BUILDING INSPECTION |
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Construction and building inspectors examine buildings, highways and streets, sewer and water systems, dams, bridges, and other structures to ensure that their construction, alteration, or repair complies with building codes and ordinances, zoning regulations, and contract specifications. Building codes and standards are the primary means by which building construction is regulated in the United States for the health and safety of the general public. National model building codes are published by the International Code Council (ICC), although many localities have additional ordinances and codes that modify or add to the National model codes. To monitor compliance with regulations, inspectors make an initial inspection during the first phase of construction and follow up with further inspections throughout the construction project. However, no inspection is ever exactly the same. In areas where certain types of severe weather or natural disasterssuch as earthquakes or hurricanesare more common, inspectors monitor compliance with additional safety regulations designed to protect structures and occupants during those events.
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CONVEYORS |
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A conveyor belt or belt conveyor consists of two end pulleys, with a continuous loop of material that rotates about them. The pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the material on the belt forward. Conveyor belts are extensively used to transport industrial and agricultural materials, such as grain, coal, ores, etc. Conveyor belts with regularly spaced partitions are often called elevator belts. Conveyor belts are used in self-unloading bulk freighters and in live bottom trucks. This technology is also used in conveyor transport such as moving sidewalks or escalators, as well as on many manufacturing assembly lines. Stores often have conveyor belts at the check-out counter to move shopping items. Ski areas also use conveyor belts to transport skiers up the hill.
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COOLING TOWERS |
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Cooling towers are structures for cooling water or other working medium to near-ambient temperature. The primary use of large, industrial cooling towers is to lower the temperature of the cooling water used in power plants, petroleum refineries, petrochemical plants, natural gas processing plants and other industrial facilities. It is desirable to cool the water rather than simply discharging it because the cooling water is typically demineralized and it is cheaper to cool it rather than getting more demineralized water. Furthermore, discharging large amounts of hot water may raise the temperature of the receiving river or lake to an unacceptable level for the local ecosystem. A cooling tower serves to dissipate the heat into the atmosphere instead and wind and air diffusion spreads the heat over a much larger area than hot water can distribute heat in a body of water.
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DIGITAL TELEVISION |
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DTV can be used to carry more channels in the same amount of bandwidth than analog TV (6 MHz or 7 MHz in Europe) and to receive high-definition programming. The digital signal eliminates common analog broadcasting artifacts such as "ghosting", "snow", and static noises in audio. However, when the signal is transmitted at a too low data rate DTV replaces these artifacts with new MPEG compression artifacts, such as "blocking", and may fail to work entirely in situations where analog television would have produced an impaired but watchable picture. Depending on the sophistication and level of the error correction defined by the technical standard that the broadcaster complies with, DTV may either work perfectly or not work at all.
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LIQUIFIED PETROLEUM GAS - LPG - LP GAS |
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Liquified petroleum gas (also called liquefied petroleum gas, liquid petroleum gas, LPG, LP Gas, or autogas) is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles, and increasingly replacing chlorofluorocarbons as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant to reduce damage to the ozone layer. Varieties of LPG bought and sold include mixes that are primarily propane, mixes that are primarily butane, and mixes including both propane and butane, depending on the seasonin winter more propane, in summer more butane. Propylene and butylenes are usually also present in small concentration. A powerful odorant, ethanethiol, is added so that leaks can be detected easily. LPG is manufactured during the refining of crude oil, or extracted from oil or gas streams as they emerge from the ground.
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