Meaning & use
noncondensable
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivenot comparabletechnicalphysics
Describing a gas that does not turn into a liquid under the temperature and pressure conditions of a given system.
Grammar: Often before gas or gases: noncondensable gas.
Patterns
- noncondensable gas
Air in a steam condenser is a noncondensable gas that lowers efficiency.
Engineers vent noncondensable gases from the cooling loop.
Noncondensable gases collected at the top of the tank.
Common combinations
- noncondensable gas
- A pump removes noncondensable gas from the system.
- noncondensable gases
- Noncondensable gases reduce heat transfer in the condenser.
- noncondensable fraction
- The noncondensable fraction rose after a small leak.
- remove noncondensables
- A vacuum pump helps remove noncondensables.
Synonyms and how they differ
- permanent gas
- Permanent gas is an older term for gases that were hard to liquefy, while noncondensable depends on the conditions of a specific system.
- incondensable
- Incondensable has the same meaning but is rarer and more literary.
Opposites
Word family
- condense verb
- to turn from gas into liquid
- condensation noun
- the process of vapor turning to liquid
- condensable adjective
- able to turn into liquid
- condenser noun
- a device that cools vapor into liquid
Commonly confused: noncondensable or noncombustible?
noncondensable vs noncombustible
Noncombustible means it will not burn; noncondensable means it will not turn into a liquid.
Practice
Air that stays gaseous inside a steam condenser and reduces its efficiency is called a ___ gas.
Choose one answer.
Noncondensable describes a gas that does not turn into liquid in the system. Noncombustible means it will not burn, and the others describe electricity or reactions.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “noncondensable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.