FUEL industry- a set of mining industries engaged in extraction and processing various types fuel and energy raw materials. Includes oil refining, gas, coal, shale, peat and mining industries

Fuel industry- one of the most important industries heavy industry . The role of fuel increases with the development of technical progress and inextricably linked mechanization, automation, electrification and heating of production, which determine the intensive growth of energy consumption in the national economy. Combustible substances, especially oil and gas, are also used as raw materials for the chemical industry.

In pre-revolutionary Russia (1913), total fuel production (in conventional terms) was 48.2 million. T, including firewood more than 20%.

In the USSR, as a result of the successful implementation of the first five-year plans (1929-40), total annual production in 1940 reached 238 million. T standard fuel. The structure of the fuel industry has changed radically. A new industry has emerged - gas industry . During the Great Patriotic War 1941-45, the Nazi invaders caused enormous damage to the fuel industry. During the years of the 4th Five-Year Plan (1946-50), the fuel industry enterprises were restored; in 1950, fuel production in the USSR exceeded the 1940 level by 31%. In subsequent years, the leading sectors of the fuel industry - oil and gas - grew at a faster pace. Fuel production in 1975 increased 5 times compared to 1950.

The fuel and energy industry is a combination of branches of the fuel industry, electric power, and means of delivering fuel and energy. Over the past two centuries, the global fuel and energy industry has gone through two main stages in its development. The first stage (XIX - first half of the XX century) was coal, when coal fuel sharply predominated in the structure of the world fuel and energy balance. The second stage was the oil and gas stage. Oil and gas turned out to be more efficient energy carriers than solid fuel. In the 80s The world energy industry has entered the third (transitional) stage of its development, where a transition is taking place from the use of predominantly exhaustible mineral fuel resources to inexhaustible resources. The oil, gas, and coal industries are the basis of global energy. Oil is produced in 80 countries around the world, but the main role is played by Saudi Arabia, USA, Russia, Iran, Mexico, China, Venezuela, UAE, Norway, Canada, UK, Nigeria. 40% of all oil produced is traded internationally. A huge territorial gap has formed in the world economy between the areas of its production and consumption, which contributed to the emergence of powerful cargo flows. The main oil production areas are the basins of the Persian Gulf, West Siberian, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. Natural gas is the cheapest and most environmentally friendly fuel. The leader in world gas production is Russia, where the largest basin is located - Western Siberia. The largest gas producing country is the USA, followed by Canada, Turkmenistan, the Netherlands, and the UK. Unlike oil-producing countries, the main gas-producing countries are the developed countries Europe and North America. By reserves natural gas Two regions are distinguished: the CIS (Western Siberia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) and the Middle East (Iran). The main gas exporters are Russia, which supplies gas to the Eastern and Western Europe; Canada and Mexico, which supply gas to the United States; the Netherlands and Norway, supplying gas to Western Europe; Algeria, which supplies gas to Western Europe and the United States; Indonesia, Middle Eastern countries, Australia exporting gas to Japan. Gas transportation is provided in two ways: through main gas pipelines and using gas tankers when transporting liquefied gas.

The development of the coal industry in the era of cheap oil slowed down, but after the crisis of the 70s. acceleration came again. The main coal-producing countries are developed countries: China, USA, Germany, Russia, Poland, Australia, India, South Africa. In Russia, coal production has been falling sharply in recent years, while in China and the United States the coal industry is developing dynamically. In terms of explored coal reserves, the leaders are also mainly developed countries: the USA, the CIS (Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan), then China, Germany, Great Britain, Australia, South Africa. Most coal is consumed in the same countries where it is mined, so only 8% reaches the world market. But there have been changes in the structure of trade - the demand for coking coal is falling due to the slowdown in the development of metallurgy, and the demand for thermal coal is growing. The main exporters of coal are the USA, Australia, and to a lesser extent South Africa, Russia, Poland, and Canada. The main importers of coal are Japan, the Republic of Korea and a number of European countries.

Metallurgical complex- a set of industries producing a variety of metals. It is divided into ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy. 90 percent of metals used in modern production, - black, i.e. iron and alloys derived from it.

The production of the metallurgical complex is characterized by high level concentration, monopolization and combination of production.

The main factors for the location of the complex are raw materials, energy, consumer, water, environmental, and labor resources.

Ferrous metallurgy is the basis for the development of mechanical engineering. It includes the extraction and beneficiation of iron, manganese and chromite ores, the smelting of cast iron and steel, and the production of rolled ferroalloys. Therefore, in ferrous metallurgy, combination is widely developed - the unification at one enterprise of several industries of various industries that are interconnected.

Mining, preparation of ores and fuel, production of metal and auxiliary materials are concentrated within one metallurgical base. Most enterprises in this industry are combines.

The production of cast iron requires a large amount of raw materials - iron ore, coke (in blast furnace production) or electricity, manganese ore, etc. Our country is almost completely provided with raw materials for ferrous metallurgy. For the smelting of iron and steel in the 80-90s. The USSR and then Russia held world leadership; she is now ranked fourth in the world.

The largest metallurgical base in the country is the Urals. Almost 1/2 of Russia's cast iron, steel and rolled products are produced here. Imported coal (from Kuzbass and Karaganda) and ore from Kazakhstan, KMA and Magnitogorsk are used as raw materials. Most of the metal is smelted at giant enterprises in Magnitogorsk. Nizhny Tagil, Chelyabinsk, Novotroitsk.

The second most important metallurgical base was the Center, which uses its own ores (KMA) and imported coke (Kuzbass, Vorkuta). The main centers are Lipetsk, Stary Oskol, Tula, Volgograd, Elektrostal, Kolpino, St. Petersburg.

The metallurgical base of Siberia and the Far East is still in its formation stage. Modern factories full cycle operate in Novokuznetsk, Novosibirsk, Guryevsk, Krasnoyarsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Iron ores come from Gornaya Shornya, Khakassia, and the Angara-Ilinsky basin. Coals from Kuzbass and the South Yakutsk basin are used.

In connection with the creation of the Cherepovets full-cycle plant, the Northern Metallurgical Base began to form.

Non-ferrous metallurgy includes the extraction, beneficiation and metallurgical processing of non-ferrous, precious and rare metal ores. The industry includes the lead-zinc, titanium-magnesium, tungsten-molybdenum industry and the production of precious and rare metals.

Non-ferrous metals are divided according to physical properties and purpose into heavy (copper (Cu), tin (Sn), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni)), light (aluminum (A1), titanium (Ti), magnesium (Md), precious (gold (Au), silver (Ad), platinum (Ft) and rare (zirconium (Zr), indium (In), tungsten (W), molybdenum (Mo), etc.

Non-ferrous metallurgy is a very material-intensive industry, since the content of non-ferrous metals in the ore is extremely low, therefore non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises are focused mainly on raw material bases.

Non-ferrous metal ores are usually multicomponent, so the integrated use of raw materials is of great importance. An important factor in the location of enterprises for the smelting of non-ferrous metals is energy, since this is an energy-intensive production. But the production of light non-ferrous metals requires a large amount of energy.

Aluminum industry. It develops on the basis of its own (deposits in the Urals, North-Western region, Siberia) and imported raw materials. Almost all factories are more or less remote from raw materials, but are located either near hydroelectric power stations or large thermal power plants.

More than 3/4 of aluminum production now comes from four large aluminum smelters; Bratsk, Krasnoyarsk, Sayan and Novokunetsk. The first two of them are the largest in the world.

Our country is among the world leaders in aluminum production, but up to 80% of the aluminum produced in Russia is now exported.

Copper industry. The main bases of the copper industry of our country are located in the Urals (Gaiskoye, Krasnouralskoye, Revdinskoye, Sibaiskoye deposits). Mostly processing plants are located here. The production of refined copper is located both in the Ural region and in the Center (Moscow, St. Petersburg).

Lead-zinc industry. Mainly gravitates towards areas of polymetallic ore mining (Kuzbass, Transbaikalia, North Caucasus, Primorye).

Nickel industry. It is developing in the Northern economic region on the basis of deposits of the Kola Peninsula and copper-nickel concentrates of Norilsk, in the Urals - on local and imported raw materials, in Eastern Siberia - on copper-nickel ores of the Taimyr Autonomous Okrug.

Natural resource potential of Russia

3. Main fuel bases in Russia

Fuel industry. Russia is one of the few countries in the world that is not only fully provided with all types of fuel resources, but also large quantities supplies them to other countries. Russia accounts for 10% of the world's oil reserves, more than 40% of gas and more than 50% of coal. Geological knowledge of the territory of Russia is relatively weak, so actual fuel resources are most likely much greater. Russia ranks first in gas production, second in oil production, and fifth in coal production in the world.

Coal, oil and gas are the main types of fuel. The importance of other energy resources (peat, oil shale, firewood) is quite small.

Gas industry. This is the youngest and fastest growing branch of the Russian fuel industry. Active development of gas reserves began only in the second half of the 20th century. Gas is the only type of fuel whose production in Russia has not been reduced in recent decades.

Gas has a high calorific value and is an environmentally friendly type of fuel, since its combustion produces few toxic substances. Gas production and transportation are simple. When extracting gas, there is no need for underground work, since gas can be pumped from the surface. Transporting gas through gas pipelines is relatively cheap.

The largest gas reserves are in the West Siberian economic region of the country (Figure 2), where more than 85% of Russian gas is produced in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, in the lower reaches of the Ob and Taz rivers. The largest gas fields in the country and the world are located here - Urengoyskoye, Yamburgskoye, Medvezhye, Zapolyarnoye, etc. Only these four fields account for half of the gas production.

Gas is produced in much smaller volumes in the south of the Urals, in the Northern economic region, in the Volga region, in the North Caucasus, and in the Far East.

The Yamal and Gydansky peninsulas (north of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug), the shelf zone, are promising for gas Barents Sea and Sakhalin Islands.

Figure 2 - Share of economic regions in gas production, %

Oil industry. Russia is rich in oil. Peak oil production was achieved in 1988, when Russia produced almost a fifth of world oil production. However, in recent decades, oil production in the country has decreased by almost 2 times. Currently, the decline in oil production has stopped, and its production has begun to increase.

Crude oil is not used; it is processed at oil refineries into gasoline, kerosene, fuel oil, various oils, etc., and a variety of chemical products are obtained at petrochemical enterprises.

The main oil base of Russia is Western Siberia (Figure 3). If gas fields are located in the lower reaches of the Ob, then oil mainly lies in its middle reaches, in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. 70% of the country's oil is produced here. Moreover, West Siberian oil is of high quality - it contains a small amount of sulfur. Unfortunately, the ultra-rich deposits of Western Siberia have been depleted. The time lies ahead for the exploitation of relatively small but numerous fields that still contain a lot of oil.

Figure 3 - Share of economic regions in oil production, %

The Volga-Ural oil province is located within the territory of the republics of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Udmurtia, as well as the Perm Territory, Orenburg, Samara, Saratov, Volgograd and Astrakhan regions. The oil of this region is significantly inferior in quality to that of Western Siberia, but it lies relatively shallow, which simplifies its extraction.

The Timan-Pechora oil province, located in the Northern economic region, is still being developed. The region has a large number of explored but not yet developed deposits, including on the shelf zone of the Barents and Kara seas.

The Usinskoye field in the Komi Republic has unique production conditions. Due to its high density (thickness), oil is not pumped out of the ground, but is extracted in mines.

The North Caucasus, Russia's oldest oil-producing region, now plays a minor role. Although the quality of oil here is the best, its reserves are small due to the high depletion of the fields.

In the main production areas, except Timan-Pechora, there is a significant depletion of oil reserves, and, therefore, a further decline in the level of oil production in the country can be expected. Fortunately, this is not the case. Firstly, there are many promising areas that can significantly expand the industry’s raw material base. These are areas of the European North, Siberia and the Far East, including their shelf zones.

In our country, areas of fuel production and consumption are separated by vast distances. In fact, the main fuel production takes place in the east of the country, while Largest cities and the main industrial centers are located in its western part. Therefore, the importance of oil and gas pipelines is very great.

"right">Table 3

The most important gas pipelines

Name	Passage areas
	Subjects	Main points
"Friendship"	Tatarstan, Samara, Penza, Tambov, Lipetsk, Oryol, Bryansk regions, Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia	Almetyevsk, Samara, Penza, Michurinsk, Lipetsk, Orel, Unecha. Mozyr, Brest, Novopolotsk, Uzhgorod, Mazhekiai, Vents-pils
Volga region - Center - North-West	Tatarstan, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan regions, Moscow, Yaroslavl, Leningrad regions	Almetyevsk, N. Novgorod, Ryazan, Moscow, Yaroslavl, Kirishi
Komi - Center	Komi, Yaroslavl	Usinsk, Ukhta, Yaroslavl
Volga region - Black Sea	Samara, Saratov, Volgograd, Rostov regions, Krasnodar region	Samara, Novokuibyshevsk, Saratov, Volgograd, Salsk, Novorossiysk, Tuapse

The pipeline system crosses our country from east to west (Tables 3 and 4). The length of main (largest) pipelines in Russia exceeds 200 thousand km. Branches from them create a developed network, especially dense in the European part of the country. Some of the pipelines go beyond the borders of our country, ensuring the supply of fuel to neighboring countries and far abroad. As you know, Russia is the largest exporter of oil and gas in Europe. An oil pipeline is currently under construction Eastern Siberia- Pacific Ocean.

"right">Table 4

The most important oil pipelines

Coal industry. Coal is inferior to oil and gas in many respects. Its calorific value is significantly lower. At the same time, the cost of its production is much higher. To raise coal to the surface, it is necessary to use powerful and complex equipment and the work of many people. There are two methods of coal mining - open (quarry) and closed (mine). Coal mined in mines is especially expensive, since a mine is an extremely complex underground structure. In terms of the number of employees, the coal industry significantly exceeds all other fuel industries.

Since coal transportation is carried out mainly by rail, it is much more expensive than pumping oil and gas through pipelines. As a result, coal is a more expensive fuel. However, it remains one of the most important fuels in our country. The explanation for this is simple. Firstly, Russia's coal reserves are huge. According to experts, they can last for many hundreds, and possibly thousands of years. Therefore, coal is actively used to produce heat and generate electricity. Secondly, it is difficult to find a replacement for coal in some sectors of the economy. This primarily concerns metallurgy, which is one of the largest consumers of coal.

Different types of coal are used for the needs of thermal power engineering and metallurgy. Thermal power engineering requires types of coal with a high calorific value. They are called thermal coals. The best of them is anthracite. In metallurgy, another type of coal is used - coking coal. After special processing, impurities are removed from it, and almost pure carbon remains - coke. It is coke that is used as fuel in the production of cast iron. Coking coals are much less widespread compared to thermal coals. Almost 75% of all deposits in earth's crust coals are classified as energy coals. Therefore, when assessing coal basins, the presence of coking coals there must be taken into account.

Anthracite and coking coal belong to the group of hard coals. In addition to hard coal, there is also brown coal. As a fuel, brown coal is significantly inferior to stone. Its combustion heat is almost 2 times less. It contains a lot of ash particles, and therefore, when burned, brown coal smokes very strongly. Nevertheless, in some areas of the country the reserves of this coal are large, and the deposit conditions allow open-pit mining, so it is widely used. True, transporting brown coal over long distances is unprofitable. Therefore, brown coal is used only in mining areas.

The location of the Russian coal industry, naturally, depends on the location of coal deposits in the country. They are mainly concentrated in the eastern regions of Russia (Table 5). More than 90% of coal reserves are located here. The eastern regions also provide 3/4 of the country's coal production (Figure 4). The main role in the all-Russian coal production is played by the Kuznetsk (Kemerovo Region) and Kansk-Achinsk (Krasnoyarsk Territory) basins located here.

The Kuznetsk Basin (Kuzbass) is the absolute leader in Russia in terms of the scale of coal production. More than half of Russian coal is mined here. Huge reserves, thick coal seams, excellent quality of coal, including coking coal, make the basin one of the largest and best in the world. Almost half of the coal is mined here open method. Despite its considerable distance from world markets, Kuzbass is the largest exporter of Russian coal.

"right">Table 5

Characteristics of the most important coal basins in Russia

Coal Pools	Coal reserves, billion tons	Share in the country's coal production, %		Thickness of coal seams, m	Coal mining method
Kuznetsky			Anthracite, coking		Open, closed
Kansko-Achinsky					Open
Pechorsky			Coking, anthracite		Closed
Vostochny, Donbass			Anthracite		Closed

Figure 4 - Coal production by economic region, %

The Kansk-Achinsk basin has layers of brown coal of enormous thickness, which lie almost at the earth's surface. This creates conditions for relatively cheap open-pit coal mining. But the coal here is low-calorie and of low quality. Therefore, it is mainly used in the mining area to generate electricity. The widespread use of this coal has led to a significant deterioration in air quality in populated areas in the region.

The Pechora basin is the largest in terms of coal reserves and production in the European part of the country. Significant depth (200-600 m), low power layers (1-2 m), complex natural conditions Arctic regions complicate production and lead to additional costs that increase the cost of coal. Coking coals account for 3/5 of the total production volume.

Eastern Donbass is located in the west of the Rostov region. In general, the Donetsk coal basin is located on the border with Ukraine, and most of it is located outside of Russia. Coal has been mined here for more than 100 years, so all the most convenient and rich seams have already been worked out. Now mining is carried out at very great depths. Some mines exceed a kilometer in depth. The thickness of the coal layers is very small, in some places it does not exceed several centimeters. As a result, coal is very expensive.

Coal is mined in the South Yakut basin, in Neryungri. The branch fits here railway- a branch from the Baikal-Amur Mainline, which allows products to be sent to Russian consumers and exported to Japan.

The Tunguska, Taimyr, Lena basins are the largest in the world in terms of coal reserves. They contain thermal and coking coals, but have not yet been developed due to the poor economic development of the territory, the almost complete absence of transport routes and remoteness from consumers. In Russia, 2/3 of coal is mined by open-pit mining, in Kuzbass - about half, in the Kansk-Achinsk basin - 100%. Exclusively in mines, production is carried out in the Pechora and Donetsk basins.

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Concept and structure of the fuel industry

The fuel industry is a set of branches of the mining industry engaged in the extraction and processing of various types of fuel and energy raw materials.

The fuel industry is part of the fuel and energy complex of the Russian Federation.

This industry includes: oil (oil production, oil refining), gas, coal, peat, shale, uranium mining, wood.

Fuel is a group of resources used primarily to produce thermal, mechanical and electrical energy.

Fuel is classified:

1) According to physical condition:

gaseous;

2) By method of receipt:

Natural, extracted directly from the earth (coal, oil, natural gas, shale, peat, firewood, uranium);

Artificial, obtained as a result of processing natural fuels and other substances (coke, fuel oil, gasoline, coke oven gas, blast furnace gas, etc.).

Russia ranks first in the world in terms of fuel resources. Their regional structure is characterized for the most part by a clear predominance of coal, but it plays a leading role everywhere as a condition for the development of the fuel base of industry. In Western Siberia, the Volga region, the North Caucasus and the Urals, oil and natural gas are of paramount importance from this point of view.

Among other minerals, oil and gas occupy a special position in the fuel industry, determined by a number of reasons.

Firstly, oil and gas are raw materials, even partial replacement of which with an alternative will require a significant restructuring of the structure of industrial production and significant capital investments.

Secondly, oil and gas are consumed on a huge scale and at current rates of consumption, oil has a sharp tendency to be depleted. The transition to the development of qualitatively worse natural characteristics oil and gas resources are causing a rapid increase in costs for these purposes.

Thirdly, being unique raw materials, oil and gas require significant labor costs for their identification, production, transportation and processing.

Features of the fuel industry.

Its products are transformed into thermal energy in further stages of production.

Widespread demand for fuel industry products.

Fuel is transported only to the place of combustion, and does not materially participate in the weight composition of new products.

All types of fuel (with the exception of gas) have a huge mass and their transportation requires high costs.

Almost all types of fuel are used in all sectors of the national economy. The main consumer of all types of fuel and energy resources (except for motor fuel) is industry. The industry consumes more than half of the total consumption of fuel and energy resources in the national economy, about three-quarters of boiler and furnace fuel, almost two-thirds of electricity and 80% of thermal energy produced centrally at thermal power plants and large boiler houses.

Russia has enormous fuel resources and is fully self-sufficient in them. Reliance on our own fuel and energy resources is a serious advantage of our economy. Russia is considered a major exporter of fuel among the countries of the world. The fuel industry is of great regional importance; it creates the prerequisites for the development of fuel-intensive industries and serves as the basis for the formation of industrial complexes, including petrochemical, coal chemical, and gas industrial complexes.

Table 1 Production of primary energy resources by fuel type in Russia (million tons of standard fuel)

The consumption of primary fuel and energy resources in Russia is noticeably higher than that of other countries under consideration, which is quite obvious given the population size and GDP produced. At the same time, Russia is noticeably ahead of its Quartet partners in relative specific energy consumption, which amounts to 4.29 tons of energy equivalent. e. per person versus 2.45 - 2.88 t. e. per person in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine (2001). In Russia, this figure is close to the average per capita energy consumption of industrial countries (OECD - 4.68 ttoe/person), which could be assessed positively if the energy intensity of GDP is not taken into account. Unfortunately, the energy intensity of Russian GDP, taking into account purchasing power parity, is exactly 2 times higher than that of OECD countries (respectively: 0.44 and 0.22 tons of oil equivalent/thousand dollars). If we compare GDP in prices and at the 1995 exchange rate, then, according to IEA estimates, the gap in the energy intensity of GDP sharply increases and exceeds 8 times (Russia - 1.65 tons of oil equivalent/thousand dollars; OECD - 0.19 tboe/thousand dollars). The comparison of GDP energy intensity shows both Russia’s remaining energy saving potential and the existing possibility of “strengthening” the ruble exchange rate.

Gasoline is becoming more expensive - although oil is falling! It’s so strange how everything works in our country. Well, okay, many of us are wondering - is it possible to make gasoline at home? And how is it made in general? What kind of complex is this? technical process, after which gasoline now costs just like “gold”. Today I decided to write a short article where we will look at the manufacturing process of this fuel. You will see that everything is not as complicated as it really seems...

As you know, gasoline is made from oil; if you like, it is a “preparation” for future fuel. By the way, from the residues after distillation, many other things are obtained, for example, kerosene, fuel oil, etc. So a liter of this “fossil” is broken down into many components.

In turn, oil can be decomposed into two main components, these are carbon (approximately 85%) and hydrogen (approximately 15%). They are connected to each other by hundreds of bonds, which we then call hydrocarbons - in turn, they can also be divided into complex and light compounds - but all these compounds, in fact, are oil.

Gasoline is extracted from it in two main ways - this is the process of “direct distillation”, and a more advanced one which goes by a lot of names - platforming, reforming, hydro-reforming, but the most popular now are thermal and catalytic cracking. Now in more detail.

Direct distillation process

This is a very ancient method, it was invented at the dawn gasoline engines. If you like, it is not distinguished by super technologies, and it can easily be repeated in every home, more on that a little later.

The physical process itself consists of heating oil and evaporating from it the necessary compositions in turn . The process occurs when atmospheric pressure and a closed container in which the gas outlet tube is installed. When heated, volatile compounds begin to evaporate from oil:

• Temperature from 35 to 200 °C – we get gasoline
• Temperature from 150 to 305 °C – kerosene
• From 150 to 360 °C – diesel fuel.

After which they are simply condensed into another container.

But there are a lot of disadvantages with this method:

• We get very little fuel - so from one liter we get only 150 ml. gasoline.
• The resulting gasoline has a very low octane number, approximately 50 - 60 units. As you understand, to catch it up to 92 - 95, you need a lot of additives.

In general, this process is hopelessly outdated, in modern conditions it is simply not commercially viable. Therefore, many processing enterprises have now switched to a more profitable, advanced manufacturing method.

Thermal and catalytic cracking

This process of obtaining gasoline is very complicated, you can’t get it at home this way - that’s for sure! I don’t want to get into the weeds and burden you with complex chemical and physical terms. Therefore, I will try to tell you what is said “on the fingers”.

The essence of cracking is simple . Oil is chemically and physically decomposed into its components - that is, from large, complex hydrocarbon molecules, smaller and simpler ones are made, which form gasoline.

What does this give us, what are the advantages:

• The gasoline yield increases several times, up to 40–50%. That is, compared to distillation, we already have almost half a liter of fuel.
• The octane number is much increased - usually it is about 70 - 80 units. Of course, you can’t drive it either, but you need a minimum of additives to get the finished product.

In general, this process is definitely the future. That's why there are so many of them today - platforming, reforming, hydro-reforming, cracking. Each process tries to increase the amount of fuel produced + improve the octane number, ideally to do without additives altogether.

Octane number and dilution

I still want to talk a little about diluting the original gasoline. That is, how do we get the octane number equal to 92, 95 and 98, which are used now.

The octane number characterizes the resistance of gasoline fuel to detonation, in simple words you can describe it this way - in the fuel mixture (gasoline + air), which is compressed in the combustion chamber, the flame spreads at a speed of 1500 - 2500 m/s. If the pressure when the mixture ignites is too high, then additional peroxides begin to form, the force of the explosion increases - this is a simple detonation process that is in no way beneficial for the engine pistons.

It is the fuel's resistance to detonation that is measured by its octane number. Now there are installations that contain a reference liquid - usually a mixture of isooctane (its number is “100”) and heptane (its number is exactly “0”).

Then, at the stand, two fuels are compared, one obtained from oil (gasoline mixture), the second from isooctane. They are compared, if the engines operate the same, they look at the second mixture and the number of isooctane in it - thus obtaining the octane number. Of course, this is all ideal, laboratory tests.

In practice, detonation can be caused by many other engine faults, such as incorrect position throttle valve, lean fuel mixture, improper ignition, engine overheating, deposits in the fuel system, etc.

To summarize, now alcohols, ethers, alkyls are used as additives to increase the octane number; they are very environmentally friendly, as well as additives for. The ratio in the composition is approximately the following: the composition of Catholic cracking (73 - 75%), alkyls (25 - 30%), butylene fractions (5 - 7%). For comparison, tetraethyl lead was previously used to increase the octane number; it perfectly improves fuel, but it causes severe harm to the environment (to all living things), and also settles in the lungs and can cause cancer. Therefore, they have now abandoned it.

How to produce gasoline at home - instructions

You know, my grandfather would have easily and easily made gasoline fuel at home! All because alcohol mashine perfect for this event. All that remains is to find crude oil somewhere!

SO, the process is point by point:

• We are looking for a sealed container; there must be a gas outlet tube on top that will go into another container. A high temperature thermometer should also be installed to monitor the temperature inside.
• Now we pour oil into the first container, set it to heat (you can even use gas, but this is explosive, because we get gasoline), it is better to use electric version. We place the second container in a cold room, about + 5 degrees; if this is not possible, then we place the tube that goes to the container in the cold, or even line it with ice from the refrigerator.
• In the first container, heating begins, and as we have already seen from above, a temperature of 35 - 200 degrees is enough for the light fractions (gasoline) to begin to evaporate. Usually 100 - 120 degrees is enough. We heat it up and since the vapors enter a cold container or tube through a tube, they condense - they fall into a liquid state, into a second container.

Our fuel is ready! In essence, this is a method of direct distillation of oil. However, it will have a low octane number, as I already indicated above, about 50 - 60 units; in order to use it, you need to add additives - alcohols, alkyls, ethers. Thus, we will get the indicator we need 92 - 95. Of course, this is quite difficult to do at home, but through trial and error you can achieve a completely working formula. To be honest, the direct distillation method is as simple as “three kopecks.”

By the way, if we heat the remaining fractions at a higher temperature (+ 300, + 350 degrees), then we already get kerosene and diesel.

Now a short video for those who are too lazy to read.

This is where I end, watch and read our AUTOBLOG, it will be interesting, I promise.

(Fuel and Energy Complex) is one of the inter-industry complexes, which is a set of closely interconnected and interdependent sectors of the fuel industry and electric power industry. It also includes specialized types of transport - pipeline and main high-voltage lines.

The fuel and energy complex is the most important structural component of the Russian economy, one of the factors in the development and deployment of the country's productive forces. The share of the fuel and energy complex in the country's export balance reached more than 60% in 2007. The fuel and energy complex has a significant impact on the formation of the country's budget and its regional structure. The sectors of the complex are closely connected with all sectors of the Russian economy, are of great regional importance, create the prerequisites for the development of fuel production and serve as the basis for the formation of industrial complexes, including electric power, petrochemical, coal chemical, and gas industrial complexes.

At the same time, the normal functioning of the fuel and energy complex is hampered by a lack of investment, a high level of moral and physical depreciation of fixed assets (in the coal and oil industries, the design life of more than 50% of equipment has been exhausted, in the gas industry - more than 35%, more than half of the main oil pipelines are operated without capital repair 25-35 years), increasing it negative influence on environment(the fuel and energy complex accounts for 1/2 of emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere, 2/5 Wastewater, 1/3 of solid waste from all consumers).

A peculiarity of the development of the Russian fuel and energy complex is the restructuring of its structure in the direction of increasing the share of natural gas over the past 20 years (more than 2 times) and reducing the share of oil (1.7 times) and coal (1.5 times), which is due to the continuing discrepancy in the distribution of productive forces and fuel and energy resources (FER), since up to 90% of the total reserves of FER are located in the eastern regions.

Structure of production of primary energy resources in Russia* (% of total)

The national economy's fuel and energy needs depend on the dynamics of the economy and the intensity of energy conservation. The high energy intensity of the Russian economy is due not only to the natural and geographical features of the country, but also to the high share of energy-intensive heavy industries, the predominance of old energy-waste technologies, and direct energy losses in networks. There is still no widespread practice of energy-saving technologies.

Fuel industry. Mineral fuel is the main source of energy in the modern economy. Russia ranks first in the world in terms of fuel resources. Their regional structure is dominated by coal, but in Western Siberia, the Volga region, the North Caucasus and the Urals, oil and natural gas are of paramount importance.

In 2007, in the country as a whole, oil production amounted to 491 million tons, gas - 651 billion m3, coal - 314 million tons. In the distribution of fuel production, starting from the 1970s. XX century and up to the present day, a trend is clearly visible - as the most efficient deposits of oil, natural gas and coal are developed in the western regions of the country, the main volumes of their production shift to the east. In 2007, the Asian part of Russia produced 93% of natural gas, more than 70% of oil and 92% of Russia's coal.

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Electric power industry

Electric power industry- a basic industry, the development of which is an indispensable condition for the development of the economy and other spheres of life. The world produces about 13,000 billion kWh, of which the USA alone accounts for up to 25%. Over 60% of the world's electricity is produced at thermal power plants (in the USA, Russia and China - 70-80%), approximately 20% - at hydroelectric power stations, 17% - at nuclear power plants(in France and Belgium - 60%, Sweden and Switzerland - 40-45%).

The most supplied with electricity per capita are Norway (28 thousand kW/h per year), Canada (19 thousand), Sweden (17 thousand).

The electric power industry, together with the fuel industries, including exploration, production, processing and transportation of energy sources, as well as electric energy itself, forms the most important for the economy of any country. fuel and energy complex(TEK). About 40% of the world's primary energy resources are spent on generating electricity. In a number of countries, the main part of the fuel and energy complex belongs to the state (France, Italy, etc.), but in many countries the main role in the fuel and energy complex is played by mixed capital.

Electric power industry deals with the production of electricity, its transportation and distribution. The peculiarity of the electric power industry is that its products cannot be accumulated for later use: the production of electricity at each moment of time must correspond to the size of consumption, taking into account the needs of the power plants themselves and losses in the networks. Therefore, connections in the electric power industry are constant, continuous and carried out instantly.

Electric power has a great impact on the territorial organization of the economy: it allows for the development of fuel and energy resources in remote eastern and northern regions; the development of main high-voltage lines contributes to a freer location of industrial enterprises; large hydroelectric power plants attract energy-intensive industries; in the eastern regions, the electric power industry is a branch of specialization and serves as the basis for the formation of territorial production complexes.

It is believed that for normal economic development, the growth in electricity production must outpace the growth in production in all other sectors. Most of the generated electricity is consumed by industry. In terms of electricity production (1015.3 billion kWh in 2007), Russia ranks fourth after the USA, Japan and China.

In terms of the scale of electricity production, the Central Economic Region (17.8% of all-Russian production), Eastern Siberia (14.7%), the Urals (15.3%) and Western Siberia (14.3%) are distinguished. Among the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in electricity generation, the leaders are Moscow and the Moscow region, the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, the Irkutsk region, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, and the Sverdlovsk region. Moreover, the electric power industry of the Center and the Urals is based on imported fuel, while the Siberian regions operate on local energy resources and transmit electricity to other regions.

Electric power industry modern Russia mainly represented by thermal power plants (Fig. 2) operating on natural gas, coal and fuel oil; in recent years, the share of natural gas in the fuel balance of power plants has been increasing. About 1/5 of domestic electricity is generated by hydroelectric power plants and 15% by nuclear power plants.

Thermal power plants, working on low-quality coal, as a rule, gravitate towards the places where it is mined. For fuel oil power plants, it is optimal to locate them near oil refineries. Gas-fired power plants, due to the relatively low costs of its transportation, primarily gravitate towards the consumer. Moreover, first of all, power plants of large and largest cities, since it is cleaner in environmentally fuel than coal and fuel oil. Combined heat and power plants (which produce both heat and electricity) gravitate towards the consumer, regardless of the fuel on which they operate (the coolant quickly cools down when transferred over a distance).

The largest thermal power plants with a capacity of more than 3.5 million kW each are Surgutskaya (in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug), Reftinskaya (in the Sverdlovsk region) and Kostroma State District Power Plant. Kirishskaya (near St. Petersburg), Ryazanskaya (Central region), Novocherkasskaya and Stavropolskaya (North Caucasus), Zainskaya (Volga region), Reftinskaya and Troitskaya (Urals), Nizhnevartovskaya and Berezovskaya in Siberia have a capacity of more than 2 million kW.

Geothermal power plants, which harness the deep heat of the Earth, are tied to an energy source. In Russia, Pauzhetskaya and Mutnovskaya GTPPs operate in Kamchatka.

Hydroelectric power plants- very efficient sources of electricity. They use renewable resources, are easy to manage and have a very high efficiency (more than 80%). Therefore, the cost of the electricity they produce is 5-6 times lower than at thermal power plants.

Hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) are most economically built on mountain rivers with a large difference in elevation, while on lowland rivers, in order to maintain a constant water pressure and reduce dependence on seasonal fluctuations in water volumes, the creation of large reservoirs is required. To make fuller use of the hydroelectric potential, cascades of hydroelectric power stations are being built. In Russia, hydropower cascades have been created on the Volga and Kama, Angara and Yenisei. The total capacity of the Volga-Kama cascade is 11.5 million kW. And it includes 11 power plants. The most powerful are Volzhskaya (2.5 million kW) and Volgogradskaya (2.3 million kW). There are also Saratov, Cheboksary, Votkinsk, Ivankovsk, Uglich and others.

Even more powerful (22 million kW) is the Angara-Yenisei cascade, which includes the largest hydroelectric power stations in the country: Sayanskaya (6.4 million kW), Krasnoyarsk (6 million kW), Bratsk (4.6 million kW), Ust-Ilimskaya (4.3 million kW).

Tidal power plants use the energy of high tides in a bay cut off from the sea. In Russia, there is an experimental Kislogubskaya TPP off the northern coast of the Kola Peninsula.

Nuclear power plants(Nuclear power plants) use highly transportable fuel. Considering that 1 kg of uranium replaces 2.5 thousand tons of coal, it is more expedient to locate nuclear power plants near the consumer, primarily in areas deprived of other types of fuel. The world's first nuclear power plant was built in 1954 in Obninsk (Kaluga region). There are currently 8 nuclear power plants in Russia, of which the most powerful are Kursk and Balakovo (Saratov region) with 4 million kW each. In the western regions of the country there are also Kola, Leningrad, Smolensk, Tver, Novovoronezh, Rostov, Beloyarsk. In Chukotka - Bilibino ATPP.

The most important trend in the development of the electric power industry is the integration of power plants in energy systems that produce, transmit and distribute electricity between consumers. They represent a territorial combination of power plants different types, working on the general load. The integration of power plants into energy systems contributes to the ability to select the most economical load mode for different types of power plants; in conditions of the large extent of the state, the existence of standard time and the mismatch of peak loads in individual parts of such energy systems, it is possible to maneuver the production of electricity in time and space and transfer it as needed in opposite directions.

Currently operational Unified Energy System(UES) of Russia. It includes numerous power plants in the European part and Siberia, which operate in parallel, in a single mode, concentrating more than 4/5 of the total power of the country’s power plants. In the regions of Russia east of Lake Baikal, small isolated power systems operate.

Russia's energy strategy for the next decade provides for the further development of electrification through the economically and environmentally sound use of thermal power plants, nuclear power plants, hydroelectric power plants and non-traditional renewable types of energy, increasing the safety and reliability of existing nuclear power plants.