MI 205 FLUID MECHANICS

LECTURE 4

B. K. Gandhi
Pressure measurement
Manometry. (Munson et al.)

 A standard technique for measuring pressure involves the

use of liquid columns in vertical or inclined tubes, known
as manometers.
 Three common types of manometers are: Piezometer
tube, U- tube and Inclined tube.
Fundamentals
• Pressure laws:
– Pressure is measured as force per unit area

Force (F)
Pressure (P) =
Area (A)
 Sources of pressure
 Pressure driven equipment (IC engines, turbines,
etc.)
 Pneumatic or Hydraulic mechanical elements
 Biomedical applications (Blood Pressure,
Barometric Chambers)
 Losses in pipes and ducts – energy efficiency
 Atmospheric conditions (weather forecast, altitude)
 Indirect measurement of flow rate or velocity
 Many, many more ...
 Pressure measurement scales
 There are four basic scales used to measure pressure:
Gage pressure
Absolute pressure
Differential pressure
Vacuum pressure
 Differential pressure
Differential pressure is used to express the difference
between two measured pressures
It is determined by subtracting the lower reading from the
higher reading
 Fluid pressure can be defined as the measure of force per–unit–area
exerted by a fluid, acting perpendicularly to any surface it contacts

 Absolute pressure refers to the absolute value

of the force per–unit–area exerted on a surface
by a fluid.
 Gauge pressure is the measurement of the
difference between the absolute pressure and
the local atmospheric pressure.
 Differential pressure is simply the
measurement of one unknown pressure with
reference to another unknown pressure.
 TYPES
OF
PRESSURE

ATMOSPHERI
GAUGE ABSOLUTE
C
PRESSURE PRESSURE
PRESSURE
Static and dynamic pressure measurement

Dynamic pressure = Stagnation pressure (A) - Static pressure (B)

SI Units
1 N/m2 = 1 Pascal (Pa)
1 std. atmosphere (atm) = 1.01325 x 105 N/m2
= 10.332 meters of water column
1 bar = 105 N/m2
Table 1: Conversion Table for Common Units of Pressure
kPa mm Hg millibar Meter of water psi
column (mwc)

1 atm 101.325 760.000 1013.25 10.332 14.6960

1 kPa 1.000 7.50062 10.000 0.102 0.145038

1 mm Hg 0.133322 1.000 1.33322 0.0136 0.0193368

1 millibar 0.1000 0.750062 1.000 0.0102 0.0145038

1 m of water 9.806 72.554 2.49081 1.000 1.421

1 psi 6.89473 51.7148 68.9473 0.703 1.000

1 mm H2O 0.009806 0.07355 9.8 x 10–8 0.001 0.0014223

 Pressure units

System Length Force Mass Time Pressure

MKS Meter Newton kg Sec N/m2 =

Pascal

CGS CM Dyne Gram Sec D/cm2

English Inch Pound Slug Sec PSI

 How much is a Pascal (Pa)
• A Newton is the force necessary to
accelerate a mass of 1 kg at a rate of 1
meter per second per second.
• The acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/sec2
• The force due to gravity on a 1 kg mass is
9.8 N is 1 kg weight.
• 1 Newton is 0.102 kg weight.
 How much is a Pascal (Pa)
1 N/m2 is a very small pressure
Therefore kiloPascal (kPa)
1 atmosphere (14.7 psi, 750mm of Hg) is
approximately 100 kPa = 1 bar
1 kPa is about 7 mm of Hg
1% of a gas at our altitude is about 7 mm of
Hg
 SIMPLE
MANOMETERS

SIMPLE U-TUBE SINGLE COLUMN

PIEZOMETER
MANOMETER MANOMETER
 DIFFERENTIAL U-
TUBE
MANOMETER
DIFFERENTIAL
MANOMETERS INVERTED U-
TUBE
DIFFERENTIAL
MANOMETER
 Capacitance Manometer
A capacitance sensor operates by measuring the change
in electrical capacitance that results from the
movement of a sensing diaphragm relative to some
fixed capacitance electrodes.

The higher the process vacuum, the farther it will pull

the measuring diaphragm away from the fixed
capacitance plates.

The amount of voltage required is directly related to the

pressure.

The great advantage of a capacitance gauge is its ability

to detect extremely small diaphragm movements.
Accuracy is typically 0.25 to 0.5% of reading.
Betz Micro manometer
•The Betz micro
manometer is an
instrument to measure low
air or gas pressures or
pressure differences with
high accuracy and
unparalleled long-term
stability.
•This primary instrument is
used for the calibration of
pressure measurement
instruments.
Applications Betz Micromanometer
• As factory standard for the calibration of pressure
measurement instruments.
• Precise and reliable measurement of extremely small
pressure differences.
• Continuous display of (extremely small) pressure
differences.
• Examples:
– Pitot tubes
– orifices
– wind tunnels
– air measurement trajectories
– chimney stacks
Read out of Betz Micromanometers
Read out of Betz Micromanometers
Main components
Connections of Betz Micromanometers