Pumps, Compressors & Process Equipment Glossary
Pumps, compressors, heat exchangers, tanks, and the rotating and static equipment automation systems monitor and control. 229 terms in this topic - each defined in plain English on its own page.
Automation exists to run equipment, and this topic names that equipment: pumps and their hydraulic behavior (NPSH, shutoff head, seal systems), compressors and their support systems, heat-transfer and HVAC equipment, and the tanks and vessels that hold the process together. Knowing how the machine works is half of monitoring it well - most of these terms explain the failure mode a SCADA alarm is really watching for.
229 Terms
What Is an Agricultural Weather Station?
The field sensor suite for radiation, wind, humidity, and rain that computes ET and feeds scheduling and frost alarms.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an Air Handling Unit (AHU)?
The central machine that mixes, filters, heats, cools, and moves building air, and the sensors that sequence it.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Fin-Fan Cooler?
Air-cooled heat exchangers that reject process heat to ambient air where no cooling water is available.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an Airside Economizer (Free Cooling)?
Free cooling that uses cool outside air to cut compressor energy, with enthalpy changeover logic and PUE impact.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an Amine Regenerator?
The stripper column and reboiler that boil H2S and CO2 back out of rich amine to restore lean amine for reuse.
Read → GlossaryWhat is amine rich loading control?
Balancing lean-amine circulation against treated-gas spec to sit at the optimal mol/mol acid-gas loading.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an Amine Treating Unit?
How an amine unit removes toxic, corrosive H2S and CO2 from natural gas in an absorber and regenerates in the stripper.
Read → GlossaryWhat is amine unit foaming?
Contaminant-stabilised foam that spikes column dP and carries amine over, and the dP and antifoam signals that catch it.
Read → GlossaryAPI 2000 Tank Venting
How API 2000 sizes normal and emergency venting for thermal breathing, pumping, and fire exposure on storage tanks.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an Atmospheric Tank?
The low-pressure storage tank category - venting, breathing, and how it differs from a pressure vessel - explained.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Automatic Tank Gauging (ATG)?
Continuous remote measurement of tank level, temperature, and inventory - radar, servo, and float gauges - explained for SCADA.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Average Tank Liquid Temperature?
A volume-weighted temperature blended across a stratified tank's depth so correction reflects the whole inventory.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Balance Piston?
The drum that cancels impeller thrust so the thrust bearing sees only a small residual load.
Read → GlossaryWhat is balanced draft control and furnace implosion protection?
Coordinating FD and ID fans to hold a slight negative, and how implosion protection stops a trip from collapsing the firebox.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Building Automation System?
The networked BACnet control that runs a building's HVAC, lighting, and facility equipment from a single supervisory head-end.
Read → GlossaryWhat is C-rate for charging and discharging a battery?
Charge or discharge current as a multiple of capacity, why Ah is quoted at C/20, and how an undersized array undercharges.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Boil-Off Gas?
The vapor that heat leak constantly boils off cryogenic LNG and NGL storage, captured and managed as BOG.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Bolted Steel Tank?
The relocatable panel-bolted tank, often glass-fused-to-steel, used for produced water and disposal duty.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Booster Pump Station?
The pump facility that lifts water into a higher pressure zone, with lead/lag control and SCADA telemetry.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Bullet Tank?
The horizontal pressure vessel that stores LPG and NGLs as a liquid under pressure - vs tanks and spheres - explained.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Carbon Adsorption Vapor Control?
A flameless method that captures VOC vapors on activated-carbon beds, switched before breakthrough by outlet monitoring.
Read → GlossaryWhat is catalyst pad preheat on a catalytic heater?
The cold-start sequence that warms a catalyst pad to light-off before gas flows, drawing a large transient current.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a catalytic heater?
A flameless platinum-catalyst gas heater that freeze-protects instrument cabinets and RTU shelters in classified areas.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Centrifugal Compressor?
The high-speed impeller machine that moves large, steady gas volumes on transmission pipelines - and why surge is its main hazard.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Centrifugal Pump?
The impeller-driven pump behind most liquid transfer in oil and gas - the pump curve, NPSH, and cavitation explained.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Chemical Injection Pump?
The metering pump that doses demulsifier, corrosion, and scale inhibitor into the process at precise, adjustable rates.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Chilled Water Temperature Reset?
Raising the chiller supply setpoint at low load for efficiency, bounded by low-delta-T and dehumidification limits.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Chiller?
The central machine that makes chilled water for facility cooling - vapor-compression vs absorption, air-cooled vs water-cooled.
Read → GlossaryHow Does Chiller Plant Optimization Work?
Coordinating chillers, pumps, and tower fans to minimize total kW per ton through reset, staging, and VSD pumping.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Clearance Pocket?
The added cylinder volume that trims recip compressor capacity through gas re-expansion, without unloading a valve.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Closed Tank Gauging?
Measuring and sampling a tank without opening the hatch, cutting VOC emissions and H2S exposure toward zero.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Closed Vent System (CVS)?
How a CVS routes tank and separator vapors to a control device, and the sealing and bypass rules it must meet.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Column Flooding?
The capacity limit where liquid backs up and separation collapses, and the DP trend that warns operators.
Read → GlossaryHow Does Compressor Discharge Pressure Control Work?
Holding a target header pressure by modulating capacity through speed, load steps, IGV, or recycle.
Read → GlossaryHow Does Compressor Load Sharing Control Work?
How a master controller balances parallel machines by surge margin or load, and how SCADA oversees it.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Compressor Load Step Control?
How recip compressors change throughput in discrete steps and how SCADA catches hunting and short-cycling.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Compressor Surge?
The flow-reversal instability in a dynamic compressor, its damage, and why antisurge control exists to stop it.
Read → GlossaryHow Is Compressor Surge Margin Calculated?
Surge margin as the distance to the surge control line, how it is expressed, and why operators trend it.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Compressor Turndown Control?
How compressors hold stable low-demand operation, the methods used, and the recycle-heavy floor SCADA flags.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a compressor unit start sequence?
The timed multi-step auto-start a PLC runs from permissive check through pre-lube, purge, light-off, ramp, and load enable.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Compressor Valve?
The self-acting suction and discharge valves whose failure drives most recip compressor downtime.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Cone Roof Tank?
The welded fixed-cone-roof atmospheric tank with a frangible roof joint, used for lower-volatility products.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a continuous recirculation line?
A bypass that keeps a pump above minimum flow: orifice vs modulating vs ARC valves and the SCADA low-flow bypass logic.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Cooler Approach Temperature on a Compressor?
The gap between cooled gas outlet and ambient that is the key health KPI for air-cooled exchangers.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Cooling Tower?
The evaporative heat-rejection stage for condenser-water and process cooling loops - open vs closed circuit, drift, and blowdown.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a CRAC Unit?
The precision computer room air conditioner that keeps control rooms and server rooms at a tight, stable temperature and humidity.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Day Tank?
The small buffer tank holding a day of generator fuel, kept topped by transfer pumps and level-alarm logic.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Demulsifier?
The treating chemical that breaks oil-water emulsions so water drops out of crude - how it works and how it is dosed.
Read → GlossaryWhat is depth of discharge for a battery bank?
The fraction of a bank you use before recharging, its inverse tie to cycle life, and why a conservative DoD inflates bank size.
Read → GlossaryDesuperheater / Temperature-Control Valve
How an attemperator sprays water into superheated steam to control temperature, and why it is severe service.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is the Discharge Temp Limit?
The watched maximum discharge temperature whose rise is the earliest sign of a leaking valve or ring.
Read → GlossaryWhat is discharge throttling control?
Controlling pump flow by closing a discharge valve, why it wastes energy as pressure drop, and how it compares to VFD control.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Distance Piece?
The vented spacer between cylinder and crankcase that keeps process gas out of the compressor oil.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Distillation Column Tray?
The plates that stage vapor-liquid contact in a fractionation tower, and the tags that reveal their health.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Dry Gas Seal?
The non-contacting gas-film seal on a centrifugal compressor, watched through vent flows and seal differential pressure.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a dry-break coupling in loading?
Quick-connect coupler that seals both halves on disconnect to stop spill and vapor, with sensing that feeds the rack permissive.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Dust Suppression Spray Control?
Automating water sprays and fog cannons by conveyor status, wind, and PM10 feedback to spray only when needed.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a duty-assist pump configuration?
A second pump brought on in parallel to add capacity during high inflow, versus a standby that only runs on failure.
Read → GlossaryHow Does an Air-Side Economizer Work?
Using cool outdoor air for free cooling, with dry-bulb vs enthalpy changeover and why stuck dampers waste energy.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an Electrostatic Treater?
The treater that uses a high-voltage grid to coalesce water from crude - a distinct method beyond thermal treating.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an Emergency Relief Vent?
The large fire-sized vent that opens on over-pressure to keep a storage tank from rupturing.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Emergency Relief Vent Capacity?
The fire-case relief flow a tank needs, from wetted area and heat input through credits to required airflow.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an ESP?
Electric submersible pumps - the high-rate downhole centrifugal lift method - explained, from motor and stages to the surface VSD.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is ESP Pump Intake Pressure?
The downhole-gauge reading at the pump inlet that shows drawdown and keeps an ESP off gas lock.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a chemical abatement scrubber in a semiconductor fab?
Point-of-use and central systems that destroy or scrub PFCs, acids, and flammables from tool exhaust, monitored for uptime.
Read → GlossaryWhat is pump alternation fail-to-start rollover?
Logic that calls a backup pump when the lead gives no run confirmation, keeping the station pumping.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a flare gas recovery compressor sequencing scheme?
Staging recovery compressors with lead-lag control to hold header pressure and bypass to flare only when capacity is exceeded.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Fire-Tube in a Heater Treater?
The submerged U-tube firebox that heats fluid inside a treater or line heater, guarded by level and temperature limits.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Fired Heater Draft Control?
Holding the slight negative firebox pressure with damper and registers, balancing safety and excess air.
Read → GlossaryFired Heater Radiant & Convection Sections
How a process heater transfers heat in the firebox and stack, and the tags that guard the flux limit.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Fixed Roof Tank?
The standard cone-roof atmospheric tank - construction, vapor space, and breathing losses - explained for oil and gas storage.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Flexible Coupling?
The disc, gear, or spacer coupling that transmits torque while tolerating misalignment, and how its wear appears in vibration.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Floating Roof Tank?
The tank whose roof floats on the product to kill evaporative losses - external vs internal, pontoons, and rim seals - explained.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Floating Suction Line?
A swing line that draws product from just below the surface to avoid bottom water and ship on-spec product.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Floating-Roof Correction?
The density-based adjustment that removes the product a floating roof displaces to recover true tank volume.
Read → GlossaryWhat is the difference between forced draft and induced draft fans?
FD fans push air into the windbox; ID fans pull flue gas out the stack. How they set firebox pressure and feed the BMS.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Frac Diverter?
A temporary plugging agent that redirects fluid to starved clusters, confirmed by a treating-pressure step-up.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Free Water Knockout (FWKO)?
The vessel that drops out bulk free water by gravity before the treater - how it works and how it's monitored.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an FRP Tank?
The fiberglass-reinforced-plastic tank that resists produced water and chemical corrosion that eats steel.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Geodesic Dome Roof?
The self-supporting aluminum dome that covers a tank and pairs with an internal floating roof.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Glycol Circulation Rate Control in a TEG Dehydrator?
The gallons of TEG pumped per pound of water removed - the key dehydrator tunable balancing dew point against fuel and BTEX.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Glycol Dehydration Unit (TEG)?
How a TEG unit absorbs water from natural gas in a contactor and regenerates in the reboiler to meet pipeline spec.
Read → GlossaryWhat Are Glycol Dehydrator Emissions?
Why dehydrator still vents emit BTEX, benzene, and methane, and how circulation rate and reboiler duty drive them.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Glycol Flash Tank?
The flash drum that recovers hydrocarbons absorbed by rich TEG before regeneration - cutting emissions and reboiler load.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Glycol Reboiler?
The fired vessel that boils water out of rich TEG to regenerate lean glycol - its temperature window and still column explained.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Guide Pole / Stilling Well?
The vertical tank pipe that steadies a floating roof and gives radar a calm column to gauge.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Gun Barrel Tank?
The atmospheric wash / settling tank that separates oil and water by gravity - its downcomer, water wash, and controls.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Heat Exchanger?
The device that transfers heat between two streams without mixing them - shell-and-tube, plate, and air-cooled types explained.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Heat Exchanger Fouling?
The deposit film that erodes heat transfer and raises pressure drop, and how trending schedules cleaning.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a heat substation in district heating?
The building-level unit connecting a property to a heat network, its circuits, meter, and the points SCADA polls.
Read → GlossaryWhat is fired heater pass balancing control?
Splitting feed evenly across parallel heater coils so no pass runs hot and cokes, equalized by pass valves.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Heater Treater?
The fired vessel that breaks oil-water emulsions and dries crude to BS&W sales spec - firetube, coalescing, and where it fits - explained.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Hot Gas Bypass on a Compressor?
How discharge-to-suction bypass holds a minimum load, why it wastes energy and heats the suction.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Jet Pump in Artificial Lift?
The no-moving-parts venturi pump driven by surface power fluid - nozzle-throat sizing and power-fluid monitoring.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Hydropneumatic Tank?
The air-over-water pressure tank that buffers pressure and cuts pump cycling on small systems.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Hydrostatic Tank Gauging (HTG)?
Stacking pressure transmitters to get level, density, and product mass at once for mass-based inventory.
Read → GlossaryWhat is an indirect fired bath heater?
A heater where a burner warms a glycol-water bath and the process runs through a coil in it, avoiding flame contact.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Chemical Injection Pump Stroke Rate?
Strokes per minute times volume per stroke sets the dose; ratio-to-flow pacing holds a target ppm, verified in SCADA.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an Inlet Diverter?
The internal at a separator's inlet that breaks feed momentum and performs bulk gas-liquid separation - plate, half-pipe, or cyclone.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Innage vs Ullage?
Measuring product depth from the bottom versus empty space from the top, and how each maps to volume.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Innage-Outage Conversion?
The arithmetic that ties innage and outage together through a tank's fixed reference height, plus the errors to avoid.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an Internal Floating Roof?
The deck floating inside a fixed-roof tank whose rim seal cuts standing and working vapor losses.
Read → GlossaryWhat is the isentropic exponent in gas orifice measurement?
Kappa feeds the orifice expansion factor; the real-gas value comes from composition and biases high-differential meters if defaulted.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a jet fan in longitudinal tunnel ventilation?
The ceiling-mounted reversible fan that induces longitudinal airflow, staged to an air-velocity setpoint and reversed for fire smoke control.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a jockey pump?
A small pressure-maintenance pump that absorbs leaks so the main pump does not cycle, its setpoints, and using run frequency as a leak alert.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Journal Bearing?
The hydrodynamic fluid-film bearing that floats large rotating shafts on oil, and the temperatures and vibration it is judged by.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Knockout Drum?
The vessel that knocks liquid out of a gas stream to protect compressors and flares - demisters, level control, and types - explained.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Line Heater?
The indirect water-bath heater that warms wellhead gas across the choke to stop hydrates and freezing.
Read → GlossaryHow Does Line Heater Freeze Protection Control Work?
The temperature loop that keeps a wellsite line heater from letting the flow line hydrate or freeze.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Lube Oil Console?
The packaged skid of pumps, coolers, and filters that keeps bearing oil flowing and trips on low pressure.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Lube Oil System?
The pressurized console of pumps, coolers, filters, and accumulators that feeds oil to a big machine's bearings and seals.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Magnetic Bearing?
An active magnetic bearing that levitates a rotor electromagnetically in oil-free compressors and streams rotor position and coil current.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a magnetic drive pump?
A sealless pump that transmits torque through a containment shell, its dry-run and decouple risks, and the SCADA signals that protect it.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Manual Tank Gauging?
The hand procedure with a steel tape, bob, and paste that stays the custody-transfer backup for SCADA levels.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Mechanical Seal?
The rotating and stationary face pair that keeps process fluid inside a pump, watched via flush and seal-pot readings.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Metering Pump?
The precise reciprocating dosing pump that injects an exact volume of chemical per stroke, set by stroke length and frequency.
Read → GlossaryWhat is methanol pump stroke counting and volume tracking?
Count pump strokes, multiply by volume-per-stroke, and reconcile against tank drawdown to verify injected volume.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Mine Dewatering Pump Control?
The automation that lifts groundwater out of a mine through cascaded sumps with lead/lag and off-peak logic.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Mine Hoist and Winder Monitoring?
Watching rope wear, brake performance, position, and overwind protection on the winder that raises ore and people.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Mist Eliminator?
The mesh pad or vane pack that coalesces and drops fine liquid droplets from gas to protect downstream compressors.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Mist Extractor?
The separator internal - mesh pad, vane pack, or cyclone - that removes entrained liquid droplets from gas to stop carryover.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Molecular Sieve Dehydration Unit?
The solid-desiccant adsorption dryer that reaches cryogenic dew points glycol cannot, on a bed-swing regeneration cycle.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Net Positive Suction Head (NPSH)?
The NPSHa-versus-NPSHr suction margin that prevents pump cavitation, watchable through suction-pressure telemetry.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a nitrogen blanketing supply in a tank farm?
Makeup N2 side that adds nitrogen to hold pad pressure as level or temperature falls, split-range with the conservation vent.
Read → GlossaryNormal Vent vs Emergency Vent
The breathing vent for pumping and thermal flows versus the emergency vent sized for the fire-exposure case.
Read → GlossaryWhat is NPSH margin?
The cushion between available and required NPSH, why a thin one invites cavitation, and how telemetry alarms it shrinking.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Heater Treater Oil Carryover?
How oil to the water leg and water to sales oil signal a treater upset, their causes, and how SCADA monitoring catches them.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Opening and Closing Tank Inventory?
The gauged volumes bracketing a period that, with receipts and deliveries, reveal throughput and gain or loss.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is the Discharge Coefficient (Cd)?
The empirical factor relating actual to theoretical orifice flow, computed iteratively from beta ratio and Reynolds number.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is an Overspeed Trip?
Redundant speed pickups slam the trip valve shut on excess speed to keep a bladed rotor from bursting.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Performance Map?
The head-versus-flow chart with speed lines bounded by the surge line and stonewall choke line.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Pig Receiver?
The receiving trap that catches a pig at the end of its run.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Pipeline Strainer?
The basket or Y-strainer that guards meters and pumps, and the differential pressure that flags a clogged basket.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a pneumatic methanol injection pump?
A supply-gas-driven methanol pump for sites with no power; drive-gas pressure sets its stroke rate.
Read → GlossaryPontoon vs Double-Deck Roof
The two external floating-roof designs, and how buoyancy and rain or snow load drive the choice.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Positive Displacement Pump?
The fixed-volume pump behind chemical injection and high-pressure water injection - why it needs relief protection.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Pressure Vessel?
Closed containers built to hold pressure - ASME Section VIII, MAWP, and relief - explained, from separators to knockout drums.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Progressing Cavity Pump?
The helical rotor-and-stator positive-displacement pump for viscous, gritty, and heavy-oil duty, and why torque and dry-run protection matter.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Progressive Cavity Pump (PCP)?
Rotor-in-stator artificial lift for heavy oil and sand, in surface-drive and downhole-motor configurations.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a 4-Way Diverter Valve?
The flow-reversing valve in a bidirectional prover whose double-block-and-bleed seal integrity protects every proof.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Pulsation Dampener?
The suction and discharge bottles that smooth recip pressure waves to protect piping and metering.
Read → GlossaryWhat Are Pump Affinity Laws?
The flow-speed, head-speed-squared, power-speed-cubed rules behind VFD energy savings and impeller trim.
Read → GlossaryWhat is pump air binding?
Trapped gas in the impeller that stops a running pump moving liquid, its low-pressure symptoms, causes, and how to clear it.
Read → GlossaryWhat is pump alternation control?
Rotating lead and lag roles to equalize pump runtime and wear, first-on/first-off and runtime-hour logic, and SCADA scheduling.
Read → GlossaryWhat is pump anti-cycling protection?
Enforcing a minimum off-time and maximum starts per hour so short-cycling does not overheat the motor or wear the starter.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a pump balance line?
How a balance line and drum or disk cancel axial thrust in multistage pumps, and how a plug spikes thrust-bearing load.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Pump Cavitation?
The vapor-bubble formation and collapse that erodes impellers, its gravel-like sound, and the pressure and vibration signs of it.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Pump Curve?
The head-versus-flow performance curve whose intersection with the system curve sets a pump's operating point.
Read → GlossaryWhat is pump dry-run protection?
A low-low level or loss-of-flow trip that stops a pump before it runs dry and ruins its seal and bearings.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Pump Minimum Flow?
Why a pump must stay above minimum continuous flow, and how recirculation lines and ARC valves protect it.
Read → GlossaryWhat is pump run-hour equalization?
Picking the lowest-hour available pump as next lead so wear and maintenance intervals spread evenly across the group.
Read → GlossaryWhat is pump shutoff head?
The head a pump makes at zero flow, why it sets max discharge pressure, and how dead-heading overheats and damages a pump.
Read → GlossaryWhat is pump specific energy?
Energy per unit volume pumped as a wire-to-water KPI, why it beats motor power for spotting wear and fouling, and trending it in a historian.
Read → GlossaryWhat is pump staging control?
Adding and removing parallel pumps on demand, stage-up and destage setpoints and delays, and combining with a lead VFD trim pump.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a pump station control mode on a pipeline?
How a mainline station arbitrates flow, discharge-pressure, and suction-override modes, selecting the most restrictive.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Pump System Curve?
How the system resistance curve crosses the pump curve to fix the real operating point and flow.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a pump underload trip?
A low-power trip that detects loss of prime, a closed valve, or run-dry, catching what a level switch misses.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a pump wear ring?
Replaceable rings that hold a tight clearance to limit internal leakage, and how opening clearance cuts efficiency and flow.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Pumping Unit Gearbox?
The double-reduction reducer that slows the prime mover to crank speed, rated by API peak torque.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Rear-Door Heat Exchanger?
A chilled-water door coil that cools rack exhaust at the source for near-neutral heat rejection on dense racks.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Reboiler?
The exchanger that supplies boilup to a distillation column, with the steam, level, and temperature loops.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Reciprocating Compressor?
The piston-driven gathering workhorse that boosts low-pressure wellhead gas - and why rod load sets its limit.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Compressor Recycle Valve?
The fast-opening antisurge valve that dumps discharge gas back to suction, with hot or cold recycle routing to protect the machine.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Reflux Drum?
The overhead accumulator that splits condensed column overhead into reflux and product, setting purity.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a pump reverse-flush de-ragging cycle?
An automatic reverse or oscillation of a VFD pump that sheds rags when rising power or falling flow signals a clog.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Rim Seal?
The primary and secondary seals that close the roof-to-shell gap and control fugitive emissions.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Rod Load?
The combined gas and inertia force on a recip compressor's piston rod, and its frame-rating limit.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Rod Packing?
The stacked sealing rings that seal the moving piston rod, and the vent trend that flags a rebuild.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Rod Reversal?
The per-revolution load reversal that re-oils a recip compressor's crosshead pin bearing.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Roof Drain?
The flexing drain that carries rainwater off a floating roof, and why a blocked one can sink it.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a sample receiver vs a constant-pressure cylinder?
Contrasting an ambient composite receiver with a floating-piston cylinder that keeps a live sample single-phase.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Sand Jet System?
The internal jetting nozzles and sand pans that wash produced sand out of a separator bottom in service.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Screw Compressor?
The twin-rotor rotary compressor, oil-flooded vs dry, its slide-valve capacity control, and the temperatures and oil readings that matter.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Scrubber?
The knockout vessel that removes liquid carryover from a gas stream to protect compressors - and how it differs from a separator.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a seal barrier fluid?
Pressurized barrier fluid vs unpressurized buffer fluid in dual seals, how each contains leakage, and the SCADA alarms that catch seal failure.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Seal Flush Plan (API 682)?
The API 682 numbered piping schemes (Plan 11, 23, 52, 53) that support a pump seal, and the points to watch on each.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Seal Gas System?
The support skid that feeds a dry gas seal clean gas and vents its leakage, with safety-critical flows.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a seal pot?
The reservoir that supplies and circulates barrier or buffer fluid to a dual seal by thermosiphon, and how its level and pressure trends warn of seal leakage.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a self-priming pump?
A pump that clears air from its suction line to prime itself, and how SCADA watches prime loss to keep it from running dry.
Read → GlossaryWhat is settle-out pressure on a blocked-in compressor?
The equalized pressure a compressor loop reaches when block valves close and the machine stops on recycle, driving recycle sizing.
Read → GlossarySnap-Acting vs Modulating Tank Vent
A proportional pallet vent versus a pilot vent that pops fully open, and the emissions trade-offs.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a pump snore-level cleaning cycle?
A scheduled deep pump-down that scours settled solids and pulls the surface grease mat down to cut odor and clogging.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a pump station soft-fill start?
Ramping a VFD pump up slowly to gently charge a drained force main and avoid startup surge and column separation.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Spherical Tank?
The pressure-optimal ball-shaped vessel for large LPG and NGL storage, with level, pressure, and temperature instruments.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a split-case pump?
An axially split, double-suction, between-bearings pump for high-flow water duty, why it lowers NPSHr and thrust, and its monitoring.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a stage-discharge rating curve?
The relationship that converts measured river level into flow, built from gaugings and applied in real time by SCADA.
Read → GlossaryWhat is staggered pump restart after power loss?
Bringing pumps back one at a time after an outage to avoid inrush that trips the breaker or genset.
Read → GlossaryWhat is station discharge pressure master control?
Station master that holds a common pressure setpoint and cascades one load command to multiple units, biasing each unit's share.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Stock Tank?
Lease crude storage and the stock-tank barrel - how oil is stored, gauged, and referenced to standard conditions - explained.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Stonewall (Choke)?
The high-flow right-hand compressor limit where gas goes sonic and head collapses, opposite to surge.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Storage Vessel Affected Facility?
How a tank's VOC potential to emit crosses the 6 tpy threshold, what 95 percent control means, and how monitoring supports it.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Stripping Gas in a Glycol Still?
How dry gas injected into the glycol reboiler drives residual water out of lean TEG to reach lower dew points.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Stuffing Box?
The wellhead packing seal around the polished rod, and why its leaks are a monitored HSE event.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a pump station suction lift limit?
The vertical lift a dry-pit or self-priming pump can draw before the suction margin collapses and it cavitates.
Read → GlossaryWhat is suction pressure override at a pump station?
Protection that backs off a mainline pump before suction hits cavitation, overriding flow control and guarding the line pack.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Suction Scrubber Liquid Carryover?
Why liquid at the compressor suction damages the machine and how the scrubber and high-level trip guard it.
Read → GlossaryWhat is suction specific speed?
A dimensionless index of a pump's suction capability, why high values narrow the reliable window, and how control respects it.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Suction Throttle Valve on a Compressor?
How inlet throttling cuts compressor capacity, its energy penalty versus speed, and its SCADA signals.
Read → GlossaryWhat is catalytic heater surface temperature monitoring?
Using a surface RTD or thermocouple on a catalyst pad to confirm heat output, detect aging, and alarm a cold pad.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Surge Tank?
The inter-stage buffer that absorbs flow swings to steady downstream pumps and separators.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Tank Blanketing?
The regulated inert-gas layer that keeps oxygen and moisture out of a storage tank vapor space.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Tank Datum Plate?
The fixed striking plate under the gauge hatch that sets zero for every innage reading and anchors the strapping table.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Tank Heating Coil?
The steam or hot-oil coil that keeps heavy or waxy product above its pour point so it stays pumpable.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Tank Settlement Survey?
Measuring how a tank foundation has sunk and tilted, and why differential and edge settlement threaten integrity.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Tank Strapping Table?
The calibration chart that converts tank level to volume - how tanks are strapped and how the table drives inventory - explained.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Tank Ullage?
The empty space above the liquid versus innage the liquid depth, and why reference height matters for custody.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Tank Vapor Combustor?
A small enclosed burner that destroys flash and breathing vapors off oil and condensate tanks, backing up a VRU.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Tank Vapor Space?
The gas volume above the liquid in a storage tank - the physical origin of tank emissions.
Read → GlossaryHow Is Tank Vent Sizing Calculated?
Summing pump-in, pump-out, and thermal breathing for normal venting, plus the fire-case flow for emergency.
Read → GlossaryWhat is thermostatic control of an electric line heater?
Cycling contactors or SSRs against a process RTD to hold outlet temperature, with deadband, high-limit, and duty logging.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Thrust Bearing?
The axial-load bearing that keeps a rotor in position, plus the balance devices, temperatures, and probes that guard it.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Tilting Pad Bearing?
Pivoting pads form a self-adjusting oil wedge that stabilizes high-speed rotors against oil whirl.
Read → GlossaryWhat is total dynamic head at a pump station?
Static lift plus friction and velocity head, setting the operating point and tracked through monitored discharge pressure.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Tube Skin Temperature?
The tube metal temperature that guards fired-heater tubes against coking and creep rupture.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a compressor unit shutdown key?
Package-level cause-and-effect table mapping each trip to its outputs and severity class, with run-on and first-out.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Valve Unloader?
The device that holds a suction valve open to unload a cylinder end and give discrete capacity steps.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a variable-pitch cooler fan hub?
Pneumatic air-cooler fan hub that modulates airflow by blade angle instead of cycling fans, with pitch trended by SCADA.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Vent Gas BTU Enrichment?
Blending fuel gas into a lean vent stream to lift its heating value above the threshold for reliable flare combustion.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Ventilation on Demand in Mining?
The control strategy that delivers underground air only where people and machines are, cutting fan energy.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a vertical turbine pump?
A multistage bowl-and-column pump hung into a well or wet pit for flooded, priming-free suction, and its level, thrust, and vibration signals.
Read → GlossaryWhat are VFD Bearing Currents?
Common-mode voltage pushes discharge currents through motor bearings, causing EDM fluting and premature failure.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is Volumetric Efficiency?
The fraction of swept cylinder volume that actually delivers gas, driven by clearance and ratio.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Water-Side Economizer?
Making chilled water without the chiller using cooling-tower water and a plate heat exchanger when the wet-bulb is low.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Weak-Seam (Frangible) Roof?
A roof-to-shell joint built to fail before the bottom weld so an over-pressured tank blows its roof, not its base.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Load Cell Tank Weighing System?
Weighing a whole tank on load cells for level immune to foam, density, and dielectric, and its piping constraints.
Read → GlossaryWhat Is a Weight-Loaded PV Vent?
A dead-weight pallet breather whose pressure and vacuum set points change by adding or removing weights.
Read → GlossaryHow does wet well pump-down control work?
Fill-and-draw and VFD level control, lead-lag-standby alternation, and self-cleaning drawdown in SCADA.
Read → GlossaryWhat is a windbox in a burner and how does it distribute air?
The plenum that takes forced-draft air and feeds each burner through registers, and how its pressure indicates airflow.
Read → GlossaryWhat Are Working and Breathing Losses?
Fill/empty working loss, thermal breathing loss, and flash loss - the tank emission mechanisms compared.
Read →One Platform for the Field
Merobix is cloud SCADA for oil & gas - it reads the instruments and protocols defined here into one dashboard.