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There have been fruitful publications on thermal comfort of urban residential buildings in China. However, there is a lack of reviews on this topic to perform a comprehensive analysis and find opportunities to meet occupants' thermal comfort needs while improving building energy efficiencies. This paper addresses this issue by presenting a systematic review on the advancements in research on thermal comfort in urban residential buildings in China. Firstly, two common thermal comfort research approaches, i.e., field studies and laboratory studies, are discussed. Secondly, eleven main thermal comfort evaluation indicators are summarized. Finally, this paper analyzes the thermal comfort survey data from different researchers, discusses the impacts of adaptive behaviors on human thermal comfort, and provides recommendations for future research on urban residential thermal comfort. It was found that people have higher and higher requirements for their indoor thermal environment as time goes by, especially in the winter; the thermoneutral temperature is higher in warmer climate regions in the summer but lower in the winter than in colder climate regions; the thermoneutral temperature tends to increase with the indoor air temperature due to an adaptation to the indoor thermal environment. The outcomes of this paper provide valuable information on thermal comfort behaviors of urban residents in different climate zones in China, which can serve as a resource for the academic community conducting future research on thermal comfort and assist policymakers in enhancing building energy efficiencies without compromising the occupants' comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unconventional tight oil and gas resources in the Xinzhao East belt of the Hangjinqi Prospect area in the Ordos Basin of China are abundant. However, the reservoir's internal storage space is complex, and the microscopic pore throat structural features are not well recognized, which has led to some trouble in the deployment of oil and gas exploration. To reveal the microscopic characteristics of the dense sandstone gas layer in the first member of the Lower Stone Box Formation of the D-well Zone in the Xinzhao East belt of the Hangjinqi Prospect area, a three-dimensional space digital core was built, and the stored set spatial data were extracted, based on rock sheet and coring data and X-CT scanning technology. Quartz grain size was segmented and analyzed based on an adaptive approach. The microscopic characteristics of the gas layer in the studied section and the factors influencing its development were studied, combining the use of a field emission scanning electron microscope, helium porosimeter, and gas permeability meter. We found that in the studied section, the porosity is relatively high, the pore throat size is large, and the pore permeability correlation is good. The reservoir space, which consists of intergranular pores, intragranular pores, and microcracks at the grain edges in the study area, is characterized by a complex distribution pattern. Within the gas layer, isolated pores are connected by microcracks to form a network of reservoir spaces, which increases the pore throat size, enhances the connectivity of the pore throat, and makes the microscopic characteristics of the reservoir space better. The first member of the Lower Stone Box Formation could be an advantageous reservoir. Hole–throat connectivity is poor because of the gas layer having underdeveloped primary pores, the blockage of pores by unstable minerals (kaolinite, etc.), and poorly connected pore throats based on insoluble mud cementation. The high content of quartz brittle minerals and the development of natural microcracks within the gas formation are favorable conditions for fracking development. The quartz grain size within the gas layer is positively correlated with the pore throat size, which suggests that the quartz grain size somewhat influences the microscopic characteristics of the reservoir space. This comprehensive study shows that the methodology of the study is more advantageous than traditional methods in the fine and three-dimensional spatial characterization of the microstructure of dense sandstone reservoirs. The research results of this paper have certain guiding significance for further reservoir evaluation and advantageous reservoir prediction in the Hangjinqi Prospect area in the Ordos Basin. We also provide the basis for the subsequent efficient development of the gas reservoir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]