How to build a house and help the planet
Throwing litter away people usually don’t think where it goes or will it ever be recycled. But now we have to face the fact that winters are not as cold as they used to be and summers make you want to find a shelter to hide from the heat. People become allergic to usual things, different problems with digestion and respiration organs arise. However, scientists are trying to solve these problems and the RUDN University is helping them in every possible way.
The idea of using waste in manufacturing isn’t brand new; one can often find articles on the Internet devoted to the waste disposal. For example, it’s possible to get carpet fibers from plastic bottles, and construction waste from a pulled down building can be reused in another construction. But it doesn’t happen everywhere. What if it could be possible to use other solid domestic waste in building? Anna Klimakina, the RUDN University’s Ecological Faculty student, found a perfect response to this question.
Anna entered the University to solve the problems of ecology and efficient use of resources. Numerous laboratories, professional equipment and honoured professors were another reason to make the right choice. When so called eco-concrete was produced with the use of waste and brought to the Ecological Faculty, she swung into the research of it. The problem was that despite the fact that the ingredients of the eco-concrete include solid household and industrial waste, the durability of the product was very low and there was no possibility to use it in an industrial construction. Eventually, as a result of the hard long work in the laboratory of the RUDN University she came up with the idea to use nano-enabled cement in the composition of eco-concrete to improve its constructional qualities.
Nano-enabled cement is an invention of Russian scientists. It is produced from regular concrete but each grain of it is covered with a nano-shell several nanometers thick. Thanks to this nano-shell the life-span of the product, its durability and freeze-thaw qualities were definitely improved.
The idea of using nano-enabled cement in concrete production with addition of waste was brand new. Concrete durability now matches the required building standarts and can easily be used in construction.
Anna managed to achieve her goal – to invent a project which can help to save natural resources, reduce waste disposal areas and make the construction of different eco-friendly objects possible for everyone. This project was presented at professional conferences and forums and drew attention of other researches.
The new composition of eco-concrete is planned to be patented and prepared for the ecological certification in order to use “EcoMaterial” or “Leaf of life” eco-labels. Eco-composition concrete will be produced on construction materials plants for using it by architecture companies, firms or individuals.
The RUDN University international platform gives you the chance to bring any idea to life, make your own contribution to the preservation of the planet, meet like-minded people and you can be sure that you’ll always be supported. If you want to be a real scientist and protect nature, you simply need to take the initiative and explore the RUDN University!
Engineering Sciences
How mathematics can help to fight traffic jams?
Engineering Sciences
Formula 1 for students
There is a long list of lovely pets which make people happy every day – cats, dogs, hamsters, chinchillas, turtles, chameleons, fish and sometimes even crocodiles and tigers – and you can continue this list further. Unfortunately, sometimes our pet can get sick. If you are an owner of an animal or you were one some time ago, you definitely remember your anxiety when a little creature feels bad. And certainly you are ready to do anything so that your doggie wags its tail again and a kitten cheerfully chases a toy mouse!
It is possible to make fuel from peat and sawdust! Even environment-friendly. To make fuel yourself you’ll need an insulated vessel, a thermometer, a filter… But RUDN University’s student of the Faculty of Physical-Mathematical and Natural Sciences decided to study scientific methods of clean fuel generation which are applied in industry and improve this technology herself. The principal source of the generation of diesel fuel, petrol and hydrocarbons, such as propane and butane, is oil. Hydrocarbons are obtained by oil cracking – it is heated and then the vaporized hydrocarbons are condensed. Petrol and diesel fuel are obtained by mixing hydrocarbons containing different amount of carbon and hydrogen. Nevertheless, easily accessible oil reserves are getting exhausted and oil prices are high. For these reasons fuel producers often use poor-quality materials which contain sulfur in large quantities. It makes the product toxic and when it vaporizes it harms the environment. These oil resources are not suitable for clean diesel oil and hydrocarbons generation. That’s why the application of other resources containing carbon and hydrogen has become important. Such resources as natural gas, coal and biomass can replace oil.
One of the Wonders of the World, Hanging Gardens of Babylon – is it a myth or reality? We don’t know that for sure and, unfortunately, we won’t ever see them. But in Germany there is a small flower island where RUDN University students created their own unusual gardens and hundreds of tourists come to the island to look at them. RUDN University students were offered to take part in a competition in Landscape design at an annual exhibition “Seasonal gardens” on Mainau Island. The island is a surprising place – all the territory of 45 hectares is covered with parks and gardens. Every year Mainau receives more than a million guests.