How many of you sang "Auld Lang Syne," the Scottish poem based on Robert Burns', the national Poet of Scotland, ballad this New Year’s Eve as we entered into 2022? The title, translated literally into English, is "Old Long Since." The words can be interpreted as a farewell or ending to occasions of the past.
In the HVAC industry, see if you know all of these words, expressions, equipment, and systems that have heard their Auld Land Syne sung:
Words and Expressions
- No. 6, 5, and 4 fuel oil: Used frequently to serve steam boiler plants in hospitals, industries, and schools up to the mid-1970s, before the energy crisis and fuel shortage hit America.
- Steam tank heater: Used to heat No. 6 fuel oil (Bunker C heavy fossil fuel) to maintain fuel oil at 104°-122°F within the fuel oil tank.
- Electro-pneumatic (EP) and pressure-electric switches: EP and PE switches were standard controller devices in pneumatic air control systems before electrical controls systems took hold in the 1970s and 80s, the predecessor to today’s building automation systems (BASs).
- Silicon controlled rectifier (SCR): A solid state switching device designed to provide infinitely variable proportional control of electric power, often used as the next generation of electrical controls in the late 20th century.
- Equivalence of direct radiation (EDR): A standardized comparison method for estimating the output of a radiator or convector (which were cast-iron construction at one point of time).