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Term |
Description |
| Adiabatic | A process where energy is self-contained. A thermodynamic process (i.e. energy conversion) in which no heat is transferred to or from the working fluid |
| Aromatics | Organic compounds with benzene rings |
| Associated gas | Associated Gas is a natural gas which is found in association with crude oil either dissolved in the oil or as a cap of free gas above the oil |
| ATR | Autothermal Reforming |
| BAR or bar or bara | A unit of pressure equal to 100 kilopascals, and roughly equal to the atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level. |
| BoD | Basis of Design |
| BPD or bpd or bblsd | Barrels Per Day |
| Catalyst | This is a substance that initiates or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected |
| CNG | Compressed natural gas |
| CO2 | Carbon Dioxide |
| CPOX | Catalytic partial oxidation |
| Cetane number | A measurement of the combustion quality of diesel fuel during compression ignition |
| CFD modelling | Computational Fluid Dynamics modelling is an established branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical methods and algorithms to solve and analyze problems that involve fluid flows |
| CTL | Coal to liquids is the process of coal liquefaction – allows coal to be utilized as an alternative to oil. There are two different methods for converting coal into liquid fuels: Direct liquefaction works by dissolving the coal in a solvent at high temperature and pressure. Indirect liquefaction gasifies the coal to form a ‘Syngas’ (a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide). The Syngas is then condensed over a catalyst – the ‘Fischer-Tropsch’ process – to produce high quality, ultra-clean products. |
| Denim water | Treated water to a specification where no minerals are present so that it can be used as feed to a boiler in order to generate steam |
| Endothermic | This describes a process or reaction in which the system absorbs energy from the surroundings in the form of heat |
| Exothermic | This describes a process or reaction that releases energy usually in the form of heat, but also in the form of light or sound |
| FEED | Front-end engineering and design |
| Fischer-Tropsch (‘FT’) | A method of converting Syngas using a metal catalyst to string together the carbon and hydrogen molecules into long-chain hydrocarbons: H2 + CO à -(CH2)n- +H2O |
| Gas cleaning | A process by which impurities such as sulfur and heavy metals are removed from the gas |
| GTL | Gas to liquids is a process that involves feeding pipeline quality natural gas (methane) into a reformer or generator where it is converted into Syngas, a combination of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Subsequently, the Syngas is processed through a Fisher-Tropsch reactor, where it is converted into GTL fuels (Synthetic crudes). A conventional GTL process then requires these hydrocarbons to be upgraded to high quality liquids. |
| H2/CO | Hydrogen to carbon monoxide ratio, used in GTL and chemical industry |
| HP | High pressure |
| HRSG | Heat Recovery Steam Generation |
| LDPE Plants | Low Density Polyethylene plant |
| LNG | Liquefied natural gas or LNG is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4) that has been converted temporarily to liquid form for ease of storage or transport |
| LP | Low pressure |
| LTFT | Low Temperature Fischer-Tropsch system |
| MP | Medium Pressure |
| Naphtha | Refers to a number of different flammable liquid mixtures of hydrocarbons, boiling in a certain range and containing certain hydrocarbons and is the lightest and most volatile fraction of the liquid hydrocarbons in petroleum. Naphtha is a colorless to reddish-brown volatile aromatic liquid, very similar to gasoline |
| NOx | This stands for nitrogen oxygen and a NOx sensor is typically a high temperature device built to detect nitrogen oxides in combustion environments |
| Oxidation | This is the process of adding oxygen to a compound with a loss of electrons |
| Oxygen Distributor | A device by which oxygen is distributed evenly into a chamber |
| pMR TM | Gas2 Porous Membrane Reactor core |
| POX | Partial oxidation |
| Plate technology | Heat transfer technology, usually in the form of ‘square plates’ with a high heat surface transfer area |
| Porous zone | Area of a membrane with high number of pores or micro channels |
| Reactants | Species that react to generate products |
| SCF or scf | Standard cubic feet |
| SCFD or scfd | Standard cubic feet per day |
| Skid mounted | Manufactured equipment is permanently mounted on a metal pan, rails or frame for easy and secure transportation |
| SMR | Steam Methane Reforming |
| Solid ionic membrane | A semi permeable membrane that allows passage of ions when an electric field is applied |
| STP | Standard Temperatures and Pressures. According to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) standard conditions are measurements taken at a temperature of 0 °C (32 °F) and an absolute pressure of 1bar (100 kPa , 0.986 atm) |
| Stranded gas | A stranded gas reserve is a natural gas field that has been discovered, but remains unusable for either physical or economic reasons |
| Syncrude | Equivalent of synthetic oil. One barrel of Syncrude is more pure, clean and made up of lighter components than a barrel of crude |
| Syndiesel | Synthetic diesel equivalent of diesel oil, but with a negligible or non-existing content of sulfur |
| Syngas | Syngas is the abbreviation for synthesis gas. This is a gas mixture that comprises of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The Syngas is produced due to the gasification of a carbon containing fuel into a gaseous product that has some heating value. Subsequently, the Syngas is processed through a Fisher-Tropsch reactor where it is converted into GTL fuels (Synthetic fuels). |
| Synthetic fuels | Synthetic fuel or Synfuel is a liquid fuel obtained from coal, natural gas, oil shale, or biomass. It may also refer to fuels derived from other solids such as plastics or rubber waste |
| Tail Gas | Residual gas after a chemical process, usually with some methane content |