I enjoyed Mr. Lair's column (OGJ, Oct. 4, 1999, p. 21). It provides me with a segue into commenting on OGJ's use of energy unit abbreviations.
"Mw" (megawatt) should be "MW," as "W" is named for James Watt, the Scottish inventor. Likewise, "k" represents kilo in the SI system, whereas "K" represents Kelvin (named for the British physicist, Lord Kelvin), the unit of absolute temperature measurement in SI (the SI analogue to "Rankine"). Therefore, "KW" should be "kW."
Apparently, there are only three nations left that do not use the SI, or metric, system: the US, Liberia, and some other smaller nation. Resistance is futile; you will be assimilated.
Timo Makinen
Senior Gas Supply Planning Engineer
BC Gas Utility Ltd.
Vancouver, BC
Phillips 66 Co.
