Concentrated photovoltaic uses mirrors and lenses to direct an increased amount of energy on smaller solar panes which can be made from low cost materials such as glass or aluminum, thus avoiding the use of silicon a commodity that can be subject to shortages that keep panel prices high. This technology is due to grow …
Subsea pipelines are coated with reinforced concrete so as to ballast and protect them from damage and corrosion. Concrete weight coating systems provide the following advantages: sub-sea stability, prevention of damage by ship’s anchors, no need for trenching of the pipeline and requires less steel
Region of the outer edge of a continent between the generally shallow continental shelf and the deep ocean floor, usually demarcated by the 200-m (660-ft) isobaths (the line on a map or chart that connects all points having the same depth below the surface of a body of water).
A device with an orifice installed in a line to restrict the flow of fluids. Surface chokes are part of the Christmas tree on a well and contain a choke nipple, or bean, with a small-diameter bore that serves to restrict the flow. Chokes are also used to control the rate of flow of the …
A substance with an ozone depletion potential of less than 0.2. All HCFCs are currently included in this classification
A clastic mineral particle of any composition that has a grain size smaller than 1/256 mm. The term is also used in reference to a broad category of hydrous silicate minerals in which the silica tetrahedrons are arranged into sheets.
Pertaining to a sedimentary rock, such as sandstone or limestone, that contains only minimal amounts of clay minerals. Clean reservoir rocks typically have better porosity and permeability than dirty rocks whose pores are clogged with fine clay particles
Refined products such as kerosene, gasoline, home heating oil, and jet fuel carried by tankers, barges, and tank cars. All refined products except bunker fuels, residual fuel oil, asphalt, and coke.
Coal ash is the mineral residue that is obtained as a byproduct of the combustion of coal for the production of electricity. Two types of coal ash are obtained: fly ash and bottom ash. The ash is characterized by physical (lightweight, small spherical particles, hardness) and chemical (cement-like) properties that provide it with an economic …
Substitute natural gas produced synthetically by the chemical reduction of coal at a coal gasification facility
