glossary category

An arrangement of tubes for assisting circulation in a liquid through the use of capillary action

Uninterruptible power supply

Container used for the storage of thermal energy. Thermal storage systems are often used as a component of chilled-water systems

A type of air conditioning system that discharges air upward into an overhead duct system

The use of encryption in the lower protocol layers to provide a secure connection through an otherwise insecure network, typically the internet. VPNs are generally cheaper than real private networks using private lines but rely on having the same encryption system at both ends. The encryption may be performed by firewall software or possibly by routers

The degree or intensity of heat present in a substance or object

The property of a computer program, or program segment, that allows for the simultaneous execution of operations on different data values, thus making it possible to allocate the work to a set of operators and accomplish the work in parallel. One example of work that is very vectorizable is taking an entire matrix of values and multiplying each by 2. It is possible for different operators to work on different cells of the matrix at the same time.

* Vector Quantity: Denotes the simultaneous time rate of distance moved and the direction of a linear motion
* Face Velocity: Velocity obtained by dividing the volumetric flow rate by the component face area

Ratio representing highest and lowest effective system capacity. Calculated by dividing the maximum system output by the minimum output at which steady output can be maintained. For example, a 3:1 turn-down ratio indicates that minimum operating capacity is one-third of the maximum

A system for controlling the rotational speed of either an alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) motor by varying the voltage to the electrical power supplied to the motor