Development of an inertial carbonation plant to intensify biochemical processes of wastewater treatment” reached the final of the competition under the UMNIK talented youth support program and claims funding in the amount of half a million rubles. The project “Development of a new type of environmentally friendly packaging materials with anti-adhesion properties” was announced for participation in the competition of the The Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises in Science and Technology for funding in the amount of 3 million rubles. All participants received support in the form of RUDN University scholarships in the amount of 20 thousand rubles for the duration of the projects.

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Project “Development of an inertial saturation plant for the purpose of intensifying the biochemical processes of wastewater treatment”

The increase in the urban population, as well as the development of the industrial sector, sharply poses the problem of wastewater treatment both at the regional and state levels. An urgent task is to offer an effective and inexpensive wastewater treatment technology, since most enterprises discharge their wastewater into the city sewer or into a reservoir without treatment, and many existing treatment facilities are worn out by more than 50%.

Students at the Institute of Ecology are developing an experimental installation for inertial saturation, which will intensify the biochemical processes of wastewater treatment. The technology will solve the problem of both enterprises and water utilities, which often do not have space to accommodate bulky equipment on their territory, as well as reduce the time for the process of separating liquid and solid fractions, which usually takes place in secondary sedimentation tanks, from 2 hours to several minutes.

“Biological wastewater treatment is of particular interest. One of the low-cost technologies is cleaning with the help of microorganisms. It should be noted that the design and operation of a biological installation is associated with a number of problems: large occupied areas, a long time for the purification process, and a large amount of waste generated. Now, we have already calculated the parameters of the installation, made a design drawing, developed and manufactured the design of the main body of the installation,” — said Alena Basamykina, graduate student, assistant at the Institute of Ecology of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, winner of the UMNIK program.

• The project team: students and graduate students at the Institute of Ecology Alena Basamykina, Egor Baranov, Ekaterina Kurkina, Maria Kameristaya, Valeria Zelenina.
• Supervisor — Anna Kurbatova, Associate Professor of the Department of Environmental Monitoring and Forecasting, Institute of Ecology, RUDN, Candidate of Biological Sciences.

Project “Development of a new type of environmentally friendly packaging materials with anti-adhesion properties”

There is no technology in the world that would satisfy all the packaging requirements of the 21st century. Students and postgraduates from Institute of Biochemical Technology and Nanotechnology are developing a method for modifying low-quality paper made from pulp industry waste using polystyrene nanoparticles. They have experimented with modifying low quality paper webs with the main paper modifying compounds currently in use.

There are plans to study the effect of physicochemical parameters of modifying agents on the properties of the resulting material. In the course of the work, the antibacterial properties of the resulting material will be studied, which will significantly increase the shelf life of products and ensure their safety.

“We believe that these results will have a significant impact on the packaging market and will prove the possibility of creating a new universal packaging with a wide range of performance adjustments. This will create the prerequisites for the development of packaging materials for various groups of goods made from pulp industry waste,” — said Andrey Vodyashkin, postgraduate student, assistant at Institute of Biochemical Technology and Nanotechnology, member of The Eurasian Youth Assembly.

• The project team: students at the Institute of Biochemical Technology and Nanotechnology Antonina Sergorodtseva, Darina Karamushko.
• Supervisor — Andrey Vodyashkin, assistant, graduate student, member of The Eurasian Youth Assembly.