RU2842776C1 - Method and device for ore-hydrocarbon power unit (ohpu) for energy production in autonomous mode or jointly with other types of power plants - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: chemistry.

SUBSTANCE: group of inventions relates to energy chemical metallurgical production and can be used for production of energy carriers, electric power and heat, as well as for processing of ore and hydrocarbon raw material. Disclosed is a method for generating energy using an ore-hydrocarbon power unit (OHPU) in an autonomous mode, which consists in that the plasma-chemical heating of the charge, which includes oxygen, carbon and hydrogen, leads to the creation of hydrogen fuel, which is burnt at a power plant in a hydrogen-oxygen turbine plant with a steam generator, which discharges thermal energy with steam, which heats the ambient substance, where the charge substance is converted into the gaseous and liquid phase residues, further processed in the chemical and metallurgical production. At the same time, according to the method, power, metallurgical and chemical equipment is combined into single production complex consisting of interconnected sections, where processing of initial charge is performed due to the energy generated by combustion of hydrogen in oxygen extracted from this charge. Besides, excess heat energy is redirected from power section to metallurgical and chemical sections and, therefrom, to power section again to allow processing of raw material and producing power. Besides, a device of an ore-hydrocarbon power unit intended for implementation of the proposed method is proposed.

EFFECT: solving task of increasing energy efficiency of equipment due to expansion of its technical capabilities for separation, recovery and synthesis of chemicals, which, in turn, helps to reduce energy consumption, shorten the production cycle by combining various processes, reduce the equipment dimensions, increase the production speed and environmental friendliness.

19 cl, 12 dwg

Description

The proposed invention relates to the field of energy-chemical metallurgical production and can be used for the production of energy carriers, electricity and heat, as well as for the processing of ore and hydrocarbon raw materials, by reduction, refining and separation with the production of metals and non-metals at the output.

[1] The first analogue of the proposed invention is a method patented in the USA (patent US4363832). This method allows for the creation of a metal tube with an oxide ceramic coating on the inner surface in a form (crucible) from the products of the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis reaction. This method uses a centrifugal force field with an acceleration of approximately 69g.

[2] As a second analogue of the proposed invention, a method of ore-thermal smelting of slags and reduction of metals is adopted. To separate the oxides of titanium, iron and other impurity elements included in the composition of titanium concentrates, reducing ore-thermal electric smelting of these concentrates is used on a large industrial scale, as a result of which the majority of iron oxides are reduced to metal, and titanium oxides and some impurity elements pass into slag.

[3] As a third analogue of the proposed invention, a method of carbothermic reduction of metals from oxide raw materials, using a melting plasma torch, is adopted. This is a reverse polarity plasma torch, where the electric arc is closed on the melt of the metal reduced from the oxide raw materials.

[4] The fourth analogue is the reverse polarity melting method developed at the E. O. Paton Electric Welding Institute. The peculiarity of the method is that two power sources are used. One power source is for continuously maintaining the pilot arc burning between the internal electrode, which is the cathode, and the plasma torch nozzle, which is the anode, the other source is used to power the main arc burning between the anode and the remelted metal, which is the cathode.

[5] Liquid metal pyrolysis for the production of hydrogen, in particular methane gas in molten iron, which was proposed by D. Tyrer in 1931, is accepted as the fifth analogue of the invention. Pyrolysis occurs at a gas flow rate of 50 ml/min, where the hydrogen yield is 78%. Liquid lead or tin can be used to obtain hydrogen by this method, at a temperature of 600 ÷ 900 ^o C with the participation of solid particles (SiC; Al ₂ O; NiMo/Al ₂ O ₃ ). Pyrolysis successfully occurs in liquid magnesium at 700 ^o C, where the methane conversion reaches 30%. [6] At the University of California, an alloy of 27% Ni and 73% Bi was most successfully used as a catalyst for liquid metal pyrolysis, where nickel serves as a catalyst and bismuth as a solvent. The resulting catalyst is 50 times more efficient than molten lead and 5 times more efficient than platinum and nickel.

[7] The sixth analogue of the invention is the autothermal conversion of natural gas for the production of synthesis gas. Several reactions occur simultaneously in one reactor: steam conversion ; partial oxidation by oxygen ; carbon dioxide conversion .

[8] As the seventh analogue of the invention, steam-carbon dioxide conversion for the production of methanol is adopted, where a mixture of gases _CH4 , _H2O , _CO2 in a ratio of 1:3.3:0.24 is involved, turning on a nickel catalyst at 860° into synthesis gas, from which methanol is synthesized.

[9] The eighth analogue of the invention is a hydrogen thermal power plant (HTPP), where the combustion of hydrogen in circulating steam in a hydrogen-oxygen turbo plant with a steam generator is used to generate electricity.

[10] The ninth analogue of the invention is a nuclear power plant (NPP), which uses the thermal energy of nuclear reactions.

[10] The tenth analog of the invention is a thermal power plant (TPP), which uses thermal energy from the combustion of various hydrocarbon fuels. The efficiency of power plants does not exceed 32%, which pollute the environment with various emissions.

[11] The eleventh analog of the invention is a plasma furnace for reducing uranium from oxide raw materials. Plasma melts the charge to form carbon monoxide, with energy consumption within 20 kW⋅h/kg, where carbon and hydrogen are used as a reducing agent. The metal reduction reaction is accelerated by electrolysis.

[12] The twelfth analogue of the invention is the process of converting carbon dioxide in metal melts, where a mixture of gallium and silver fluoride is used. The dissociation of carbon dioxide into carbon and oxygen reaches 92%, with energy consumption of 230 kW⋅h/t.

[13] The Boudoir reaction is accepted as the thirteenth analogue, which allows carbon dioxide and graphite to be produced from carbon monoxide at a given temperature according to the reaction 2CO → CO ₂ + C. This reaction is exothermic at all temperatures and allows the amount of gas phase of a substance to be reduced in various production processes.

[14] The technology for producing methanol from natural gas under the influence of laser radiation was adopted as the fourteenth analogue. The technology is based on photochemical processes that allow energy costs to be reduced by an order of magnitude during the activation of methane by molecular oxygen, due to the hydroxyl radical.

[15] The fifteenth analogue or prototype adopted is the method according to Russian patent No. 2524036, which allows separating the liquid phase of metals, where ore enters the crucible. The charge is heated in an oxidizing or reducing atmosphere, while chemical reactions occur in the melt and the reaction products are separated by density, leaving the reaction zone in different directions under the action of centrifugal forces of rotation, and the reduced metal crystallizes into an ingot. Light impurities are displaced to the surface of the melt, and to remove them, the ingot is turned over and poured together with the melt. Heavy impurities go to the periphery of the ingot, from which they are subsequently removed by various methods.

The proposed invention solves the problems of energy production with simultaneous reduction, refining and separation of metals and non-metals obtained from a mixture of ore and hydrocarbons. To solve the problem, plasma-chemical reactions, electrolysis and cracking are used, allowing for the destruction of atomic-molecular bonds of compounds with lower energy costs. Due to this, volatile impurities can be separated from the substance contained in the ore-hydrocarbon mixture at the outlet and methanol can be synthesized, and a solid residue in the form of an ingot can be formed from the remaining substance, where metals and non-metals are separated by density according to its volume. The obtained hydrogen and oxygen are used for energy production, which are burned in a turbine that produces electricity, where the cooling of the turbine condenser is provided by a flow of cold water that preliminarily gives off excess heat to the reagents of the charge. The process of processing the substance and generating energy occurs in a closed volume of the production circuit without emissions of thermal energy into the environment. The proposed method solves the problem of reducing heat losses during energy generation, as well as reducing energy costs during the recovery of metals and non-metals from a mixture of ore and hydrocarbons. Reduction of energy costs during the recovery of metals occurs due to the addition of electrolysis to chemical reduction reactions, as well as due to the use of photochemical reactions, where the original substance under the action of irradiation of electrons, ions, photons and other elementary particles of plasma with lower energy costs decomposes into simpler compounds. Energy-efficient division of compounds also occurs due to catalytic processes, where the initial charge consisting of a mixture of ore and hydrocarbons, which are constantly supplied to the melting zone and are constantly renewed due to this, is used as catalysts. Parallel metallurgical processes occurring in this case use hydrocarbons as reducing agents, which, decomposing into carbon, carbon monoxide and hydrogen, produce the recovery of metals from the compounds of the heated ore. The process of producing energy, energy carriers, metals and non-metals occurring simultaneously allows to reduce, at least by an order of magnitude, energy consumption, compared to the energy required to conduct these processes separately. Equipment distributed in space, where, for example, a power plant, a metallurgical and chemical plant are located at a distance of tens and hundreds of kilometers from each other, does not allow to use the thermal energy released in these industries, redirecting it to each other. For example, at a large distance of the power plant from the metallurgical equipment it is impossible to use the substance of the initial metallurgical charge to cool the turbine condenser.

In order to conserve the maximum amount of energy and prevent its loss to the environment, the process of energy production, ore and hydrocarbon processing is carried out simultaneously, on the same equipment, which is enclosed in a circuit space beyond which no heat is discharged.

The proposed invention also solves the problem of increasing the energy efficiency of equipment operation by expanding its technical capabilities for the separation, recovery and synthesis of chemical substances. This helps to reduce energy costs, shorten the production cycle by combining various processes, reduce the size of the equipment, increase the speed and environmental friendliness of production.

The set objectives are achieved by the fact that the method of energy production using an ore-hydrocarbon power unit (OHPU) in an autonomous mode consists in the fact that plasma-chemical heating of the charge, which includes oxygen, carbon and hydrogen, leads to the creation of hydrogen fuel, which is burned at a power plant in a hydrogen-oxygen turbo plant with a steam generator that discharges thermal energy with steam, heating the substance of the environment, where the charge substance passes into a gaseous and liquid-phase residue, further processed in chemical and metallurgical production, characterized in that the solution to the problem is carried out by combining energy, metallurgical and chemical equipment into a single production complex consisting of interconnected sections, where the processing of the original charge is carried out due to the energy generated by burning hydrogen in oxygen, extracted from this charge, while excess thermal energy from the energy section is redirected to the metallurgical and chemical, and from these areas again to the energy area, allowing several times more raw materials to be processed and energy to be produced. The charge, consisting of a mixture of ore, hydrocarbons and water, contains oxygen, carbon and hydrogen in a certain ratio, which allows hydrogen fuel to be extracted from the ore-hydrocarbon charge, which is burned in oxygen, also produced from the original charge, where in the combustion chamber of the turbo unit, during combustion there are only two chemical elements, oxygen and hydrogen, so energy is not spent on side chemical reactions with third chemical elements, which allows the maximum possible amount of thermal energy to be produced, and the space where hydrogen combustion occurs is located near the space where plasma combustion occurs, due to the electricity generated from hydrogen combustion, in this space the maximum possible number of various chemical compounds included in the charge is concentrated, which are separated under the influence of high temperature, plasma irradiation, catalysis and electrolysis into components with minimal energy costs, while the thermal energy released after plasma-chemical treatment of the substance is transferred to the circulating water, turning it into steam, which enters to the turbine, and the steam discharged from the turbine transfers heat to the initial batch before its plasma heating. Energy-efficient division of the compounds of the mixture of the batch substance occurs due to catalytic processes, where various chemical elements and their compounds included in the initial batch act as catalysts, which are renewed due to the constant flow into the melting zone, where metallurgical processes of reducing various metals and non-metals occur simultaneously, under the action of reducing agents of carbon, carbon monoxide and hydrogen released from the composition of the batch, while the process of producing metals and non-metals occurs simultaneously with the processes of producing energy and energy carriers, allowing to reduce energy consumption several times, compared to the energy required to carry out these processes separately. In order to conserve the maximum amount of energy and prevent its loss to the environment, the process of producing metals, non-metals, energy carrier and energy is carried out simultaneously, on combined equipment, which consists of various sections, metallurgical, energy and chemical included in the space of the circuit, for which no heat is discharged, and the energy supply of the entire process occurs due to the extraction of hydrogen and oxygen from the charge, which are burned, forming steam rotating the generator, generating electricity, to maintain the combustion of plasma, where carbon dioxide serves as a plasma-forming gas, which, when interacting with the charge, decomposes into carbon and oxygen, where oxygen is again used in the combustion of hydrogen, and carbon again goes to the restoration of metals and non-metals, then forming various compounds from which the energy carrier is created - methanol, where the complete dissociation of carbon dioxide in the melt occurs with lower energy costs due to the use of catalysts that are in the melt of the original charge, and also, if there is a shortage of them, they are supplied additionally, fed separately into the melting zone. The technological process of processing the charge begins with the operation of mixing in a certain volume ratio of substances of the ore, water and hydrocarbons, where the ore mainly contains oxygen, water oxygen and hydrogen, and hydrocarbons mainly contain carbon and hydrogen in their composition, so that the plasma, contacting the melt of the charge and irradiating various compounds of the substance in the combustion zone, accelerates the reactions of decomposition of these compounds, with the formation of a gas phase separated from the original substance of the charge by evaporation with subsequent separation of compounds with different boiling points, and the remaining liquid phase of the substance could be separated by centrifugal conversion, in the event of a shortage of a given amount of hydrogen in the original mixture of the charge, additional hydrocarbons are added to the mixture, such as peat, bitumen, fuel oil, paraffin, oil shale and other hydrogen-containing substances, with the adjustment of the volume of water, and if the mixture is insufficient oxygen-containing ores, sand, clay and other minerals are added to the mixture, as well as oxygen-containing slags from the previous smelting of waste, allowing the re-involvement of heavy hydrocarbons and more stable slags in the plasma-chemical scheme, while individual ores containing hydrocarbons, carbon and hydrogen in their composition in a certain volume will replace in the same volume the hydrogen and carbon that must be mixed into the batch with hydrocarbons and water. The conversion of reagents begins with the interaction of a mixture of various hydrocarbons and water when heated in the presence of catalysts, the role of which is played by various chemical elements included in the composition of the initial batch, which leads to the formation of synthesis gas, from which methanol is produced, with the release of thermal energy, which is spent on heating the circulating water, which allows returning thermal energy to the process for generating electricity in a turbine, and during the synthesis of methanol, hydrogen enters its composition not only from decaying hydrocarbons, but also from water, allowing it to accumulate one and a half times more, while the process of steam conversion of carbon contained in the batch occurs in parallel, allowing an increase in the volume of the formed synthesis gas, where hydrogen during the synthesis of methanol becomes twice as much, and at the next stage, during the steam conversion of methanol, hydrogen is extracted from methanol compounds and water again, allowing as a result, compared with the hydrogen contained in the original hydrocarbons, to increase the amount of hydrogen extracted for combustion by three times and, accordingly, to produce more energy, while the increase generation of additional energy occurs due to the use of the operation of plasma irradiation of the substance of the initial charge, a flow of elementary particles, where under the influence of plasma radiation, it is possible to implement photochemical steam conversion of methane produced from aliphatic hydrocarbons found in the charge, where during the reaction there is no absorption, but the release of energy, which allows for the additional generation of a certain amount of energy, which can be supplied to the Market or directed to the production of useful work inside the ore-hydrocarbon power unit. The method of energy production using the RUWE produces clean water from the reagents of the batch, where a third of the water volume is formed from the processed water supplied together with the batch, and two thirds are formed from the oxygen contained in the ore and the hydrogen contained in the hydrocarbons, which allows the use of the ore-hydrocarbon power unit as a treatment facility for contaminated water discharged from residential and industrial facilities, as well as for the purification of sea water, including it in the composition of the original batch, the processing of toxic and radioactive water, which, during plasma treatment, passing through a chain of various reactions at the atomic-molecular level, is separated into hydrogen and oxygen, subsequently again forming water, which is completely freed from harmful impurities. A combined scheme with a typical NPP power plant is used, where the basic scheme of the RUVE is combined with the scheme of the NPP, representing a single scheme, where the processed batch is used as a cooling medium for the steam discharged from the turbine, and the source of steam generation is not only the nuclear reactor and the combustion chamber for burning the hydrogen-oxygen mixture, but also the products of plasma-chemical reactions, metallurgical and chemical equipment, due to the cooling of which it is heated and converted into steam, circulating water, allowing to achieve higher efficiency and more stable and smooth operation of the combined power plant, where when energy consumption by the external consumer decreases, all the generated energy goes to the production of methanol or another energy carrier (ethanol, synthetic fuel, ammonia), in which energy is stored, and when energy consumption by the external consumer increases, electricity generated by the combined scheme of the NPP and RUVE is transmitted to it by processing and burning hydrogen fuel from stored methanol and water, as a power plant combined with the RUVE, power plants operating on renewable energy sources are used, such as hydroelectric power plants (HPP), wind power plants (WPP) and solar power plants (SPP), where the RUVE completely consumes the electricity coming from these power plants, processing it into an energy carrier, metals and non-metals, if this energy is not required by an external consumer, and in the case when energy is required by an external consumer, the accumulated energy carrier begins to be processed, generating the required amount of electricity, while continuing to restore metals and non-metals, as a power plant combined with the RUVE, thermal power plants on renewable energy sources are used, such as hydrothermal power plants and solar, air, earth and water collectors that extract heat for its delivery to the consumer, where a combined circuit consisting of two power units converts thermal energy from renewable power plants into an energy carrier when this energy is not is required, and when energy is required, the produced energy carrier is processed into heat and electric power sent to an external consumer, while continuing to restore metals and non-metals, as a combined power plant with a RUVE, a thermal power plant TPP is used, where previously used fuel gas, coal and fuel oil are included in the initial batch as hydrocarbons, allowing to restore metals and non-metals and produce an energy carrier, including the production of carbon black, which can be used to manufacture electrodes for a plasma torch in construction, electronics and reuse at these power plants as a reagent, which leads to a complete replacement of the TPP, when generating heat and electric power, with an ore-hydrocarbon power unit, which allows to generate three to four times more energy from hydrocarbon fuel.

The device for producing energy using an ore-hydrogen power unit (OHU) contains a power plant, a metallurgical and chemical section, a turbine, an ore-hydrocarbon charge, a plasma reactor, a methanol synthesis apparatus, a power source, a cathode, an anode, electrodes, shafts, a skull, an electrolyzer, synthesis gas, hydrocarbons: water, carbon, slag, charge, methanol, carbon monoxide; circulating water, steam, combustion chamber, crucible, generator, plasma torch, plasma, condenser, heat exchangers, pump, channel, melt bath, pipes, separator, methanol steam reforming reactor, pipelines, rectifier, closed loop for energy conservation characterized in that the mixture of the charge consisting of ore, water and hydrocarbons is heated by steam discharged from the turbine, which is obtained in the combustion chamber, where the circulating steam is heated by burning hydrogen in oxygen, which are extracted from the ore-hydrocarbon charge during cyclic reactions, and the heat generated in the plasma melting and methanol synthesis sections is transferred to the circulating water, which forms steam, which goes to the combustion chamber, while the generated electrical energy maintains the combustion of the arc on the plasma torch, and carbon dioxide, passing through the arc, forms a plasma that melts the original charge, forming a melt in which carbon dioxide, in the presence of catalysts for through electrolysis and irradiation it dissociates into carbon and oxygen, whereby the carbon restores the metals and non-metals, which are fused into a rotating turbine, where they are separated in the volume of the ingot by density, and the gas phase from the melt of the substance is separated by evaporation and then separated into its constituent compounds by condensation. The separation of the products formed after the plasma occurs in the separator, where the separated synthesis gas immediately enters the methanol synthesis apparatus for the synthesis of methanol, which acts as an energy carrier, which for energy generation enters the processor, where, mixing with part of the steam coming from the turbine, as a result of the steam conversion of methanol, it forms hydrogen, which is sent for combustion in the combustion chamber, and the formed carbon dioxide is used to form plasma, where, passing through the melt bath, it dissociates into carbon and oxygen, which is again sent for combustion in the combustion chamber, while two-thirds of the volume of water obtained during condensation after the turbine is directed to the outside, and one-third of the volume of water is used to cool the plasma reactor, the methanol apparatus and the reaction products forming steam, which enters the combustion chamber, where hydrogen and oxygen are burned, forming high-temperature steam rotating the turbine and generator, generating electricity, which is sent from the rectifier to the plasma torch, ensuring the combustion of the plasma, to reduce heat losses, methanol before the steam The conversion is heated by the heat of the steam discharged from the turbine, passing through a heat exchanger, while the ore-hydrocarbon power unit is located in a closed space of the circuit, beyond the boundary of which all the substance enters and exits at the ambient temperature. Electrolysis in the molten charge is carried out by immersing a plasma torch, which acts as an anode, into the molten bath, while the molten bath acts as a cathode, to which a negative charge is supplied through a crucible from a power source, where heavy metal melts sink to the bottom of the bath, lighter metals accumulate above them, and the most stable slags are displaced to the surface of the bath, where electrolysis is carried out simultaneously with the process of reducing metals under the action of various reducing agents, while the molten bath is surrounded by a skull in which preliminary reduction reactions occur, being a preliminary heating zone, constantly replenished with the substance of the charge supplied through the central shaft, which is located inside the outer shaft, where an annular space is formed between the shafts, through which a stream of synthesis gas exits, formed during the catalytic steam conversion of methane and carbon, which goes through the annular space for separation and then for synthesis in the methanol apparatus, and around the plasma torch, operating anode, a gas emission zone is formed, where the gas mixture mainly contains oxygen, formed as a result of the decomposition of the compounds of the molten ore and carbon dioxide, the formed gas-oxygen flow, rising is pumped out through the upper branch pipe, while the crucible, being a cathode along its boundary with the molten bath during reactions and electrolysis, forms a gas-hydrogen flow, which, rising, is captured by a baffle, separating it from the gas-oxygen flow, which is pumped out through the lower branch pipe and goes to separation in the separator, and then the produced hydrogen and carbon monoxide go to the synthesis of methanol, hydrogen, which is again released during the steam reforming of methanol, goes to be burned in the combustion chamber, where oxygen also goes after separation from other gases in the separator, to provide the process with additional hydrogen fuel and oxygen, reagents containing hydrogen, oxygen and carbon, as part of a more stable ore, hydrocarbons, water, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, and other gases, including natural gas and methane, as well as solid and liquid compounds, are re-entered through a separate pipeline for conversion into the preheating zone and then into the melting zone. In the rotating turbine, after draining a portion of the melt, an annular ingot is formed, where the reduced metals, such as copper, iron, aluminum or tin, are separated layer by layer, with the heaviest metals having the highest density, such as gold, platinum, silver, tungsten, molybdenum and others, concentrated on the outer contour, followed by a layer of copper, relatively lighter in density, and then a layer of even less dense iron, in which related metals such as nickel, chromium and cobalt will be dissolved, then closer to the center a layer of the least dense aluminum is formed, including related metals such as scandium, titanium and magnesium, while the metals belonging to the iron, copper and aluminum group do not fuse together under centrifugal converting conditions. The RUVE replaces thermal power plants as a power plant, where the direct combustion of hydrocarbon fuel in atmospheric oxygen is replaced by the combustion of hydrogen in oxygen obtained from the components of the charge, while at the first stage synthesis gas is released from the charge and metals are reduced, at the second stage an energy carrier is synthesized from the reagents and at the third stage hydrogen is extracted from the energy carrier, which is used as fuel, the RUVE is combined with a nuclear power plant unit for generating electricity, where the charge is used as a cooling medium for the turbine condenser, while the source of steam for rotating the turbine is not only the nuclear reactor and the combustion chamber for burning the hydrogen-oxygen mixture, but also heat from the reaction products of metallurgical and chemical equipment, where in the absence of electricity consumption by the consumer, all the generated energy goes to the production of methanol or another energy carrier (ethanol, synthetic fuel, ammonia), in which energy is stored, and when energy consumption is resumed, electricity is generated due to the stored methanol, where A side effect of energy production at a combined power unit is the production of various products in the form of metals and non-metals. To extract the synthesis gas, a plasma torch is used that heats the initial batch to form a melt bath, where the melt bath is surrounded by a skull that is constantly replenished with the substance of the initial batch and the substance of the reagents formed after melting the initial batch, which are fed through a pipe again into the plasma heating zone, where the batch enters through a central shaft located inside the outer shaft, forming an annular space, while in the central shaft there are openings through which a stream of synthesis gas forms during the catalytic steam conversion of methane and carbon, which goes through the annular space to the methanol synthesis apparatus, and around the plasma torch, operating as an anode, a gas emission zone is formed, where the main composition contains oxygen formed as a result of the decomposition of the compounds of the melt of the batch and carbon dioxide, creating a gas-oxygen flow that enters the separator for separating the oxygen, directed to the accumulator, from where the oxygen goes to burn hydrogen in the combustion chamber, and at the boundary of the crucible a gas-hydrogen flow is formed, which, rising, is captured by a baffle, separating it from the gas-oxygen flow, and enters a separator for separating hydrogen, which is sent for the synthesis of methanol.

The proposed method of generating energy with the simultaneous production of metals and non-metals is implemented by the ore-hydrocarbon power unit (OHPU) device shown in Fig. 1 , where its basic diagram is shown. The power unit is designed to process a mixture of ore and hydrocarbons using energy obtained from burning hydrogen in oxygen, which are extracted from the ore-hydrocarbon charge. Thermal energy discharged from the turbine in the form of steam is transferred to the ore-hydrocarbon charge. The heat generated in the methanol melting and synthesis sections is transferred to the circulating water, which forms steam, which goes to the combustion chamber and then to rotate the turbine. The steam in the combustion chamber is heated by burning hydrogen and oxygen obtained from the reagents of the charge. The high-temperature water vapor formed in the combustion chamber, rotating the turbine and the generator, generates electric power that maintains the arc burning on the plasma torch. Carbon dioxide, passing through the arc, forms a plasma that melts the initial charge, in which carbon dioxide dissociates in the presence of catalysts into carbon and oxygen. The process of separating the carbon dioxide molecule into carbon and oxygen is enhanced by electrolysis, exposure to high temperatures, plasma irradiation and mixing of the gas inside the melt bath. Thus, turbine 1, dumping circulating steam, heats the charge 2 entering the power unit. The charge, consisting of a mixture of ore and hydrocarbons, works as a substance cooling the water, which in turn cools the steam leaving the turbine, condensing it and creating a flow of circulating water. In conventional steam turbines, steam cooling is provided by water, which, having received heat, dumps it into the atmosphere. As a result of such an operating scheme at thermal and nuclear power plants, energy losses into the atmosphere reach more than 70%. In the proposed invention, the steam is cooled, entering the condenser 3 due to the discharge of heat into the storage tank 4, where the heat is supplied by means of the heat exchanger 5, in which a separate flow of water circulates under the action of the pump 6. The circulating flow of water cools the steam and transfers heat to the charge entering the remelting, thereby preventing the loss of thermal energy into the atmosphere. The heated charge enters the plasma reactor 8 through the horizontal shaft 7, where the plasma torch 9 forms a melt bath 10. During melting, the gases formed are removed through the branch pipe 11, and the remaining melt through the lower branch pipe 12.

For a simpler presentation, the diagram does not show all the devices responsible for the separation and division of substances with different chemical compositions. The separation of all products occurs in the conventional separator 13, where the separated synthesis gas immediately enters the methanol apparatus 14. The synthesized methanol enters the processor 15 for steam conversion, mixing with part of the steam leaving the turbine and entering the processor through the 1st pipeline 16. As a result of the steam conversion of methanol, hydrogen is formed, which is burned through the 2nd pipeline 17. Together with hydrogen, carbon dioxide is formed, which is used to form plasma through the 3rd pipeline 18, where it dissociates into carbon and oxygen while passing through the melt bath. The hydrogen produced as a result of the steam reforming of methanol, simultaneously with the oxygen supplied via the 4th pipeline 19, obtained during the dissociation of carbon dioxide and the reduction of metals, are sent for combustion in the combustion chamber 20. Part of the water volume obtained during the combustion of hydrogen in oxygen is directed via the 5th pipeline 21 to the outside. The second flow of water via the 6th pipeline 22 is used to cool the plasma reactor 8 and then via the 7th pipeline 23 to cool the methanol apparatus 14. The third flow of water via the 8th pipeline 24 through the heat exchanger 25 cools the reaction products leaving the separator, forming heated steam. The steam flows are combined and via the 9th pipeline 26 are sent to the combustion chamber 20, where hydrogen and oxygen are burned. High-temperature steam from the combustion chamber enters the turbine 1, rotating the generator 27 and generating electric power, which from the rectifier 28 enters the plasma torch, ensuring the combustion of the plasma. The ore-hydrocarbon power unit is located in a closed space of the circuit 29, beyond the boundary of which all the substance enters and exits at the ambient temperature. To reduce heat losses, methanol, when entering the methanol steam reforming reactor, moves along the 10th pipeline 30 to the heat exchanger 31, where it is heated by the heat of the steam discharged from the turbine, which then moves along the 11th pipeline 32. This stream of steam discharged from the turbine has a mass of 2/3 of the total flow, where 1/3 of the steam mass goes to the steam reforming of methanol. Thus, methanol, taking part of the heat of the steam, is heated to a temperature of approximately 250 ^o C, which is sufficient for steam conversion and then enters the reactor 15 through the 12th pipeline 33, where the reaction takes place. Due to the use of heat energy discharged from the steam-hydrogen turbine, no additional energy is required to carry out the reaction of steam conversion of methanol. Today, the main problem of all thermal power plants is the utilization of low-potential heat, which is discharged into the environment.

When using the ore-hydrocarbon power unit scheme for processing the charge, it becomes possible to more fully utilize the thermal energy, which is usually discharged into the atmosphere at power plants, metallurgical and chemical plants. At thermal power plants (TPP), thermal energy is used to heat domestic and industrial facilities, which increases the efficiency of the power plant. In this case, in any case, there is a loss of thermal energy into the environment, since the heated objects are located at a distance from the power plant. In the case of using heat for steam conversion of methanol directly at the steam-hydrogen turbine unit, its losses tend to zero, therefore, the efficiency of heat use becomes as high as possible.

The energy supply of the RUVE occurs due to the extraction of hydrogen and oxygen from the charge, which are burned, forming steam that rotates the turbine blades and a generator that produces electricity. By means of steam conversion of methanol, hydrogen is produced with the formation of carbon dioxide, which is used to form plasma, where it decomposes into carbon and oxygen, which in turn is then used to burn hydrogen. Plasma, in contact with the melt of the charge, irradiates various compounds of the substance in the combustion zone, which allows to significantly accelerate the reactions of the decomposition of these compounds. As a result, the formed melt of new lighter compounds and reduced metals is poured into a rotating turbine, where its composition is separated in the volume of the ingot by density. Thus, the gas phase is separated from the initial batch substance by evaporation and then separated in separate sections by condensation of compounds with different boiling points, and the solid phase is separated by centrifugal conversion, forming an ingot, where substances are separated layer by layer across its cross-section, depending on their density.

The basic diagram of the device operation in the metallurgical section of melting of the charge is shown in Fig. 2. The device includes a plasma torch consisting of a tubular anode 1 and a rod cathode 2. An arc 3 burns at the end of the plasma torch, blown out by plasma-forming carbon dioxide. A mixture of ore and hydrocarbons is fed into the melting chamber 4 through vertical shafts 5 and horizontal shafts 6, i.e. the charge 7 moves under the pressure of the reverse translational movement of pistons 8 or under the action of the rotation of screws. Under the action of arc heating, a melt bath 9 is formed, above which gas impurities 10 evaporate, being removed by a vacuum pump.

[16] The melt is held by a cooled valve 11, which, when opened, drains into a rotating turbine 12. The melting device is protected from the atmosphere by an upper chamber 13, and the turbine and movement mechanisms by a lower chamber 14. An electromagnetic field created by a lower solenoid 15 and an upper solenoid 16 is used to compress the arc. The power source of the plasma torch 17 is connected to the anode and cathode of the plasma torch, and the power source 18 is connected with a negative terminal to the melt pool, and a positive terminal to the anode of the plasma torch by means of a switch 19.

Fig. 3 shows the cyclic sequence of melting of the charge, where in Fig. 3a a molten bath 1 is formed, heated by an arc through which carbon dioxide is passed, forming a plasma torch 2. The plasma melts the charge 3 from above, forming a transition heating zone 4 under the bath, where gaseous substances 5 are released, removed by a vacuum pump. Plasma can heat the molten bath to a temperature of 2000 ^o C and more. In the transition zone, at a temperature below 700 ^o C, hydrogen and carbon monoxide act as the main reducing agents for metals. At a temperature above 700 ^o C in the transition zone and directly in the molten bath itself, carbon becomes the main reducing agent for metals. Electrolysis has even greater reducing capabilities, which makes it possible to reduce practically all metals from compounds found in the melt.

In Fig. 3b, electrolysis is carried out by immersing a plasma torch, which acts as an anode, into a bath of melt, while the bath acts as a cathode. Heavy metal melts 6 sink to the bottom of the bath, lighter metals 7 accumulate above them, and the most stable slags 8 are displaced to the surface of the bath. The entire process of metal reduction occurs under the action of various reducing agents and is enhanced at the final stage of melting by electrolysis.

The melt flow, merging, forms a jet 9 when the valve 10 is opened, which enters the rotating turbine 11. The mixture of matter and plasma 12 is compressed by the electromagnetic field 13 of the solenoids, irradiating the melt substance being drained with a stream of elementary particles, which intensively destroy the interatomic-molecular bonds of the compounds.

Fig. 3c shows the period of completion of the cycle, when the plasma torch is moved upward to its initial position, the valve returns back, and in the turbine, under the action of increased gravity, an ingot is formed, where heavy metals 14 accumulate on its periphery, light metals 15 in the middle part, and light substances 16, one of which is carbon, are closer to the center of rotation.

To increase the energy efficiency of the process, the turbine is rotated and cooled by a gas or water jet consisting of a mixture of water droplets, steam and methane, which allows for the production of additional volume of synthesis gas when this mixture is heated. Since this is a catalytic reaction, the turbine blades 19, through which it rotates, are covered with a catalyst layer. As a result, the heat released by the turbine surface is absorbed by the reaction CH ₄ + H ₂ O → CO + 3H ₂ , with the formation of synthesis gas, which is used to produce methanol. At the same time, a stream of steam is fed into the turbine, which, interacting with the carbon located in layer 16, forms synthesis gas by the reaction H ₂ O + C → CO + H ₂ , which is also used to synthesize methanol. During the cooling of the turbine with methane and steam, thermal energy is absorbed and converted into an energy carrier that can store energy for an unlimited time.

[17] When the plasma flow and the jet of substances are compressed by an electromagnetic field, the temperature in the melt increases significantly. High heating of the melt promotes the rupture of the interatomic-molecular bonds of the various compounds included in its composition. Then, having transformed its internal structure, the melt, falling on the plane of the rotating turbine, begins to expand rapidly and lose temperature, while new bonds do not have time to arise between the individual chemical elements, which promotes the separation of substances according to different chemical compositions due to the difference in density.

[18] Similar to the proposed method Irradiation of a substance is used in the process of obtaining methanol. In this process, natural gas is irradiated with a laser, launching photochemical processes that allow energy costs to be reduced by an order of magnitude in the production of methanol, compared to conventional production schemes. As is known, irradiation with elementary particles causes ionization of any medium, which leads to a change in the structure and properties of the substance, where the bonds are broken with less energy costs, forming lightweight molecules.

During conventional combustion of hydrocarbons, for example, at metallurgical plants, the temperature of heating of the reagents of the charge does not exceed 1800 ^o C, and as a result of conventional chemical combustion, no radiation flow of elementary particles is formed, which does not contribute to the intensive separation of bonds in compounds. But the main thing is that electrolysis, which allows for the restoration of almost all metals, is not used in the combustion process.

The technological process of processing the charge begins with operations of mixing ore containing mainly oxygen and hydrocarbons containing mainly carbon and hydrogen. If, for example, the resulting mixture of the initial charge does not contain enough hydrogen, additional hydrocarbons such as peat, bitumen, fuel oil, paraffin, oil shale and other hydrogen-containing substances are added to the mixture. If the mixture does not contain enough ore containing oxygen, sand, clay and other minerals are added to the mixture, as well as slag from the previous smelting of waste.

In the process of preparing the charge, from which the required volume of oxygen and hydrogen is released during the plasma-chemical and electrolytic process, it is necessary to take into account the chemical composition of the ore. In certain types of minerals included in the ore, there is a fairly large volume of carbon and hydrogen, which, when released, can replace a significant volume of traditional hydrocarbons such as coal, oil and gas.

[19] As is known, the average total mass of hydrogen in sedimentary rocks is 0.48%, which is quite a large value. In crystalline (radical) rocks in the lithosphere, which are 8.4 times more than sedimentary rocks, hydrogen contains 0.12%. Consequently, in the average mass of sedimentary and radical rocks, the hydrogen content is 0.18%. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account the mass of hydrogen contained in the ore, which will be released during the plasma-chemical and electrolytic process at the RUWE. By capturing hydrogen released from the ore and directing it to combustion for energy production, a process scheme is formed that allows considering the ore as an energy source, on a par with traditional hydrocarbon fuels such as coal, oil and gas. Using the data of research in the field of geochemistry, when processing ore at the RUWE, the minimum amount of hydrogen will be released from bedrock 0.12%, from a mixture of bedrock and sedimentary rocks 0.18%, from sedimentary 0.48%, and when using technogenic and “water” ores, the amount of released hydrogen will be significantly greater. For example, in typical “water” minerals, the hydrogen content already fluctuates from 0.22 to 3.85%, where the maximum indicator significantly exceeds the hydrogen content in sedimentary rocks. [20; 21; 22; 23; 24] If we take ordinary urban soils as ore, the hydrogen content in them is 1.5%. [25] When using clay ore, the hydrogen content can reach 9%.

In this regard, when preparing the charge, where ore and hydrocarbons are mixed, it is necessary to take into account the mass of hydrogen contained in the ore. With a high hydrogen content in the ore, the mass of hydrocarbons mixed into the charge will decrease, which will increase the energy efficiency of the process. Therefore, when processing a charge consisting of a large part of ore and a smaller part containing traditional hydrocarbons, the total costs of producing hydrogen fuel used in RUVE will decrease. The process of extracting hydrogen fuel in RUVE can be conditionally compared to extracting hydrogen during the interaction of minerals and water during lithogenesis.

Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 show that the feedstock is fed into the melting zone through several shafts at once, which may be two or more. When the feedstock is fed through several shafts, the chemical composition of the feedstock substance is more uniformly equalized in the melting zone, where the compositions are mixed due to the feedstock with different chemical compositions entering each shaft. The diameter of the shaft for moving the feedstock is selected to be larger in area, relative to the storage of the vehicle that delivers the mixture of ore and hydrocarbons for processing. For unimpeded movement of the feedstock, the diameter of the shaft can be about one to two meters, where any type of feedstock can be fed without resistance. Due to the repeated involvement of the remains of heavy hydrocarbons and more stable slags in the plasma-chemical scheme, it becomes possible to process almost all chemical compounds included in the feedstock.

In the rotating turbine, after a portion of the melt is drained, a ring-shaped ingot is formed, where metals recovered from ore and hydrocarbons, such as copper, iron, aluminum or tin, are separated layer by layer. The heaviest metals with the highest density, such as gold, platinum, silver, tungsten, molybdenum and other heavy metals, will concentrate on the outer contour of the ingot. They will be followed by a layer of copper, which is relatively lighter in density, and then a layer of even less dense iron, in which related metals such as nickel, chromium and cobalt will be dissolved. Further, closer to the center, a layer of the least dense aluminum will form, including related metals such as scandium, titanium and magnesium. Metals belonging to the iron, copper and aluminum group do not fuse together under centrifugal converting conditions.

Substances containing more stable oxides, such as aluminum oxide, magnesium, calcium, and then the lightest solid impurities, such as silicon oxide, silicon, and carbon, will be displaced onto the inner surface of the ring ingot. After the ingot is extracted, further separation of the obtained substances is carried out by known industrial methods, which include electrolysis, crushing, separation, melting, and other methods.

The energy efficiency of the steam-hydrogen process in the implementation of the work of the ore-hydrocarbon power unit is shown below, which is due to the fact that when burning hydrocarbon fuel it is not possible to produce all the thermal energy that could be obtained by burning separately carbon and hydrogen contained in this compound. The use of air, for example at a thermal power plant, taken from the atmosphere for the oxidation of hydrocarbons, also leads to additional heat losses. Oxygen in the air takes on itself the heat that could be spent on useful work. Together with oxygen, nitrogen enters the furnace, which works as a ballast substance, taking on itself heat, and after combustion, the gas heated to about 300 ^o C is discharged into the atmosphere, taking with it an additional part of the useful heat.

[26] At thermal power plants, energy losses from the use of air amount to 9.5% to 14%, not counting the energy losses that are not released during the separate combustion of hydrogen and carbon, which are part of the fuel. [27, 28] For example, the specific heat of combustion of natural gas is 45 MJ/kg, and during the combustion of hydrogen and carbon separately it is 59 MJ/kg. With an increase in the molecular weight of hydrocarbons and the amount of other chemical elements included in the fuel, its calorific value decreases.

[29-39] The calorific value of fuel decreases with the increase of the proportion of carbon in its compounds, for example, for ethylene it is 4.2% less than for methane. Accordingly, for propane it is 5.1% less, for butane 6.8% less, for oil 18.2% less, for fuel oil 21.8% less, for anthracite 38.1% less, for methanol 54.7% less, for brown coal 70.1% less, for pyrolysis gas 76.1% less and for peat 83.8%. It should be taken into account that the decrease in calorific value is associated not only with the increase of carbon content, but is especially associated with the increase of the amount of other chemical elements, in addition to carbon and hydrogen, that are part of this fuel.

If you eliminate the losses in the furnace and burn hydrogen and carbon separately, then, for example, it is possible to extract 21.1% more energy from fuel oil, and 26.04% more from brown coal. Hydrocarbons such as peat and pyrolysis gas are especially effective in terms of energy production according to the new scheme. When using peat, energy extraction can be 250% more, and pyrolysis gas - 700%.

Table 1 (Fig. 4) demonstrates comparative characteristics of the fuel, showing its calorific value and the calorific value when burning combustible chemical elements separately, included in this fuel.

[40] The work of the Ural researchers established that pyrolysis gas has a significantly higher calorific value, compared to natural gas and is second only to the heat of combustion of hydrogen. The nominal composition of pyrolysis gas includes 39% - CH ₄ ; 24% - C _n H _m ; 20% - H ₂ ; 14.5% - CO; 2.5% - CO ₂ , where its calorific value when burned is only 10 MJ / kg. [40] When burning separately the hydrogen, carbon and carbon monoxide included in its composition, the calorific value reaches 79.9 MJ / kg. Therefore, if today pyrolysis gas is burned, for example, at a waste incineration plant, then accordingly the enterprise receives 8 times less energy.

Modern thermal power plants use natural gas, which does not contain impurities, i.e. methane, for the most energy-efficient combustion. At the same time, taking into account the above, it is necessary to strive for such a process, where from all available hydrocarbons, including methane, it is necessary to extract hydrogen for combustion, which has the highest calorific value. It is inefficient to burn the carbon obtained in this way, in terms of its low calorific value and technological effectiveness, since carbon has a solid-phase state. Carbon is of great value as a building material or as a binding chemical element that can compactly hold hydrogen and oxygen atoms around itself, forming a liquid.

[29-39] When burned, hydrogen, compared to carbon, releases approximately four times more energy, while its supply to the combustion chamber is not associated with the great difficulties that arise with coal. Hydrogen steam power plants do not use furnaces, but use combustion chambers located directly near the turbine, this eliminates heat losses and leads to the minimization of the power plant design. Steam-hydrogen power plants are approximately two orders of magnitude smaller in volume than conventional steam power plants. Therefore, the operation of an ore-hydrocarbon power unit becomes more technologically advanced, allowing the utilization of all emitted gases and the redistribution of thermal energy between different sections of the power unit.

The power unit, extracting oxygen and hydrogen from the charge, which provide it with energy when burned, qualitatively changes the approach to the fuel reserves available on Earth. Using the power unit, it becomes possible to extract oxygen and hydrogen from substances that have not been used for this purpose before. This also applies to carbon, which can be extracted not only from traditional coal, gas and oil deposits, but also from various minerals. [41] As is known, there is a thousand times more carbon in bedrock and sedimentary rocks, where it is scattered throughout the volume, than in all explored deposits of coal, gas and oil. The carbon extracted during the processing of the charge is necessary to maintain the process in the RUE, where it is used as a binding chemical element that holds oxygen and hydrogen around itself in a liquid compound, as well as for energy-efficient chemical reactions, when extracting oxygen, hydrogen and other chemical compounds, including water, from the charge.

Today, the main problem of thermal power plants is gas and heat emissions that affect the environment, so the whole world is looking for technical solutions to reduce them. In Western countries, attempts are being made to use the resulting carbon dioxide as a reagent for the production of methanol.

[42] For this Italian scientists have developed a technology for converting carbon dioxide obtained from burning municipal waste into methanol. The carbon dioxide produced from waste is first subjected to anaerobic fermentation in an aqueous solution with algae, which produces biogas consisting of a mixture of methane and residual carbon dioxide. Using various membrane technologies, the mixture is separated into methane and carbon dioxide, which is again sent for anaerobic fermentation. The produced methane is sent to steam reforming to produce hydrogen, which then reacts with carbon dioxide to synthesize methanol and water. Research has shown that these reactions require significant energy. The process proposed by the Italians is not capable of satisfying the energy requirement for high-temperature endothermic reactions due to the heat released during waste combustion and requires additional fuel, such as natural gas.

[43] German developers have assessed the feasibility of producing methanol in waste incineration plants using the energy produced by burning waste, where the goal of utilizing carbon dioxide was also set. To do this, flue gases produced during waste incineration were fed into a carbonator to absorb carbon dioxide according to the reaction . In the calcinator, where calcium carbonate was fed, the reaction of reverse carbon dioxide evolution took place at a temperature of 900 ^o C. The carbonator was heated by burning hydrocarbon fuel using oxygen obtained in the electrolyzer. Then, calcium oxide returned to the carbonator, closing the cycle of carbon dioxide capture and evolution. In the proposed scheme, hydrogen was produced by electrolysis of water, which was used to synthesize methanol, interacting with carbon dioxide according to the reaction .

The main concept of developing these processes is to solve the problem of long-term and efficient energy storage. Western teams have come to the conclusion that the most efficient way to store energy is in the form of methanol. To create an energy carrier in the form of methanol, energy produced by burning household waste was used, which was insufficient, so its shortage was supplemented by burning natural gas or using renewable sources. Thus, with their research, European scientists confirmed the relevance of the problem of long-term energy storage, which is solved by utilizing carbon dioxide, by converting it into methanol, which is used as an energy carrier.

The solutions proposed by European scientists have major drawbacks, for example, compared to the ore-hydrocarbon power unit, the Italian scheme does not use the possibility of extracting methane directly from the hydrocarbons in the initial batch. This leads to a significant decrease in the energy efficiency of the process and additional economic costs, since it is necessary to build a separate algal bioreactor. The German scheme also does not use the possibility of extracting hydrogen directly from the initial batch, where hydrocarbons, minerals and water are present, which are the raw materials for hydrogen production, which also leads to a decrease in energy efficiency and additional costs associated with the construction of a separate electrolyzer.

The ore-hydrocarbon power unit uses a plasma torch and a melt bath as an electrolyzer, which simultaneously melts waste and decomposes ore, hydrocarbons, water and carbon dioxide into components. The global trend in the development of electrolyzers, where it was originally planned to obtain hydrogen from pure water, shows that in order to reduce energy costs in the production of hydrogen, it is necessary to add various reagents to the water, which act as catalysts, and conduct electrolysis during heating. This allows us to conclude that the improvement of electrolyzers is moving towards the creation of a similar ore-hydrocarbon power unit, where water electrolysis will be carried out as part of catalysts at high temperatures.

[44] For example, atmospheric alkaline electrolyzers (AAE), when producing hydrogen, have an energy consumption of 4.8 kW⋅h/Nm³hydrogen, and high-temperature electrolyzers (HTE), already 3.6 kW⋅h/Nm³hydrogen.

When recalculated for one kg of hydrogen, in the first case the electrolyzer needs to spend 53.5 kW⋅h of energy, and in the second 40.1 kW⋅h. Taking into account theoretically that when burning one kg of hydrogen, approximately 38 kW⋅h of energy is released, we can say that the first electrolyzer spends 41% more energy than it can produce when burning one kg of hydrogen, and the second one by 6%. The use of hydrogen produced in these electrolyzers for long-term energy storage can be considered inappropriate, since it is necessary to take into account the energy that will be spent on its storage. The produced hydrogen requires specialized equipment, for example, for storage in cylinders, it must be compressed. To liquefy hydrogen, cryogenic equipment is needed, and for storage in compounds with metals, specialized equipment is also needed. When compressing hydrogen, cooling it or interacting with metals, additional energy is required, which makes the production of hydrogen in conventional electrolyzers with subsequent storage ineffective and energy-intensive.

Therefore, using hydrogen storage in a methanol compound, large energy losses are arranged for storage compared to the above methods. Today, electrolyzers are not used for large-scale hydrogen production due to high energy costs. Instead, steam reforming of hydrocarbons and carbon is used, where the theoretical costs in the first case are 9.52 kWh/kg, and in the second case 10.35 kWh/kg of hydrogen. Therefore, steam reforming of hydrocarbons and carbon is used all over the world for mass production of hydrogen.

When using steam conversion of methanol to produce one kg of hydrogen, energy costs are only 2.3 kW, but due to its wide application in the chemical industry, methanol is not yet used for mass production of hydrogen. The disadvantage of any steam conversion is the associated production of carbon dioxide. A by-product of hydrogen production - carbon dioxide, when released into the atmosphere, takes away some of the energy, while the production loses some of the valuable raw materials in the form of oxygen and carbon.

In connection with the above, when using the RUVE, a scheme is formed where hydrogen is produced with the lowest energy consumption by steam conversion of hydrocarbons, carbon and methanol, and the produced carbon dioxide performs a technological function, working as a plasma-forming gas, heating the charge. Further, carbon dioxide decomposes into components, carbon and oxygen, with the lowest energy consumption, due to its dissociation in the melt of metals that act as catalysts, plasma irradiation and electrolysis. Theoretically, for the dissociation of carbon dioxide into oxygen and carbon by conventional heating, energy costs are required, approximately 1.86 kW⋅h/kg. When passing carbon dioxide, for example, through catalysts consisting of a gallium and silver melt, energy costs are reduced to 0.23 kW⋅h/kg. Considering the possibilities of the material processing scheme at the RUVE, the division of the carbon dioxide molecule with the lowest energy costs can be performed by interacting with carbon according to the reaction CO ₂ + C → 2CO, where the theoretical energy costs are 0.854 kW⋅h/kg. This reaction, for example, is used in a blast furnace to reduce iron with carbon monoxide produced during the reaction.

When using, for example, waste incineration plants to produce energy, the main disadvantage is the use of direct combustion of waste in atmospheric oxygen, which leads to a significant loss of energy. The maximum energy can be produced by burning oxygen and hydrogen extracted from these wastes.

Fig. 4 shows the simplest schemes of conventional combustion of hydrocarbons in atmospheric oxygen and the conversion of ore hydrocarbons to produce oxygen and hydrogen, which are burned in an ore hydrocarbon power unit.

In the comparative scheme, it is possible to observe that if hydrocarbons burn directly in the oxygen of the air, then the maximum possible amount of heat is not produced. The production of thermal energy is reduced due to the use of air, which must be heated and then released into the atmosphere. As the hydrocarbon compounds become heavier, that is, using instead of methane, for example, propane, fuel oil or coal, the production of thermal energy also decreases. An increase in the amount of other chemicals in the combustion zone in addition to the fuel leads to a significant decrease in the released thermal energy, as, for example, when burning coal in a blast furnace, where ore and fluxes are simultaneously located.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic transformation of reagents at an ore-hydrocarbon power unit, which begins with heating and interaction of a mixture of various hydrocarbons, ore and water, which creates the effect of the presence of catalysts at the time of reactions accompanied by the decomposition of complex compounds into simpler compounds. As a result, this leads to the formation of synthesis gas, from which methanol is produced. It is necessary to take into account that during the synthesis of methanol, hydrogen enters its composition not only from decomposing hydrocarbons and carbon compounds, but also from water, allowing it to accumulate twice as much. At the next stage, during the steam conversion of methanol, hydrogen is extracted from methanol compounds and water again. As a result, compared with the hydrogen contained in the original hydrocarbons, this increases the amount of hydrogen extracted for combustion by three times.

Therefore, extraction and combustion of hydrogen according to the second scheme allows to produce significantly more energy, compared to simple combustion of hydrocarbons in atmospheric oxygen. Comparison in Fig. 5 of two simplest schemes of reagent conversion shows that it is most energy-efficient to produce energy in an ore-hydrocarbon power unit, extracting hydrogen and oxygen from the composition of the charge for combustion for the purpose of energy production or accumulation.

[45] Energy consumption and productivity of the plasma-chemical process depend on the plasma torch power. According to the statistics of metallurgical plasma torches operation, the dependence of energy consumption on their power has been established. With a plasma torch power of 0.1 MW, energy consumption is approximately 5 MW h / t, with a power of 1 MW, respectively, 2.7 MW h / t, at 10 MW - 0.55 MW h / t, at 20 MW - 0.5 MW h / t, and at 175 MW energy consumption decreases to 0.34 MW h / t. Using a plasma torch with a power of 175 MW for processing the charge, it is possible to melt 515 tons per hour, 12350 tons per day, and 4.5 million tons of charge per year, which is comparable to the operation of a modern blast furnace.

[46] According to the calculations, 2.1 million tons of clean water will be produced per year when processing 4.5 million tons of charge. A third of this volume of water, as shown in Fig. 5, is sent for processing together with the charge, and two thirds are formed from the oxygen and hydrogen contained in the ore and hydrocarbons. This feature of the proposed technology allows, for example, to use the ore-hydrocarbon power unit as a treatment facility for contaminated water discharged from residential and industrial facilities, as well as for the purification of sea water. In addition, it is possible to process toxic and radioactive water, which, during plasma treatment, passes through a chain of various reactions at the atomic-molecular level, is separated into hydrogen and oxygen, subsequently forming water again. Accordingly, the newly formed water molecule is completely separated from any impurities and restores the original structure.

As a result of batch processing, in addition to water, 1.2 million tons of metals, 0.3 million tons of non-metals and 0.9 million tons of construction carbon will be produced. During batch melting, plasma torch electrodes will be consumed at a rate of 1.2 kg/t of remelted batch, therefore 5400 tons of carbon will be spent on their recovery, which will be less than one percent of the carbon produced. Consumable plasma torch electrodes lose their mass during the melting process, but the lost carbon continues to participate in the process of gas formation and metal recovery.

The bulk of the produced carbon will be supplied to the Market, which will allow for additional profit.[47] Additional profit will also be obtained by extracting precious metals and rare earth metals found in ore and hydrocarbons. For example, with an average gold content in the earth's crust equal to 0.005 g / t, and silver 0.1 g / t, 22.5 kg of gold and 450 kg of silver will be extracted from 4.5 million tons of charge. According to theoretical calculations, 3.7 TWh of energy will be produced per year, where a plasma torch with a capacity of 175 MW h will consume only 1.53 TWh of energy during this time. When implementing the process using a RUVE, it is necessary to take into account that a steam-hydrogen turbine generates electricity not only by burning hydrogen in oxygen, but also due to the heat returned by the circulating steam, which is heated by cooling the metallurgical and chemical section of the power unit. The generated energy in the amount of 2.17 TWh, in the absence of external consumption, can be directed to the synthesis of 410 thousand tons of methanol, in which the produced energy can be stored indefinitely.

[14] The increase in the production of additional energy at the RUVE is not calculated, due to the use of the operation of irradiating the substance of the initial batch with a flow of elementary plasma particles. In this process, under the influence of plasma radiation, it is possible to implement photochemical steam conversion of methane or aliphatic hydrocarbons released from the batch. During this reaction, where methane and water are converted into methanol and hydrogen, there is no absorption, but the release of energy in the amount of 0.955 kW⋅h/kg:

,

Consequently, the photochemical reaction allows for the additional generation of a certain amount of energy, which can be supplied to the Market or directed towards the production of methanol.

Photochemical steam conversion may be of particular interest during melt discharge into the turbine. This moment is shown in Fig. 3c, where the plasma torch provides a photochemical reaction during the interaction of methane gas and steam, which rotate the turbine. Due to the contact of steam and methane with the turbine at the moment of their irradiation, a photochemical reaction will occur between the reagents, which, when heated, cool the turbine and impart rotation to it. In this case, a molecule of methanol and hydrogen will be formed. To increase the efficiency of the process, the substances of the melt will participate in the reaction as catalysts. The hydrogen appearing in excess must be bound with a molecule of carbon monoxide, creating a synthesis gas mixture. For this, the turbine is made of carbon (graphite), which can be reinforced with a metal frame on the outside, turning into turbine blades. Additionally, the lower chamber along the inner plane, shown in Fig. 2, is lined with carbon tiles. The turbine and the inner plane of the carbon chamber, when in contact with water vapor, form water gas by the reaction C + H ₂ O → CO + H ₂ , when adding a hydrogen molecule to it, synthesis gas will be formed, which, entering the apparatus, will be synthesized into methanol. Carbon dioxide will also serve as a source of carbon monoxide for binding the hydrogen molecule into synthesis gas, which, dissociating in the plasma into a carbon monoxide molecule and an oxygen atom, when oxygen comes into contact with the carbon of the turbine and the lower chamber, will form two carbon monoxide molecules.

Due to the fact that carbon is released as a final product at the RUVE, its use for processing ore-hydrocarbon charge becomes effective. Producing turbines and lining for the lower chamber from this carbon, the energy carrier will be produced with its participation.

Structurally, the use of carbon as a turbine body will allow, due to the reduction in weight, to accelerate its rotation, as a result of which this will increase the impact on the melt, due to higher centrifugal pressure. With an increase in rotation speed, the separation of the substance by density will occur in a shorter time.

The carbon turbine will allow the melt to remain in liquid form for a longer period of time, which in turn will allow the substance to be separated more effectively by density. Thus, carbon will be reused in the design of the RUVE as plasmatron electrodes and then, as the design is destroyed, will participate as a charge filler, as a normal reagent.

When starting up ore-hydrocarbon power units, it becomes expedient to connect them to nuclear power plants, the heat produced by which will be fully directed to the production of useful work. This work will be the use of thermal energy for endothermic reactions, for example, during steam conversion of hydrocarbons, carbon and methanol. Power plants operating on renewable energy sources, when working together with RUVE, will also be most effective due to the possibility of accepting from them all the energy produced, which includes electricity and heat, for the purpose of storing it in the form of methanol.

Thermal power plants, which today generate the main share of energy in the world, can be completely replaced by ore-hydrocarbon power units. This will happen due to the fact that direct combustion requires a larger amount of hydrocarbon fuel, and using this fuel as a component of the charge at RUVE will produce significantly more energy. At nuclear power plants, the fuel is considered to be a radioactive substance, which is also not used effectively today.

Fig. 6 shows a comparison of power units of a thermal power plant (TPP), a nuclear power plant (NPP), and an ore-hydrocarbon power unit (OHPU). The power units of a TPP and NPP use water to cool the condenser, which, when heated, releases heat into the atmosphere, which reduces the efficiency of the power units to 30%. In the case of using OHPU, the heat from the steam released from the turbine is transferred to the ore-hydrocarbon charge, allowing it to be used to reduce metals and non-metals.

Another fundamental difference between the power units of thermal power plants and nuclear power plants and the RUVE are the heat sources that heat the circulating water. At thermal power plants, the only heat source is the furnace where the fuel is burned, and at nuclear power plants, only the nuclear reactor. At the RUVE, the heat source for heating the circulating water is not only the combustion chamber, where steam enters and hydrogen is burned in oxygen, but also chemical reactions occurring in the metallurgical and chemical section, where the heat released heats the structure of the plasma-chemical installation and the methanol apparatus, which give off heat to the water, turning it into steam.

The fundamental difference in the operation of power units is that at NPPs and TPPs it is impossible to fully use the generated energy, part of which is discharged into the atmosphere, while at RUVE this discharged energy is used to carry out chemical reactions for the production of energy carriers, metals and non-metals. Therefore, the operation of RUVE becomes more energy efficient, since it allows using not only the thermal energy produced in the combustion chamber of the power plant, but also the thermal energy generated in other areas of this power unit. An important difference from NPPs and TPPs is that in addition to generating heat and electricity at RUVE, metals and non-metals are simultaneously produced. As a result of the above, due to a change in the energy generation scheme, which becomes more energy efficient and is combined with the production of raw materials. Therefore, in the future, there will be a gradual replacement of TPPs with RUVE. At the same time, the operation scheme of NPPs, where thermal energy is discharged into the atmosphere, will also be replaced by a scheme of joint operation of NPPs and RUVEs.

Fig. 7 shows a power unit combining the operating diagram of a nuclear power plant and a power plant.

[48] The combined scheme differs from the usual basic scheme of the NPP in that the processed charge is used as a cooling medium instead of water, and the source of steam generation is not only the nuclear reactor, but also mainly the combustion chamber for burning the hydrogen-oxygen mixture, as well as the reaction products, metallurgical and chemical equipment, due to the cooling of which the circulating water is heated and converted into steam. Therefore, the efficiency of the NPP when working together with the RUVE increases significantly, where the problem of more stable and smooth operation of the power plant is simultaneously solved. For example, when energy consumption by an external consumer decreases, all the generated energy goes to the production of methanol or another energy carrier (ethanol, synthetic fuel, ammonia), in which energy is stored. When energy consumption on the external circuit increases, the consumer begins to receive electricity generated by the combined power unit and additional energy can be transferred from the stored methanol, which, dissociating into hydrogen, produces the required amount of energy when burned. This creates a circuit that can operate over a wide range of changes in power consumption.

Fig. 7 shows all similar positions of the RUVE circuit, previously shown in Fig. 1 , where a nuclear reactor 34, a steam generator 35, through which water is pumped by a circulation pump 36, are placed inside the circuit 29. Recycled water enters the steam generator 35 through a pipeline 37, turning into steam, which goes through a pipeline 38 into the combustion chamber 20. In the combined power unit, all the energy generated is spent on the production of useful work, part of which, turning into electrical energy, is spent on the plasma torch, and the remaining part is supplied to an external consumer or turns into an energy carrier in which energy is stored until the required moment of its use. A side effect of energy production in the combined power unit is the production of various products in the form of metals and non-metals, which are supplied to the Market.

Power plants on renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectric power plants (HPP), wind power plants (WPP), solar power plants (SPP) and other similar power plants, will operate according to a similar scheme with the RUVE. At the same time, the RUVE scheme will completely consume electricity from these power plants, processing it into market products and an energy carrier (methanol), if this energy is not required by an external consumer.

Fig. 8 shows a combined diagram of a power unit of a renewable energy power plant operating together with power plants using renewable energy sources.

At the RUVE, electric power generated by external power plants, such as hydroelectric power plants, solar power plants, and wind power plants operating on renewable energy sources, enters the internal circuit 29 from external contacts 39. Then, electric power enters the rectifier 28 and is spent on maintaining the processes that ensure the operation of the RUVE. If necessary, the generated electric power from the generator 27 is transferred to external terminals 40, from where it is further transferred to the external consumer. By analogy with the operation of a joint power unit consisting of a RUVE and a nuclear power plant, this joint power unit, consisting, for example, of a hydroelectric power plant and a RUVE, will supply electric power to an external consumer as needed, and will also convert all the remaining energy generated at the hydroelectric power plant into an energy carrier and simultaneously produce various metals and non-metals, including water.

A combined scheme of two power units, where the RUVE power unit is combined with an external power plant, allows smoothing out peaks in energy consumption for an external consumer by converting electricity from renewable power plants to an energy carrier when this energy is not required. When energy is required, the accumulated energy carrier begins to be processed, generating the required amount of electricity. This scheme of operation of combined power units allows storing energy when there is an excess and using it when renewable power plants cannot produce it.

Thermal power plants based on renewable energy sources, such as hydrothermal power plants and solar collectors, which extract heat for its delivery to the consumer or convert heat into electricity for the consumer, will also work most efficiently in conjunction with RHEC.

Fig. 9 shows a combined circuit that combines a RUVE power unit with a thermal power plant, which has all the same advantages as combined circuits with a nuclear power plant, hydroelectric power plant, wind power plant and solar power plant. Fig. 9 shows similar designations of RUVE units taken from Fig. 1 , which are supplemented by units of a thermal power plant, which includes an external heat receiver 34, capturing solar heat or heat from other various heat carriers, including air, water and soil. From the heat receiver 34, the received energy enters the steam generator 35, where the heating of the circulating water occurs due to the flow of the heat carrier, which moves under the action of the pump 36. A heat pump can be included in the circuit, allowing the conversion of low-potential heat coming from external sources into high-potential heat, allowing the conversion of water into steam. The circulating water, moving along the pipeline 37, is heated to a vaporous state in the steam generator 35 and then the steam moves along the pipeline 38 into the combustion chamber 20. The heat, which was previously supplied to the consumer, directly from the thermal power plant from the heat receiver, in this case comes along the pipeline 41, which goes beyond the circuit 29, due to the opening of the valve 42, where the thermal energy is removed from the turbine 1 from the pipeline 32. The cooled water flow from the consumer returns along the pipeline 43, inside the circuit 29, flowing into the pipeline 44. Electricity is transmitted to the consumer, if necessary, from the generator 27, through external terminals 40. This combined scheme of operation of power units is especially effective in places of concentration of thermal energy, where there are various minerals. By installing a combined heat and power unit with a heat receiver in these places, it is possible to organize production for heat utilization and processing of ore-hydrocarbon raw materials into finished products consisting of various metals and non-metals, where a certain amount of energy or energy carrier will be simultaneously generated. Heat or electricity will be transferred to the consumer at the right time, and in the absence of a need for energy, it will accumulate in the form of an energy carrier, without stopping the process of processing the charge.

The combined power unit will operate efficiently on underground heat sources, such as geysers in Kamchatka, where there is the necessary raw material for processing. The operation of combined power units does not require energy from conventional power plants, since the consumed thermal energy can be converted into electricity or accumulated in the energy carrier as needed. Consequently, the RUVE with power supply from a heat source can operate in an autonomous mode for an unlimited time, which allows it to be used in places remote from the power supply.

Today, renewable energy is not efficient enough due to high energy losses when delivering it to the consumer. When combining RUVE with renewable energy power plants, this disadvantage is eliminated by using all the energy generated, which is spent on generating energy carriers, metals and non-metals.

Today, for example, in Japan, on the island of Hokkaido, there is a large park of wind power plants that supply the generated electricity to the industrial part of the country, from which no more than 3% of the energy reaches the consumer. In the case of connecting an ore-hydrocarbon power unit to this wind park, all the generated energy will be used to produce energy carriers, metals, non-metals and water. Then the energy carrier in the form of methanol, ammonia, synthetic oil and other fuels can be supplied to the consumer, where electricity and heat will be generated from the energy carrier at the place of consumption. This change with the use of RUVE will significantly increase the amount of energy that will reach the consumer. This applies to all power plants, such as nuclear power plants, hydroelectric power plants, solar power plants located at a great distance from the place of energy consumption. By combining these power plants with the RUVE, energy carrier will be produced and delivered to the place of energy consumption, where at the right moment the energy stored in the energy carrier begins to be used in the required volume for energy generation.

Another advantage of the combined scheme of the RUVE with different types of power plants is the extraction of fuel from the charge in the form of hydrogen and an oxidizer, in the form of oxygen, where hydrogen and oxygen are in water, hydrocarbons and ore, from which the charge is made up. The use of RUVE is especially effective for replacing modern thermal power plants, where the fuel capabilities are not fully utilized. For example, when operating a thermal power plant, burning natural gas in a volume of 1 kg, 12.5 kW⋅h of energy is produced, of which 3.8 kW⋅h is sent to electricity, and 8.7 kW⋅h is discharged into the atmosphere as heat, which reduces the efficiency of the power plant.

To determine the energy capabilities of the RUVE, it is advisable to compare its operation with a thermal power plant, where the same amount of hydrocarbon fuel will be burned. During the operation of the RUVE, it is necessary to accept a certain volume of the charge from which fuel will be obtained for its combustion in the combustion chamber on the turbine, where during the processing of this volume of the charge, various reactions occur at different rates for different chemical elements included in the charge. To calculate the energy balance, we assume that the charge includes various types of hydrocarbons with a total weight of 938 kg, where the carbon content is 750 kg, hydrogen 125 kg, metals 42.5 kg, non-metals 20.5 kg. Hydrocarbons are mixed with ore weighing 2128 kg, where this mixture contains 562.5 kg of water. The resulting charge contains 1000 kg of oxygen, 915 kg of metals and 213 kg of non-metals. [49] The total mass of the batch is 3628.5 kg, at the outlet of the RUVE the total mass of reagents is also 3628.5 kg, which come out in the form of 1687.5 kg of water, 957.5 kg of metals, 750 kg of carbon and 233.5 kg of non-metals, separated by their composition in a certain volume.

The scheme of operation of the RUVE allows any type of hydrocarbons to be converted into the simplest compound of methane, which during steam conversion will form synthesis gas, which is then used for the synthesis of methanol. Synthesis gas contains one and a half times more hydrogen than is necessary for the synthesis of methanol, therefore, to equalize its composition, the reaction of steam conversion of carbon occurs in parallel. The resulting methanol, as it is formed, goes to steam conversion, during which hydrogen fuel is produced, burned in the combustion chamber, producing energy to maintain the process of operation of the RUVE with the formation of circulating water giving off heat to the charge and taking heat from the metallurgical and chemical section, directing it again to the formation of part of the steam for rotation of the turbine. Another third of the total volume of circulating water produced after the turbine gives it to methanol, with which it is mixed, producing steam conversion with the utilization of part of the thermal energy discharged from the turbine. For various chemical elements such as carbon, hydrogen and oxygen included in the charge, the speed of movement through the pipelines inside the RUVE device will be significantly greater than the path of passage for metals and non-metals included in the charge. That is, if the mass of metals and non-metals passes through the RUVE device only once, then during this period of time the mass of oxygen, hydrogen and carbon will pass two or more times.

In the balance of energy income and expenditure, it is necessary to take into account the entire mass of the substance passing through the melting and conversion zone. Table 2 (Fig. 10) shows the calculation of energy income and expenditure due to the main reactions occurring in the RUVE device, where the charge includes various hydrocarbons.

For comparison, when burning 500 kg of methane in atmospheric oxygen at a thermal power plant:

;

The energy release is 2.78 kWh/kg reactants or 13.9 kWh/kg CH ₄ , the energy yield is: 2500 kg · 2.78 kWh/kg = 6950 kWh. During the dissociation of the produced carbon dioxide, 1375 kg · 1.86 kWh/kg = 2558 kWh of energy will be spent, as a result, the theoretical energy remainder is 4392 kWh.

It is necessary to take into account that at thermal power plants, when burning fuel, nitrogen and other gases enter the furnace together with the oxygen in the air, which is approximately 80%. Therefore, 500 kg of methane during combustion additionally heat 10,000 kg of air. Thus, the total mass of reagents is approximately 10,500 kg, where there are 20 units of air mass per unit of methane mass, i.e. 1:20.

At RUVE in the batch per 500 kg of released methane there is approximately 6.3 times more than the used batch mass, i.e. the mass ratio is 1:6.3. When producing energy at RUVE it is necessary to take into account that during the period of reduction of metals and non-metals, other reagents in the batch volume, which include oxygen, hydrogen and carbon, undergo the stages of heating and decomposition in compounds several times. The initial amount of oxygen in the batch composition is 1500 kg, which is included in the compounds of water and ore. For the synthesis of methanol during the reaction chain, an oxygen volume with a total mass of 1000 kg is used. During the steam reforming of methanol, another 1000 kg of oxygen is added to this mass, where carbon dioxide is formed, from the composition of which 2000 kg of oxygen is released again by dissociation, which is fed to the combustion of hydrogen. The produced hydrogen and its combustion require 3000 kg of oxygen. Therefore, this volume of oxygen is produced during the reduction of metals and non-metals, by converting oxygen-containing compounds that undergo heating, synthesis and decomposition stages inside the RUVE device at least twice. Thus, 1500 kg of oxygen mass, which must be additionally heated, must be added to the mass of the initial charge.

Carbon in this process behaves similarly to oxygen, where the initial amount of carbon in the charge is 750 kg. This mass of carbon passes through the plasma melting zone once to form methanol, and the next passage of this mass of carbon through the melting zone occurs in the form of a carbon dioxide compound. Thus, to the initial mass of carbon, it is also necessary to add an additional 750 kg of carbon, which, during the reduction of metals and non-metals, at least twice passes inside the RUVE device.

Hydrogen is converted according to a similar scheme, where the initial batch includes 187.5 kg of hydrogen, of which 125 kg is in compounds of various hydrocarbons, and 62.5 kg is in water. In this case, during the reduction of metals and non-metals, 375 kg of hydrogen is burned, that is, twice as much as the initial hydrogen. Therefore, it is necessary to add a mass of 187.5 kg of hydrogen to the initial batch, which requires heating.

In general, to the initial mass of the batch equal to 3628.5 kg, during the reduction period 1500 kg of oxygen, 750 kg of carbon and 187.5 kg of hydrogen are added, i.e. the mass is 2437.5 kg. Consequently, during the reduction period of metals and non-metals, the total mass of the substance equal to 6066 kg is heated. The additional energy consumption for heating the substance with the mass of 2437.5 kg is: 2437.5 kg · 0.34 kW⋅h = 829 kW⋅h.

The total theoretical gain in energy at the RUVE is 5701 kW⋅h, while in the total mass of the heated substance, the mass of 500 kg of methane is related as 1:11. This ratio is less compared to the mass ratio of methane burned in atmospheric oxygen at a thermal power plant, where it is 1:20. At the present time, when burning 500 kg of methane in atmospheric oxygen at conventional thermal power plants, 6950 kW⋅h of thermal energy is generated. With the efficiency of a thermal power plant of approximately 30%, 2085 kW⋅h are spent on useful work. Therefore, at the RUVE, according to preliminary calculations, more than twice as much energy will be generated. These calculations are given without taking into account the work of specialized catalysts, which make it possible to significantly reduce energy costs for the dissociation of carbon dioxide.

[50] When present in the composition of the catalyst charge, where the dissociation energy of carbon dioxide in metal melts is only 0.23 kW⋅h/kg, the energy costs for the complete dissociation of 2750 kg of formed carbon dioxide at the RUVE will be only 2750 kg · 0.23 kW⋅h = 633 kW⋅h, instead of the calculated 5115 kW⋅h. Consequently, the theoretical gain in energy generated at the RUVE will be 8874 kW⋅h. Compared to a TPP, it is possible to produce four times more energy at the RUVE. Considering that the generated energy from the TPP to the consumer comes with losses, which is spent for the production of the same metals and non-metals, where energy losses also occur during these processes, the final gain in energy production at the RUVE can be fivefold or more. All energy produced at the RUVE, when converted into an energy carrier, which is methanol, but can also be ammonia, synthetic oil and other chemical compounds, will be stored indefinitely and delivered to the consumer with minimal energy losses.

It is advisable to consider the operation of the RUVE with the possibility of processing such a volume of ore without the use of hydrocarbons, as the most valuable and hard-to-reach raw materials. It follows from the working scheme of the RUVE that during the reactions a significant volume of carbon will accumulate, which can be reused to restore the next batch of ore. At the same time, it is necessary that there are no gas emissions of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide at the outlet, which is quite difficult to do in the absence of hydrocarbons, but is possible due to the release into the atmosphere of excess oxygen included in the original composition of the charge. To implement this scheme, the mass of hydrogen included in hydrocarbon compounds is removed from the charge and replaced by the mass of hydrogen included in water, while the total mass of the charge increases by 1000 kg. In this case, the charge will include 750 kg of carbon, 233.5 kg of non-metals, 957.5 kg of metals, 1000 kg of oxygen contained in the ore and 1687.5 kg of water, where the total charge mass will be 4628.5 kg. The same amount of water, as well as metals, non-metals and carbon, will be formed at the output. During the reaction, gaseous oxygen weighing 1000 kg will be obtained from the ore, which will be supplied to the Market or discharged into the atmosphere, and can also be used to burn carbon in the usual way.

The overall balance of energy consumption and release occurring at the RUVE, where carbon is used as the initial reducing agent in the charge, is shown in Table 3 (Fig. 11) .

The use of coal at the RUVE, instead of hydrocarbons, reduces the energy output by 2.7 times. The combustion of 750 kg of carbon in atmospheric oxygen at the TPP according to the reaction , occurs with the release of energy of 9.17 kW⋅h/kg C, ultimately producing 750 kg · 9.17 kW⋅h/kg = 6878 kW⋅h of energy. As a result of the reaction, 2750 kg of carbon dioxide is also produced, for the complete dissociation of which, with an energy consumption of 1.86 kW⋅h/kg, 2750 kg · 1.86 kW⋅h/kg = 5115 kW⋅h of energy will be spent. Therefore, the theoretical energy remainder will be 1763 kW⋅h. When burning coal at a thermal power plant, nitrogen and other gases enter the furnace along with oxygen, so 750 kg of coal react and heat approximately 10,000 kg of air. There are 13.3 air mass units per unit of carbon mass, i.e. 1:13.3. In the RUVE, during the period of metal reduction, 8066 kg of the substance is heated, where the ratio of carbon to the rest of the charge substance is 1:9.8. Therefore, with this ratio, a smaller amount of substance is used per unit of fuel at the RUVE, which increases the efficiency of its use.

The value of this calculation for practical application is that carbon during the conversion comes out of the reactions in solid form and can be reused to restore a new batch of ore. Thus, the need to use hydrocarbon fuel disappears. Consequently, when using RUVE, according to these calculations, several times less fuel will be required to generate a unit of energy produced at a thermal power plant, or traditional fuel can be completely replaced by carbon extracted from carbon dioxide.

[50] In the case of using catalysts that can be found in the melt of the charge at the RUVE, similar to Ga-Ag, where the complete dissociation of carbon dioxide occurs with significantly lower energy costs, the gain in useful energy also increases significantly. Considering that electrolysis and irradiation of the carbon dioxide molecule with elementary plasma particles will also contribute to the energy-efficient disintegration of this molecule, it can be argued that additional energy will be obtained. Consequently, in the future, RUVE will be used to generate energy instead of today's thermal power plants.

It is especially effective to replace thermal power plants operating on coal. In this case, in addition to additional energy production, coal will produce energy carriers, metals, non-metals and a large amount of technical carbon, which can be used for construction, electronics and reuse at power plants. The use of RUVE can influence the development of oil refineries.

At the RUVE, a melt is formed in the plasma combustion zone, forming a zone of preliminary heating of the charge substance around itself, where the maximum heating of the charge can reach more than 2000 ^o C. As is known, at the oil refinery, the main reactions of hydrocarbon conversion occur at a heating temperature not exceeding 560 ^o C, in order to avoid failure of specialized catalysts. In the proposed plasma process at the RUVE, the catalysts are chemical elements found in the charge. During melting, the charge is constantly renewed, and therefore the catalysts are also renewed, therefore, the reactions of hydrocarbon conversion found in the charge will occur at temperatures above 560 ^o C, up to a temperature of 2000 ^o C and more. For this reason, any heavy hydrocarbon compounds and refractory ores, under the influence of high temperature, in the presence of catalysts will decompose more effectively, to lighter compounds. Methane will mainly be produced from hydrocarbons, and metals will be reduced from ore with the formation of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Along with the gases released from the batch, water will be released in the form of steam, forming a working gas mixture from which synthesis gas is formed by steam conversion in the presence of batch catalysts.

To extract synthesis gas in the metallurgical part of the plant, a certain device is required, shown in Fig. 12 , where the plasma torch 1, being the anode, creates plasma 2 and is immersed in the melt 3, which is the cathode, due to the fact that the crucible 4 holding the melt is connected to the "minus" from the power source. The melt bath is surrounded by a skull 5, which is a volume in which preliminary reduction reactions occur, i.e. the skull works as a preliminary heating zone. The skull is replenished with the substance of the charge 6, entering through the central shaft 7, which is located inside the outer shaft 8, an annular space 9 is formed between the shafts, through which various gases exit. When the charge approaches the melt bath, it is heated with the formation of a preliminary heating zone, where complex compounds disintegrate into simpler ones with the release of gases. In the central shaft 7 there are openings through which various gases exit and a flow of synthesis gas 10 exits, formed during the catalytic steam conversion of methane and carbon, which goes through the annular space 9 for separation from impurities and then for synthesis in the methanol apparatus. Around the plasma torch 1, operating with an anode, a gas emission zone is formed, where the gas mixture mainly contains oxygen, formed as a result of the decomposition of the compounds of the ore melt and carbon dioxide. The formed gas-oxygen flow 11, rising, is pumped out through the upper branch pipe 12. The crucible 4, being a cathode along its boundary with the melt bath during reactions and electrolysis, forms a gas-hydrogen flow 13, which, rising, is captured by the baffle 14, separating it from the gas-oxygen flow 11, which is pumped out through the lower branch pipe 15. The produced flows of various gases go to separation in separators and then the produced hydrogen and carbon monoxide go to the synthesis of methanol. Then, hydrogen is again released during the steam reforming of methanol and goes to combustion in the combustion chamber, where oxygen also goes after separation from other gases in the separator.

The gas-oxygen and gas-hydrogen flows are first freed from more refractory vapors, various metals and non-metals, and then oxygen is extracted from the gas flow and fed to the accumulator, from which it is sent to burn hydrogen in the combustion chamber as needed. Hydrogen extracted from the gas mixture is used to produce methanol and is then stored in this compound until it is needed for combustion.

To provide the process with additional hydrogen fuel and oxygen, reagents 16 containing hydrogen, oxygen and carbon, in the composition of more stable ore, hydrocarbons, water, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, and other gases, including natural gas and methane, as well as solid and liquid compounds, are repeatedly fed through pipeline 17 for conversion to the preheating zone and to the melting zone. Due to the possibility of repeated involvement of reagents in repeated conversion, a process is created similar to the cyclic production of methanol in a methanol apparatus or ammonia production, where only part of the product (methanol or ammonia) is formed during the reaction, and the unreacted reagents are returned again for synthesis. In case of using RUVE, these can be reagents consisting of hydrocarbons with complex structure, such as fuel oil, paraffin, heavy oil, as well as gaseous compounds of pyrolysis and natural gas, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, water vapor or stable ore compounds. The possibility of re-engaging insufficiently decomposed reagents and reactants in the form of water and carbon dioxide, which have already undergone reactions of methanol formation and combustion, having formed water, allows to create hydrogen fuel and oxygen for its combustion from the same chemical elements again. Due to this, an energy-efficient scheme of accelerated circulation of reagents consisting of hydrogen, oxygen and carbon is created, which in a short time in a small space, are quickly converted into fuel and oxidizer, without significant losses of energy dissipated in space. Many cycles of fuel conversion and combustion occur during one period of restoration of a certain volume of metals. This allows, in case of insufficient energy for restoration of a certain type of metal, to increase the number of cycles of fuel conversion and combustion.

At the RUVE, for the reduction of metals contained in the charge ( Fig. 12 ), the newly formed carbon dioxide gas during melting is fed through the pipeline 17, where it, together with the reagents 16, enters the preliminary heating zone 18 and, interacting with the carbon of the charge, turns into carbon monoxide. The produced carbon monoxide, interacting with the oxides, reduces the metals and again forms carbon dioxide gas, which, passing through the bath of molten metals, dissociates into carbon and oxygen with the least energy consumption. Therefore, at the RUVE, a scheme for the extraction of hydrogen with the least energy consumption and the dissociation of carbon dioxide, also with the least energy consumption, is created, which allows the release of the maximum possible energy due to the combustion of hydrogen in the combustion chamber and its use to the maximum for the performance of useful work.

The energy efficiency of batch processing at the RUVE ultimately depends on the efficiency of the catalysts, which can be fed into the process in a specialized manner in the required volume, as well as through pipeline 17 into the preheating zone. During reactions, with lower or higher energy costs, the required rate of catalysts introduced will be established, which will allow achieving the best indicators in energy efficiency.

Fig. 12 shows that in the heating and melting zone of the charge, a gas mixture of different composition is formed in individual sections, which must be diverted into at least three streams for purification and conversion to extract various chemical components. This also occurs when the plasma torch heats the charge while being above its surface, where it does not work as an electrolyzer. In this case, carbon dioxide, passing through the anode of the plasma torch, is heated and colliding with the heated substance of the charge, interacting with it with the participation of catalysts, begins to decompose into carbon and oxygen or carbon monoxide and oxygen. In any case, when carbon dioxide passes through the plasma, a gas-oxygen flow is formed, only with a greater or lesser oxygen content, which must then be extracted for the accumulation and combustion of hydrogen.

Thus, during the melting of the charge, three gas flows of different chemical composition are formed, in which volatile impurities of metals and non-metals present in the charge are present, and a liquid-phase residue is also formed in the form of a fourth melt flow 19, drained through a branch pipe 20 into a rotating turbine for its separation by density.

This diagram shows that at the RUVE, when hydrocarbons are involved in the reaction, where one kg of hydrogen is present during the reaction of steam reforming with simultaneous steam reforming of carbon, synthesis gas is produced from which methanol is synthesized, where two kg of hydrogen are formed. At the same time, during the melting of the charge, the volume of carbon is replenished due to the dissociation of carbon dioxide, which works as a plasma-forming gas. Carbon dioxide transfers the main heat through the plasma flow to the charge substance. In this process, water is simultaneously formed due to the reactions of reduction of metal and non-metal oxides by hydrogen, as well as due to the combustion of hydrogen in the turbine. The newly formed water, entering into a reaction with carbon, produces hydrogen and carbon monoxide. During the simultaneous reactions of steam reforming of methane and carbon during the heating and melting of the charge, a volume of synthesis gas is produced, where for one kg of hydrogen in the hydrocarbons of the original charge, there are already two kg of hydrogen. Therefore, for one kg of hydrogen included in the initial composition of hydrocarbons, 16 kg of methanol is synthesized, which contains 2 kg of hydrogen. To extract the hydrogen included in the methanol for combustion, it is necessary to add 9 kg of water for steam conversion, which allows an additional increase in the mass of hydrogen extracted to 3 kg with the formation of 22 kg of carbon dioxide, which is sent to plasma formation and heating of the charge.

The general scheme of reactions occurring in parallel to each other in the process of hydrogen production is shown by the chain of reactions occurring in parallel at various production sites of the RUVE:

When selecting the ratio of volumes of various substances for the charge, at the first stage it was assumed that in addition to ore and water, its composition would include traditional hydrocarbons, such as coal, oil and gas.

To calculate the composition of the initial charge, a mixture of hydrocarbons was used, which includes coal, oil and gas burned today at the world's thermal power plants in a certain ratio.

As the direction developed, it became clear that any types of hydrocarbon raw materials are suitable for the operation of the RUVE, including not only traditional ones used at thermal power plants, but also peat, combustible shale, oil sands, paraffin, firewood, straw, household waste and hydrocarbons dispersed in the volume of ore. In addition to hydrocarbons dispersed in the ore, when operating the RUVE, it is necessary to take into account the hydrogen and carbon included in the ore, which are not bound in hydrocarbon compounds, since their mass in the lithosphere is approximately an order of magnitude greater than hydrocarbons.

[41] For example, taking technogenic sedimentary rocks as ore, where hydrogen is 1.5% and carbon 10%, it is necessary to determine the mass of traditional and non-traditional hydrocarbons that need to be mixed into the batch. Consequently, per ton of ore, there will be 15 kg of hydrogen and 100 kg of carbon. Thus, it is necessary to add approximately a quarter less hydrocarbons to the batch. Consequently, the use of RUVE will not only reduce the amount of traditional fuels for energy, but will also reduce the amount of non-traditional fuels, replacing them with fuel in the form of hydrogen contained in the ore. This in turn will change the scheme of extraction and redistribution of modern fuel around the world.

To start the process and operate the RUVE, it is necessary to select the ratio of reagents in the batch in a certain proportion, where a certain amount of oxygen should be in the initial batch. In relation to oxygen in accordance with its atomic mass, there should be eight times less hydrogen in the batch so that a water molecule is formed at the outlet. Two-thirds of the hydrogen mass should be in hydrocarbon compounds, and one-third in the initial water, where during the completion of the process, the volume of the initial water will be increased threefold. The volume of newly formed water during the process is constantly involved in reactions creating various compounds. The amount of carbon included in the batch is approximately an order of magnitude greater by mass relative to hydrogen.

When mastering a new technology for processing the charge at an ore-hydrocarbon power unit, it becomes possible to involve in the process any types of hydrocarbon compounds that have not previously been used in industry. Energy production at RUHE occurs with the complete elimination of harmful gas emissions into the atmosphere. When using RUHE, non-traditional fuels become strategic fuel raw materials and become on par with industrial hydrocarbons, such as high-quality coal, natural gas and oil. Due to the involvement in the production and processing of substandard hydrocarbon raw materials, which include bitumen, paraffin, peat, pyrolysis gas, combustible shale, wood waste, black soil, including household waste, the country's explored reserves of ore, oil and gas may remain untouched.

The developed power unit allows expanding the possibilities for extraction from a wider range of raw materials, hydrogen fuel. Hydrogen can be extracted both from various hydrocarbons and from the composition of ore minerals. Hydrogen is incorporated into the composition of minerals in the form of OH ions^-1, H₂O and H₃O⁺¹, forming a crystal lattice with other chemical elements.[19] Hydrogen is especially abundant in typical “water” minerals and sedimentary clay rocks. Hydrogen distribution in the earth’s crust is concentrated mainly in the hydrosphere, while the lithosphere contains only six times less hydrogen, where sedimentary rocks contain almost half of its content in the lithosphere, where sedimentary rocks are about 10%. Considering that the main volume of hydrogen is part of minerals and only 10% of its volume in minerals is associated with carbon in organic compounds (hydrocarbons), then when using RUHE, great prospects open up for the energy industry for the possibility of extracting fuel in the form of hydrogen included in the composition of ore minerals. Today, fuel energy mainly uses traditional hydrocarbon fuel for combustion, in the form of gas, oil and coal, without considering ore as a fuel source. Thus, it becomes possible to replace part of the usual traditional fuel from hydrocarbons with hydrogen fuel found in ore. When using RUVE, the hydrogen that is extracted from the ore during the smelting of minerals will replace part of the volume of hydrogen that does not need to be included in the hydrocarbon charge, therefore, their quantity in the charge will decrease.

Organic hydrocarbons, which form all known deposits of coal, oil and gas on Earth, are a thousand times less in mass than hydrocarbons dispersed in sedimentary rocks. Consequently, the developed hydrocarbon power unit allows, when melting the charge, which includes sedimentary rock, to extract from its composition dispersed hydrocarbons, the reserves of which are a thousand times greater than the hydrocarbons found in all deposits. Considering that hydrogen not bound with carbon, which is part of the minerals of the lithosphere, is ten times greater than it is found in all hydrocarbon organic compounds, the efficiency of using the RUVE becomes even greater, since it allows using hydrogen fuel extracted from the rock, where it is ten times greater than in traditional hydrocarbons. Therefore, if the total reserves of hydrogen contained in minerals are ten thousand times greater than in deposits of traditional hydrocarbons, then these minerals should be considered as a source of fuel. Thus, having established the extraction of hydrogen from minerals using the RUVE, the prospect of unlimited access to fuel, which is hydrogen, opens up. Accordingly, when organizing the new proposed production, the prospect of unlimited extraction of hydrogen from mineral raw materials opens up.

The RUVE is fundamentally different from the operation of conventional power plants, as well as metallurgical and chemical industries. At the RUVE, the main energy is produced by burning hydrogen in oxygen, obtained as a result of the process of separating compounds into components and forming new compounds, that is, converting the charge substance. The process of converting the charge substance, where many different chemical elements are mixed, is carried out separately from the process of burning hydrogen, where only two chemical elements are present in the interaction process - oxygen and hydrogen. Therefore, this scheme allows for separating reagents into components with the lowest energy costs, and producing the maximum possible amount of thermal energy in the hydrogen combustion zone. Conversion of a mixture consisting of many chemical elements is carried out due to arc heating creating plasma supporting the process of dividing the charge reagents. This allows for creating a high concentration of thermal energy in a limited small volume with the formation of a radiation flow in the form of elementary particles, allowing for energy-efficient breaking of interatomic-molecular bonds in various compounds of the substance. The process of division of compounds forming the charge substance is accelerated not only by irradiation, but also by electrolysis in the charge melt, and this process can also be accelerated by the action of various catalysts located in the charge or specialized catalysts introduced in the required volume into the charge heating and melting zone. At the RUVE, parallel but separate processes of energy generation and separation of chemical substances from a mixture of chemical compounds are carried out.

The operation of the RUVE is based on the fact that a substance with different chemical compositions is collected at one point in space, where it is heated by a heat source in the form of plasma, independent of the chemical reactions that occur in the batch substance. This allows the mixture of substances to be separated into individual components and chemical elements with the greatest energy efficiency, producing hydrogen fuel and oxygen, which, when burned, produce the greatest amount of energy supporting the process of dividing the reagents of the batch. High heating temperatures, the presence of catalysts in the mixture being separated, the creation of a vacuum, electrolysis and irradiation of the mixture of the substance being separated by a flow of charged elementary plasma particles, contribute to the most energy-efficient division of the substance.

As a result of this process, the maximum possible amount of fuel in the form of hydrogen is extracted from the initial mixture of the charge substance with the lowest energy consumption. By separating hydrogen from the initial charge mixture and burning it in another point of the RCBE space, where this space contains only hydrogen and oxygen, the maximum possible amount of energy will be produced. The “clean” combustion process allows producing the greatest amount of thermal energy, because in the combustion chamber of the turbo plant, there are only two chemical elements, oxygen and hydrogen, where energy is not spent on side chemical reactions with third chemical elements. For this reason, in one point of the RCBE space, the maximum possible number of chemical elements is concentrated, which allows them to be separated under the action of high temperature, plasma irradiation, catalysis and electrolysis into components with minimal energy consumption, and in another point of space, only oxygen and hydrogen are concentrated, due to the interaction of which, without the participation of any third chemical elements, the maximum possible amount of thermal energy is extracted. During the operation of the RUVE, the resulting carbon dioxide serves as a technological raw material as a plasma-forming gas and at the same time as a source of oxygen used after the decomposition of carbon dioxide for the oxidation of hydrogen in the combustion chamber of the turbine. At the same time, carbon dioxide is a source of carbon, actively participating in the production scheme. Carbon serves as a binding chemical element for holding hydrogen and oxygen atoms around itself in a compound, which allows creating an effective and technological energy carrier methanol, which is in a liquid phase.

Consumable electrodes for the plasma torch are pressed from carbon, which, after evaporation from the surface during melting, then begins to participate in various chemical reactions, for example, reducing energy costs when extracting hydrogen from aqueous compounds.

The technological feature of the RUVE operation is that the hydrogen required for combustion in the turbine is extracted from methanol and water only at the right time and in the right volume. To utilize the heat discharged from the turbine in the form of steam, methanol is partially used, entering the steam conversion, which, when heated, takes away some of the heat from this steam, and some of the water leaving the turbine ensures the flow of this conversion. This scheme of the RUVE operation allows storing gaseous hydrogen in safe compounds of methanol and water until the moment of its use. To store gaseous hydrogen, specialized and expensive equipment with safety systems is required.

Cyclic return of thermal energy to the RUVE, from one section of equipment to another, makes the developed power unit energy-saving and energy-efficient. Combustion of hydrogen near the combustion of plasma allows removing heat from steam after the turbine, heating the charge going under the plasma, and heat from the plasma heating is removed by circulating water, which, turning into steam, gives off energy to the turbine, transforming into electric energy spent on the formation of plasma.

All modern power plants, metallurgical and chemical industries using fuel combustion cannot produce thermal energy from the burned raw materials in the maximum amount and cannot fully use the generated heat for useful work, and therefore cannot be energy-saving and energy-efficient. Therefore, the proposed invention, as a RUVE, can be recommended for wide application in industry. The use of RUVE can have a positive economic effect, not only in the field of energy, but also in the field of metallurgy and chemical production. The use of RUVE is especially effective in the mining and processing industry, where up to 20% of all generated electricity is spent on crushing and grinding ore. At RUVE, the ore entering the batch does not require particularly fine grinding and after melting is automatically separated, enriched by its composition, which allows for significant energy savings, production time and total costs for ore enrichment.

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Claims (19)

1. A method for producing energy using an ore-hydrocarbon power unit (OHPU) in an autonomous mode, consisting in the fact that plasma-chemical heating of the charge, which includes oxygen, carbon and hydrogen, leads to the creation of hydrogen fuel, which is burned at a power plant in a hydrogen-oxygen turbo plant with a steam generator, discharging thermal energy with steam, heating the substance of the environment, where the charge substance passes into gaseous and liquid-phase residues, further processed in chemical and metallurgical production, characterized in that the solution to the problem is carried out by combining energy, metallurgical and chemical equipment into a single production complex consisting of interconnected sections, where the processing of the original charge is carried out due to the energy generated by burning hydrogen in oxygen, extracted from this charge, while excess thermal energy from the energy section is redirected to the metallurgical and chemical ones, and from these sections back to the energy sector, allowing several times more raw materials to be processed and energy to be produced. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the charge consisting of a mixture of ore, hydrocarbons and water contains oxygen, carbon and hydrogen in a certain ratio, which makes it possible to extract hydrogen fuel from the ore-hydrocarbon charge, which is burned in oxygen, also produced from the original charge, where in the combustion chamber of the turbo unit, during combustion there are only two chemical elements, oxygen and hydrogen, so energy is not spent on side chemical reactions with third chemical elements, which makes it possible to produce the maximum possible amount of thermal energy, and the space where hydrogen combustion occurs is located near the space where plasma combustion occurs, due to the electricity generated from hydrogen combustion, in this space the maximum possible number of various chemical compounds included in the charge is concentrated, which are separated under the action of high temperature, plasma irradiation, catalysis and electrolysis into components with minimal energy costs, while the thermal energy released after plasma-chemical treatment substances, is transferred to the circulating water, turning it into steam, which enters the turbine, and the steam discharged from the turbine transfers heat to the original batch before it is plasma heated. 3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the energy-efficient division of the compounds of the mixture of the charge substance occurs due to catalytic processes, where the catalysts are various chemical elements and their compounds included in the composition of the initial charge, which are renewed due to the constant flow into the melting zone, where metallurgical processes of reducing various metals and non-metals occur simultaneously under the action of reducing agents of carbon, carbon monoxide and hydrogen released from the composition of the charge, wherein the process of producing metals and non-metals occurs simultaneously with the processes of producing energy and energy carriers, making it possible to reduce energy consumption several times compared to the energy required to carry out these processes separately. 4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that in order to conserve the maximum amount of energy and prevent its loss to the environment, the process of producing metals, non-metals, energy carriers and energy is carried out simultaneously on combined equipment, which consists of various sections - metallurgical, energy and chemical, included in the space of the circuit, behind which no heat is discharged, and the energy supply of the entire process occurs due to the extraction of hydrogen and oxygen from the charge, which are burned, forming steam, rotating the generator, producing electricity to maintain the combustion of the plasma, where carbon dioxide serves as a plasma-forming gas, which, when interacting with the charge, decomposes into carbon and oxygen, where oxygen is again used in the combustion of hydrogen, and carbon is again used to reduce metals and non-metals, then forming various compounds from which the energy carrier is created - methanol, where the complete dissociation of carbon dioxide in the melt occurs with lower energy costs due to the use of catalysts that are in the melt of the original charge, and also, if there is a shortage of them, they are supplied additionally, being fed separately into the melting zone. 5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the technological process of processing the charge begins with the operation of mixing in a certain volume ratio the substances of the ore, water and hydrocarbons, where the ore mainly contains oxygen, water oxygen and hydrogen, and the hydrocarbons mainly contain carbon and hydrogen in their composition, so that the plasma, contacting the melt of the charge and irradiating various compounds of the substance located in the combustion zone, accelerates the reactions of decomposition of these compounds with the formation of a gas phase separated from the initial substance of the charge by evaporation, with subsequent separation of compounds with different boiling points, and the remaining liquid phase of the substance can be separated by centrifugal conversion, in the event of a shortage of a given amount of hydrogen in the initial mixture of the charge, additional hydrocarbons are added to the mixture, such as peat, bitumen, fuel oil, paraffin, oil shale and other hydrogen-containing substances, with adjustment volume of water, and if the mixture does not contain enough oxygen-containing ore, sand, clay and other minerals are added to the mixture, as well as oxygen-containing slags from the previous smelting of waste, allowing the remains of heavy hydrocarbons and more stable slags to be re-involved in the plasma-chemical scheme, while individual ores containing hydrocarbons, carbon and hydrogen in their composition in a certain volume will replace the hydrogen and carbon in the same volume, which must be mixed into the batch with hydrocarbons and water. 6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the conversion of the reagents begins with the interaction of a mixture of various hydrocarbons and water during heating in the presence of catalysts, the role of which is played by various chemical elements included in the composition of the initial batch, which leads to the formation of synthesis gas from which methanol is produced, with the release of thermal energy, which is spent on heating the circulating water, which allows the thermal energy to be returned to the process for generating electricity in the turbine, and during the synthesis of methanol, hydrogen enters its composition not only from the decomposing hydrocarbons, but also from water, allowing it to accumulate one and a half times more, while the process of steam conversion of carbon contained in the batch occurs in parallel, allowing an increase in the volume of the formed synthesis gas, where hydrogen during the synthesis of methanol becomes twice as much, and at the next stage, during the steam conversion of methanol, hydrogen is extracted from methanol compounds and water again, ultimately allowing, compared to the hydrogen contained in the initial hydrocarbons, to increase the amount of hydrogen extracted for combustion three times and, accordingly, to produce more energy, while the increase in the production of additional energy occurs due to the use of the operation of plasma irradiation of the substance of the initial charge with a flow of elementary particles, where, under the influence of plasma radiation, it is possible to implement photochemical steam conversion of methane produced from aliphatic hydrocarbons found in the charge, where during the reaction there is not absorption, but the release of energy, which makes it possible to additionally produce a certain amount of energy, which can be supplied to the market or directed to the production of useful work inside the ore-hydrocarbon power unit. 7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that it produces clean water from the reagents of the batch, where a third of the volume of water is formed from processed water supplied together with the batch, and two thirds are formed from oxygen contained in the ore and hydrogen contained in hydrocarbons, which allows the ore-hydrocarbon power unit to be used as a treatment facility for contaminated water discharged from residential and industrial facilities, as well as for the purification of sea water, including it in the composition of the initial batch, the processing of toxic and radioactive water, which, during plasma treatment, passing through a chain of various reactions at the atomic-molecular level, is separated into hydrogen and oxygen, subsequently again forming water that is completely freed from harmful impurities. 8. The method according to paragraph 1, characterized in that a combined circuit with a typical NPP power plant is used, where the basic circuit of the RUVE is combined with the circuit of the NPP, representing a single circuit, where the processed charge is used as a cooling medium for the steam discharged from the turbine, and the source of steam generation is not only the nuclear reactor and the combustion chamber for burning the hydrogen-oxygen mixture, but also the products of plasma-chemical reactions, metallurgical and chemical equipment, due to the cooling of which the circulating water is heated and converted into steam, making it possible to achieve higher efficiency and more stable and smooth operation of the combined power plant, where, when energy consumption by the external consumer decreases, all the energy generated goes to the production of methanol or another energy carrier (ethanol, synthetic fuel, ammonia), in which energy is stored, and when energy consumption by the external consumer increases, electric power generated due to the combined circuit of the NPP is transmitted to it and RUVE, by processing and burning hydrogen fuel from stored methanol and water. 9. The method according to paragraph 8, characterized in that the power plant combined with the RUVE is a power plant operating on renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectric power plants (HPP), wind power plants (WPP) and solar power plants (SPP), where the RUVE completely consumes the electric power coming from these power plants, processing it into an energy carrier, metals and non-metals, if this energy is not required by an external consumer, and in the case when energy is required by an external consumer, the accumulated energy carrier begins to be processed, generating the required amount of electric power, while continuing to restore metals and non-metals. 10. The method according to paragraph 8, characterized in that the power plant combined with the RUVE is a thermal power plant using renewable energy sources, such as hydrothermal power plants and solar, air, earth and water collectors, which extract heat for its delivery to the consumer, where the combined circuit, consisting of two power units, converts thermal energy from renewable power plants into an energy carrier when this energy is not required, and when energy is required, the produced energy carrier is processed into heat and electric power sent to an external consumer, while continuing to restore metals and non-metals. 11. The method according to paragraph 7, characterized in that a thermal power plant TPP is used as a power plant combined with a RUVE, where the previously used fuel - gas, coal and fuel oil - is included in the initial batch as hydrocarbons, allowing for the recovery of metals and non-metals and the production of an energy carrier, including the production of carbon black, which can be used for the manufacture of plasma torch electrodes, construction, electronics and reuse at these power plants as a reagent, which leads to the complete replacement of a TPP in the generation of heat and electricity with an ore-hydrocarbon power unit, which allows for the generation of three to four times more energy from hydrocarbon fuel. 12. A device for producing energy using an ore-hydrocarbon power unit (OHPU), containing a power plant, a metallurgical and chemical section, a turbine, an ore-hydrocarbon charge, a plasma reactor, a methanol synthesis apparatus, a power source, a cathode, an anode, electrodes, shafts, a skull, an electrolyzer, synthesis gas, hydrocarbons: water, carbon, slag, charge, methanol, carbon monoxide; circulating water, steam, combustion chamber, crucible, generator, plasma torch, plasma, condenser, heat exchangers, pump, channel, melt bath, branch pipes, separator, methanol steam reforming reactor, pipelines, rectifier, closed loop for energy conservation, characterized in that the mixture of the charge consisting of ore, water and hydrocarbons is heated by steam discharged from the turbine, which is obtained in the combustion chamber, where the circulating steam is heated by burning hydrogen in oxygen, which are extracted from the ore-hydrocarbon charge during cyclic reactions, and the heat generated in the plasma melting and methanol synthesis sections is transferred to the circulating water, which forms steam, which goes to the combustion chamber, while the generated electrical energy maintains the combustion of the arc on the plasma torch, and carbon dioxide, passing through the arc, forms a plasma that melts the original charge, forming a melt in which carbon dioxide in the presence of catalysts, due to electrolysis and irradiation, dissociate into carbon and oxygen, while carbon restores metals and non-metals, which merge into a rotating turbine, where they are separated in the volume of the ingot by density, and the gas phase from the melt of the substance is separated by evaporation and then separated into constituent compounds by condensation. 13. The device according to claim 12, characterized in that the separation of the products formed after the plasma occurs in a separator, where the separated synthesis gas immediately enters the methanol synthesis apparatus for the synthesis of methanol, which acts as an energy carrier, which is fed to the processor for generating energy, where, mixing with part of the steam leaving the turbine, as a result of the steam conversion of methanol it forms hydrogen, which is sent for combustion in the combustion chamber, and the formed carbon dioxide is used to form plasma, where, passing through the melt bath, it dissociates into carbon and oxygen, which is again sent for combustion in the combustion chamber, wherein two-thirds of the volume of water obtained during condensation after the turbine are directed outside, and one-third of the volume of water is used to cool the plasma reactor, the methanol apparatus and the reaction products, forming steam, which enters the combustion chamber, where hydrogen and oxygen are burned, forming high-temperature steam that rotates the turbine and the generator, generating electric power, which is supplied from the rectifier to the plasma torch, ensuring plasma combustion. 14. The device according to item 12, characterized in that, in order to reduce heat losses, methanol is heated before steam conversion by the heat of steam discharged from the turbine, passing through a heat exchanger, while the ore-hydrocarbon power unit is located in a closed space of the circuit, beyond the boundary of which all the substance enters and exits at ambient temperature. 15. The device according to claim 12, characterized in that electrolysis in the molten charge is carried out by immersing a plasma torch into the molten bath, which acts as an anode, while the molten bath acts as a cathode, to which a negative charge is supplied through a crucible from a power source, where heavy metal melts sink to the bottom of the bath, lighter metals accumulate above them, and the most stable slags are displaced to the surface of the bath, where electrolysis is carried out simultaneously with the process of reducing the metals under the action of various reducing agents, while the molten bath is surrounded by a skull in which preliminary reduction reactions take place, being a preliminary heating zone, constantly replenished with the substance of the charge supplied through the central shaft, which is located inside the outer shaft, where an annular space is formed between the shafts, through which a stream of synthesis gas exits, formed during the catalytic steam conversion of methane and carbon, which goes through the annular space for separation and then for synthesis into the methanol apparatus, and around the plasma torch, which operates as an anode, a gas emission zone is formed, where the gas mixture mainly contains oxygen, formed as a result of the decomposition of the compounds of the ore melt and carbon dioxide, the resulting gas-oxygen flow, rising, is pumped out through the upper branch pipe, while the crucible, being the cathode, along its boundary with the melt bath during reactions and electrolysis forms a gas-hydrogen flow, which, rising, is captured by a baffle, separating it from the gas-oxygen flow, which is pumped out through the lower branch pipe and goes to separation in the separator, and then the produced hydrogen and carbon monoxide go to the synthesis of methanol, hydrogen, which is again released during the steam reforming of methanol, goes to be burned in the combustion chamber, where oxygen also enters after separation from other gases in the separator, to provide the process with additional hydrogen fuel and oxygen, reagents containing hydrogen, oxygen and carbon, in the composition of more stable ore, hydrocarbons, water, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and other gases, including natural gas and methane, as well as solid and liquid compounds, are re-entered through a separate pipeline for conversion into the preheating zone and then into the melting zone. 16. The device according to claim 12, characterized in that after a portion of the melt has been drained, an annular ingot is formed in the rotating turbine, wherein the reduced metals, such as, for example, copper, iron, aluminum or tin, are separated layer by layer, with the heaviest metals having the highest density, such as gold, platinum, silver, tungsten, molybdenum and others, concentrated on the outer contour, followed by a layer of copper, relatively lighter in density, and then a layer of even less dense iron, in which related metals such as nickel, chromium and cobalt will be dissolved, then closer to the center a layer of the least dense aluminum is formed, including related metals such as scandium, titanium and magnesium, while the metals belonging to the iron, copper and aluminum group do not fuse together under the conditions of centrifugal converting. 17. The device according to item 12, characterized in that the RUVE replaces thermal power plants as a power plant, where the direct combustion of hydrocarbon fuel in atmospheric oxygen is replaced by the combustion of hydrogen in oxygen obtained from the components of the charge, wherein at the first stage synthesis gas is released from the charge and metals are reduced, at the second stage an energy carrier is synthesized from the reagents and at the third stage hydrogen is extracted from the energy carrier, which is used as fuel. 18. The device according to paragraph 12, characterized in that the RUVE is combined for the generation of electric power with a power unit of a nuclear power plant, where the charge is used as a cooling medium for the turbine condenser, and the source of steam for rotating the turbine is not only the nuclear reactor and the combustion chamber for burning the hydrogen-oxygen mixture, but also heat from the reaction products of metallurgical and chemical equipment, where, in the absence of electricity consumption by the consumer, all the energy generated goes to the production of methanol or another energy carrier (ethanol, synthetic fuel, ammonia), in which energy is stored, and when energy consumption is resumed, electric power is generated due to the stored methanol, where a side effect of energy generation at the combined power unit is the production of various products in the form of metals and non-metals. 19. The device according to claim 12, characterized in that a plasma torch is used to extract the synthesis gas, heating the initial batch to form a melt bath, where the melt bath is surrounded by a skull, which is constantly replenished with the substance of the initial batch and the substance of the reagents formed after melting the initial batch, which are fed through a branch pipe again into the plasma heating zone, where the batch enters through a central shaft located inside the outer shaft, forming an annular space, while in the central shaft there are openings through which a stream of synthesis gas formed during the catalytic steam conversion of methane and carbon exits, which goes through the annular space to the methanol synthesis apparatus, and around the plasma torch, operating as an anode, a gas emission zone is formed, where the main composition contains oxygen, formed as a result of the decomposition of the compounds of the molten batch and carbon dioxide, creating a gas-oxygen flow, which enters the separator for separating oxygen, directed into the accumulator, from where oxygen goes to burn hydrogen in the combustion chamber, and at the boundary of the crucible a gas-hydrogen flow is formed, which, rising, is captured by a baffle, separating it from the gas-oxygen flow, and enters the separator for separating hydrogen, directed for the synthesis of methanol.