There is a way; we need a will
NEW MATERIALS ARE CREATED HERE
Igor Gorynin,
Academician,
Director of the State Scientific
Center of Russia,
the Central Scientific Research Institute
of Construction Materials "Prometey".
This June, Prometey will host the
9th International Conference on
Titanium. This is a large-scale
event even for St. Petersburg,
which hosts international forums
quite reqularly.
We discussed the question of
preparation for this conference,
and of Prometey's place in national and world science and
technology, with the institute's director, Igor Vasilyevich Gorynin, academician, Russian Academy of Sciences.
"First of all I would like to emphasize the importance of the upcoming conference", noted Mr.
Gorynin. "Over 400 scientists, engineers, designers and representatives of the industry from over
20 countries will participate.
Worldwide conferences on titanium have traditionally had a high
reputation and continue to draw
the interest of the world scientific
and technological community. All
leading industrialized countries
would be very pleased to host a
forum of this kind. The standing
international organizing committee carefully chooses the candidates to host this conference. It is
similar to the hosting of the Olympics. That our institute was entrusted with the mission of organizing the 9th worldwide conference shows the appreciation of
its achievements in the area of
titanium alloys."
"This year Prometey will be
celebrating its 60th anniversary.
It was established as an institute
to design armor of all types. The
institute created the armor for
the T-34 tank, the best tank in
World War II.
"After the war, the institute developed construction materials for
national shipbuilding. This means
that all ships,submarines and all
commercial vessels were made out
of our materials using technologies developed by our institute.
With the development of nuclear
power it created a wide spectrum
of materials ensuring reliable operation of nuclear reactors under
conditions of high pressure and
temperature, and high levels of
neutron radiation."
"Prometey also creates construction materials for oil and gas
production especially on the Arctic shelf, for the oil and gas refining industry, the chemical industry,
transport, the power industry, and
medicine, among others. We have
created a unique series of highstrength steels, titanium and aluminum alloys,polymeric composite materials and many others."
"All the most important post-war
developments in the former USSR
were in one way or another related to the defense industry. How
were the civil applications of titanium developed?"
"True, titanium was first used in
missiles and spaceships. We decided to extend the range of its
applications, to use its rare set of
properties in sea water where
corrosion resistant construction
materials with high specific
strength (strength to density ratio)
and other special properties are
required. The institute created
high-strength welding titanium
alloys for submarine hulls,
manned and unmanned deepwater machines, pumps and onboard pipelines, propellers, shaft
lines and water intake systems
for fast moving vessels".
"The area of application of titanium is being extended. Now it
includes cellulose-bleaching towers, hydrofoil devices for fast passenger ships, pipe systems for heat
exchangers on nuclear power
plants and light fraction condensers for oil chemical plants."
"A new area of application is
being developed, that is, in off-shore oil field development technology and oil and gas production in the deep-water arctic shelf.
"What are your relations with foreign partners?"
"The upcoming conference on
titanium is the best answer to your
question. It is the high rating of
the Russian school of construction
materials, and the contribution
of Prometey's experts into its development that became the principal argument for holding the
forum here".
Interview by Lev Frolov
