Glossary of Engineering Terms used within the process industries.
This page is a glossary of engineering terms applicable to our Process Index process industry directory. A lot of terminology in engineering can have other meanings in the"wider world", so the definitions here should be kept in context of the process industries.

If there is any industrial terminology you do not understand and is not included in our glossary, please email us to see if we should include them on this page.

Three Letter Abbreviations. (TLAs) If you are looking for the meanings of some TLAs or acronyms used in the process industries or engineering as a whole, then please click here.

Actuator
A device used to transfer motion from one object to another. An actuator activates a movement or a process.

Compressor
A machine for compressing air or other gases.

Flowmeter
A device for monitoring and measuring the flow of a substance (typically fluid or gas).

Hazardous Area
An area that has a potentially explosive atmosphere.

Instrinsically Safe
Term applied to equipment and wiring which is incapable of releasing sufficient electrical or thermal energy under normal or abnormal conditions to cause ignition of a specific hazardous atmospheric mixture in its most easily ignited concentration.

Load Cell
A device that converts a load into an electrical signal (usually measured in mV per V excitation). Mainly used in weighing applications.

SCADA
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition

Solenoid
A cylindrical coil of wire which generates a force when an electrical current is applied. Commonly used with actuators to activate a process.

Transmitter
A device that sends a signal (typically 4-20mA) from a process location to a central location for control and monitoring.

Valve
A device that controls the flow of liquid or gas, typically through pipework.