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Energy.gov - Energy industry terms Category: Earth and Environment > Energy industry terms Date & country: 26/02/2017, USA Words: 1299

Ceiling Fan
A mechanical device used for air circulation and to provide cooling.

Cell
A component of a electrochemical battery. A 'primary' cell consists of two dissimilar elements, known as 'electrodes,' immersed in a liquid or paste known as the 'electrolyte.' A direct current of 1-1.5 volts will be produced by this cell. A 'secondary' cell or accumulator is a similar design but is made useful by passing a direct current of correct strength through it in a certain direction. Each of these cells will produce 2 volts; a 12 volt car battery contains six cells.

Cellulase
An enzyme complex, produced by fungi and bacteria, capable of decomposing cellulose into small fragments, primarily glucose.

Ceiling
The downward facing structural element that is directly opposite the floor.

Caulking
A material used to seal areas of potential air leakage into or out of a building envelope.

Cathodic Protection
A method of preventing oxidation of the exposed metal in structures by imposing between the structure and the ground a small electrical voltage.

Cathode
The negative pole or electrode of an electrolytic cell, vacuum tube, etc., where electrons enter (current leaves) the system; the opposite of an anode.

Cathedral Ceiling/Roof
A type of ceiling and roof assembly that has no attic.

Carbon Zinc Cell Battery
A cell produces electric energy by the galvanic oxidation of carbon; commonly used in household appliances.

Carnot Cycle
An ideal heat engine (conceived by Sadi Carnot) in which the sequence of operations forming the working cycle consists of isothermal expansion, adiabatic expansion, isothermal compression, and adiabatic compression back to its initial state.

Catalytic Converter
An air pollution control device that removes organic contaminants by oxidizing them into carbon dioxide and water through a chemical reaction using a catalysis, which is a substance that increases (or decreases) the rate of a chemical reaction without being changed itself; required in all automobiles sold in the United State, and used in some types of heating appliances.

Capital Costs
The amount of money needed to purchase equipment, buildings, tools, and other manufactured goods that can be used in production.

Carbon Dioxide
A colorless, odorless noncombustible gas with the formula CO₂ that is present in the atmosphere. It is formed by the combustion of carbon and carbon compounds (such as fossil fuels and biomass), by respiration, which is a slow combustion in animals and plants, and by the gradual oxidation of organic matter in the soil.

Capacity
(Effective, of a motor) The maximum load that a motor is capable of supplying.

Capacity
(Heating, of a material) The amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of a given mass of a substance by one degree Celsius. The heat required to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water by 1 degree Celsius is 4186 Joules.

Capacity Factor
The ratio of the average load on (or power output of) a generating unit or system to the capacity rating of the unit or system over a specified period of time.

Capacity
(Condensing Unit) The refrigerating effect in Btu/h produced by the difference in total enthalpy between a refrigerant liquid leaving the unit and the total enthalpy of the refrigerant vapor entering it. Generally measured in tons or Btu/h.

Capacitance
A measure of the electrical charge of a capacitor consisting of two plates separated by an insulating material.

Capacitor
An electrical device that adjusts the leading current of an applied alternating current to balance the lag of the circuit to provide a high power factor.

Capacity
The load that a power generation unit or other electrical apparatus or heating unit is rated by the manufacture to be able to meet or supply.

Candle Power
The illuminating power of a standard candle employed as a unit for determining the illuminating quality of an illuminant.

Capability
The maximum load that a generating unit, power plant, or other electrical apparatus can carry under specified conditions for a given period of time, without exceeding its approved limits of temperature and stress.

Capability Margin
The difference between net electrical system capability and system maximum load requirements (peak load); the margin of capability available to provide for scheduled maintenance, emergency outages, system operating requirements and unforeseen loads.

Candela
The luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic radiation of frequency 540 × 10¹² hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1/683 watt per steradian.

Calorific Value
The heat liberated by the combustion of a unit quantity of a fuel under specific conditions; measured in calories.

Cage
The component of an electric motor composed of solid bars (of usually copper or aluminum) arranged in a circle and connected to continuous rings at each end. This cage fits inside the stator in an induction motor in channels between laminations, thin flat discs of steel in a ring configuration.

Busbar
The power conduit of an electric power plant; the starting point of the electric transmission system.

Busbar Cost
The cost of producing electricity up to the point of the power plant busbar.

Bypass
An alternative path. In a heating duct or pipe, an alternative path for the flow of the heat transfer fluid from one point to another, as determined by the opening or closing of control valves both in the primary line and the bypass line.

Bus
(electrical) An electrical conductor that serves as a common connection for two or more electrical circuits; may be in the form of rigid bars or stranded conductors or cables.

Bulb Turbine
A type of hydro turbine in which the entire generator is mounted inside the water passageway as an integral unit with the turbine. These installations can offer significant reductions in the size of the powerhouse.

Bulk Density
The weight of a material per unit of volume compared to the weight of the same volume of water.

Burner Capacity
The maximum heat output (in Btu per hour) released by a burner with a stable flame and satisfactory combustion.

Burning Point
The temperature at which a material ignites.

Building Overall Energy Loss Coefficient-Area Product
The factor, when multiplied by the monthly degree-days, that yields the monthly space heating load.

Building Overall Heat Loss Rate
The overall rate of heat loss from a building by means of transmission plus infiltration, expressed in Btu per hour, per degree temperature difference between the inside and outside.

Bulb
The transparent or opaque sphere in an electric light that the electric light transmits through.

Building Energy Ratio
The space-conditioning load of a building.

Building Envelope
The structural elements (walls, roof, floor, foundation) of a building that encloses conditioned space; the building shell.

Building Heat-Loss Factor
A measure of the heating requirements of a building expressed in Btu per degree-day.

Building Orientation
The relationship of a building to true south, as specified by the direction of its longest axis.

Brayton Cycle
A thermodynamic cycle using constant pressure, heat addition and rejection, representing the idealized behavior of the working fluid in a gas turbine type heat engine.

Brine
Water saturated or strongly impregnated with salt.

British Thermal Unit
(Btu) The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit; equal to 252 calories.

Bottoming-cycle
A means to increase the thermal efficiency of a steam electric generating system by converting some waste heat from the condenser into electricity. The heat engine in a bottoming cycle would be a condensing turbine similar in principle to a steam turbine but operating with a different working fluid at a much lower temperature and pressure.

Bottled Gas
A generic term for liquefied and pressurized gas, ordinarily butane, propane, or a mixture of the two, contained in a cylinder for domestic use.

Boron
The chemical element commonly used as the dopant in solar photovoltaic device or cell material.

Boot
In heating and cooling system distribution ductwork, the transformation pieces connecting horizontal round leaders to vertical rectangular stacks.

Bone Dry Unit
A quantity of (solid) biomass fuel equal to 2,400 pounds bone dry.

Booster Pump
A pump for circulating the heat transfer fluid in a hydronic heating system.

Bone (Oven) Dry
In reference to solid biomass fuels, such as wood, having zero moisture content.

Boiler Rating
The heating capacity of a steam boiler; expressed in Btu per hour (Btu/h), or horsepower, or pounds of steam per hour.

Boiler Feedwater
The water that is forced into a boiler to take the place of that which is evaporated in the generation of steam.

Boiler Horsepower
A unit of rate of water evaporation equal to the evaporation per hour of 34.5 pounds of water at a temperature of 212 degrees Fahrenheit into steam at 212 degrees F.

Boiler Pressure
The pressure of the steam or water in a boiler as measured; usually expressed in pounds per square inch gauge (psig).

Blown In Insulation
(see also Loose Fill) An insulation product composed of loose fibers or fiber pellets that are blown into building cavities or attics using special pneumatic equipment.

Boiler
A vessel or tank where heat produced from the combustion of fuels such as natural gas, fuel oil, or coal is used to generate hot water or steam for applications ranging from building space heating to electric power production or industrial process heat.

Blower Door
A device used by energy auditors to pressurize a building to locate places of air leakage and energy loss.

Biophotolysis
The action of light on a biological system that results in the dissociation of a substrate, usually water, to produce hydrogen.

Blackbody
An ideal substance that absorbs all radiation falling on it, and reflecting nothing.

Blower
The device in an air conditioner that distributes the filtered air from the return duct over the cooling coil/heat exchanger. This circulated air is cooled/heated and then sent through the supply duct, past dampers, and through supply diffusers to the living/working space.

Biomass Fuel
Biomass converted directly to energy or converted to liquid or gaseous fuels such as ethanol, methanol, methane, and hydrogen.

Biomass Gasification
The conversion of biomass into a gas, by biogasification (see above) or thermal gasification, in which hydrogen is produced from high-temperature gasifying and low-temperature pyrolysis of biomass.

Biomass Energy
Energy produced by the conversion of biomass directly to heat or to a liquid or gas that can be converted to energy.

Biogasification or biomethanization
The process of decomposing biomass with anaerobic bacteria to produce biogas.

Bioconversion
The conversion of one form of energy into another by the action of plants or microorganisms. The conversion of biomass to ethanol, methanol, or methane.

Bioenergy
The conversion of the complex carbohydrates in organic material into energy.

Biogas
A combustible gas created by anaerobic decomposition of organic material, composed primarily of methane, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide.

Biochemical Oxygen Demand
The weight of oxygen taken up mainly as a result of the oxidation of the constituents of a sample of water by biological action; expressed as the number of parts per million of oxygen taken up by the sample from water originally saturated with air, usually over a period of five days at 20 degrees centigrade. A standard means of estimating the degree of contamination of water.

Binary Cycle
Combination of two power plant turbine cycles utilizing two different working fluids for power production. The waste heat from the first turbine cycle provides the heat energy for the operation of the second turbine, thus providing higher overall system efficiencies.

Binary Cycle Geothermal Plants
Binary cycle systems can be used with liquids at temperatures less than 350 F (177 C). In these systems, the hot geothermal liquid vaporizes a secondary working fluid, which then drives a turbine.

Bimetal
Two metals of different coefficients of expansion welded together so that the piece will bend in one direction when heated, and in the other when cooled, and can be used to open or close electrical circuits, as in thermostats.

Bin Method
A method of predicting heating and/or cooling loads using instantaneous load calculation at different outdoor dry-bulb temperatures, and multiplying the result by the number of hours of occurrence of each temperature.

Benefits Charge
The addition of a per unit tax on sales of electricity, with the revenue generated used for or to encourage investments in energy efficiency measures and/or renewable energy projects.

Bearing Wall
A wall that carries ceiling rafters or roof trusses.

Beam Radiation
Solar radiation that is not scattered by dust or water droplets.

Battery
An energy storage device composed of one or more electrolyte cells.

Battery Energy Storage
Energy storage using electrochemical batteries. The three main applications for battery energy storage systems include spinning reserve at generating stations, load leveling at substations, and peak shaving on the customer side of the meter.

Beadwall
A form of movable insulation that uses tiny polystyrene beads blown into the space between two window panes.

Basement
The conditioned or unconditioned space below the main living area or primary floor of a building.

Batch Process
A process for carrying out a reaction in which the reactants are fed in discrete and successive charges.

Batt/Blanket
A flexible roll or strip of insulating material in widths suited to standard spacings of building structural members (studs and joists). They are made from glass or rock wool fibers. Blankets are continuous rolls. Batts are pre-cut to four or eight foot lengths.

Baseload Power Plant
A power plant that is normally operated to generate a base load, and that usually operates at a constant load; examples include coal fired and nuclear fueled power plants.

Baseload Demand
The minimum demand experienced by a power plant.

Baseboard Radiator
A type of radiant heating system where the radiator is located along an exterior wall where the wall meets the floor.

Baseload Capacity
The power output of a power plant that can be continuously produced.

Basal Metabolism
The amount of heat given off by a person at rest in a comfortable environment; approximately 50 Btu per hour (Btu/h).

Base Power
Power generated by a power generator that operates at a very high capacity factor.

Barrel
(petroleum) 42 U.S. gallons (306 pounds of oil, or 5.78 million Btu).

Band Gap Energy
The amount of energy (in electron volts) required to free an outer shell electron from its orbit about the nucleus to a free state, and thus promote it from the valence to the conduction level.

Band Gap
In a semiconductor, the energy difference between the highest valence band and the lowest conduction band.

Baling
A means of reducing the volume of a material by compaction into a bale.

Ballast
A device used to control the voltage in a fluorescent lamp.

Ballast Efficacy Factor
The measure of the efficiency of fluorescent lamp ballasts. It is the relative light output divided by the power input.

Ballast Factor
The ratio of light output of a fluorescent lamp operated on a ballast to the light output of a lamp operated on a standard or reference ballast.

Balance Point
An outdoor temperature, usually 20 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit, at which a heat pump's output equals the heating demand. Below the balance point, supplementary heat is needed.

Balance-of-System
In a renewable energy system, refers to all components other than the mechanism used to harvest the resource (such as photovoltaic panels or a wind turbine). Balance-of-system costs can include design, land, site preparation, system installation, support structures, power conditioning, operation and maintenance, and storage.

Baghouse
An air pollution control device used to filter particulates from waste combustion gases; a chamber containing a bag filter.

Bacteria
Single-celled organisms, free-living or parasitic, that break down the wastes and bodies of dead organisms, making their components available for reuse by other organisms.

Baffle
A device, such as a steel plate, used to check, retard, or divert a flow of a material.