Review of deaths and behavior of large birds of prey on power grid facilities in Tatarstan and Udmurtia (Russia), problems of modernization of 6–10 kV overhead power lines

The report analyzes the deaths of large birds of prey on power grid facilities of Tatarstan previously published in the literature since 2012 and additional ones, identified since 2019, including in the neighboring region – Udmurt Republic. Analysis of the data shows that immature Imperial Eagles (Aquila heliaca) up to 3 years old (n=11) died on the 6–10 kV power lines dangerous for birds. The percentage of fledglings that died near breeding territories after leaving their nests was 81.8% (n=9); one bird died in its second year of life and one bird died in its third year. The death of fledglings was identified in 8 breeding areas (in one of them twice), which is 3.9% of all known breeding areas of the Imperial Eagle in Tatarstan by the end of 2021 (n=205) and about 7.2% of 111 breeding areas in 16 administrative districts of southeastern Tatarstan where oil production is taking place. Two out of six fledglings, for which a time interval of death was established, died in the second half of August, and 2 eagles also died in the first and second halves of September. Distances from precisely known nests to locations where the fledglings died ranged from 0.26 to 11.7 km, 2.56 km on average (n=7). In 57.1% of cases deaths occurred at distances less than 1 km (from 260 to 600 m), and in 28.6% of cases at distances from 2 to 3 km. Observations of the behavior of imperial eagles in breeding grounds show a certain selectivity, namely avoidance of the most dangerous power lines. Adaptation of imperial eagles to the electric grid environment continues – 3 new breeding territories on the electric poles of high-voltage power lines were found. Two cases of death of immature White-Tailed Eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) were identified on 6–10 kV power lines dangerous for birds deep in the forestland on narrow forest cleared strips in Tatarstan and Udmurtia, as well as the Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis) in Udmurtia. Illegal exploitation and even construction of new 6–10 kV power lines dangerous for birds continues. Despite the measures taken to protect birds from death in the electric grid environment, the rate and quality of these measures are such that in the near future power lines will have a negative impact on eagles in the native area as they do now.

Weight optimization of steel lattice transmission towers based on Differential Evolution and machine learning classification technique

Transmission towers are tall structures used to support overhead power lines. They play an important role in the electrical grids. There are several types of transmission towers in which lattice towers are the most common type. Designing steel lattice transmission towers is a challenging task for structural engineers due to a large number of members. Therefore, discovering effective ways to design lattice towers has attracted the interest of researchers. This paper presents a method that integrates Differential Evolution (DE), a powerful optimization algorithm, and a machine learning classification model to minimize the weight of steel lattice towers. A classification model based on the Adaptive Boosting algorithm is developed in order to eliminate unpromising candidates during the optimization process. A feature handling technique is also introduced to improve the model quality. An illustrated example of a 160-bar tower is conducted to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method. The results show that the application of the Adaptive Boosting model saves about 38% of the structural analyses. As a result, the proposed method is 1.5 times faster than the original DE algorithm. In comparison with other algorithms, the proposed method obtains the same optimal weight with the least number of structural analyses.

Change in the agrochemical properties of soils and the productivity of the wheel under the influence of electromagnetic waves

In recent years, in the world, the anthropogenic impact on the soil, entailing various changes in its properties, is becoming more severe. Especially it is necessary to note the lands located on the boundaries of the protection zones of linear objects. This article studies the agrochemistry of soils that are under zones and linear protection objects and the effect of electric waves on wheat productivity. Overhead power lines have a negative impact on the environment, in particular on its ecological, social, and economic systems due to the high intensity of the electromagnetic field around the lead wires. High-voltage power lines do not significantly affect the content of humus and nutrients.

Reduction of magnetic field level in residential old buildings from overhead power lines by means of active screening

Aim. Reduction of the magnetic field induction to the level of modern sanitary standards by means of active screening in residential old buildings which are located near existing typical overhead power lines are considered. Active shielding of the magnetic field inside a single-storey and multi-storey building is considered. During the design the number, configurations, spatial arrangement of the shielding windings, as well as the currents in the shielding windings were determined. Methodology. The design problem for the system of active shielding reduced to solving the minimax vector optimization problem. The vector of objective function in this minimax problem is calculated based on Biot-Savart's law. The solution of this problem is based on multi-agent optimization algorithms. Results. The results of theoretical and experimental studies of the systems of active shielding of the magnetic field generated by various overhead power lines inside a single and multi-storey building are presented. Originality. The possibility of reducing the induction of the initial magnetic field inside the shielded space to the level of sanitary standards is shown. Practical value. From the point of view of the practical implementation for a reasonable choice of the number and spatial arrangement of shielding windings of systems for active shielding of the magnetic field generated by various overhead power lines inside residential buildings of different storey’s are given.