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Chemical Engineering vocabulary · Plant Equipment and Operations

Utilities

Meaning in chemical engineering, with examples

/juːˈtɪlətiz/nounCore term

In chemical engineering, utilities means: The supporting services a process plant needs to run, such as steam, cooling water, electricity, instrument air, nitrogen, fuel gas and demineralized water.

In Turkish: yardımcı işletmeler, yardımcı tesisler, utility

How it is used

Used in design, operations and cost estimates. Engineers calculate utility consumption, size utility systems and include utility costs in operating cost. A utility failure, such as loss of cooling water or power, is a key scenario in safety studies.

Example sentences

  1. Utilities make up about 30% of the operating cost, mostly steam and power.

  2. Before start-up, confirm that all utilities are available: steam, nitrogen and instrument air.

Common collocations

  • utility consumption
  • utility failure
  • utilities area
  • utility systems
  • instrument air
  • compressorA machine that raises the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. The main types are centrifugal, reciprocating and screw compressors.
  • purgeTo clear a vessel or pipe of air, flammable gas or toxic material by flushing it with an inert gas such as nitrogen, or with steam, before opening it or starting it up.
  • heat dutyThe amount of heat that a heat exchanger, reboiler, condenser or furnace must transfer per unit time, usually given in kW or MW.
  • energy balanceA calculation that tracks all the energy entering and leaving a system as heat, work and the enthalpy of the streams, so that heating and cooling needs can be found.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Plant Equipment and Operations

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