Domestic practice of thermal hardening of rails on an industrial scale is represented by the technology of bulk rail quenching in oil with separate furnace heating and subsequent high-temperature tempering. Current global trends point to the importance of cross-sectional analysis of rails for understanding the physical nature of the transformations, as it allows for the targeted development of product performance parameters. To identify the nature and mechanisms of structure formation, phase composition, and defective substructure, and, consequently, to establish optimal processing conditions, the identification of quantitative patterns and analysis of structural-phase states and fine structure parameters of rails are of fundamental importance.

Currently, materials with special coatings are widely used to protect surfaces. Research has shown that increased wear resistance of copper can be achieved by forming an intermetallic coating of the Ti–Cu system on its surface.

Modern underground coal mining technologies are characterized by the intensification of coal extraction processes in longwall mechanized longwalls (LWLs), typically mining flat, medium-thick coal seams. To ensure efficient and safe preparation and development of coal seams, a multi-entry mining system is used, leaving coal pillars up to 60 m wide between workings. This leads to inefficient use of the subsoil and losses of up to 40% of the estimated reserves. Smaller pillars collapse under the influence of rock pressure, and production stops due to a reduction in the cross-section of the adjacent workings.

Organizing energy conservation on a national scale is an extremely complex task; most government agencies, all organizations, and citizens must be involved in this process. Such a large-scale problem in each municipality, region, and throughout Russia as a whole can only be effectively addressed through programmatic methods with clearly defined tasks at each level. Energy conservation must be considered a strategic objective of the state, simultaneously serving as the primary method for ensuring energy security and the only realistic way to maintain high revenues from hydrocarbon exports.

As is known, the industrial and housing and communal sector's thermal energy needs are met by various heat supply systems, including district heating plants, district, group, or local boiler houses. However, cogeneration is only economically feasible when the estimated heat demand of a district exceeds 600 MW. For smaller needs, district, group, or local boiler houses operating on all types of organic fuel are used as thermal energy sources.

Until now, budgetary organizations have shown no interest in implementing measures to reduce energy consumption. The reason for this lack of interest lies in the budgetary legislation. The amount of funds allocated for energy resources was calculated based on the standard amount of resource consumption for a specific budgetary institution and the current (or planned) tariffs for electricity and heat. The energy consumption standards for a particular budgetary institution were calculated, among other things, based on the actual energy consumption of the budgetary institution in previous periods. Accordingly, if the budgetary institution reduced its energy consumption as a result of energy-saving measures, then the energy consumption standards could be reduced when calculating the amount of funding for energy consumption for the planned period.

The need to introduce energy saving measures is especially important at present for budgetary organizations. In the Kemerovo region, energy saving objectives are regulated by a regulatory document, which specifies maximum heat loss per unit volume. In the building complex of the Siberian State Industrial University (SibSIU), these standards are not met for various reasons. One of them is overcooling by low-temperature air flows.

The possibility of quantitative assessment of the equilibrium states in the Si – O – C system during heating of solid charge mixtures (silicon dioxide + carbon) is analyzed. The necessity of taking into account the removal of the gas phase in open reactors or vacuum units during the thermodynamic analysis during heating of solid charge mixtures is demonstrated. The expediency of introducing materials containing silicon carbide into the composition of charge mixtures for smelting silicon and high-silicon alloys is theoretically substantiated. It is shown that during smelting of silicon in arc ore-smelting furnaces, in order to achieve optimal parameters of the technological process, it is necessary that the degree of carbonaceous reducing agent on the surface of the reaction crucible reaches 80%. It was noted that in the presence of a solvent (with a decrease in the activity of silicon in silicon melts), the best indicators of the technological process (minimum energy consumption, maximum productivity of furnace units, minimum silicon losses) can be achieved at lower temperatures.

During the technical refurbishment and reconstruction of enterprises, current needs require the demolition of buildings and structures to clear the land for construction. In this case, various options are possible: explosion, destruction of the existing structure, collapse by creating an unstable structure, etc. In such cases, an assessment and forecast of the condition of adjacent buildings and structures is always necessary, which is especially important in the context of an operating enterprise.

When examining the technical condition of building structures, using individual non-destructive testing methods alone is often insufficient. This is due to the limitations of each method's scope of application, the accuracy of the results obtained, and the accessibility of the structures being examined. Therefore, to obtain the most complete information on the condition of structures and buildings, it is necessary to use a combination of methods, each of which complements one another and allows for partial verification of the obtained data.

The residential environment, in addition to the home itself, includes the immediate surroundings, as well as parks, streets, and alleys where the population's daily and recreational needs are met. The shape and size, orientation, and functional richness of various parts of the residential environment create corresponding socio-psychological attitudes that shape stable patterns of human behavior within the residential environment.

Currently, the issue of conserving thermal energy used to heat university buildings while maintaining the required level of comfort has become urgent. The heating units in SibGIU's main building are already equipped with weather-control systems that allow the coolant temperature to be varied depending on changing weather conditions.

Environmental issues are currently coming to the fore in the development of industry and society. The foundry shop, which is a structural unit of RMZ LLC in Novokuznetsk, consists of steel and cast iron casting departments and is designed to provide repairs for the main and auxiliary equipment of EVRAZ ZSMK, as well as to supply part of its products to other metallurgical plants and mining enterprises. In the foundry shop, large batches of grates are produced for the agglomerate lime production of EVRAZ ZSMK and the boiler houses in Novokuznetsk, as well as tubings for mines and refrigeration plates for blast furnaces. Steel is smelted in electric arc furnaces such as DSP-25 and DSP-6. Approximately 60 different steel grades are produced. Cast iron is smelted in two industrial frequency furnaces, ICHT-10. In total, about 29 grades of cast iron are smelted [1]. The air in the foundry contains large amounts of carbon and iron oxides, sulfur and nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxide, cyanide, and fluoride.

The United Nations estimates that 1.1 billion people worldwide lack adequate access to clean drinking water, and 2.6 billion lack adequate access to water for hygiene. Water use is projected to increase by 40% by 2020, and by 2025, two out of three people will experience water shortages.

The most important problem of water use in Russia at present is the irrational and inefficient use of water resources with high specific water consumption in industry, the agro-industrial complex and housing and communal services.

Independent work by students promotes better assimilation of material, development of creative thinking and search skills, which ultimately leads to the intensification and activation of the entire educational process. The effectiveness of independent work in the learning process largely depends on the conditions of its organization, on the content and nature of knowledge, the logic of its presentation, on the relationship between existing and assumed knowledge, on the content of this type of independent work, on the quality of the results achieved by the student during the course of this work.

Chess, a game with a centuries-old history, greatly contributes to the development of thinking. Chess has a multifaceted impact on individuals, particularly university students, which includes nurturing and shaping their worldview. As B.A. Zlotnik notes, a strong chess player's thinking is of great interest during play, as it depends on many factors, such as innate abilities, which are developed through chess instruction and specialized training.

The relevance of the problem of "incoming consciousness" has necessitated a renewed exploration of action as responsibility—to oneself, to others, and to the world. In a previous work, the author drew on historical and philosophical material from the ancient Greek era to trace the development of Western man as a moral being in his value-based attitudes toward action. While in antiquity and the Middle Ages, responsibility generally concerned a person's obligation to behave appropriately before God, one's family, or one's community, in modern times, responsibility has become the necessity of having one's own answer when solving life's most complex problems. This peculiarity is primarily due to the fact that in the past, an "answer" existed, but its authorship was of an inhuman, superhuman nature, so a person could either follow the prescribed path or not. In modern times, however, a situation arises where ready-made solutions (answers) are not available; they must be found, and found independently and individually.

This monograph presents research findings relevant to the current development of the coal industry in Kuzbass. The remoteness of Kuzbass coal industry enterprises from coal consumers requires the use of cost-effective management systems for coal mining, processing, and transportation. Given the complexity and diversity of these processes, it is necessary to create an integrated organizational management system for enterprises within large coal holding companies. The research findings presented in the monograph will address this issue by creating and implementing an automated decision support system for managing the mining, processing, and sales of coal products within the holding company under conditions of uncertainty.