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The utilization factor or use factor is the ratio of the time that a piece of equipment is in use to the total time that it could be in use. It is often averaged over time in the definition such that the ratio becomes the amount of energy used divided by the maximum possible to be used. These definitions are equivalent.
The term is used in engineering such as mining, including areas of
The utilization factor or use factor is the ratio of the time that a piece of equipment is in use to the total time that it could be in use. It is often averaged over time in the definition such that the ratio becomes the amount of energy used divided by the maximum possible to be used. These definitions are equivalent.
The term is used in engineering such as mining, including areas of electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
, such as photovoltaics
Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commerciall ...
.
Electrical engineering
In electrical engineering, ''utilization factor'', , is the ratio of the maximum load which could be drawn to the rated capacity of the system. This is closely related to the concept of Load factor. The Load factor is the ratio of the load that a piece of equipment actually draws (time averaged) when it is in operation to the load it could draw (which we call full load). For example, an oversized motor - 15 kW - drives a constant 12 kW load whenever it is on. The motor load factor is then 12/15 = 80%. The motor above may only be used for eight hours a day, 50 weeks a year. The hours of operation would then be 2800 hours, and the motor use factor for a base of 8760 hours per year would be 2800/8760 = 31.96%. With a base of 2800 hours per year, the motor use factor would be 100%.Other definitions
In offshore pipeline engineering, it is the ratio of the maximum allowable stress to the stress generally modelled at that section. Inpower plant
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...
, utilization varies according to the demand on the plant from the electricity market.
References
See also
*Capacity factor
The net capacity factor is the unitless ratio of actual electrical energy output over a given period of time to the theoretical maximum electrical energy output over that period. The theoretical maximum energy output of a given installation is def ...
* Demand factor
In telecommunications, electronics and the electrical power industry, the term demand factor is used to refer to the fractional amount of some quantity being used relative to the maximum amount that could be used by the same system. The demand fac ...
* Load factor
Power engineering
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