INSTRUMENTAION AND

CONTROL ENGINEERING [ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTATION (4341703)]

PRACTICAL 2

AIM : SIMULATE DENSITY MEASUREMENT OF GIVEN LIQUID SAMPLE

BY MEASURING HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE OF LIQUID SAMPLE.
A vertical column of fluid generates a pressure at the bottom of the column
because of the action of gravity on that fluid. This pressure at bottom depends upon
vertical height of fluid, density of fluid and gravitational acceleration. As we
know gravitational acceleration of earth remains constant at 9.8 m/s^2 so. Pressure
at the bottom depends upon two factors namely height of liquid and density of
liquid. If we keep one this parameter constant then we can measure other
parameter by measuring pressure at the bottom of the tank that means if we keep
height of liquid constant then by measuring the pressure at the bottom we can
measure the density of fluid inside the tank. We will use this fact to measure
density of any fluid.

Relation between Hydrostatic Pressure (P) and Level of liquid (h), Gravitational
Acceleration (g) and Density of fluid (ρ) is given by following equation.

P = ρ g h.
Where P is hydrostatic Pressure, g is gravitational acceleration and h is height or
level of fluid.

From this equation it is clear that if we keep height of liquid constant and if we can
measure the pressure of an open tank and close tank then we can calculate density
of fluid.

Below figure shows this arrangement.

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We can clearly see that in the first case when tank is open to atmosphere, pressure
gauge at the bottom shows addition of two pressure namely hydrostatic pressure
due to fluid and atmospheric pressure so, in order to calculate density from this
reading first we have to compensate pressure gauge reading that is we have to
subtract atmospheric pressure from pressure gauge reading.

When the tank is close there will be no atmospheric pressure so pressure gauge
will show only hydrostatic pressure generated by the fluid assuming that there is no
other pressure is present inside the tank.

Procedure :

1) Open the simulation.

2) Place ruler or grid as per requirement.
3) Place pressure gauge at the bottom of the tank.
4) Keep atmospheric pressure on in order to simulate open tank measurement.
5) Choose appropriate unit system for measurement. (i.e. Metric).
6) Choose Liquid A from selection box.
7) Set level at 1 meter and note down the reading of pressure gauge in the
below given observation table.
8) Repeat above stated procedure for 2 meter and 3 meter level and calculate
density for each case.
9) Repeat above steps for Liquid B as well as Liquid C.

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 INSTRUMENTAION AND
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Sr.No. LEVEL PRESSURE (KPa) PRESSURE (KPa) PRESSURE (KPa)

(meter) LIQUID A LIQUID B LIQUID C
1 1
2 2
3 3

Calculate Density of each liquid using following formula:

P = ρ g h + Atmospheric pressure

Calculation for Density of Liquid A:

Calculation for Density of Liquid B:

Calculation for Density of Liquid C:

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 INSTRUMENTAION AND
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Result :

Density of Liquid A: __________

Density of Liquid B: __________

Density of Liquid C: __________

Density measurement using Differential Pressure Measurement:

As we have seen in above case that when tank is open, atmospheric pressure also
adds into the reading and apart from that there are also other factors which also
affect density.

This problem can be overcome by using differential pressure measurement rather

than using single point pressure measurement. In differential pressure
measurement rather than measuring pressure at the bottom of the tank, difference
of two pressure ( Phigh - Plow ) is measured. For that two different pressure tapping is
used at two different height ( h1 and h2 ). Below figure shows Differential Pressure
Measurement.

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 INSTRUMENTAION AND
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As shown in above figure two pressure gauge is used to measure pressure at two
different heights namely h1 and h2. We can calculate density of liquid in this case
using following formula.

P1 = ( ρ g h1 ) + Patm and P2 = ( ρ g h2 ) + Patm

So, P1 – P2 = {( ρ g h1 ) + Patm } – {( ρ g h2 ) + Patm}

P1 – P2 = ρ g (h1 – h2)

∆P = ρ g ∆h

Where ∆P = Difference in Pressure and ∆h = Difference in height

So from equation we can see that final value of density dose not depend on
atmospheric pressure because atmospheric pressure is common or same for both
the pressure gauge and as we are measuring differential pressure this common
pressure is subtracted. Apart from this, other disturbances which are common for
both the pressure gauges are also get eliminated and this is the best advantage of
differential measurement compared to single point measurement.

Procedure :

1) Open the simulation.

2) Place ruler or grid as per requirement.
3) Place one pressure gauge at the bottom of the tank and other pressure gauge
at top of the tank.
4) Keep atmospheric pressure on in order to simulate open tank measurement.
5) Choose appropriate unit system for measurement. (i.e. Metric).
6) Choose Liquid A from selection box.
7) Fill the tank up to maximum level ( 3 meter )
8) Note down the reading of pressure at the bottom (P1) and at the top (P2).
9) Use above given formula to calculate density of given fluid A
10) Turn off the atmospheric and repeat step 8 and 9.
11) Repeat above step for liquid B and C.

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Simulation Playground

Observation Table:

LIQUI P1(WHEN P2(WHEN P1(WHEN P1(WHEN

D ATMOSPHERI ATMOSPHERI ATMOSPHERI ATMOSPHERI
C PRESSURE C PRESSURE C PRESSURE C PRESSURE
IS ON) KPa IS ON) KPa IS OFF) KPa IS OFF) KPa
A
B
C

Calculations:

Use above given formula to calculate density of liquid when atmospheric pressure
is on and when atmospheric pressure is off and then compare both the answers to
check for the effect of atmospheric pressure.

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CONTROL ENGINEERING [ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTATION (4341703)]

LIQUID A:

LIQUID B:

LIQUID C:

RESULT :

LIQUID DENSITY WHEN DENSITY WHEN

ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE IS ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE IS
ON (Kg/m^3) OFF (Kg/m^3)
A
B
C

CONCLUSION :

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