| Backfitting |
| Modifying equipment to make changes or add features that have been included in later models, often done for energy conservation reasons. Also called retrofitting. |
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| Background Radiation |
| The natural ionizing radiation of man's environment, including cosmic rays from outer space, naturally radioactive elements in the ground, and naturally radioactive elements in the human body. |
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| Balance of Payments |
| A tabulation of a nation's transactions with the rest of the world, showing the extent to which domestic goods, services and assets have been transferred to foreign countries and vice versa. |
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| Balance of Trade |
| The difference between receipts from foreign sources for a nation's goods and services and payments to foreign sources for imported goods and services. |
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| Banking of Energy |
| The storage of energy by one electrical utility in the form of water in the reserves of another. |
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| Barrel |
| The standard measurement in the oil industry. A barrel of oil equals 42 U.S. gallons or 0.158987 m3. The measurement originates from the wooden barrels used to transport oil in the early days of oil production. |
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| Base Load |
| The minimum continuous electricity load over a given period of time. |
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| Base Load Capacity |
| Electricity generating equipment that operates to meet the demand that continues throughout the year. |
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| Basic Oxygen Furnace |
| A process used in steel making. In this process molten raw iron, with added lime, is subjected to jets of pure oxygen. The oxygen burns out the carbon to produce steel. |
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| Battery |
| Equipment used to process or store crude oil from one or more wells. |
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| Benchmark Price |
| A benchmark is a standard by which things are measured. A frequently used benchmark price for oil is the price set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for Arabian Light crude, a 34o API gravity oil produced in Saudi Arabia. The other OPEC nations set their official prices in accordance with agreed differentials from the benchmark price. |
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| Benzene |
| One of the aromatic hydrocarbons, produced from crude oil via fractional distillation and cataytic reforming, or from toluene via dealkylation. Large amounts of benzene are used in motor fuels without separation from the hydrocarbon mixture. When separated, it is used in the manufacture of several chemicals, including syrene, phenol and cyclohexane. |
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| Beta Particle |
| A light particle produced by radioactive decay. It can be either positively charged (positron) or negatively charged (negatron), although the latter is more often found. A negative beta particle is identical to an electron. |
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| Beyond Economic Reach Reserves |
| Those establised reserves that, because of size, geographic location or composition, are not considered economically feasible for connection to a pipeline at the present time. |
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| Biomass |
| Any kind of organic substance, such as wood, dry plants or organic wastes, that can be turned into fuel. |
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| Bit |
| The cutting or boring element used in drilling oil and gas wells. |
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| Bitumen |
| Hydrocarbon material of natural or pyrogenous origin, which may be gaseous, liquid, semi-solid or solid and is completely soluble in carbon disulfide. Bitumens are found in asphalt and mineral waxes. Generealy used in industry to mean heavy oil. The term is also used to refer to the components of coal that are soluble in organic solvents. |
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| Bituminous Coal |
| High-quality coal with a high percentage of pure carbon, low ash and low moisture content, and a heat content of approximately 26-70 GJ/tonne. Also called "soft coal". ASTM Coal classification by rank on a mineral matter free basis and with bed moisture only: low volatile Dry fixed carbon - at least 78% but less than 86%, dry volatile matter - 22% or less but more than 14%. medium volatile Dry fixed carbon - at least 69% but less than 78%, dry volatile matter - 31% or less but more than 22%. high volatile (A) Dry fixed carbon - less than 69%, dry volatile matter - more than 31%, moist Btu - 33 GJ/tonne or more. high volatile (B) Moist Btu - at least 30 GJ/tonne but less than 33 GJ/tonne. |
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| Blowdown |
| The production of gas, either from the gas cap of an oil reservoir (normally after depletion of the oil), or from a cycled gas pool upon cessation of the cycling operation. |
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| Blow-Out |
| Uncontrolled flow of gas, oil or other well fluids from a well during drilling due to formation pressure exceeding the pressure exerted by the column of drilling mud. |
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| Blow-Out Preventers (BOPS) |
| High pressure wellhead valves, designed to shut off the uncontrolled flow of hydrocarbons. |
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| Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) |
| A nuclear power reactor cooled and moderated by light water and fuelled by enriched uranium. The water is allowed to boil in the core to generate steam, which passes directly to the turbine. |
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| Borehole |
| The hole as drilled by the drill bit. |
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| Breakout |
| The act of unscrewing one section of pipe from another section. |
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| Break up |
| The early spring of the year, generally during April and May, when the frost comes out of the ground causing softening and heaving of the roadbeds or muskeg. |
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| Breeder Reactor |
| Usually a reactor that creates more fissionable fuel than it consumes. In some usages, a reactor that produces the same kind of fissionable fuel that it consumes, regardless of the amount. The additional fissionable material is created when neutrons are absorbed in fertile materials. The process in both usages is known as breeding. |
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| British Thermal Unit (Btu) |
| The mean British thermal unit is 1/180 of the heat required to raise the temperature of 1 lb of water from 32oF to 212oF at a constant atmospheric pressure. It is approximately equal to the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 lb of water by 1oF. A Btu is equivalent to 252 calories; 3,413 Btu is equivalent to 1 kilowatt-hour. |
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| Bunker C Oil |
| Residual fuel oil of high viscosity, commonly used in marine and stationary power plants. Also referred to as Number 6 fuel oil. |
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| Butane |
| A colourless, odourless hydrocarbon gas, liquefied at relatively low pressure and therefore easily stored in cylinder for use as a fuel. Butane (C4H10) is the heaviest of the three natural gas liquids, and is a by-product of natural gas processing plants and petroleum refineries. There are two isomers of butane: normal butane and isobutane. |
