MOSCOW, November 10. /TASS/ Researchers from the Peter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) have put the finishing touches on creating the very first domestic utilization steam-turbine facility and have put together the first preproduction prototype, the university’s media center reported.

The key element of any modern gas pipe is the compression stations, which ensure the pipe’s proper functioning, by burning part of the produced gas. However, this results in a large amount of thermal energy being released into the environment during the course of combustion. The experts state that the total aggregate of this emission can be compared to the net available capacity delivered by all of Russia’s atomic and hydroelectric power stations.

The steam-turbine plant converts part of the emitted heating energy into electrical power. Hence, the direct thermal pollutants are cut back, thereby reducing thermal pollution of the environment. Additionally, as a knock-on effect, the heat energy which previously went to waste can be used to generate electricity without additional fuel.

'''In Russia, this is the first time this sort of domestic facility has been used. Our turbine plant can function during any season of the year, as the main applied working substance does not freeze at sub-zero temperatures, which are typical for Russian winters. To the best of our knowledge, there are only two similar devices of the same type in the world," notes Nikolay Zabelin, the Chef of the Institute of Energetic and Transportation Systems at SPbPU.

Now, the plant is being assembling and according to Zabelin it should be up and fully running in 2017 at the compression station "Severnaya". The legal rights will be assigned to the OAO "Gazprom" once the mounting procedures are finished.