Guidlines for Inventors “From Idea to Product”

The article deals with the problem facing Latvian inventors in how to develop the idea to a real product. There are often cases where innovative ideas “migrate” from original inventors to other inventors, when they turn to them to seek support for developing and supporting the idea. The main components of the guidelines are the establishment of a patent application and, in general, a description of the entire patent acquisition process and the creation of a life cycle analysis using the SimaPro software. The article is intended primarily for the development of environmentally friendly inventions, which is why the life cycle analysis is one of the main components of the article, to make it possible to conclude whether the production and use of the new product will not result in a higher “ecological footprint” than previously used technologies, paying particular attention to the inventor stage in order to accurately develop a life-cycle analysis. The article does not only explore the necessary theoretical knowledge of the realisation of the idea to the product, but also looks at the pilot case, a practical example of an innovative “dust co-firing burner” compared to the conventional natural gas burner. The life-cycle analysis compares the following steps: manufacture of plants, transportation of plants and special emphasis on the combustion phase of fuels, three scenarios are examined: a natural gas burner burning natural gas, a dust burner in which natural gas is co-incinerated and fine wood particles − dust and a dust burner burning. biomethane and wood dust. The use of such an installation would not only reduce emissions from the replacement of natural gas by wood dust, but also allow energy companies to work more effectively, as it would be possible to regulate the proportion of different fuels depending on demand, because the fuels have different heat of combustion. The article establishes a methodology to analyse the quality and implementation of inventions in response to the following key questions: − how to identify original ideas and how to protect authors from the migration of ideas; − how to collect and analyse the risks associated with migration of ideas; − how to use life cycle analysis for the assessment of the “ecological footprint” of the invention.

Land Drainage Development Processes and Changes in the Context of Runoff Change in Northern Lithuania

The impact of the drainage of excessively wet land on river runoff has so far been assessed differently and very carefully because of its complexity and diversity. The article analyses changes of drained land areas and runoff in the river basins of Mūša, Lėvuo Tatula and Nemunėlis. Wet land areas in the Mūša, Lėvuo and Nemunėlis rivers basins account for more than 70% from the total basins area and in the Tatula about 90%. Increase of drained land areas in the studied river basins has no significant influence on the change of river runoff. Studies have shown that the change in drained land areas did not affect the change in runoff height. Drainage does not have a significant effect on changes in the annual runoff distribution of the studied rivers.

Use of Natural Sorbent for Stormwater Treatment

Stormwater runoff is an important avenue for pollutant transport from impermeable surfaces to surface waters. Consequently, stormwater pollutions require additional treatment processes to achieve water quality goals. Natural sorbents have been demanded and studied for using in water treatment because of their low cost and safety. In this study the use of Acorus Calamus, row Hemp, and procedure Hemp in stormwater treatment was investigated. Results of study in all sorbents with different concentrations and dosage indicated high efficiency to reduce pH. The use of Acorus Calamus for Turbidity, Phosphorus, conductivity and colour resulted increasing amount in different Dosage. In another experiments, using row Hemp, procedure Hemp and Linseed as natural sorbents indicated high efficiency to reduce turbidity of stormwater. Also it is obtained that procedure Hemp has high efficiency to reduce conductivity of stormwater.

UAV Monitoring of Excavation Works

The first stage of any construction is carrying out excavation works. These works are high-priced and timeconsuming. Mostly, for geodetic control of the works, the surveyors are using total stations and GNSS equipment. Last decade, UAV technology was a breakthrough in the geodetic technologies market. One of the possible applications of UAV is the monitoring of excavation works. In the article, the opportunities and accuracy of UAV data while performing the excavation works were studied. The surveying of earth volume in the middle of construction works was made using DJI Phantom 4 UAV. The data were being processed using two photogrammetric software: Agisoft Metashape and PhotoModeler Premium. For comparison, the surveying also was made using a conventional total station. For each data source, the 3D models were generated. The obtained models were compared with each other in CloudCompare software. The comparison revealed the high accuracy of UAV data that satisfies customer’s requirements. For the case of two software comparing, it is better to process data using PhotoModeler. The PhotoModeler software allows performing in-depth data analysis and blunders searching.

SLR and GNSS Test Field for Global Geodetic Network Assessment in Riga

The basic aim is to contribute to the world geodetic space in line with today’s scientific achievements. Riga geodynamic site is a thankful place for this, as it has long-term SLR observations and the longest GNSS records in Latvia. The goal is establishment of regional long-term geodetic monitoring station at LU Institute of Astronomy, Riga, Kandavas street 2, by joining at least two space geodetic technologies – the already installed laser-telescope LS-105 and GNSS − collocated, but not sufficiently linked. The capability of geodetic GNSS observations would uniquely complement Riga GNSS station and allow to determine more accurate coordinates of the LS-105 laser telescope and the long-term changes needed to accurately measure the positions of Earth satellites and other similar space objects. GNSS Observation Station will contribute to the development of positioning and position long-term change to accuracy of less than 1mm, one of the current global goals of GGOS. We plan to solve the problem with the exact position of the telescope LS-105 it will contribute to the development of scientific research and applied potential of the LU Satellite Laser Ranging station. From the national point of view geodetic station serves as an important point for Latvian National Geodetic Network, long term large infrastructure planning, engineering communications, cartography, etc. From a global perspective the station will be one of very few such stations in the region and the only one in the Baltics capable of valuable contribution to ITRF network. Preparatory work for the study has started by selecting and consolidating geodetic points for further measurements.

Innovative Geoinformation Systems for the Design of Communication Paths

The article analyses the volume of passenger traffic from 1990 to 2019 for land, water and air transport. From the materials obtained and the experience of the networks of European and world high-speed railways, goals are set. High-speed lines designed exclusively for passenger traffic. This moment plays an important role in reducing the cost of construction, increasing the market and economic profitability. According to the data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, it is possible to calculate the passenger flow based on the known parameters for 2020–2032 in the direction of Kiev–Lviv. The design of high-speed lines should meet general requirements aimed at satisfying the basic characteristics of a high-speed railway system, which works in conjunction with the European High-Speed Railway network. The compatibility of the parameters of high-speed lines with the parameters of traditional lines is part of the operational requirements for the gradual introduction of a network of high-speed railways. Possible scenarios to achieve the required compatibility should cover all subsystems.

Climate Change – Analysis of Indicators

Progressing climate change poses a major threat to the Earth. According to a UN report, reducing global warming to below 1.5 °C offers hope for maintaining the current quality of human lives and for protecting the environment. The report also points out that there is a prescription for curbing the catastrophic effects of climate change. In order to achieve the aim of stopping the increase in temperature, both adequate knowledge of the hazard and measures based on proven technologies are required. The first step that will enable the commencement of activities is to identify the hazard characteristics and their effect on the environment. In this regard, various types of indicators that cover the local, regional and global scale in various aspects, both environmental and anthropogenic, are very helpful. The main purpose of the analysis is to examine indicators/indices that synthetically express/define various aspects which reflect climate change. The study applied the method of research of the available literature. The analysis showed that the economies of countries use indicators that describe the different scale of impact and a different objective and subjective range. This is mainly determined by the needs and accessibility of data.

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT AND SHORT-TERM MEASUREMENTS OF INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY OF A WOODEN FAMILY HOUSE

Nowadays, there is an increased trend in the construction of nearly zero energy buildings which can be also characterized as green buildings. Several studies confirm that wooden buildings fulfil these requirements. However, there is no detailed research related to the quality of the indoor environment in new wooden family houses. For this reason, this paper focuses on monitoring of the indoor environmental quality in a selected wooden family house. Short-term measurements are aimed at investigation of physical parameters (air temperature, relative humidity, air velocity and noise) and chemical factors such as concentrations of particulate matters and CO2. At the same time, environmental impacts were also assessed for impact categories such as: global warming potential (GWP), ozone depletion potential (ODP) acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP) ex-pressed as kilogram CO2eq, CFC11eq, SO2eq, PO43–eq and kilogram of C2H4eq within “Cradle to Grave” boundary by using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. The main contribution of this study is demonstration that wooden build-ings have substantial share in the reduction of environmental impacts. So far, results indicate that the design of wooden houses correspond with the increasing demands of occupants in terms of environmental, social and energy performance.

ENERGY AND EXERGY ANALYSIS OF A CYLINDRICAL HOT WATER STORAGE TANK: EXPERIMENTAL AND CFD ANALYSIS

Active solar water heating systems typically include hot water storage tanks. The selection of the storage system strongly affects the performance of the entire system. This article presents a detailed analysis of a hot water storage tank during charging and dynamic charging-discharging mode. A numerical model using computational fluid dynamics for the storage tank was developed to investigate the temperature distribution inside of it. Transient thermal analysis was carried using ANSYS Fluent. The numerical model was validated with the experimental results. The energy and exergy analysis as an important tool for the evaluation of the thermal systems quantitatively and qualitatively was performed. The calculation procedures were described. The energy and exergy efficiencies, heat losses were calculated for steady and dynamic processes. Effect of mass flow rate was analysed. The results from parametric analysis showed that charging dynamics reduced the thermocline and efficiency of the hot water storage tank. The dependency of the exergy efficiency of the heat storage tank on the reference environment temperature during the dynamic operation was analysed. Exergy efficiencies for two cities with different climates were compared. This indicated that the higher envi-ronmental temperature gave lower exergy efficiency of the storage tank.

Opportunities and Barriers to the Development of Poland in the Field of Renewable Energy Sources as Compared to the European Union

Today, almost all of civilisation is based on energy. To a large extent, energy is being continuously acquired from non-renewable raw materials deposited in the Earth’s crust. Renewable sources provide alternative, infinite energy resources, particularly solar radiation, wind power and water movement. The Paris Agreement envisages the complete abandonment of fossil fuels by the year 2050 for all EU Member States. From a technical point of view, a complete transition to renewable energy sources (RES) is very difficult to achieve. In the case of Poland, the way to 100% RES is longer and more complex than in most EU countries. The main purpose of the conducted analysis was to thoroughly assess the possibilities for obtaining energy from inexhaustible sources as well as the benefits of various procedures in order to develop an optimal set of solutions. The aim of the presented study is to indicate the possibilities for the development of construction investments in the field of renewable energy sources that have an inseparable impact on spatial management. To achieve this aim, the method of research of the available literature and legislation was applied.