- Karman Vortex Streets
- A repeating pattern of swirling vortices caused by the unsteady separation of fluid flow around a blunt body. In industrial engineering, understanding this phenomenon is critical to preventing structural failure from vortex-induced vibrations in heat exchangers, stacks, and piping.
- Kigali Amendment
- An international treaty to phase down the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are potent greenhouse gases. In thermal engineering, it drives the transition toward low-global-warming-potential (GWP) natural refrigerants and synthetic alternatives.
- Kilo Tonnes Of Oil Equivalent
- A standardized unit of energy representing the amount of energy released by burning 1,000 tonnes of crude oil, used to compare different energy sources on a common scale.
- Kinematic Constraints
- Physical restrictions placed on a system to limit its degrees of freedom or movement. In thermal design, they must be carefully engineered to allow necessary thermal expansion while securely holding components in alignment.
- Kinematic Mounting Schemes
- Precision mounting designs that constrain exactly the six degrees of freedom of a component without over-constraining it. This allows for thermal expansion and contraction without introducing distorting mechanical stresses or losing alignment.
- Kinetic Power Density
- A metric representing the amount of kinetic energy available per unit of cross-sectional area in a moving fluid flow, such as water or wind. It is crucial for assessing site viability and optimizing turbine rotor designs to achieve maximum energy conversion efficiency.
- Learn more: Heat Exchangers for Power Generation →
- Knudsen Effect
- A phenomenon where gas transport behavior changes because the mean free path of gas molecules is greater than or equal to the pore diameter of the containing medium. This effect is leveraged in nanoporous industrial insulation to drastically reduce gas-phase thermal conduction.
- Kraft Pulping Process
- A chemical pulping method that uses sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide to break down lignin in wood fibers. It is the dominant industrial process for paper production, relying heavily on efficient chemical recovery to remain viable.
- Kármán Vortex Street
- A Kármán vortex street is a repeating pattern of swirling vortices caused by the unsteady separation of fluid flow around a bluff body. It is critical in industrial engineering for mitigating structural fatigue from vortex-induced vibrations and for designing vortex-resonance energy harvesters.