A power plant is an industrial plant that produces some important element for society.
A power plant is an industrial plant that produces, on a large scale, electricity, gas, drinking water or another element of social importance. The concept derives from usine , a term from the French language.
A power plant, therefore, is a type of factory with a certain specialization. Depending on the context, a steel plant , a hydroelectric plant , an oil refinery and other sites can be named as power plants.
For example: "The authorities promised to carry out an exhaustive investigation into the pollution around the power plant" , "We must position the region as a dairy plant" , "I worked for more than a decade in a chemical plant" .
Power generation in a power plant
Energy generation is the activity most related to the concept of a power plant, and consists of the transformation into electrical energy of a different type, such as thermal, chemical, nuclear, solar or kinetic energy. To carry out this process it is necessary to resort to power plants , where some of these transformations are carried out, which are essential for electricity supply networks.
The fundamental component for energy generation is the so-called electric generator , a device used to ensure that a potential difference is maintained between two poles (also known as terminals or terminals ), so that mechanical energy is converted into electrical energy.
A power plant generates electricity.
The term in mining
Another field in which the term power plant is used to refer to an industrial site is mining , the economic activity that consists of exploiting or extracting minerals from deposits , areas of the soil and subsoil in which they have accumulated.
Mining can be metallic (when gold, copper, silver, lead, aluminum, mercury or iron, among others) or non- metallic (when looking for sapphire, granite, clay, mica, marble, emerald or quartz, among others). Metal mining focuses on the production of industrial items, while the other, also called quarrying and construction , focuses on raw materials for ornamentation and jewelry, as well as construction materials.
Other power plants
In steel plants, for their part, iron ore is treated to generate other types of iron ore or some of its alloys. Extraction in mines is the first step in this process, since iron is found in nature as carbonates, hydroxides, oxides, sulfides and silicates.
Another industrial platform commonly known as a power plant is the oil refinery , where a process is carried out to obtain various fossil fuels that can then be used in asphalt, mineral oils and combustion engines (such as gasoline and diesel engines).
More meanings of the concept
In everyday speech, on the other hand, many people use the term power plant to refer to the room in a rural house in which, for example, the water pump and the light engine are located.
The idea of power plant is also used to mention the environment, physical or symbolic, that contributes to the generation of ideas or non-material issues. A political analyst can affirm that a certain library is a "neoliberal powerhouse" since, in that place, intellectuals gather to spread the precepts of neoliberalism.
In a similar sense, a neighborhood can be named a "cultural powerhouse" if its streets host cultural centers, theaters and exhibition halls. This causes multiple artistic expressions to emerge from this area.
The City of Buenos Aires ( Argentina ), finally, has a state space called Usina del Arte , composed of a symphony hall, a chamber room and a microcinema, among other facilities intended for holding cultural events, such as concerts , film screenings, conferences and others.