Introduction

A fluid is a substance that flows easily. Gases and liquids are fluids, although sometimes the
dividing line between liquids and solids is not always clear.
Fluid pressure can be caused by gravity, acceleration, or forces in a closed container.
Air pressure
Air pressure is related to its density, which is related to the air's temperature and height above the
Earth's surface. As we go up and reach a higher altitude, the pressure is lower because the
column of air is reduced. Air pressure can be measured by a barometer in units called millibars.
Most barometers use mercury in a glass column, like a thermometer, to measure the change in air
pressure.
Water pressure
Water pressure is a term used to describe the flow strength of water through a pipe or other type
of channel. For the pressure under water or in a liquid, it was depend on the depth of the water.
The pressure in water will acts equally in all direction. To calculate the water pressure under
water, we can use this equation:
Pressure=Dgh

Where D is the fluids density,

g is the standard gravity which is 9.8m/s2.
h is the depth of object in the water
From the equation above, it shows that the greater the density of the liquid, the greater the
pressure at a certain depth.
The fluid pressure will affect by some other factors which are the motion of fluid with wind or
current of water, the wind and the current of water will apply pressure to an object in its way
which is proportional to the surface area perpendicular to the direction of motion. Then, the
heating and chemical reaction also affects the fluid pressure. When a fluid was heated in an
enclosed container, its expansion will result in greater internal pressure such as a balloon will
expand when getting heat.
Fluid pressure is not affected by the volume of liquid, nor can the volume of liquid be changed
by pressure

Manometry
A standard technique for measuring pressure involves the use of liquid columns in vertical or
inclined tubes. Pressure-measuring devices based on this technique are called manometers. The
mercury barometer is an example of one type of manometer, but there are many other
configurations possible depending on the particular application. There are many types of
manometers which include the piezometer tube, the U-tube manometer, and the inclined-tube
manometer and the other.
For example:
Inclined Manometer:
The Inclined Manometer is the measuring device use for the measurement of small amount of
pressure and measure by a inclined manometer can help us to get more accurate result compare
to the vertical tube type manometer. With the inclination of the manometer, the distance can be
moved by the fluid in the manometer is more. To calculate the pressure change in an inclined
tube manometer, we can refer to the equation below:

= Specific Weight

P = Pressure
H = height

Pitot tube
A Pitot tube is a small tube with its open end aligned into the flow so as to sense the full impact
pressure of the flowing fluid. It measures the total pressure or called stagnation pressure. The
mechanism works by converting the kinetic energy of the flow into potential energy. It is used to
determine the difference between static, dynamic, and total pressure of a fluid at the same time.
Stagnation pressure=static pressure+dynamic pressure

Pstag =Pstatic +

V
2

When static and stagnation pressure are measured at a specified location, the fluid velocity at that
location can be calculated from
V=

2(Pstag Pstatic )

Where
Pstatic is the static pressure and it represents the actual thermodynamic pressure of the fluid. This
is same as the pressure used in thermodynamics and property tables.

V2
2

is the dynamic pressure ; it represents the pressure rise when the fluid in motion is

brought to a stop isentropically.

How it works
A pitot tube consists of a small cylinder positioned in the pathway of the fluid. One side of the
cylinder is open in order to allow the fluid to enter into the tube. Once the fluid enters into the
tube, it cannot flow further, because the cylinder doesnt have an outlet. There is a diaphragm
inside the tube, which enables it to measure static pressure and stagnation pressure separately.
Static pressure is measured when the fluid enters into the tube, while stagnation pressure or total
pressure is measured when the fluid comes to rest. Finally, fluid flow velocity is determined
considering the difference between static pressure and stagnation pressure.

To determine the flow rate from an unbiased averaged fluid velocity value, more readings of
the velocity component and its direction need to be recorded. With this velocity profile pattern
and an adequate integration technique, one may be able to determine the fluid volume flow rate
with an acceptable accuracy. The number of measurement points is important so that the velocity
profile is smooth. The integration calculation is simplified if the distribution of the measurement
points in the concerned cross-section follows certain rules. As long as the flow pattern stays
steady, these measurement points may be sequentially accessed with only one instrument that
follows a predefined traversing path. The measurements are carried out with a pitot static tube.
However, in changeable flow conditions all the points should ideally be measured
simultaneously. Most site applications do not provide an easy access to the measurement section
that has been chosen for this purpose. Replacing them by a bunch of tubes, pitot tubes would be a
more economical solution, provided that the static pressure could be measured. If the static
pressure were uniformly distributed over the entire cross-section, a straightforward solution is
needed to calculate the velocity.
Limitations
There are some practical limitations to the use of a pitot-static tube:
1. Pitot tubes don't work very well for very low velocities. The difference in pressures is
very small and hard to accurately measure with the transducer when the velocity is low.
2. Foreign material in a fluid can easily clog pitot tubes, disrupting fluids and lead to false
readings. They tend to have a poor accuracy for flows under 20 scfm (Standard Cubic
Feet per Minute).
3. Regular or cyclic pressure fluctuations in the flow. Unsuitable nose or tip design along
with insufficient distance between nose, static pressure taps and stem will lead to
turbulence and interference.
4. Flow velocity is not laminar or equal in cross sectional area of pitot tube so a traverse of
the pitot tube needs to be performed to determine an average velocity.
5. Friction appears to the walls of the pitot tube will slow down the fluid flow as there are
foreign particles on the walls of pitot tube. Uneven flow velocity will result in friction to

the walls of pitot tube. Therefore, the fluid flow is disrupted and lead to inaccurate
readings.
6. Pitot tubes don't work very well for high velocity. If the velocity is high, a shock wave
appears that will change the total pressure. Thus, inaccurate flow velocity is obtained.
Improvement
1. Hot wire anemometers can be used for low velocities. It uses a very fine wire electrically
heated to some temperature above the ambient. When the air flows past the wire and cools the
wire, as the electrical resistance of most metals is dependent upon the temperature of the metal
such as tungsten, a relationship can be obtained between the resistance of the wire and the flow
velocity.
2. Limit on size of pitot tube relative to tube size to reduce tube blockage. The internal
dimensions of the tube shall be known to within 1% of the tube linear dimensions. The tube shall
not exhibit any sudden variations in internal diameter for a distance of at least 5 hydraulic
diameters upstream and downstream from the plane of measurements.
3. Flow velocity 5 m/s to 50 m/s. If the pitot tube is used outside this range, it must be calibrated
at the measured flow rate. Steady flow without turbulence is to standardize the flow velocity. To
insure accurate velocity pressure readings, the pitot tube tip must be pointed parallel with the
fluid flow. If the pitot tube is correctly aligned, the velocity pressure indication will be at its
maximum. A negative flow must not be present at any point on the cross sectional area where the
pitot tube is used.
4. If the velocity of the fluid and length travelled in the system is small, it will lead to laminar
flow. To ensure that the velocity of the fluid is small, the cross sectional area of the tube must be
small provided that there are no foreign particles across the tube.
5. The absolute temperature at each velocity measurement shall not differ by more than 5% from
the average absolute temperature of the cross section. The pitot tube must not have any
difference in internal diameter to reduce uneven flow velocity.
6. Ultrasonic anemometers can take high velocity readings, which makes them well suited for
turbulence measurements. It uses ultrasonic sound waves to measure flow velocity measure
based on the time of flight of sonic pulses between pairs of transducers. Since the speed of sound
varies with temperature, it is logically stable with pressure change.

References:

1. Yunus A. Cengel.2008.Fundamentals of thermal-fluid sciences, third edition.

McGraw-Hill.
2. Frank M.White.2011.Fluid mechanics seventh edition in SI units. McGraw-Hill
3. Application of Bernoulli equation. Viewed on 20 July 2016.Available from:
http://www.efm.leeds.ac.uk/CIVE/CIVE1400/Section3/bernoulli-apps.htm