Subject: Fluid Mechanics -I

Dr. Mustafa B. Al-hadithi

Lecture-Four
Pressure Measurements.
1- Introduction.
Since pressure is a very important characteristic of a fluid field, it is defined as the
force acting along the normal direction on unit area. A more precise mathematical
definition of pressure as

(1)

Figure 1 : Graphical representation of gage and absolute pressure.

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 Subject: Fluid Mechanics -I
Dr. Mustafa B. Al-hadithi

Absolute pressure is measured relative to a perfect vacuum (absolute zero pressure), where as gage
pressure is measured relative to the local atmospheric pressure. Thus, a gage pressure of zero corresponds
to a pressure that is equal to the local atmospheric pressure. Absolute pressures are always positive, but
gage pressure can be either positive or negative depending on whether the pressure is above or below
atmospheric pressure. A negative gage pressure is also referred to as a suction or vacuum pressure. The
concept of gage and absolute pressure is illustrated graphically in Fig. 2.5 for two typical pressures located
at points 1 and 2. Gage pressure is the difference between the value of the pressure and the local
atmospheric pressure (patm.)
pgage= p – patm.
At sea – level, the international standard atmosphere has been chosen as patm.=101.32 (kN/m
The measurement of atmospheric pressure is usually accomplished with a mercury barometer, which in
its simplest form consists of a glass tube closed at one end with the open end immersed in a container of
mercury as shown in Fig. 2. The tube is initially filled with mercury (inverted with its open end up) and
then turned upside down (open end down) with the open end in the container of mercury. The column of
mercury will come to an equilibrium position where its weight plus the force due to the vapor pressure
(which develops in the space above the column) balances the force due to the atmospheric pressure. Thus,
patm. = h + pvapor -------------------------------------(2)
The vapor pressure pvapor can be neglected in most practical cases in comparison to patm., since its very
small for mercury, pvapor= 0.16*patm.. So that,
patm.= h

𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑚. 1.0132∗105 (𝑁⁄ 2 )

 ℎ= = 𝑘𝑔
𝑚
= 0.761 𝑚 𝑜𝑓 (𝐻𝑔)
𝜌∗𝑔 13560 ( ⁄ 3 )∗9.81 (𝑁⁄𝑘𝑔)
𝑚

If water was used the value of h will be equal to 10.32 m

Ex.1
What will be the (a) the gauge pressure , (b) the absolute pressure of water at depth 12m below the
surface ? w=1000kg/m3, patm=101 kN/m2.
Sol.
𝑁
(a) 𝑝𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑒 = 𝜌𝑔ℎ = 1000 ∗ 9.81 ∗ 12 = 117720 𝑚2 , (𝑷𝒂)
N kN
(b) pabs. = pgage + patm. = (117720 + 101 ∗ 103 ) = 218720 m2 = 218.72 m2 , (kPa)

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 Subject: Fluid Mechanics -I
Dr. Mustafa B. Al-hadithi

Figure 2: Mercury barometer.

2- Manometers.
The manometers are the 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. Three common types of manometers include the piezometer tube, the U-tube manometer,
and the inclined-tube manometer.
2.1 Piezometer Tube.
The simplest type of manometer consists of a vertical tube, open at the top, and attached to the
container in which the pressure is desired, as illustrated in Fig.3. Since manometers involve columns of
fluids at rest, the fundamental equation describing their use is hydrostatic Eq.

p = p0+ h
This gives the pressure at any elevation within a homogeneous fluid in terms of a reference
pressure p0 and the vertical distance h between p and p0. Remember that in a fluid at rest pressure will
increase as we move downward and will decrease as we move upward. Application of this equation to the
piezometer tube of Fig. 2.7 indicates that the pressure pA can be determined by a measurement of h through
the relationship
pA = 1 h1
The tube is open at the top, the pressure p0 can be set equal to zero as using a gage pressure, with the
height h1 measured from the meniscus at the upper surface to point (1) then
𝒑𝑨
𝒉𝟏 = (3)
𝝆𝒈

 is the working fluid density.

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 Subject: Fluid Mechanics -I
Dr. Mustafa B. Al-hadithi

Figure 3 : Piezometer tube.

2.2 U-Tube Manometer.

Manometers are devices in which columns of a suitable liquid are used to measure the difference in
pressure between two points or between a certain point and the atmosphere. Manometer is needed for
measuring large gauge pressures. It is basically the modified form of the piezometric tube. A common
type manometer is like a transparent "U-tube" as shown in Fig. 4.

Figure 4: A simple manometer to measure gauge pressure.

One of the ends is connected to a pipe or a container having a fluid (A) whose pressure is to be
measured while the other end is open to atmosphere. The lower part of the U-tube contains a liquid
immiscible with the fluid A and is of greater density than that of A. This fluid is called the manometric
fluid. The pressures at two points P and Q in a horizontal plane as shown in Fig. 4 within the continuous
expanse of same fluid (the liquid B in this case) must be equal. Then equating the pressures at P and Q in
terms of the heights of the fluids above those points, with the aid of the fundamental equation of
hydrostatics Eq., we have
𝑝1 + 𝜌𝐴 𝑔(𝑦 + 𝑥) = 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑚 + 𝜌𝐵 𝑔𝑥
Hence 𝑝1 − 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑚 = (𝜌𝐵 − 𝜌𝐴 )𝑔𝑥 − 𝜌𝐴 𝑔𝑦 (4)

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 Subject: Fluid Mechanics -I
Dr. Mustafa B. Al-hadithi

Where p1 is the absolute pressure of the fluid A in the pipe or container at its centre line, and patm
is the local atmospheric pressure.
2.3 Manometers for Measuring Gauge and Vacuum Pressure.
When the pressure of the fluid in the container is lower than the atmospheric pressure, the liquid
levels in the manometer would be adjusted as shown in Fig. 5. Hence it becomes,
𝑝1 + 𝜌𝐴 𝑔𝑦 + 𝜌𝐵 𝑔𝑥 = 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑚
𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑚 − 𝑝1 = (𝜌𝐴 𝑦 + 𝜌𝐵 𝑥) ∗ 𝑔 (5)

Figure 5: A simple manometer to measure vacuum pressure.

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 Subject: Fluid Mechanics -I
Dr. Mustafa B. Al-hadithi

2.4 Manometers to Measure Pressure Difference.

Another type of manometer is also frequently used to measure the pressure difference, in course of
flow, across a restriction in a horizontal pipe as shown in Fig. 6. The axis of each connecting tube at A
and B should be perpendicular to the direction of flow and also for the edges of the connections to be
smooth. Applying the principle of hydrostatics at P and Q we have,

𝑝1 + (𝑦 + 𝑥)𝜌𝑤 𝑔 = 𝑝2 + 𝑦𝜌𝑤 𝑔 + 𝜌𝑚 𝑔𝑥
𝑝1 − 𝑝2 = (𝜌𝑚 − 𝜌𝑤 )𝑔𝑥 (6)

Figure 6: Manometer measuring pressure difference.

Where, ρ m is the density of manometric fluid and ρw is the density of the working fluid flowing
through the pipe.
We can express the difference of pressure in terms of the difference of heads (height of the working
fluid at equilibrium).
𝑝1 −𝑝2 𝜌𝑚
ℎ1 − ℎ2 = =( − 1) 𝑥 (7)
𝜌𝑤 𝑔 𝜌𝑤

Ex.2
A closed tank contains oil and compressed air (S.G.oil = 0.9) as is shown in the following figure, a
U-tube manometer using mercury (S.G.Hg = 13.6) is connected to a tank as shown. For column heights
h1=914.5 mm, h2=152.4 mm and h3= 228.6 mm. Determine the pressure reading in Pa of the gage.

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 Subject: Fluid Mechanics -I
Dr. Mustafa B. Al-hadithi

Sol.
The pressure at level (1) is equal to the pressure at level (2), since these two points are at the same
elevation in a homogeneous fluid at rest. The pressure at level (1) is
𝑝1 = 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟 + 𝛾𝑜𝑖𝑙 (ℎ1 + ℎ2 )
The pressure at level (2) is
𝑝2 = 𝛾𝐻𝑔 ℎ3

Thus, the manometer equation can be expressed as

∴ 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟 + 𝛾𝑜𝑖𝑙 (ℎ1 + ℎ2 ) − 𝛾𝐻𝑔 ℎ3 = 0

Or
𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟 + 𝑆. 𝐺𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝛾𝐻2 𝑜 (ℎ1 + ℎ2 ) − 𝑆. 𝐺𝐻𝑔 𝛾𝐻2 𝑜 ℎ3 = 0

𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟 = −0.9 ∗ 1000 ∗ 9.81 ∗ (0.9145 + 0.1524) + 13.6 ∗ 1000 ∗ 9.81 ∗ 0.2286
= 21079.23 𝑁/𝑚2 (𝑃𝑎) Ans.
This is the pressure read by the gage, since the specific weight of the air above the oil is much smaller
than the specific weight of the oil.