Prospects for increasing the efficiency of heat and electric energy-generation and heat-and-power supply at thermal power plants obviously draw attention to such modern and innovative technologies as heat pumps. Heat pumps allow efficient redistribution of energy flows. The abundance of low-potential heat carriers and heat sources in the cycle arrangement of the thermal power plants operation requires modernization of production and increase of the fuel heat utilization factor, therefore, reduction of specific fuel consumption for the production of heat and electricity. This paper analyzes the influence and practicability of introducing heat pumps into the heating circuit of the return water of the heat network of power units with PT-80 and T-250 turbines. Heat pumps of various configurations provide invariant energy conversion factor and efficiency. To assess energy and economic efficiency, modeling of the operation of power units and calculation of heat pump circuits for various refrigerants are performed. The economic effect is represented in quarterly cash savings of operating costs.

Abstract.Today, road-trains are one of the most widely-spread and multitonnage transport vehicles on road arteries interconnecting countries and cities. The concept of hybrid road-trains mostly meets the widely-spread policy for stepping up the rates of exhaust gas emissions and reducing specific hydrocarbon fuel costs but only an intermediate link in the development of more significant and important design -a driverless roadtrain. This article considers active trailers and their models with different design options for heavy tractor truck propulsion unit drive. The influence of trailer link drive on turning has been studied in "Universal gear" software. Special attention has been given to an electrical drive of active semi-trailer wheels as the most advanced one at the present moment. We have obtained the data intended to be used in design of active trailer chassis and identified the weight and size characteristics of energy accumulators required for movement of a road-train with active trailer. The efficiency factor for different semitrailer drives has been analyzed and calculated, in particular: Low EF of electrical drive. The relevancy of active trailer concept including that for driverless road-trains has been determined on the basis of received data.

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