Russia (bbabo.net), - Team "Siberia" of the St. Petersburg State Technological Institute (Technical University) took first place in the student track in the 2021 GreenTech Startup Booster Super Final. "Siberia" is two students, Alexandra Ivanova and Veronika Cherkashina, and the victory was awarded to them for developing the coating of the underwater part of oil platforms. Special material will protect massive structures from fouling by microorganisms, which means it will increase the service life and safety of platforms. The topic is one of the most relevant in the energy industry, and the result of student development will be in demand in the real sector of the economy.

GreenTech Startup Booster is a prestigious international program for the development and implementation of technological projects in the field of ecology. Last year, almost a thousand applications from 170 cities of the world were submitted to it. And only 25 projects got into the superfinal, one of them - from the team "Siberia". The award ceremony itself took place at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, where the winners were awarded a cash prize - 300,000 rubles to continue their research.

Alexandra and Veronica chose themselves, because it is relevant, interesting, little studied. The knowledge of ichthyology and organic chemistry obtained at Tekhnolozhka came in handy for young scientists. It was also important that the project could be implemented and not put on a shelf to gather dust. Modern trend: students should see a specific application of scientific developments.

The appearance of growths from plant and animal organisms on the underwater part of the ship's hull leads to a serious decrease in its speed, increases fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The Sibir team created a fundamentally new material based on epoxy resin (the project was called "Development of an innovative antifouling coating applied under water and operating at low temperatures"). Processing with such material protects the surface from algae, shells and other small inhabitants of the sea.

Initially, the students' project was intended for a specific Prirazlomnaya platform, which is located on the Arctic shelf, but expanding the scope is not a problem. In addition, the Ministry of Energy has already announced the commissioning of seven more oil platforms.

- Our coating can be used for ships as well. Moreover, it is also applied under water, that is, there is no need to waste time for ships to enter ports, everything is done at sea. Minus temperatures are also not an obstacle, the coating can be applied in any weather, - Veronika Cherkashina explained.

Alexander and Veronica's research was carried out under the guidance of Andrey Drinberg, professor at the Department of Chemical Technology of Polymers. The subjects studied at the Faculty of Chemical and Biotechnology are focused on a wide range of industries: from oil and gas processing into energy carriers to obtaining products of complex structure and composition - polymers, dyes, sorbents, medicines, cosmetics, biologically active substances.

- We were very supported by the teachers of the Technological Institute. All are highly qualified, intelligibly and clearly explaining the material. It is also important that the institute has enough modern laboratories: there were no problems either with equipment or with raw materials. We didn’t have to get anything from somewhere, that is, we created all the conditions for creativity. And we constantly consulted with Gazprom Neft specialists in order to have a clear idea of ​​what specific properties are expected from the coating being created, - Alexandra Ivanova added.

It is important that the researchers studied in detail all the proposals related to the protection of offshore structures, so that there is a clear understanding that what they offer is truly unique.

By the way, the development of female students was noted earlier. In particular, at the presentation of new projects of the world-class Center for Technologies and Developments "Energotechnohub Petersburg". Ten teams then made it to the finals, four of them included students from the Institute of Technology! The winners were awarded certificates of the Business Angels Club.

- A successful future is always based on non-standard, sometimes unexpected and always creative solutions, including technological ones. It's no secret that new promising ideas are often born in the minds of our talented youth - students, graduate students, young scientists. There are enough outstanding young people in the country's universities who are ready to implement their most daring ideas, - said Andrey Shevchik, rector of St. Petersburg State Technical University (TU).

Veronika and Alexandra plan to continue developing the project, scale it up and attract investments. They will seek the realization of their scientific ideas. As the students themselves say, not everything always works out the first time, but you should not despair and give up. If you have an idea that you believe in, you need to see it through to the end!

And they also have a diploma defense ahead of them and, possibly, continuation of their postgraduate studies at Tekhnolozhka.

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