The wet saturated flue gas discharged by coal-fired utility boilers leads to a large amount of low-temperature waste heat loss. Inorganic ceramic membrane is acid-base resistant and has strong chemical stability. It is an ideal material for recovering low-temperature waste heat from flue gas. The experiment of waste heat recovery of flue gas was carried out with inorganic ceramic membrane as the core, and the characteristic parameters of low-temperature flue gas at the tail of the boiler were analyzed; taking 316 L stainless steel as the comparative object, the strengthening effect of inorganic ceramic film on improving heat recovery power and composite heat transfer coefficient was discussed. The results show that the waste heat recovery of flue gas is mainly the evaporation latent heat recovery of water, accounting for about 90%; circulating water is used as cooling medium, and the waste heat recovery capacity of flue gas is stronger; compared with circulating water, when air is used as the cooling medium, the effect of inorganic ceramic membrane flue gas waste heat recovery is more significant, and the enhancement coefficient is as high as 9; increasing the flue gas flow is helpful to improve the heat recovery power and composite heat transfer coefficient; at the same time, inorganic ceramic membrane can also recover condensate with high water quality. The results of this paper can provide a reference for the application of inorganic ceramic membrane in flue gas waste heat recovery.

The world economy needs a growth-lifting strategy, and infrastructure financing seems to hold the key. Based on the New Structural Economics (Lin, 2010; 2012) we discuss the heterogeneity of capital focusing on the long-term versus short-term orientation (STO). Traditional neoliberalism assumes that capital is homogenous, complete capital account liberalization is “beneficial”. However, previous studies have found evidence of long-term orientation (LTO) in the culture of many Asian economies (Hofstede, 1991). In this exploratory paper, we suggest that the LTO can be considered a special endowment which, under certain circumstances, can be developed into a comparative advantage (CA) in patient capital. If these countries can turn their latent CA into a revealed CA in patient capital, and develop the ability to “package” profitable and non-profitable projects in meaningful ways, they would have a “revealed” competitive advantage in infrastructure financing. The ability to “package” public infrastructure and private services is one of the key institutional factors for success in overseas cooperation.

This paper provides a comparative perspective on infrastructure provision in developing Asia's three largest countries: China, India, and Indonesia. It discusses their achievements and shortfalls in providing network infrastructure (energy, transport, water, and telecommunications) over the past two decades. It documents how three quite distinct development paths—and very different levels of national saving and investment—were manifested in different trajectories of infrastructure provision. The paper then describes the institutional, economic, and policy factors that enabled or hindered progress in providing infrastructure. Here, contrasting levels of centralization of planning played a key role, as did countries’ differing abilities to mobilize infrastructure-related revenue streams such as user charges and land value capture. The paper then assesses future challenges for the three countries in providing infrastructure in a more integrated and sustainable way, and links these challenges with the global development agenda to which the three countries have committed. The concluding recommendations hope to provide a platform for further policy and research dialogue.