Advances and achievements of Academician D.L. Rakhmankulov’s scientific school in the field of applied and oilfield chemistry

This paper reviews the achievements of the scientific school of Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Professor of the Ufa State Petroleum Technological University (USPTU) D.L. Rakhmankulov in the field of applied and oilfield chemistry. Having achieved fundamental results during theoretical and experimental research into the structure, properties and mechanisms of transformations of substituted cyclic acetals and heteroanalogues, D.L. Rakhmankulov and his colleagues proposed to apply this knowledge in various sectors of the national economy, in particular, in the oilfield chemistry. An analysis of copyright certificates obtained by the researchers from the 1970s to the 1990s, which were related to the development of reagents of the class of cyclic acetals intended for use in the oilfield chemistry, showed that the obtained reagents can be effectively used as components of drilling fluids, inhibitors of hydrogen sulphide corrosion of oilfield equipment, bactericidal reagents that inhibit the growth of sulphate-reducing bacteria. The efficiency of such reagents significantly exceeded that of well-known industrial reagents. It was noted that aqueous compositions containing 1,3-dioxacycloalkanes dissolve and keep in volume particles of resins and asphaltenes in the form of microemulsions, which makes it possible to increase oil recovery and use cyclic acetals as reagents-solvents of asphalt-resin-paraffin deposits. It was found that the use of cyclic acetals, e.g. 4,4-dimethyl-1,3-dioxane, in the composition of drilling fluids can significantly improve their lubricating, antiwear and anticorrosive properties. By-products of petrochemical industries were often used as a raw material for the production of compounds of the class of cyclic acetals, which at the same time solved the problem of their recycling. It was found that the bottom residue of industrial production of 4,4-dimethyl-1,3-dioxane, containing oxymethyl-1,3-dioxanes, can be successfully used for dissolving gypsum hydrocarbon fuels deposited in oil wells. In order to expand the range of reagents that inhibit the growth of sulphate-reducing bacteria, D.L. Rakhmankulov and his colleagues proposed to use aqueous solutions of 1,3-dioxacycloalkanes as bactericides.

RADIATION AND PROTECTIVE PROPERTIES OF CONTAINERS FOR NPPS’ SALT MELT CONDITIONING IN UKRAINE

Considering that the problem of liquid radioactive waste management of Ukrainian nuclear power plants with WWER reactors is still unresolved, it is noted that the current level of scientific achievements provides grounds for creating a technology for the salt melt (SM) disposal without its processing. Since the exposure dose rate (EDR) for barrels with SM can significantly exceed the value of 5 mSv/h, the radiation-protective properties of the hypothetical packaging for conditioning of the salt melt formed by placing radioactive waste (RW) in a reinforced concrete container and its immobilization are considered. Exposure dose rate simulation was performed using the PHITS software package (Japan). The calculations were performed for a packaging consisting of 4 barrels of SM, placed in a universal protective container UZZK. Variants with different radionuclide composition of the SM, due to the duration of exposure of the SM – from 100% 137Cs to 137Cs-65%, 134Cs-15%, 60Co-20%, are considered. The specific concentration of radionuclides was taken from 5E7 to 1E9 Bq/kg. There are also 2 options for filling the voids: the first option involves filling the voids with the conditioning product of the bottom residue in the form of alkaline cement with a saline content of 25%, while the second option does not include radioactive salts in alkaline cement. The calculations showed the acceptability of the proposed conditioning of the salt melt by forming a package of 4 KRO-200 containers, universal reinforced concrete container UZZK TU U 29.2-26444970-005 and filling voids with the product of conditioning of the bottom residue in the form of alkaline cement with salinity -protective properties. A necessary condition for the implementation of practical measures for the conditioning of the salt melt accumulated in WWER reactors, followed by transfer to landfills is the corresponding changes in OSPU-2005 in terms of classification of the SM and its classification as solid radwaste.

Impact of Dry Etch and Ash Conditions on Removability of Plasma Etch Residues in Al-Metallization. Approach to Improve PER Cleaning Efficiency by EHS-Friendly Aqueous Remover

Driven by cost saving pressure and new regulations such as REACH, the imple¬mentation of cost efficient, EHS-friendly alternatives is in full swing. There is a clear trend in the plasma etch residue (PER) cleaning field to replace the currently used, expensive and harmful organic PER-removers by EHS-friendly aqueous alternatives. Striking advantages of fluorine free aqueous removal are reported1. The goals of present work -which was carried out in cooperation of BASF and Infineon-, was to examine the dependence of residue constitution on etch and strip conditions and to find a way to adapt also most critical cleaning challenges for EHS-friendly PER remover usage. For that reason a selected aluminum interconnect metal layer with difficult removable residues was chosen. XPS is well proved as an appropriate method for selective sidewall and top/bottom residue analysis2. Our analytical work was focused on defining fingerprints for the etch residues, concerning their elemental distribution, and tracking their changes during the different process steps and conditions.