APPENDIX I
GLOSSARY
ABRASION— Wearing away of a surface by friction,
either by motion while in contact with another part,
or by mechanical cleaning or resurfacing with abra-
sive cloth or compound.
ADDITIVES— Chemicals added in minor proportions
to fuels or lubricants to create, enhance, or inhibit
selected properties; for example, fuel system icing
inhibitor (FSII).
ADHESIVE— Sticky or tenacious; glue.
AMBIENT— Encompassing on all sides, as tempera-
ture.
AMMETER— Electrical instrument for measuring the
flow of current.
ANODE— The positively charged electrode of an elec-
trolytic cell.
ANSI— Abbreviation for American National Standards
Institute.
ANTIFREEZE— A substance having a low freezing
point, usually used to inhibit freezing of cooling
system fluids in engines.
API— Abbreviation for American Petroleum Institute.
API GRAVITY— Petroleum industry scale for meas-
uring the density of oils, adopted by the American
Petroleum Institute.
ARC— A luminous, electrical discharge across a gap in
a circuit or two electrodes, as in arc welding.
ASTM— Abbreviation for the American Society for
Testing Materials.
AUTOIGNITION TEMPERATURE— The tempera-
ture at which a substance will ignite without further
addition of energy (heat, spark, or flame) from an
outside source.
AVGAS— Common term for aviation gasoline.
BALLAST— Water, usually salt water, earned in cargo
tanks when free of petroleum products to reduce
buoyancy and improve stability and sea-keeping
qualities. Ballast may be clean or dirty, depending
on whether it is contaminated with petroleum prod-
ucts.
BARREL— Measure of volume as used in the petro-
leum industry, equivalent to 42 U.S. gallons.
BLACK OIL— general term applied to crude oil and
the heavier and the darker colored petroleum prod-
ucts such as residual fuel oils.
BONDING— See GROUND.
BOOM— Flexible floating barrier consisting of linked
segments designed to contain free oil on the surface
of a body of water.
BOOSTER PUMP— Pump installed along the run of
a long pipeline to increase (boost) the pressure.
BOTTOM LOADING— Method of filling tank trucks
or tank cars through a leakproof connection at the
bottom.
BREAKAWAY COUPLING— Coupling designed to
part easily with a moderate pull.
BREATHING— The movement of vapors in and out
of the vent lines of storage tanks because of natural
heating or cooling.
BS&W— Common abbreviation for bottom sediment
and water; a test made on some heavier petroleum
products to show the approximate amount of sedi-
ment and water.
Btu— Abbreviation for British thermal unit, a unit of
heat commonly used in heat engineering. It is the
amount of heat necessary to raise the temperature
of 1 pound of water one degree Fahrenheit.
BULK STORAGE TANK— A fixed tank used to re-
ceive, store, and issue fuel for further transporta-
tion, storage, handling, or treatment before it
reaches art operating tank.
CALIBILITION— Adjustment of the scale of a gradu-
ated device (such as a pressure gage) to meet an
established standard.
COz— Chemical notation for carbon dioxide, a heavy,
colorless gas that will not support combustion. It is
used for fighting small fires and in protection sys-
tems in MOGAS and JP-5 spaces aboard ship.
CATHODE— The negatively charged electrode of an
electrolytic cell.
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