Dosing generally applies to feeding

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

s or

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

s when used in small quantities. For medicines the term '' dose'' is generally used. In the case of inanimate objects the word dosing is typical. The term dose titration, referring to stepwise adjustment of doses until a desired level of effect is reached, is common in

Engineering

The word ''dosing'' is very commonly used by

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

s in thermal

power stations A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

, in water treatment, in any industry where

steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

is being generated, and in building services for heating and cooling water treatment. Dosing procedures are also in vogue in

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

and similar industries where chemical treatment is involved. Commercial

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

s also require chemical dosing in order to control pH balance,

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between ...

level, and other such water quality criteria. Modern swimming pool plant will have bulk storage of chemicals held in separate dosing tanks, and will have automated controls and dosing pumps also called metering pump to top up the various chemicals as required to control the water quality. In a power station treatment chemicals are injected or fed to

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

and also to feed and make up water under

pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and eve ...

, but in small dosages or rate of

injection Injection or injected may refer to: Science and technology * Injective function, a mathematical function mapping distinct arguments to distinct values * Injection (medicine), insertion of liquid into the body with a syringe * Injection, in broadca ...

. The feeding at all places is done by means of small capacity dosing

pump A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes Slurry, slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic or pneumatic energy. Mechanical pumps serve in a wide range of application ...

s specially designed for the duty demanded. In building services the water quality of various pumped fluid systems, including for heating, cooling, and condensate water, will be regularly checked and topped up with chemicals manually as required to suit the required water quality. Most commonly

inhibitor Inhibitor or inhibition may refer to: Biology * Enzyme inhibitor, a substance that binds to an enzyme and decreases the enzyme's activity * Reuptake inhibitor, a substance that increases neurotransmission by blocking the reuptake of a neurotransmi ...

s will be added to protect the pipework and components against corrosion, or a

biocide A biocide is defined in the European legislation as a chemical substance or microorganism intended to destroy, deter, render harmless, or exert a controlling effect on any harmful organism. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses a sli ...

will be added to stop the growth of bacteria in lower temperature systems. The required chemicals will be added to the fluid system by use of a dosing pot; a multi-valved chamber in which the chemical can be added, and then introduced to the fluid system in a controlled manner. In food industries, the dosing of ingredients is particularly important in order to ensure the quality of the recipe as well as its food safety where the consumers' health may be directly implicated. Dosing is done in wet processes with dosing pumps but even more importantly in dry processes, just prior to the packaging of the product. Dosing of dry materials is commonly done through Gain-in-Weight dosing or Loss-in-Weight dosing using equipment on load cells.

Agriculture

See pesticide application The feeding of chemicals in

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

has also become common due to technology developments. However agricultural dosing is done by means of hand held pressure spray pumps.

Aerial spraying

Sometimes aerial spraying of chemicals by fixed quantities at intervals or dosing is also adopted for agricultural spraying or for atmospheric spraying for eliminating certain types of harmful

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

References

{{Reflist Engineering concepts Agricultural terminology Pharmacodynamics