National foreword

This Group of BS 4727‑2 has been prepared under the direction of the General Electrotechnical Standards Policy Committee and is identical with IEC 50(436):1990 “International Electrotechnical Vocabulary — Chapter 436: Power capacitors” published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

For ease of production purposes the definitions given in French and Russian have been retained, together with the translation of the terms (but not the definitions) given in German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Polish and Swedish.

The glossary, is divided into five Parts, each of which is subdivided into Groups. Each Group will comprise the terms and definitions used in a particular branch of electrical engineering and will be issued individually as soon as it is completed. This arrangement makes it possible to add new Groups or review existing Groups at any time without affecting the remainder of the glossary.

The five Parts of the glossary are as follows.

Part 1: Terms common to power, telecommunications and electronics;
Part 2: Terms particular to power engineering;
Part 3: Terms particular to telecommunications and electronics;
Part 4: Terms particular to lighting and colour;
Part 5: Terms particular to electromedical equipment.

Fundamental and general terms common to power, telecommunications and electronics form Groups 01 and 02 of Part 1. Group 01 of Part 3 contains general terms. The specialist Groups (e.g. Groups 03 to 11 of Part 1) contain only the terms and definitions relating to their subject.

As far as has been practicable all terms and definitions established in current usage and falling within the scope of this glossary have been included. Experience has shown that it is rarely possible to replace, or even to modify, a well established term no matter what the logical or aesthetic shortcomings of that term may be. Current usage has therefore been accepted as the authority for terms and their meaning except where there has been a very good reason for doing otherwise, e.g. where terms have been considered to be fundamentally wrong, ambiguous, superfluous or in need of standardization.

Where two or more synonymous terms are in use, those which are deprecated are omitted from the body of the text but are entered in the alphabetical index with a cross-reference to the standard term. In cases where it was felt that the time was not yet right to deprecate a synonym, preferred terms are given first and the other terms are printed in less prominent type to indicate the intention to deprecate them in the course of time. Where synonyms are considered of equal value they are shown in the same type.

Where terms are used with different meanings in different branches of electrical engineering, appropriate definitions are given in the Groups of the glossary corresponding to these branches. Such a definition, when taken out of the context of its Group, should if possible be quoted with a preamble indicating its proper context.

It is to be noted that the given definition of a term represents the generally accepted meaning of that term. Under no circumstances should it be regarded as taking the place of a specification.

As far as possible the terms are arranged in a logical order proceeding from the general to the specific and from the whole to the part, and allied terms are placed close together.

In earlier editions of BS 4727, a special national numbering system was used, however, to facilitate publication of future editions of BS 4727, only the International Electrotechnical Vocabulary numbering system is used.

A general view of the position of the Group in the glossary can be obtained from the guide to the glossary. An alphabetical index of the terms of each Group is provided at the end of each Group to facilitate reference to particular terms. It is recommended that the user of any Group of the glossary should consider the Group in association with the Groups covering general or fundamental terms within the Part and with Groups 01 and 02 of Part 1.

In this glossary parentheses ( ) enclose words or phrases that are not part of the term or definition and can be omitted without affecting the meaning.

Square brackets [ ] enclose words which may replace a preceding part of an expression.

A British Standard does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a contract. Users of British Standards are responsible for their correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard does not of itself confer immunity from legal obligations.

Summary of pages

This document comprises a front cover, an inside front cover, pages i to vi, pages 1 to 25 and a back cover.

This standard has been updated (see copyright date) and may have had amendments incorporated. This will be indicated in the amendment table on the inside front cover.

Committees responsible for this British Standard

The preparation of this British Standard was entrusted by the General Electrotechnical Standards Policy Committee (GEL/-) to Technical Committee GEL/1, upon which the following bodies were represented:

Association of Consulting Engineers

British Broadcasting Corporation

Department of Trade and Industry (Radiocommunications Division)

EEA (the Association of Electronics, Telecommunications and Business Equipment Industries)

Electricity Supply Industry in United Kingdom

Institute of Physics

Institution of Electrical Engineers

This British Standard, having been prepared under the direction of the General Electrotechnical Standards Policy Committee, was published under the authority of the Standards Board and comes into effect on 28 February 1991

The following BSI references relate to the work on this standard: Committee reference GEL/1 Draft announced in BSI News January 1991

Guide to the glossary

Part 1 Terms common to power, telecommunications and electronics

Group 01 Fundamental terminology

Group 02 Electrical and magnetic devices terminology

Group 03 Relay terminology

Group 04 Measurement terminology

Group 05 Semiconductor terminology

Group 06 Electronic tube terminology

Group 07 Magnetic materials and components

Group 08 Piezo-electric device terminology

Group 09 Radio interference terminology

Group 10 Insulating solids, liquids and gases

Group 11 Printed circuits.

Titles to any further Groups will be added in due course.

Part 2 Terms particular to power engineering.

Group 01 General power terminology (withdrawn)

Group 02 Power electronics terminology

Group 03 Rotating machinery terminology

Group 04 Power transformers and reactors

Group 05 Voltage fluctuation terminology

Group 06 Switchgear and controlgear terminology (including fuse terminology)

Group 07 Tariffs terminology

Group 08 Electric cable terminology

Group 09 Transducer terminology

Group 10 Industrial electroheating terminology

Group 11 Generation, transmission and distribution of electricity terminology

Group 12 Telecontrol

Group 13 Electrical apparatus for explosive atmospheres

Group 14 Power capacitors

Group 15 Overhead lines.

Titles to any further Groups will be added in due course.

Part 3 Terms particular to telecommunications and electronics

Group 01 General telecommunication and electronics terminology

Group 02 Telephony terminology

Group 03 Telegraphy, including facsimile, terminology

Group 04 Broadcasting, radio and television terminology

Group 05 Propagation and media terminology

Group 06 Radio location and navigation terminology

Group 07 Radiocommunication terminology

Group 08 Acoustics and electro-acoustics terminology

Group 09 Waveguide terminology

Group 10 Recording and reproduction of sound and video terminology

Group 11 Space radiocommunications terminology.

Titles to any further Groups will be added in due course.

Part 4 Terms particular to lighting and colour (withdrawn)

Part 5 Terms particular to electromedical equipment.

Group 01 Radiology and radiological physics terminology.

Titles to any further Groups will be added in due course.

CHAPTER 436 POWER CAPACITORS

SECTION 436-01 GENERAL TERMS

SECTION 436-02 FUNCTIONS

SECTION 436-03 TECHNOLOGY

SECTION 436-04 OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

BS 4727-2:Group 14:1991

Glossary of electrotechnical, power, telecommunication, electronics, lighting and colour terms. Terms particular to power engineering - Power capacitors

Current

Published:

28 Feb 1991