UNITED ARAB EMIRATES UNIVERSITY Collage of Engineering Fluid Mechanics for Chemical Engineers

Pressure Measurements Report

Instructor
Dr. Sayem Mozumder

Project Date: 12-March- 2012 Section Number: 51

Student Names Aysha Khadem Hanan Juma Noura Ali

Student IDs 200907755 200903310 200908435

Abstract
The aim of this report is to define and classify the merits and demerits of pressure measurements. Also, to view a significant purposes in each one with details. Its found that some devices of measuring gas or liquid or atmospheric pressure are useful in particular situation. Some of them depend on the type of liquid or gas that he/she measured or the quantity that he/she measured. In addition, some devices arent giving us an accurate reading according to slow dynamic response.

Content
Abstract Intoduction Manometer Hydrostatic Gauges Piston-type Gauges A McLeod Gauges Aneroid Gauges Barometer Water-based Barometers Mercury Barometers Aneroid Barometers Barographs References 1 3 4 5 5 5 6 6 7 7 7 8 9

Introduction
Many instruments have been invented to measure pressure, with different advantages and disadvantages. Pressure range, sensitivity, dynamic response and cost all vary by several orders of magnitude from one instrument design to the next. The oldest type is the liquid column (a vertical tube filled with mercury) manometer invented by Evangelista Torricelli in 1643.

Manometer
measures the difference in air or liquid pressure by comparing it to an outside source, usually a sample of Earth's atmosphere. . More common manometers are U-shaped and have interconnected tubes. Manometers are used in atmospheric surveys, weather studies, gas analyses and research of the atmospheres of other planets. They are usually made of glass or plastic, and while most are scored for measurement, some can measure changes digitally. The single-tube manometer measures only the pressure of a liquid, since there is no alternate place to compare gases. A U-shaped manometer essentially pits two different gas pressures against one another, and measures the strength of the captured gas. The freeflowing gas is usually air at the current atmospheric level. A liquid is placed in the tube, usually a responsive liquid like mercury that is stable under pressure. One end of the U-tube is then filled with the gas to be measured, usually pumped in so the tube can be sealed behind it. The other end is left open for a natural pressure level. The liquid is then balanced in the lower section of the U, depending on the strength of the gas. The atmospheric pressure pushes down on the liquid, forcing it down and into the closed end of the tube. The gas trapped in the sealed end also pushes down, forcing the liquid back to the other side. Then a measurement is taken to see how far the liquid in the sealed end has been pushed either below the point of the liquid in the open end or above it. If the liquid is level, straight across in both tubes, then the gas is equal to outside air pressure. If the liquid rises above this level in the sealed end, then the air's pressure is heavier than the gas. If the gas is heavier than the air, it will push the liquid in the sealed end below the equal point.1 The manometer in its various forms is an extremely useful type of pressure measuring instrument, but suffers from a number of limitations. While it can be adapted to measure very small pressure differences, it cannot be used conveniently for large pressure differences - although it is possible to connect a number of manometers in series and to use mercury as the manometric fluid to improve the range. (limitation)
1

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5187684_do-manometers-work_.html, 1/3/2012

A manometer does not have to be calibrated against any standard; the pressure difference can be calculated from first principles. ( Advantage) Some liquids are unsuitable for use because they do not form well-defined menisci. Surface tension can also cause errors due to capillary rise; this can be avoided if the diameters of the tubes are sufficiently large preferably not less than 15 mm diameter. (limitation) A major disadvantage of the manometer is its slow response, which makes it unsuitable for measuring fluctuating pressures.(limitation) It is essential that the pipes connecting the manometer to the pipe or vessel containing the liquid under pressure should be filled with this liquid and there should be no air bubbles in the liquid.(important point to be kept in mind)2

Hydrostatic Gauges
(such as the mercury column manometer) compare pressure to the hydrostatic force per unit area at the base of a column of fluid. Hydrostatic gauge measurements are independent of the type of gas being measured, and can be designed to have a very linear calibration. They have poor dynamic response.

Piston-type Gauges
counterbalance the pressure of a fluid with a spring (for example tirepressure gauges of comparatively low accuracy) or a solid weight, in which case it is known as a deadweight tester and may be used for calibration of other gauges.

A McLeod Gauges
isolates a sample of gas and compresses it in a modified mercury manometer until the pressure is a few mmHg. The gas must be wellbehaved during its compression (it must not condense, for example). The technique is slow and unsuited to continual monitoring, but is capable of good accuracy.

http://www.msubbu.in/ln/fm/Unit-I/ManometersLimit.htm, 1/3/2012

Aneroid Gauges
are based on a metallic pressure sensing element that flexes elastically under the effect of a pressure difference across the element. "Aneroid" means "without fluid," and the term originally distinguished these gauges from the hydrostatic gauges described above. However, aneroid gauges can be used to measure the pressure of a liquid as well as a gas, and they are not the only type of gauge that can operate without fluid. For this reason, they are often called mechanical gauges in modern language. Aneroid gauges are not dependent on the type of gas being measured, unlike thermal and ionization gauges, and are less likely to contaminate the system than hydrostatic gauges.3 Pressure measuring devices using liquid columns in vertical or inclined tubes are called manometers. One of the most common is the water filled u-tube manometer used to measure pressure difference in pitot or orifices located in the airflow in air handling or ventilation system. Vertical U-Tube Manometer The pressure difference in a vertical U-Tube manometer can be expressed as P= g h 4

Barometer
A barometer is a scientific instrument used in meteorology to measure atmospheric pressure. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather. Numerous measurements of air pressure are used within surface weather analysis to help find surface troughs, high pressure systems, and frontal boundaries.5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_measurement, 3/3/2012

4 5

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/u-tube-manometer-d_611.html, 2/3/2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barometer, 5/3/2012

Water-based barometers
The device is known as Goethe thermometer. The sealed body of the container is half filled with water. There is also a narrow spout which is connected to the sealed body in such a way that it lies below the water level of the container and raises above the water level the place which is open to the atmosphere. When there is a low pressure the water level in the spout gradually raises above the water level of the body and when the pressure is higher the water level of the spout falls.6

Mercury Barometers
This Weather instrument is made of a glass column of about 76 cm tall. It is closed at one end. The base of the container has an open reservoir filled with mercury. High pressure raises the level of the mercury and when there is a low pressure the mercury level eventually falls Low pressure allows the mercury to drop to a lower level in the column by lowering the force placed on the reservoir. Since higher temperature at the instrument will reduce the density of the mercury, the scale for reading the height of the mercury is adjusted to compensate for this effect. Design changes to make the instrument more sensitive, simpler to read, and easier to transport resulted in variations such as the basin, siphon, wheel, cistern, Fortin, multiple folded, stereometric, and balance barometers.

Aneroid Barometers
An aneroid barometer is flexible metal box called an aneroid cell (capsule), which is made from an alloy of beryllium and copper. The evacuated capsule (or usually more capsules) is prevented from collapsing by a strong spring. Small changes in external air pressure cause the cell to expand or contract. This expansion and contraction drives mechanical levers such that the tiny movements of the capsule are amplified and displayed on the face of the aneroid barometer.
6

http://www.mapsofworld.com/referrals/weather/meteorology/barometer.html,7/3/2012

Barographs
A barograph, which records a graph of some atmospheric pressure, uses an aneroid barometer mechanism to move a needle on a smoked foil or to move a pen upon paper, both of which are attached to a drum moved by clockwork.7

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/u-tube-manometer-d_611.html,7/3/2012

References
http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5187684_do-manometers-work_.html http://www.msubbu.in/ln/fm/Unit-I/ManometersLimit.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_measurement http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/u-tube-manometer-d_611.html http://www.mapsofworld.com/referrals/weather/meteorology/barometer.html