General Automation Concepts Glossary (2/2)
Cross-cutting industrial-automation concepts that span multiple disciplines. This page (2 of 2) covers Mud Logging to Zone-Selective Interlocking (ZSI).
Cross-cutting industrial-automation concepts that span multiple disciplines. This page (2 of 2) continues the General Automation Concepts glossary from Mud Logging to Zone-Selective Interlocking (ZSI).
604 Terms (page 2 of 2)
What Is Mud Logging?
Real-time analysis of returning cuttings and gas to build a lithology and hydrocarbon-show log while drilling.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a mustering system?
The method for accounting for all personnel at muster stations after an alarm, from T-card boards to live POB counts.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is N+1 Redundancy?
N units to run plus one spare that covers any single failure - the concept, SCADA uses, and a sizing example.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is NACE MR0175 / ISO 15156?
The sour-service materials standard that sets which alloys and hardness limits are allowed in H2S environments.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Negative-Sequence and Broken Conductor Protection (46)?
How open-phase and unbalance faults create I2 that overcurrent misses, and how the 46 element protects motors and lines.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a Net Oil Computer?
The device that combines total liquid flow with live water cut to compute net oil and water in real time.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a no-effect failure in safety systems?
The FMEDA categories, no-effect, no-part, annunciation, that are excluded from SFF and PFD math.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a notification acknowledgment loop?
A closed-loop alert that demands a reply and re-escalates if none comes, so the system knows a human has it.
Read → GlossaryWhat is multi-channel notification failover?
Cascading one alarm to the same person across push, SMS, and voice when earlier channels are not confirmed.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a notification delivery receipt?
Confirmation that a notification reached the recipient's device, distinct from merely sent and from acknowledged.
Read → GlossaryWhat are notification quiet hours?
Scheduled windows that hold low-priority alerts overnight while critical alarms override to reach on-call staff.
Read → GlossaryWhat is the NX-19 supercompressibility method?
The legacy Fpv correlation from gravity, CO2, and N2 that predates AGA 8 and biases high-pressure, inert-rich meters.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is the Nyquist Rate and How Do You Avoid Aliasing When Sampling a Process?
The twice-the-highest-frequency rule for sample rates and how undersampling folds fast signals into false slow ones.
Read → GlossaryHow do you convert observed density to base density at 60 degF?
An iterative API 11.1 loop converts flowing density to base density at 60 degF, feeding CTL and mass-volume conversion.
Read → GlossaryWhat is octane giveaway in blending?
The profit lost when fuel is blended above the octane minimum, and how closed-loop analysers trim it to a small margin.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Oil Formation Volume Factor (Bo)?
The factor that links downhole and surface oil volumes, explaining why a reservoir barrel shrinks to fewer stock-tank barrels.
Read → GlossaryWhat are oil whirl and oil whip?
The subsynchronous journal-bearing instabilities near 0.42 to 0.48X and the resonance lock that turns whirl into whip.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a coverage gap in an on-call schedule?
A silent window where no one is assigned to receive alarms, and how validation catches it before it bites.
Read → GlossaryWhat is an on-call rotation schedule?
The recurring calendar that decides who receives alarm notifications now, and how it feeds escalation.
Read → GlossaryWhat is an on-call shift handoff?
The cutover when a rotation changes hands and active, unacknowledged alarms transfer to the incoming responder.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is On/Off Control?
The simplest control mode - full open or full closed with a differential gap - on dump valves, heaters, and pumps.
Read → GlossaryOne tag stuck but the rest update: why?
Shared infrastructure is healthy, so work the one tag's own path: sensor, wiring, channel, register.
Read → GlossaryHow can continuous monitoring satisfy OOOOb?
How advanced continuous monitoring serves as an alternative to periodic surveys, what equivalency means, and what the data must show.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an Operational Balancing Agreement (OBA)?
How connected pipelines absorb interconnect measurement differences, and how SCADA cuts cash-out exposure.
Read → GlossaryWhat is an operator response runbook?
A step-by-step branching guide tied to an alarm, turning experts' tribal knowledge into repeatable response.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Optical Gas Imaging (OGI)?
How an infrared camera makes hydrocarbon plumes visible as a fast alternative to component screening.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an OT Asset Inventory?
A living record of every device on the OT network, because you cannot protect what you cannot see.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an Out-of-Range or Clamped Tag and Why Is a Value Stuck at Its Limit?
How SCADA pins a value at its range limit and flags Uncertain, hiding how far the process went, and why re-ranging is the fix.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Out-of-Tolerance (OOT)?
An as-found calibration failure and the impact review of every measurement since the last good check.
Read → GlossaryWhat is controller output clamping?
How high and low limits cap the manipulated variable, and how they must cooperate with anti-windup.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an Over-the-Air (OTA) Firmware Update?
Remotely updating field-device firmware with staged rollouts, A/B partitions, signed images, and rollback.
Read → GlossaryWhat are P-only and I-only control modes?
When engineers deliberately drop to proportional-only or integral-only control, and the tradeoffs of each.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a parking guidance system (PGS)?
How a PGS counts free spaces per zone, drives wayfinding signs, and aggregates occupancy for operators and apps.
Read → GlossaryHow does parking space occupancy detection work?
Comparing ultrasonic, camera, magnetometer and ramp-count methods and how detections roll up to the guidance controller.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a Parshall flume?
Classic shaped-channel primary device that measures open channel flow from upstream depth, sized by its throat width.
Read → GlossaryWhat is Part-Winding Starting?
Energizes half a dual-winding motor first, then the rest after a short delay, cutting inrush with no transformer.
Read → GlossaryWhat is Passive Asset Discovery in OT?
Building an OT inventory by listening to traffic instead of probing devices that active scans can crash.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Payload Transformation in Integration?
Reshaping a message between systems: renaming fields, converting units and format, and restructuring data to fit a target schema.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is PCP Elastomer Swell and Failure?
How aromatics, CO2, heat, and run-dry attack a stator's elastomer, and the torque and temperature signs of it.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a PCP Stator and Rotor?
The helical steel rotor and elastomer stator that form a PCP's progressing cavities, and how torque and rpm read them.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a PDC Drill Bit?
The fixed diamond-cutter bit that shears rock instead of crushing it and drives modern drilling ROP.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Percent of Loops in Manual?
The share of controllers operators have flipped off automatic, the most telling number in a loop assessment.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Percentage-of-Proceeds (POP) Contract?
A processing deal where the producer takes a share of residue and NGL sales proceeds, not the physical product.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is the Piezoelectric Effect?
How stress on quartz or PZT generates charge, why it makes sensors AC-coupled, and dynamic-only measurement.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is the Piezoresistive Effect?
How stress changes resistance in silicon, giving DC response for static pressure and powering 4-20 mA transmitters.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Pig Launcher?
The launching trap that loads a pig into a live pipeline.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Pipe-to-Soil Potential Survey?
The field measurement that verifies cathodic protection against the -850 mV criterion.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Pipeline Pig?
The in-line tool that cleans, gauges, and inspects a pipeline while it runs.
Read → GlossaryWhat is pit depth measurement?
Quantifying the deepest localized corrosion pits, since maximum depth, not average loss, governs leak risk.
Read → GlossaryHow Does Pivot End-Gun Control Work?
How the end gun extends reach into corners, cam vs GPS sequencing, boosters, and automated arcs in a prescription.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Plant Thermal Reduction (PTR)?
The energy lost when NGLs are extracted from inlet gas, distinct from volumetric shrink and fuel, and how metering proves it.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Plug-and-Perf Completion?
The multistage frac cycle of setting a plug, perforating, and fracturing each stage, with per-stage monitoring.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a Polarization Index (PI) Test?
The ratio of the 10-minute to 1-minute megohm reading, revealing moisture and aging a spot reading misses.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a polymer makedown system?
How neat or dry polymer is wetted, aged, and diluted into an active solution, and how SCADA controls the ratios.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Positive Isolation (Blinding)?
Physically blocking a line with spades and blinds for safe line-break work, beyond valve isolation.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Potential to Emit (PTE)?
How a site's maximum emissions decide major-versus-minor status and how enforceable throughput and runtime caps are tracked.
Read → GlossaryWhat is renewable power forecasting?
Predicting wind and solar output across horizons from weather models, plant history, and live SCADA data.
Read → GlossaryWhat is power swing blocking and out-of-step protection?
How relays block distance tripping on stable swings and trip to separate on unstable ones.
Read → GlossarySite dark: is it power, comms, or the device?
Three discriminators - does anything answer, what did the pre-trend show, did neighbors drop - convict one layer.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Prescriptive Analytics in Industrial Operations?
The top rung of the analytics ladder: not just predicting a failure but recommending the action to take.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a pressure derivative (Bourdet) plot?
The log-log diagnostic whose derivative shape identifies wellbore storage, radial flow, and reservoir boundaries.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a pressure drawdown test?
Producing a well at constant rate from a stabilized start and recording the pressure decline to get permeability and skin.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Primary Cementing?
Pumping slurry down casing and up the annulus for zonal isolation, and why the first job defines integrity.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a primary gyratory crusher?
The gyrating-mantle crusher for high-tonnage primary duty and the signals SCADA trends to catch wear and faults.
Read → GlossaryWhat is Primary Resistance Starting?
Series stator resistors drop voltage at start then short out as the motor accelerates for a smooth closed transition.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Prior Period Adjustment in Production Accounting?
Why closed months reopen for meter corrections and late tickets, and how validated SCADA data shrinks them.
Read → GlossaryWhat is prior-use justification for a safety device?
Qualifying an uncertified device for a SIF using documented operating history instead of a certificate.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a prioritized worklist for operators?
A ranked queue of the sites and assets needing attention, turning an alarm flood into ordered actions.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Privileged Access Management in OT?
Vaulting and brokering admin and vendor credentials so no human directly holds shared passwords.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Process GC Analytical Column?
The tube where a stationary phase separates a gas sample by retention time; column choice and backflush set cycle time.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a PHA?
The OSHA PSM hazard-analysis program that HAZOP and What-If studies satisfy, with a five-year revalidation cycle.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Process Reaction Curve?
The open-loop step response that yields gain, dead time, and time constant, and how to run it safely.
Read → GlossaryHow Does a Process Refractometer Work?
Reads refractive index via the critical angle to give inline concentration like Brix or caustic strength for blending and dosing.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Process Safety Time?
The window between a hazardous deviation starting and reaching danger, and why the safety function must act inside it.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Production Balance & Reconciliation?
How operators close a daily volume balance across inlet, outlet, fuel, flare, and inventory, and act on the imbalance.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Productivity Index (PI)?
Barrels per day per psi of drawdown, the straight-line IPR measure whose trend flags damage or depletion.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Proportional-to-Flow Sampler?
Flow-proportional grab logic paced by flow-computer pulses that keeps a composite representative of the batch.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Proppant?
The sand, resin-coated, and ceramic grains that hold fractures open, and how concentration is monitored.
Read → GlossaryPSM mechanical integrity for instruments
How the mechanical integrity element applies to safety interlocks and critical instruments, from test intervals to deficiency tracking.
Read → GlossaryWhat is column pumparound control?
Drawing, cooling, and returning tower liquid to remove heat and set internal reflux, balanced by flow and temperature loops.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Pumping Unit Load Cell?
The polished-rod transducer that measures surface load to build dynamometer cards - wiring, calibration, and SCADA use.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Purge Reduction Seal?
A velocity or buoyancy device at a flare tip that cuts the sweep gas needed to keep air out, saving gas and CO2.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a pycnometer density check?
Deriving true density by filling a known volume and weighing it, the gravimetric reference for proving a densitometer.
Read → GlossaryHow Does Quality Propagate Through Calculated Tags?
How source-tag quality flows into derived points with worst-input-wins, and why ignoring it misleads.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a QRA?
Combining consequence modeling with frequency data to produce individual-risk contours and F-N curves for a facility.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Quantization Error In Analog-To-Digital Conversion?
The unavoidable half-LSB rounding error, and how 12-bit versus 16-bit cards change the step in real units.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a quiesced VM snapshot?
Flushing the historian to disk before capture so the snapshot is application-consistent and restorable.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Quorum Witness in a Redundant System?
The third-party arbiter that breaks ties in a two-node cluster so one node stays primary and split-brain is prevented.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a RACI Matrix on an Automation Project?
How owner, integrator, controls, SCADA, and IT/OT roles divide who is responsible, accountable, consulted, informed.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Rack Power Density?
Power per cabinet in kW, why AI racks made density the binding constraint, and how PDU metering reveals the real number.
Read → GlossaryRadar vs load cell for silo level
A selection guide on dust, bridging, surface shape, and inventory accuracy for choosing radar or load-cell weighing on a solids silo.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a railcar loading spot?
Fixed rail-rack position where a tank car is spotted and loaded, with per-spot meter, valve, and overfill reporting to SCADA.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Ratio Station?
The block that computes a controlled-flow setpoint by multiplying a measured wild-stream flow by an operator-set ratio.
Read → GlossaryHow Does Raw Count to Engineering Unit Conversion Work?
Mapping a PLC analog input's ADC counts to real units with the two-point line equation.
Read → GlossaryHow do you read a CIP general status code?
Find the returned code, read the general and extended status, and turn the named category into a specific fix.
Read → GlossaryHow do you read an ISA-5.1 instrument tag?
Decode any tag left to right: measured variable, function letters, then the loop number that ties the loop together.
Read → GlossaryHow do you read RSRP and RSRQ in the field?
Pull both from the modem, judge received power against channel quality, and act on whichever metric is failing.
Read → GlossaryWhat is the Reader-Harris/Gallagher equation for orifice discharge coefficient?
The RG correlation computes orifice Cd from beta, Reynolds number, and tap type, solved iteratively in the flow computer.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is RPO (Recovery Point Objective)?
The maximum acceptable data loss measured in time, how it drives SCADA backup frequency, and RPO vs RTO.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is RTO (Recovery Time Objective) in Disaster Recovery?
The maximum time a SCADA system may stay down before restore, and how it and RPO size your redundancy.
Read → GlossaryWhat Are Instrument Reference Conditions?
The nominal environment where stated accuracy holds, and the influence errors real installations add on top.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Refrac?
Restimulating an existing, depleted well to boost recovery via mechanical isolation or chemical diversion.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Underground Refuge Chamber Monitoring?
Streaming a mine shelter's air, pressure, and headcount to surface so rescuers can see inside in an emergency.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Region and Availability Zone?
A region is a geographic location; an AZ is an isolated data centre within it that provides failure isolation.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP)?
How RVP relates to true vapor pressure, why volatility drives tank flash losses, and how stock RVP informs emission estimates.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a reject mechanism on an inspection line?
The air blast, pusher, or diverter that removes a failed part, plus the tracking and confirmation that make it reliable.
Read → GlossaryWhat is the difference between relative density and specific gravity of gas?
Specific gravity is a molar mass ratio to air; relative density is the real-density ratio, and they diverge for heavy or CO2-rich gas.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is the Relative Gain Array (RGA)?
A table that quantifies loop interaction so you can pair the right manipulated and controlled variables.
Read → GlossaryHow Does Remote Well Startup Work?
The permissive checks and controlled reopen sequence that bring a shut-in well back from SCADA safely.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is the Difference Between Reporting Interval and Scan Rate?
Why sampling fast but reporting sparsely on change keeps resolution high while cutting bandwidth.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Reservoir Drive Mechanism?
The natural energy that pushes hydrocarbons to the well, the main drive types, and their data signatures.
Read → GlossaryHow is reservoir level and outflow monitored?
Convert pool elevation to storage, meter inflow and controlled outflow, and manage releases against supply and flood bands.
Read → GlossaryWhy does reset windup happen on mode transfer?
Windup from manual, cascade saturation, and clamps, and how back-calculation and tracking prevent it.
Read → GlossaryWhat is residual risk in process safety?
The risk left after all protection layers, and why it must sit at or below the tolerable target.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Residue Gas Accounting?
How tailgate pipeline-quality gas is measured, quality-checked, and allocated after fuel, flare, and NGL shrink.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a resolver?
A rugged transformer-based position sensor using sine/cosine windings decoded by a resolver-to-digital converter.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a retained sample loop on a loading rack?
In-line loop that grabs a sealed retain from each load, tied to the BOL, so the terminal can settle quality disputes.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Retention Time?
Residence time in a separation vessel - why it governs how cleanly oil, water, and gas separate, and how it's sized.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Retrograde Condensation?
The backwards phase behavior where dropping pressure forms liquid, driving gathering-line liquid dropout.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is the Difference Between a Revealed and an Unrevealed Failure?
Why self-announcing failures are managed by repair while hidden dormant failures drive proof-test frequency.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a revenue meter?
The certified, sealed, high-accuracy electric meter a utility uses to bill for energy, like a custody-transfer flow meter.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a reverse tunnel for remote access?
A gateway dials out to a rendezvous server so engineers can reach a site without opening any inbound firewall ports.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Rider Band?
The sacrificial wear band that carries the piston weight and keeps it off the cylinder bore.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Risk Matrix?
The likelihood-by-consequence grid that ranks scenarios, how cells map to tolerable risk, and calibration pitfalls.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Rod Drop Monitoring?
Tracking piston-rod position with a proximity probe to predict rider-band wear before bore contact.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Roof Leg and Landing?
The legs that support a floating roof off the bottom, the landing-loss event, and usable inventory.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Rotary Steerable System (RSS)?
The tool that steers a well while the string keeps rotating, using push-the-bit or point-the-bit control.
Read → GlossaryHow do you file for an RRC flaring authorization?
Confirm you need it, build a specific justification and a metered volume basis, then track the authorization and its conditions.
Read → GlossaryWhat is Texas RRC Statewide Rule 32?
How the Railroad Commission governs flaring and venting of gas, when authorization is needed, and how metering supports it.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Sacrificial Anode?
The magnesium or zinc anode that corrodes in place of steel in galvanic cathodic protection.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Safe Fill Level?
The highest level a tank can reach without overflow once response time and inflow are subtracted from the top.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Safety Function Boundary?
How a SIF is scoped from sensor to final element and its supplies, and why the boundary decides what counts.
Read → GlossaryWhat is sample carryover and memory effect?
How residual product in probes and loops contaminates the next sample, when it matters, and how flushing controls it.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Sample Cylinder?
A pressure vessel that captures a representative gas or liquid sample for lab GC analysis.
Read → GlossaryWhat is sample loop residence time?
How loop volume and flow set the lag to the sample point, and why long residence time makes grabs unrepresentative.
Read → GlossaryWhat is sample stream mixing for representativity?
Homogenizing stratified product upstream of the probe, the mixing options, and how poor mixing skews water content.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a sampling loop flushing cycle?
Clearing stale product and dead volume from sample lines before a grab, and how flush cycles are sequenced.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Sand Screen?
The downhole filter - wire-wrapped, mesh, or standalone - that keeps formation sand out of the wellbore.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a Scale Inhibitor Squeeze?
A downhole treatment that pumps inhibitor into the formation so it desorbs slowly and prevents scale.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a scan-to-log QR code workflow for assets?
Scanning a QR or NFC tag on equipment to instantly pull its data, history, and the right form, removing wrong-asset errors.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is the Difference Between a Scanner and an Adapter Communication Module?
The master/slave roles linking a controller to remote I/O over EtherNet/IP or Profinet, with connections and RPI.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Seating Nipple?
The downhole receptacle in the tubing that anchors and seals an insert rod pump at its setting depth.
Read → GlossarySelective Coordination Study
Overlaying time-current curves so only the device nearest a fault trips, plant-wide.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Selector Control?
High and low signal selector blocks that auction between competing controller outputs to enforce constraints.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Instrument Sensitivity In Measurement?
Output per unit input as the slope of the transfer function, and why it is not accuracy or resolution.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a sensitivity coefficient in an uncertainty budget?
The partial derivative that weights each input's uncertainty, explaining why a small DP error can dominate a flow budget.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Sequential Function Chart?
The IEC 61131-3 language that lays a process out as ordered steps and transitions - ideal for sequences.
Read → GlossaryHow do you set up calculated tags safely?
Propagate input quality, guard the arithmetic, mark computed points clearly, and order chained calcs so results are never stale.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Shale Shaker?
The vibrating primary solids-control screen that removes drilled cuttings and protects mud and pumps.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR)?
Why signal strength is not enough and SNR or SINR decides whether data actually decodes.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a simultaneous branch in an SFC?
One transition activates several parallel step chains at once; all must finish before the branches converge.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Single Point of Failure (SPOF)?
The component whose loss takes down the whole system, plus how to hunt SPOFs and which redundancy removes each.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Sliding Sleeve Completion?
The ball-activated or coiled-tubing-shifted plugless alternative to plug-and-perf for multistage fracs.
Read → GlossaryWhat is slow-roll runout compensation?
Capturing mechanical and electrical glitch at slow roll and vector-subtracting it to reveal true shaft vibration.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an Inline Inspection Tool (Smart Pig)?
The instrumented pig that maps wall loss, dents, and cracks inside a pipeline for integrity.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Smith Predictor?
A model-based dead-time compensator that lets a controller tune as if the transport delay were absent.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is SMYS?
The guaranteed minimum yield strength of line pipe that every MAOP and integrity calculation traces back to.
Read → GlossaryWhat is soft foot in machine alignment?
A machine foot that does not sit flat, distorting the frame and defeating alignment.
Read → GlossaryWhat is the Soft-Start Current-Limit Parameter?
The configurable ceiling that caps inrush during ramp; too low and the motor stalls before reaching speed.
Read → GlossaryWhat is solids retention time (SRT)?
The average time biomass stays in an activated-sludge system, set by wasting rate and governing nitrification.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Solution Gas Drive?
How gas leaving solution below the bubble point drives oil, the rising GOR signature, and why recovery is low.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Source Timestamp Versus a Server Timestamp?
Event time at the device versus receive time at the server, and which one a historian should trust.
Read → GlossaryHow do you calculate spare parts quantity from failure rate?
The Poisson method for stocking spares to a confidence level over a lead time given a part's failure rate.
Read → GlossaryHow do you use monitoring data for an SPCC inspection?
Gather the level, alarm, and containment records, show prevention actively worked, and close findings with verified data.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an SPCC Plan?
The 1,320-gallon threshold, containment sizing, and how tank telemetry, leak sensors, and inspections support the plan.
Read → GlossaryWhat is the difference between an SPCC plan and an FRP?
Prevention versus worst-case response, which facilities need each, and how the same monitoring data serves both plans.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Specific Gravity in Oil & Gas?
Relative density versus air for gas and versus water for liquids, feeding flow, energy, and API gravity calculations.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Spike Test?
A brief near-yield pressure spike at the start of a hydrotest that finds near-critical cracks a standard hold would miss.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a spillway gate control system?
Automated radial and crest gates with position feedback and hoist control that schedule flood releases against reservoir level and inflow.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Spot Sample?
The manual single-grab thief or line sample, when it is valid versus an automatic composite.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Stabilizer?
The column that strips light ends from condensate or crude to control vapor pressure for safe storage - how it works and is run.
Read → GlossaryWhat is staged firmware rollout for edge gateways?
Pushing an OTA update to a small canary group of gateways first and expanding only if health holds, to limit blast radius.
Read → GlossaryWhat is staggered testing in redundant safety systems?
Offsetting redundant channels' proof tests in time to lower unavailability and cut common-cause exposure.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a star topology in an industrial network?
How every device home-runs to a central switch, why it is the default plant Ethernet layout, and its switch weak point.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Startup Bypass in a Shutdown System?
The temporary, timed override that lets a plant pass through normally-tripping startup conditions, then restores protection automatically.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a state transition diagram?
The bubble-and-arrow drawing of states, events, and guard conditions that maps onto the PLC state machine.
Read → GlossaryWhat is state-based alarming?
Alarms enabled or disabled automatically by the equipment's operating state to prevent transition floods.
Read → GlossaryWhat is station unit sequencing (lead, lag, standby)?
Station logic that assigns lead, lag, and standby roles and stages units in and out on demand with recycle-aware transitions.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Steady-State Offset?
Why proportional-only control settles short of setpoint - the droop problem that integral action was built to remove.
Read → GlossaryWhat is instrument steam tracing?
A steam tracer tube alongside or jacketing an impulse line for freeze protection where steam is plentiful.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a step transition condition?
The boolean that must become true to advance from the active step to the next; steps hold until it clears.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Stockpile Radar Volume Scanner?
A 3D radar scanner that maps a pile's surface through heavy dust to compute live volume and tonnage.
Read → GlossaryHow is a stormwater detention basin monitored?
Reference level to storage stages, track the controlled outlet flow, and alarm on the approach to the emergency spillway.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a streaming current monitor?
How an SCM reads particle charge to automatically control coagulant dose and close the coagulation loop in SCADA.
Read → GlossaryWhat is sub-pixel edge detection?
Interpolating the intensity gradient to locate an edge to a fraction of a pixel and multiply measurement resolution.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Substituted Value With Good Non-Specific Quality?
When a system auto-replaces a bad reading with a substitute and marks it so consumers know it is not raw field data.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Sulfide Stress Cracking (SSC)?
The H2S-driven hydrogen embrittlement that cracks high-strength steel in sour service, controlled by hardness limits.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is the Super-Emitter Program?
How third-party remote-sensing detections trigger an operator's investigate-and-repair duty, sped by real-time site telemetry.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Supercompressibility (Fpv)?
The Fpv real-gas correction from AGA 8, its link to the z-factor, and its impact on billed gas volume.
Read → GlossaryWhat is switch-onto-fault (SOTF) protection?
How SOTF arms a fast trip for a short window after a breaker closes onto a faulted line.
Read → GlossaryWhat is systematic capability (SC) in functional safety?
The certified SC 1 to SC 4 rating of a device's freedom from systematic design faults.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is The Difference Between Systematic And Random Error?
Repeatable bias you can trim versus scatter you can only average, and how each maps to Type A and B.
Read → GlossaryWhat are T-to-O and O-to-T CIP connections?
The target-to-originator and originator-to-target directions - which is input, which is output, each with its own size.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Tag Address Offset Mismatch?
How a tag pointed at the wrong register returns Good-quality but wrong values that no comm alarm catches, and how to verify the map.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Tailings Dam Piezometer?
The buried sensor that measures pore water pressure and the phreatic surface, a leading indicator of dam stability.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is TEEP?
OEE times a utilization factor against all calendar time, revealing the hidden capacity OEE leaves out of view.
Read → GlossaryWhat is TEG startup time and the warmup power gap?
A TEG needs minutes to reach full output, so a bridge battery must carry the RTU through the warmup gap.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Telecentric Lens?
A lens with constant magnification across its depth of field, eliminating perspective error for accurate gauging.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is A Temperature Coefficient In Instrument Specs?
The zero and span error added as ambient temperature leaves the reference, often swamping base accuracy.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a flowing temperature gradient survey?
A wellbore temperature log run during flow that spots fluid entry, crossflow, and leaks by departures from the geothermal gradient.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a terminal automation system (TAS)?
Software layer that orchestrates a terminal above the bay presets: access, orders, BOLs, allocation, and reconciliation.
Read → GlossaryHow do you test dual-SIM failover?
Prove each SIM alone, force the primary down and time the switch, confirm the host reconnects, then verify clean failback.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is the Coefficient of Thermal Expansion for Crude Oil?
The density-dependent rate at which crude swells with temperature, the physics behind every volume correction factor.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Thermal Oxidizer?
An enclosed burner-fired chamber that destroys VOC and HAP vapors at a controlled temperature and residence time.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Thermohydrometer?
A combined hydrometer and thermometer that reads density and temperature in one dip so gravity can be corrected.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Threshold Alarming?
Fixed-limit alarms - Hi/Lo and HiHi/LoLo levels, deadband and delay to prevent chatter, and how they differ from anomaly alarms.
Read → GlossaryHow Do You Time-Align Two Tags Sampled at Different Rates for a Calculation?
Snapping tags onto a common time grid with the right interpolation before multiplying or dividing them.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Time-Domain Reflectometry (TDR) in Level Sensing?
The guided-pulse physics behind guided-wave radar, and why it reads hard media a free-space beam cannot.
Read → GlossaryWhat is time-of-flight diffraction (TOFD)?
Timing waves diffracted from crack tips to size flaw height, its dead zones, and pairing with PAUT.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Time-Proportioning Control?
Converting a continuous PID output into on/off pulses over a fixed cycle time to drive heaters, contactors, and solenoids.
Read → GlossaryWhat is torque control mode on a servo drive?
A drive mode that regulates motor torque directly through the current loop for tension and force control.
Read → GlossaryTotal Dissolved Solids (TDS)
The measure of everything dissolved in water, how it is determined, typical oilfield values, and why it drives corrosion and treatment.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Total Observed Volume (TOV)?
The raw liquid volume read off the strapping table at the observed level, top of the custody volume ladder.
Read → GlossaryHow do you trace a wire in a panel?
Drawings first, wire numbers second, and continuity last - on an isolated circuit with both ends lifted.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Transmix?
The off-spec mixture where two fuel batches meet, how it is cut, and how it is reprocessed.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Tricone Roller-Cone Bit?
The three-cone bit that crushes hard rock, plus milled-tooth vs carbide inserts and IADC dull grading.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a trip string and first-out logic?
The series chain of trip initiators, plus logic that latches which one fired first so you see the real root cause.
Read → GlossaryHow do I troubleshoot a noisy or jumpy 4-20mA signal?
Field procedure to kill analog noise: break ground loops, fix shielding, separate VFD cabling, tune damping and filters.
Read → GlossaryWhy does my GC show carryover or ghost peaks?
Check sample purging and stream switching first, then column backflush, then carrier and cylinder contamination, each with a test and a fix.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Truck Loading Rack?
The terminal station where trucks load under a preset batch controller, metering, and permissive interlocks.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Trusted Platform Module?
A per-device secure chip that stores keys, holds boot measurements in PCRs, and enables remote attestation.
Read → GlossaryHow do tube settlers and plate settlers work?
Inclined settlers that multiply effective settling area to boost a basin's capacity.
Read → GlossaryWhy must instrument tubing be deburred after cutting?
A square, deburred, clean tube end lets the ferrule seat and keeps metal chips out of the instrument.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Turner Critical Gas Velocity?
The droplet model that predicts the minimum gas rate to lift liquids and warn of liquid loading.
Read → GlossaryWhat is the difference between Type A and Type B uncertainty evaluation?
Type A is evaluated statistically from repeated observations; Type B from certificates, specs, and judgment - a method distinction, not a size one.
Read → GlossaryWhat is ultrasonic electrical inspection?
Using airborne ultrasound to detect corona, tracking, and arcing in switchgear before flashover.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Questionable or Uncertain Quality Code and How Is It Different from Bad?
The middle quality state between Good and Bad, its triggers, and why an uncertain value should not drive control.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is An Instrument Uncertainty Budget?
Build the table of error contributors, combine them, and find the dominant term that drives the total.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Data Center Uptime Tier Classification?
The Uptime Institute Tier I-IV framework, what concurrent maintainability and fault tolerance require, and monitoring's role.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Ultrasonic Wall Thickness Testing?
The UT gauge method that measures remaining pipe and vessel wall at fixed inspection points.
Read → GlossaryHistorian & Data / Data Model / Value-Quality-Timestamp
The value-quality-timestamp triple every historian and OPC interface stores, unifying trust and time into one data model.
Read → GlossaryA site's values are all frozen at last-good: why?
A held frame over a stopped feed: synchronized stop, stale-after-timeout quality, worked as a whole-site comms loss.
Read → GlossaryReadings spike at the same time every day: why?
Use the timing as the clue: scheduled loads, periodic system tasks, or sun-driven effects, fixed-clock versus sun-tracking.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Vapor Balancing?
Returning displaced vapor to the source during a transfer, and how it differs from a recovery unit or combustor.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a VAV Box?
The zone terminal unit whose damper and controller regulate airflow, with cooling-only, fan-powered, and reheat types.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is VDI for Control Rooms?
Centrally hosted operator desktops streamed to thin clients, with persistent or non-persistent modes.
Read → GlossaryHow do you verify a net oil computer configuration?
Confirm the meter, water-cut, temperature and gravity inputs, check the net-oil math, and prove the output by hand and against a batch.
Read → GlossaryHow do you verify termination torque?
Use the manufacturer's values and a calibrated driver, stripe every joint, and verify under load instead of blind retorquing.
Read → GlossaryHow do you verify wet-well float backup switches?
Confirm each float sits above the analog setpoint, hangs freely, and acts independently when the analog sensor is blinded.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is VESDA (Aspirating Smoke Detection)?
Air-sampling detection that draws air through a pipe network to catch smoke at the incipient stage in high-airflow rooms.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a vibrating-element viscometer?
An inline viscometer that reads viscosity from how fluid damps a resonating rod or fork, for real-time fuel control.
Read → GlossaryWhat is oil viscosity index?
How much a lubricant's viscosity changes with temperature, and why viscosity is watched first.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a VM Snapshot?
A point-in-time capture of a VM's disk and memory for quick rollback, and why it is not a real backup.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Vogel IPR Curve?
The curved inflow relationship for saturated wells below bubble point, contrasted with the straight-line PI.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Walking Beam and Pitman Arm?
The crank, pitman, beam, and horsehead linkage that turns rotary gearbox motion into the polished rod's stroke.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Walnut Shell Filter?
The oil-tolerant deep-bed media filter that polishes produced water before injection.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Well Control Kill Method?
The constant-bottomhole-pressure Driller's and Wait-and-Weight methods for circulating a kick out safely.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Well Pad Automation?
What gets automated on a multi-well pad - separators, plunger lift, injection, ESD - and how pads roll up to SCADA.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Well Pressure Buildup Test?
How a shut-in pressure recovery on a Horner plot reveals permeability, skin, and reservoir pressure.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Wet Well?
The underground chamber that stores incoming flow between pump cycles in a lift station.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a What-If Analysis?
The scenario-brainstorming PHA technique, the What-If/checklist hybrid, and when it is chosen over HAZOP.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Wheatstone Bridge Circuit?
The four-resistor circuit behind strain gauges, RTDs, and load cells, with its bridge types and mV/V output.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a wind charger for a remote site?
A small turbine that tops up an RTU battery when winter sun is scarce, paired with solar through a charge controller.
Read → GlossaryWhat is wind charger furling overspeed protection?
Furling turns the rotor out of high wind to cap speed while the controller diverts surplus energy to a dump load.
Read → GlossaryWind BOP Monitoring
The collector, substation, and interconnection points that keep shared wind infrastructure healthy.
Read → GlossaryWind Curtailment Monitoring
How curtailment tracking separates deliberate output caps from real faults and estimates lost energy.
Read → GlossaryWire Duct (Panel Trunking)
The slotted plastic trunking that routes and hides internal panel wiring between DIN rails and terminal blocks.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is WirelessHART?
The IEC 62591 self-healing 2.4 GHz mesh that adds field monitoring without pulling wire.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a WirelessHART Superframe?
The repeating cycle of time slots whose length sets reporting rate, with several running at once for mixed update rates.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is TDMA Scheduling in WirelessHART?
Synchronized time slots plus per-slot channel hopping give the mesh deterministic, collision-avoiding access in the 2.4 GHz band.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Worst-Actor Loop Analysis?
Ranking a plant's loops by impact so limited engineering time fixes the few that cause most of the variability.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Zero-Bleed Pneumatic Device?
Non-emitting alternatives - instrument air, electric, self-contained - that replace gas-bleeding controllers.
Read → GlossaryWhat is zero-touch provisioning for field gateways?
A gateway self-configures from a cloud template on first power-up, so non-experts can deploy fleets without a laptop.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Zone-Selective Interlocking (ZSI)?
A scheme where breakers signal each other for fast, selective tripping that lowers arc-flash energy.
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