Sergey Lanko, Aleksey Kraev, Andrey Kraev and Yakov Pronozin in the SPbGASU laboratory

Teachers of the SPbGASU Department of Geotechnics Sergey Lanko and Andrey Boyarintsev made presentations at the industry conference “Oil and gas infrastructure on permafrost soils”, held at the St Petersburg State Polytechnic University fr om 22 to 24 November.

In his report, Sergey Lanko raised the topic of the peculiarities of numerical modeling of permafrost soils, in particular, the need to take into account the aerodynamic parameters of buildings and the transition to three-dimensional digital models of the geological environment.

“Many well-known experts fr om industrial and academic organizations attended the conference. Therefore, the accute topic of my report aroused professional interest. Taking into account the aerodynamic parameters of buildings and the transition to three-dimensional digital models of the geological environment will make it possible to more accurately predict the temperature regime of the soil foundation and integrate geological surveys into information modeling technologies for objects,” explained Sergey Vladimirovich. Andrey Boyarintsev presented his development at the conference - a modified coating for steel and composite piles. “At the conference, representatives of the Rosseti company, which implements energy projects in the Arctic, became interested in my inventions. Now we are conducting joint research with St Petersburg Polytechnic University and Gazpromneft on my developments. Based on the results of the research, a technology for composite piles will be developed, which will be used in the construction of Gazpromneft oil production facilities,” said the teacher.

The reports of the conference speakers were attended by Anastasia Myasnikova and Yaroslav Smyshlyaev, master's students of the SPbGASU Department of Geotechnics.

Anastasia Myasnikova was interested in all the presentations, since the speakers not only raised current problems, but proposed new approaches and demonstrated the latest developments in the field of construction on permafrost soils.

“The conference allowed us to meet scientists and organizations that are interested in the development of regions with permafrost, find partners, and exchange experiences. It was interesting to listen to the reports in the sections of road design, foundations and soil thermal stabilization. I learned a lot of new things for myself and noticed areas in which research could be conducted. We also visited the laboratories of the Polytechnic University, wh ere we were shown equipment for studying corrosion and wear resistance of metal,” said Anastasia Myasnikova.

Reports on technologies for thermal stabilization of soils in the northern regions aroused particular interest of Yaroslav Smyshlyaev.

“In a climate of global warming, the development of this technology could save kilometers of roads and many buildings. However, there is a number of unsolved problems and tasks that require further research, so the topic continues to be relevant,” explained Yaroslav.

SPbGASU representatives confirmed their professional competencies during a popular science quiz. They performed as part of a team that also included employees of Gazpromneft PJSC and the Arctic Research Center of Norilsk Nickel PJSC, taking second place.

According to Sergey Lanko, a section on education was also organized at the conference, wh ere issues of improving the educational process in universities were raised. Thus, SPbGASU teachers and the director of the educational program “Geotechnics in the Permafrost Zone”, representative of Tyumen State University (TSU) Nadezhda Molokitina spoke about their intention to launch networking - student exchange between universities.

“In my opinion, this is a promising cooperation, since our country has created a good school for training specialists in our field,” said the teacher.

Nadezhda Molokitina and representatives of the Tyumen Geotechnical School from TSU Yakov Pronozin, Aleksey Kraev and Andrey Kraev have already visited the mechanical laboratory, architectural workshops, the new workshop of the Department of Drawing and the geotechnical laboratory at SPbGASU.