Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
l'appel d'énergie réactive
English translation:
reactive loads
Added to glossary by
Tony M
Apr 15, 2013 15:32
11 yrs ago
1 viewer *
French term
France
l'appel d'énergie réactive
French to English
Tech/Engineering
Energy / Power Generation
grid management
In a document about Smart Grids:
Seul l'apport énergétique de la partie active est utile. Le but de la compensation de l'énergie réactive est de réduire le courant soutiré sur le réseau. En effet, l'appel d'énergie réac- tive sur les réseaux de distribution est d’autant plus important que la consommation, donc l’appel global, d’électricité, par certains capteurs est importante.
L’appel d’énergie réactive génère des surcharges au niveau des transformateurs et l'échauffement des câbles d'alimen- tation, ainsi que des pertes supplémentaires et des chutes de tension importantes.
its "l'appel de" that I am having troubles with,
various ideas: flow; demand
Seul l'apport énergétique de la partie active est utile. Le but de la compensation de l'énergie réactive est de réduire le courant soutiré sur le réseau. En effet, l'appel d'énergie réac- tive sur les réseaux de distribution est d’autant plus important que la consommation, donc l’appel global, d’électricité, par certains capteurs est importante.
L’appel d’énergie réactive génère des surcharges au niveau des transformateurs et l'échauffement des câbles d'alimen- tation, ainsi que des pertes supplémentaires et des chutes de tension importantes.
its "l'appel de" that I am having troubles with,
various ideas: flow; demand
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +1 | reactive loads |
Tony M
|
| 3 | effect / presence of reactive power |
rkillings
|
Change log
Apr 19, 2013 08:46: Tony M Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
+1
6 mins
Selected
reactive loads
First of all, I think this is one of those cases where FR uses def. art. + sg. where in EN we would use pl with no art. to refer to a generalized case.
'courant d'appel' is of course 'inrush OR surge current' — but here I think we are talking in wider terms, of 'the current being drawn'.
Literally, one might say 'reactive current draw', but I think that would be very unnatural and clunky here, so I suggest my streamlined version, which does, however, require you to use the 'generalizing plural' — just see how nicely it fits into your occurrences given here!
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Note added at 8 mins (2013-04-15 15:41:28 GMT)
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I suppose to be closer to the original, it ought to be '(the current drawn by) reactive loads' — but I think that is clumsy and unnecessary in EN.
Note too, of course, that we are strictly speaking talking about 'énergie', not current — terms that often get bandied about, sometimes correctly, sometimes not ;-)
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Note added at 29 mins (2013-04-15 16:02:46 GMT)
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That's exactly why you MUST use the plural here, to differentiate these 'loads'; but you wouldn't get 'consommation' that would be 'reactive' in EN, so there should be no confusion; I'd suggest possibly looking for an alterantive translation for 'consommation' if the juxtaposition appears really awkward. You'll almost certainly find it harder to find a synonym for 'loads' here ;-)
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Note added at 30 mins (2013-04-15 16:03:20 GMT)
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For example, there are times like your 'pic de consommation' where 'peak demand' might well be a better option.
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Note added at 1 day3 hrs (2013-04-16 19:03:00 GMT)
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Use something different for 'consommation', as has been suggested elsewhere.
'courant d'appel' is of course 'inrush OR surge current' — but here I think we are talking in wider terms, of 'the current being drawn'.
Literally, one might say 'reactive current draw', but I think that would be very unnatural and clunky here, so I suggest my streamlined version, which does, however, require you to use the 'generalizing plural' — just see how nicely it fits into your occurrences given here!
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 mins (2013-04-15 15:41:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I suppose to be closer to the original, it ought to be '(the current drawn by) reactive loads' — but I think that is clumsy and unnecessary in EN.
Note too, of course, that we are strictly speaking talking about 'énergie', not current — terms that often get bandied about, sometimes correctly, sometimes not ;-)
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 29 mins (2013-04-15 16:02:46 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
That's exactly why you MUST use the plural here, to differentiate these 'loads'; but you wouldn't get 'consommation' that would be 'reactive' in EN, so there should be no confusion; I'd suggest possibly looking for an alterantive translation for 'consommation' if the juxtaposition appears really awkward. You'll almost certainly find it harder to find a synonym for 'loads' here ;-)
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Note added at 30 mins (2013-04-15 16:03:20 GMT)
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For example, there are times like your 'pic de consommation' where 'peak demand' might well be a better option.
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Note added at 1 day3 hrs (2013-04-16 19:03:00 GMT)
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Use something different for 'consommation', as has been suggested elsewhere.
Note from asker:
| Thanks for your suggestion : my only concern is that it's possible to translate 'consommation' by load (i.e. pic de consommation = peak load) and in the sentence they are used as different comparable elements |
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks Tony, for your invaluable input!"
1 day 3 hrs
effect / presence of reactive power
Not one of my fields, but since you asked:
I'd forget about plugging in a semantic equivalent of 'appel' and substituting another noun, e.g., 'effect' in the first instance, 'presence' in the second. I think these work in this context.
The interesting issue is the use of 'appel' here in FR. I suspect it means 'the calling / drawing forth', in the same way that 'appel d'air' describes the draft or intake of combustion air to a flame.
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Note added at 1 day8 hrs (2013-04-16 23:46:12 GMT)
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I will add that 'reactive power' (Q) is one of the trio of AC power components, along with 'real' or 'active' (P) and 'apparent' (S) power. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor for the equation in the sinusoidal case.
No need to be talking about 'load' when the French text is talking about 'énergie'.
And of course I meant 'substitute', not 'substituting', in my second paragraph above.
I'd forget about plugging in a semantic equivalent of 'appel' and substituting another noun, e.g., 'effect' in the first instance, 'presence' in the second. I think these work in this context.
The interesting issue is the use of 'appel' here in FR. I suspect it means 'the calling / drawing forth', in the same way that 'appel d'air' describes the draft or intake of combustion air to a flame.
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Note added at 1 day8 hrs (2013-04-16 23:46:12 GMT)
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I will add that 'reactive power' (Q) is one of the trio of AC power components, along with 'real' or 'active' (P) and 'apparent' (S) power. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor for the equation in the sinusoidal case.
No need to be talking about 'load' when the French text is talking about 'énergie'.
And of course I meant 'substitute', not 'substituting', in my second paragraph above.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Tony M
: But here, we're not really talking about the 'reactive power', but rather the reactive load drawing that power. It's a subtle, possibly unimportant difference, but I think we need to start by analysing why 'appel' was used, and then go from there...
6 mins
|
Discussion
The first term is grander and more abstract; it describes in physical terms what you are doing when you do it. The second term is plainer and more concrete: it invokes a dimensionless but measurable characteristic (of the load as seen from a point in the network) and describes what you accomplish when you change it in the desired direction.
No points for identifying which of the terms is more common in the Romance languages and which is more common in English.
Normally, power factor correction is achieved locally at the consuming device — or at least, at the consumer end of the transmission line.
But here, if I am reading the all-too-scant context correctly, I believe we are talking about what the power provider may have to do to compensate for (the current drawn by) reactive loads, which probably calls for a slightly different translation treatment.
This is one of those frequent technical fields where a word-for-word approach simply won't do, and you need to treat the expression as a whole and on a per-occurrence basis to boot.
The idea of 'appel' here is the 'load', but you do need to work that idea into the expression as a whole.
See http://www.powervar.com/education_details.php?id=11 for "reactive loads"