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The aim of the research was to explore the proposed solar installation, which consisting of a solar wall, storage tank, radiation sources and measuring equipment. The solar installation was tested in a circulating mode, which is an important point in energy conservation. Planning the installation of the collector heating system is still at the stage of building the house. Therefore, it remains relevant to replace the traditional boiler on the solar wall in quality of the solar collector, which will be used to heat water in the system and/or the pool completely free of charge. Proposed construction of the solar wall is effective for the solar heat supply system, at the same time the results of research confirm not only the efficiency of the system, but also allow for the design stage to take into account the practical efficiency of the system. Solar wall in circulation mode has a sufficiently effective coefficient for combined hot water supply or preheating of the heating medium of the heating system. The main theses of this work also would like to mark the affordability for the consumer, since the following design does not require a separate installation, and has the ability to mount in the existing wall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current state of exploitation of low-potential thermal waters of the East Ciscaucasia Artesian Basin has been evaluated. Low-potential waters, which are the only source of water supply for a considerable number of consumers in the North Caucasus, are being exploited in an extremely inefficient way with at most 20% of the allocated resources being utilized to the fullest extent. Abusive exploitation of the wells resulted in the bogging of large areas around them, depletion of water resources, and deterioration of the latter as a consequence of backflow of low-quality water from adjacent horizons into those being exploited. The quality of the water has drastically deteriorated; in most wells, contaminants, such as arsenic and various organic compounds, have been detected in quantities that considerably exceed the maximum permissible concentrations set for potable water. These thermal waters are not being used for generation of heat and power since their temperature is too low for heat and hot-water supply purpose. However, the resources of low-potential waters are sufficient to solve the problems of heat and hot-water supply and to provide a considerable number of consumers in the region with potable and process water provided that these resources are exploited in a sensible way using new complex technologies. Complex engineering systems comprise a system of heat pump plants in which the low-potential heat of thermal waters is utilized and a chemical treatment plant in which the cooled water is purified from contaminants, thus raising its quality to the potable water standard. The designs and technological parameters of the chemical treatment plants differ depending on the composition and amount of contaminants. The complex systems allow utilization of the product of thermal artesian wells to the fullest possible extent and large-scale introduction of such systems will facilitate the solution of environmental and economic problems in the region and improve sanitary, hygienic, social, and living conditions of people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In rural area of China, due to low income, it has been popularly used for winter-heating with straws and coal. The heating method is so backward that it is promising for heating with solar energy. Since the heat gain from sun is limited to specific area, it is essential to improve the efficiency of solar energy utilization. Some researchers found that on-off modes of circulating pump took obvious effects on heating performance of central heating. In this paper, three different kinds of on-off modes were applied to the solar floor heating system in order to discover the influence of on-off modes. The experiment was conducted during the winter in a single-storey building in Zhangma Village, Minqing county, Gansu province, China. The total area of the building is 117 m2, the residential area of about 103 m2, whose actual heating areas is 64 m2. The heating system consists of 6 sets of vacuum tube solar collectors. Each collector consists of 40 vacuum tubes in Φ58 mm × L 1 800 mm with a 400 L water tank. The heating period was 17:00-23:30 every day in Dec 2015. The system had the same water-flowing duration of 8 min and three different intermittent durations, 5 min intermittent durations on Dec 3th, 11 min on Dec 25th, and 6 min on Dec 30th. Various parameters, such as the solar radiation intensity, the supply and return temperature of the system, the tank temperature, the ambient temperature, the flow rate and the ambient wind speed, were all measured by various sensors in the experiment. All measured parameters were acquisited and recorded automatically by the Agilent 34970A every 10 s. The variation law of difference of supply and return temperature during the heating period was analyzed, the heat supply, heat loss rates, energy consumptions, the solar fractions and average heating efficiency of the system all were calculated, the correlations between various factors with the heat supply were analyzed. The experimental results reveal the following: With the same water-flowing durations, the longer the discontinuous time, the greater the difference of supply and return temperature. Compared with the time interval of 5 min, the solar fraction of the time interval of 6 min was increased by 5.27%, heat loss rate of the system decreased by 2.79%, and the operating energy consumption decreased by 6.67%. The time interval of 6 min had the highest average heating efficiency of the system in 3th to 29th in Dec 2015. Various factors discussed were significantly correlated with the heat supply. The supply temperature and the ambient temperature had greater impact on the heat supply, but the flow rate and the ambient wind speed had less impact on it. According to the operation modes of the solar floor heating system, the water-flowing time was longer than the displacing time of water stored in the pipes under the floor. Not only the water supply displaced the hot water in the pipes completely every time, but also there was some high temperature water flowing through the return pipe. In the further operation, the water-flowing time should be reduced, so that the water-flowing time could be equal to the displacing time of water in the pipes, and the high temperature water was prevented from losing excessive heat through the return pipe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At this year's ACHEMA, there was no independent exhibition or thematic area on energy, nevertheless, energy played a major role again. Heat was an important topic. Here, a focus was on waste heat utilization to improve energy efficiency, but also new developments could be found in the field of combustion technology. In addition, innovations in conversion of electrical energy into heat or into fuels or basic chemicals were presented. Hydrogen and biomass‐based technologies also played a major role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Production processes sometimes are accompanied by the release of hazardous substances, the composition and volume of which is determined by the production technology. When designing ventilation systems for paint departments, special attention is paid to safety concerns, since all paint coatings are corrosive and flammable substances. Besides, solvent vapors are explosive. For local ventilation of painting chambers, it is rational to use safe exhaust systems with an ejector, which works sturdily, regardless of the release of flammable and explosive impurities. The ejector is simple in design and can operate in a wide range of changes in the parameters of the state of airflow. The model of the ejection unit is synthesized using the universal modeling package ChemCad, which contains a highly developed database of airflow parameters, which allows for solving various applied problems. Numerical modeling was carried out using the software package - FLUENT. In work, a calculation was carried out and a low-pressure ejector was designed for a typical painting booth. The calculation results are presented in the form of graphs and tables of pressures, velocities, flow rates in characteristic sections, pressure losses in the sections of the ejector installation.The ejection coefficient was also calculated.

The percentage of heat pumps used in thermal power plants (TPPs) in the fuel and energy balance is extremely low in in most countries. One of the reasons for this is the lack of a systematic approach to selecting and justifying the circuit solutions and equipment capacity. This article aims to develop a new method of calculating the maximum capacity of heat pumps. The method proposed in the article has elements of marginal analysis. It takes into account the limitation of heat pump capacity by break-even operation at electric power market (compensation of fuel expenses, connected with electric power production). In this case, the heat pump’s maximum allowable capacity depends on the electric capacity of TPP, electricity consumption for own needs, specific consumption of conditional fuel for electricity production, a ratio of prices for energy resources, and a conversion factor of heat pump. For TPP based on combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) CCGT-450 with prices at the Russian energy resources markets at the level of 2019, when operating with the maximum heat load, the allowable heat pump capacity will be about 50 MW, and when operating with the minimum heat load—about 200 MW.

The determination of the optimal energy supply system and the selection of energy producers are two major challenges in the energy transformation of districts. This paper addresses these issues, presenting a holistic approach to compare and optimize district heating supply and decentralized heat supply, which is applicable to arbitrary districts. For this purpose, load profiles for space heating, domestic hot water and electricity are generated utilizing an archetype approach and statistical data. To identify the most economic supply variant, optimization models are created, using the Open Energy Modelling Framework. The optimization results are compared and the most economic supply variant is identified. The method is demonstrated with a case study of a district with a heat density of 491.15 kW h/(m2 a), considering different emission reduction targets and energy costs. The results show that, for a district with these properties, district heating has lower levelized costs of heating than decentralized heat supply for 94% of the investigated variants. The difference lies between 0.002 €/kWh and 0.135 €/kWh, depending on energy prices and emission reduction target. In the future, the developed method will be used to investigate the influence of various district characteristics on the economic efficiency of supply variants. • Approach to compare and optimize district heating supply and decentralized supply. • Load profile generation utilizing an archetype approach and statistical data. • Cost optimization of producer size and operation. • Demonstration of the method with a case study of a district. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The dynamic performance of compression-assisted sorption battery is investigated. • Heat storage density of the sorption battery varies from 150 kJ·kg−1 to 950 kJ·kg−1. • Heat storage efficiency ranges from 8% to 60% in an hour. • The compression process is paramount to adjust sorption kinetics in real application. Ammonia-based sorption thermal battery (STB) is gathering momentum due to the advantage of high energy storage density and strong operation flexibility. To further improve the system adaptability to cold region, compression-assisted sorption thermal battery (CSTB) is inclined to reach a required heat release temperature by adjusting internal reaction pressure difference. However, the role of compression process in CSTB and its performance limiting factors under dynamic operating conditions remains unclear. This paper investigates the performance of CSTB by matching continuous compression processes under different working conditions. The results indicate that an average heat output power per kg MnCl 2 adsorbent ranges from 0.042 kW to 0.26 kW when ambient temperature increases from −10 °C to −10 °C. Heat storage efficiency in an hour varies from 8% to 60%, and energy storage density (ESD) varies from 150 kJ·kg−1 to 950 kJ·kg−1. Besides, for the comparison between CSTB and STB, it demonstrates that under the condition of 40 °C heat release temperature and 10 °C ambient temperature, ESD of STB is a bit larger than that of CSTB by 47 kJ·kg−1. When ambient temperature drops to 0 °C, ESD of STB decreases to 310 kJ·kg−1, which is 50% lower than that of CSTB. It reveals that the compression process is key to CSTB at lower ambient temperature, and expected to have a desirable performance by regulating sorption kinetics in real application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper is aimed at studying thermoelastic diffusion interactions in a thick circular plate of infinite extent and finite thickness subjected to an axisymmetric heat supply and a heat source in the context of Lord–Shulman theory of generalized thermoelastic diffusion. The upper and the lower surfaces of the thick plate are traction free and the chemical potential is assumed to be a known function of time. Integral transform techniques are used to find the analytic solution in the transform domain. Mathematical model is prepared for Copper material plate and the numerical results are discussed and illustrated graphically.

The heat content of wastewater presents a great but still widely unused potential for energy supply. The thermal energy recovered through heat exchangers and heat pumps can be used for the heating (and cooling) of buildings and even for hot water production. At the moment, at least about 500 installations are operated on a global scale, and most experiences are available in Switzerland. In Austria, some wastewater heat recovery systems are also already under operation, for instance in Amstetten and in Weiz. However, due to the lack of superordinate strategies for planning, implementing, and operating wastewater heat recovery systems on federal and provincial level, the Austrian installations are primarily the result of personal initiatives of local stakeholders. This paper gives a general overview of different policy instruments for initializing and further promoting wastewater heat recovery as well as potential operating models for related heat supply systems and conducts a related comparison with the current Austrian situation. The information gained can serve as an input for the development of an initialization program for wastewater heat recovery on Austrian national level.

Nowadays, energy companies operate in a highly competitive environment. To maintain the leader position, as a reaction to various changes energy companies must take appropriate steps in a timely manner.

A numerical solution is presented for a one-dimensional, nonlinear boundary-value problem of thermoelasticity with variable volume force and heat supply in a slab. One surface of the body is subjected to a given periodic displacement and Robin thermal condition, while the other is kept fixed and at zero temperature. Other conditions may be equally treated as well. The volume force and bulk heating simulate the effect of a beam of hot particles infiltrating the medium. The present study is a continuation of previous work by the same authors for the half-space [1]. The presented Figures display the process of propagation and reflection of the coupled nonlinear thermoelastic waves in the slab. They also show the effects of volume force and heat supply on the distributions of the mechanical displacements and temperature inside the medium. The propagation of beats provides evidence for sufficiently large time values.

The integration of thermal energy storage systems enables improvements in efficiency and flexibility for numerous applications in power plants and industrial processes. By transferring such technologies to the transport sector, existing potentials can be used for thermal management concepts and new ways of providing heat can be developed. For this purpose, technology developments for solid media high-temperature thermal energy storage systems are taking place for battery-electric vehicles as part of the DLR Next Generation Car (NGC) project. The idea of such concepts is to generate heat electrically, to store it efficiently and to discharge it through a bypass concept at a defined temperature level. The decisive criterion when using such solutions are high systemic storage densities which can be achieved by storing heat at a high temperature level. However, when storing high temperature heat increasing dimensions for thermal insulation are required, leading to limitations in the achievable systemic storage density. To overcome such limitations, an alternative thermal insulation concept is presented. Up to now, conventional thermal insulations are based on sheathing the storage containment with efficient thermal insulation materials, whereby the thickness results from safety restrictions with regard to the permitted maximum surface temperature. In contrast, the alternative concept enables through the integration of the external bypass into the thermal insulation systemic advantages during the charging and discharging period. During discharging, previously unused amounts of heat or heat losses within the thermal insulation can be integrated into the bypass path and the insulation thickness can be reduced during loading through active cooling. Using detailed models for both the reference and the alternative thermal insulation concept, systematic simulation studies were conducted on the relevant influencing variables and on the basis of defined specifications. The results confirm that the alternative thermal insulation concept achieves significant improvements in systemic storage densities compared to previous solutions and high potentials to overcome existing limitations.

The relevance of the research topic is caused by the need to form new innovative approaches in the field of heat supply, aimed at modernizing thermal power plants that provide heat to urban areas. In recent years, the Russian government has adopted several state programs related to environmental protection, directed towards reducing the emission of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Thermal power plants are objects whose emissions significantly pollute the environment. Considering the wear of equipment, according to various estimates, reaches 60-80% in different regions, such equipment is extremely necessary to be modernized. Using the mechanism of public-private partnership in the field of heat supply is examined in this study. An algorithm for constructing a model in the field of creating mini thermal power plants is considered. They provide heat supply to individual urban areas, as well as to ensure a significant reduction in the level of environmental pollution. The main financial indicators are estimated based on the above algorithm. This project’s performance is assessed on the basis of financing both from the state and private companies. Conclusions about using the proposed model for the development of heat supply are drawn.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills located in regions of Russia with low temperatures and relatively low rainfall averages are considered unpromising in terms of their biogas potential; however, these claims have not been substantiated. Assessment of the biogas potential of such landfills requires special field research for analyzing biogas composition and emission speed, which could define the processes taking place inside a landfill. We should note that the use of mathematical models that do not take into account the specifics of a particular landfill makes it impossible to get detailed and reliable information about its biogas potential. This work contains the results of research conducted for assessing the biogas potential of three municipal solid waste landfills located in various zones of the Northwestern Federal District with Atlantic continental and moderately continental climate. The research showed that biochemical processes of waste decomposition accompanied by the emission of biogas with high (50 vol% and above) methane content are possible even in areas with a relatively cold climate. This confirms the presence of the energy potential of these landfills, which can be used for the needs of heat, electricity and gas supply to the population, etc.

This article analyses the perspectives of using self-regulating in natural monopoly enterprises. A hypothesis is presented and proved that the conditions for using self-regulating in these enterprises appear only in existing competition medium. It is reasoned that “pure” self-regulation is hardly possible and most suitable option for them is co-regulation (on the examples of electric power and heat supply industries), while the state should keep possibility in principle of influencing self-regulatory body decisions.

In 2016 the first Strategy for Heating and Cooling of the European Union has shown that district heating and cooling networks can integrate renewable energies in an increasingly energy-efficient built environment. At the same time, the heating and cooling sector is probably the most diverse and least mapped component of the European energy system. The aim of the Pan-European Thermal Atlas is to improve the knowledge base for the geographical distribution of heat and cooling demands across Europe. Demand densities of the demanded thermal services themselves, the spatial coherence of these demands, and their location relative to sources of heating greatly affect the economy of district heating schemes compared to individual solutions. The objective is therefore to develop a comprehensive model, which can be used to a) quantify heat demands by density, b) group coherent areas with demands into prospective supply zones, c) produce supply curves for these zones, and d) ultimately calculate local energy mixes on the basis of allocated excess heat as well as renewable energy sources. The developed method spatially disaggregates national demand data to high-resolution geospatial data on urban structures. The resulting atlas allows for an advanced quantitative screening process, which can establish the basis for energy systems analyses relying on geographically explicit information on the heating demand and supply volumes and costs. The present paper presents version 4 of the Pan-European Thermal Atlas, which takes another step towards higher spatial resolution and confidence in comparison to its predecessors, version 1 to 3. For the first time, a 100 m resolution heat atlas of Europe is being presented, which may help describing the heating sector in the required spatial resolution. By means of spatial statistical analyses using ordinary least square linear regressions, multiple spatial inputs such as population, degree of built-up and its derivatives are turned into a coherent model of the urban tissue. Plot ratios form the basis of models of heat demand in single and multi-family residential buildings as well as the service sector. Prospective district heating areas have been delineated, and the resulting zoning of heat supply has been linked to a resource-economic analysis, which allows for cost-supply studies in disaggregated form. The present heat atlas version 4 is now available for 14 countries that altogether represent 90% of the heat demand in the 28 European Union member states. First results are being presented with emphasis on the achieved methodological improvements. Moreover, a newly developed online mapping system is being presented, which will assist in mapping the new geography of heating and cooling demands and supplies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Thermal energy stores can significantly improve the efficiency and environment-friendliness of the heat supply by storing heat surpluses and supply heat to the consumer if necessary. Therefore, a high demand for cost-effective storage technologies with low energy losses exists. For hot water storage tanks using the displacement principle significant optimization potentials exist regarding currently at the market available storage technologies, in particular pressure vessels and flat-bottom tanks. A new tank design eliminates disadvantages and offers numerous benefits. A demonstrator with a new design was already built in cooperation with scientific and industrial partners as part of the OBSERW project in Nortorf (Germany). The demonstrator is a small-scale hot water storage tank with a volume of approx. 100 m³. It allows numerous tests with low energy and time effort. The main novelty of the construction is an indoor floating ceiling, with the loading device (e. g. a radial diffuser) attached directly to it. A flexible connection allows the free movement of the floating ceiling between a top and bottom dead centre. This work describes the function of the storage tank and presents first operation experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal solar energy storage means that the solar energy is stored when it is sufficient and used when the weather is getting cold. It is not only conducive to the application of green energy, but also to the saving of primary energy. The technology studied in this paper is the soil heat storage. First, use the Gambit to establish cases with different buried pipes intervals; then, use the Fluent to simulate the soil heat storage under different heat taken conditions; and finally, analyze the data that make the system achieve balance. In this way, we can obtain the amount of heat storage and heat taken and the difference of the area of the solar collectors that are applied in the direct and indirect systems. After matching, we can know the final soil temperature, the amount of heat storage and heat taken, and the ratio between heat storage and heat taken under different temperatures of return water and intervals of buried pipe. With the conclusion, we can provide reference for future projects with regard to the area of solar collector and the total length of buried pipe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Radial diffusers are used for the loading and unloading of thermal energy storages and have a significant influence on the thermal stratification. Three‐dimensional flow effects during the development of the thermal stratification in a hot water storage tank are discussed. An unequally distributed outflow was observed, which is accompanied by strong mixing. Possible solutions of this behavior are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radial diffusers are used for the loading and unloading of thermal energy storages and have a significant influence on the development of the thermal stratification. Three-dimensional flow effects during the development of the thermal stratification in a hot water storage tank are discussed. An unequally distributed outflow was observed, which is accompanied by stronger mixing compared to a rotationally symmetric outflow. The reasons for this behavior will be discussed followed by a presentation of possible solutions in the third part of the publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radial diffusers are used for the loading and unloading of thermal energy storages and have a significant influence on the thermal stratification. To improve the quality of the stratification, the understanding of the complex flow phenomena is necessary. The first part of this contribution considers an isothermal flow in the radial diffuser with particular attention to the flow in the inlet path as well as the boundary layer treatment. A boundary layer resolving mesh is necessary to observe a symmetrical outflow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational models of the heat energy market on a Single Heat Supplier basis (SHS) operating in free (liberalized) and regulated tariff environments are considered. An equilibrium mathematical model is proposed for the liberalized tariff setting conditions based on a microeconomic monopolistic market model. This mathematical model allows for taking into account energy production and transportation costs as part of a single economic criterion and to determine the supply-and-demand equilibrium for heat energy. A regulated heat energy market model on the SHS basis considers an option of a tariff setting for consumers of the housing and utility sector at the level of average total costs and on the demand basis for industrial consumers. Hydraulic circuit theory models and methods, as well as basic microeconomic provisions, are adopted as a scientific and methodological basis describing the proposed mathematical models. To solve the energy supply and demand equilibrium problem, an algorithm is developed for both energy tariff options based on univariate relaxation using redundant design schemes and simple iteration. The developed mathematical models fully reflect the current “rules of the game” between heat energy producers and consumers and allow a maximum consideration for the interests of all participants of the heat supply process under physical and engineering constraints on heat energy sources and heat networks. By means of the developed mathematical models, practical studies are carried out on the effect of the adopted heat energy price calculation method on both the market supply-and-demand equilibrium and on the main technical and economic characteristics of the real heat supply system of the city of Angarsk. Technical and economic assessments performed according to the indicated tariffs make it possible to conclude that the lack of regulation will lead to an uncontrolled rise in prices for heat energy for consumers and gaining of abnormal profits by energy suppliers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy demand for heating and cooling constitutes almost 50% of the total energy demand in Europe and strongly depends on fossil fuels. Decarbonising this sector and providing a sustainable supply should be a main goal of climate policy. The technical and economic feasibility of supply options depends strongly on local conditions. The focus of this research is to assess the cost-effectiveness of sustainable heat and cold supply solutions under southern European conditions. We use the city of Matosinhos (Portugal) as an example. The methodology includes estimation of thermal demands and hourly simulation of alternative supply scenarios. The results show that, from a socio-economic perspective, the use of excess heat from a refinery via a DHC network might be the economically most competitive option. In addition, the heat pump system combined with photovoltaics is cost-effective from a socio-economic perspective compared to the status quo if the capital costs of the status quo are also accounted for. This justifies support policies to also make it cost-competitive from a private economic perspective, which it currently is not. Sensitivity analyses were conducted for the most influential factors like capital investment costs, interest rate, and fuel prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heat supply systems of cities have, as a rule, a ring structure with the possibility of redistributing the flows. Despite the fact that a ring structure is more reliable than a radial one, the operators of heat networks prefer to use them in normal modes according to the scheme without overflows of the heat carrier between the heat mains. With such a scheme, it is easier to adjust the networks and to detect and locate faults in them. The article proposes a formulation of the heat network segmenting problem. The problem is set in terms of optimization with the heat supply system’s excessive hydraulic power used as the optimization criterion. The heat supply system computer model has a hierarchically interconnected multilevel structure. Since iterative calculations are only carried out for the level of trunk heat networks, decomposing the entire system into levels allows the dimensionality of the solved subproblems to be reduced by an order of magnitude. An attempt to solve the problem by fully enumerating possible segmentation versions does not seem to be feasible for systems of really existing sizes. The article suggests a procedure for searching rational segmentation of heat supply networks with limiting the search to versions of dividing the system into segments near the flow convergence nodes with subsequent refining of the solution. The refinement is performed in two stages according to the total excess hydraulic power criterion. At the first stage, the loads are redistributed among the sources. After that, the heat networks are divided into independent fragments, and the possibility of increasing the excess hydraulic power in the obtained fragments is checked by shifting the division places inside a fragment. The proposed procedure has been approbated taking as an example a municipal heat supply system involving six heat mains fed from a common source, 24 loops within the feeding mains plane, and more than 5000 consumers. Application of the proposed segmentation procedure made it possible to find a version with required hydraulic power in the heat supply system on 3% less than the one found using the simultaneous segmentation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper, life cycle analysis of coal-based synthetic natural gas (SNG) is performed for heat supply and electricity generation in China with a full consideration of energy efficiency, environmental pollutions and greenhouse gas emissions. Several different technical routes of SNG are studied in detail and the emissions of SO 2 , NO x , CO 2 and energy efficiency are all calculated. For comparisons, technical routes of ultra supercritical and coal-fired power generations are also analyzed together with a direct use of coal for heat supply. Our results show that the cogeneration of heat and electricity is a suitable technical route for SNG utilization. Comparing with ultra-supercritical and coal-fired power generations, technical routes based on SNG could significantly reduce the emissions of pollutants (especially for heat supply) with an acceptable level of the energy efficiency. After synthesis of SNG, our life cycle analysis suggests that SNG should be transported to the energy demand center for further power generation locally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]