Class Notes

of
Hydropower Engineering

for
B.E. Electrical III/II

Prepared by: Er. Janap Ghimire

1
Chapter 1: Introduction Continue…

2
1.3. Pressure and fluid statics: pressure at a point, variation of
pressure with depth
Pressure at a point
• ‘Pressure’ or ‘intensity of pressure’ may be defined as the force
exerted on a unit area.
• If F represents the total force uniformly distributed over an area A,
the pressure at any point is p = (F/A).
• However, if the force is not uniformly distributed, the expression
will give the average value only, When the pressure varies from
point to point on an area, the magnitude of pressure at any point can
be obtained by the following expression .
P = dF / dA
Where dF represents the force acting on an infinitesimal area dA. In
SI units pressure is expressed in N/m2 (or Pascal), and in metric
gravitational units it is expressed in kg(f)/m2.

3
• A fluid is a substance which is capable of flowing.
• As such when a certain mass of fluid is held in equilibrium by
confining within solid boundaries, it exerts forces against boundary
surfaces.
• The forces so exerted always act in the direction normal to the
surface in contact.
• This is so because a fluid at rest cannot sustain shear stress and
hence the forces cannot have tangential components.
• The normal force exerted by a fluid per unit area of the surface is
called the fluid pressure.
• It may, however, be noted that even if an imaginary surface is
assumed within a fluid body, the fluid pressure and pressure force on
the imaginary surface are exactly the same as those acting on any
real surface.
• This is in accordance with Newton’s third law of motion, viz., action
and reaction exist in pairs.
4
• Figure shows a small wedge of fluid at rest of size ∆x by ∆z by ∆s
and width b into the paper. There is no shear by definition, but we
postulate that the pressures px, pz, and pn may be different on each
face. The weight of the element also may be important. The element
is assumed small, so the pressure is constant on each face.

Fig: Equilibrium of a small

wedge of fluid at rest.
5
Fig: Equilibrium of a small wedge of fluid at rest.

6
Summation of forces must equal zero (no acceleration) in both the x
and z directions.

These relations illustrate two important principles of the hydrostatic, or

shear-free, condition: (1) There is no pressure change in the horizontal
direction, and (2) there is a vertical change in pressure proportional to
the density, gravity, and depth change.
7
1.4. Pressure measurement devices; barometer, manometer and
other devices.
• Pressure measurement is the analysis of an applied force by
a fluid (liquid or gas) on a surface.
• Pressure is typically measured in units of force per unit of surface
area.
• In SI units the unit of measurement of pressure is Newton per square
meter (N/m2) or Pascal (Pa).
• The standard atmospheric pressure at sea level is 101.3 kPa.
• Many techniques have been developed for the measurement of
pressure.
• Instruments used to measure and display pressure in an integral unit
are called pressure meters or pressure gauges or vacuum gauges.
• In engineering calculations absolute pressure is used and the
conversion from gauge pressure to absolute pressure is carried out
using the following equation.

8
Absolute pressure = gauge pressure + atmospheric pressure
Pa = Pg + Patm

9
• The atmospheric air exerts a normal pressure upon all surfaces with
which it is in contact , and it is known as atmospheric pressure.
• The atmospheric pressure varies with the altitude and it can be
measured by means of a barometer. As such it is also called the
barometric pressure.
• At sea level Under normal conditions the equivalent values of the
atmospheric pressure are 101.3 kPa, 10.3 m of water or 760 mm of
mercury.
• Fluid pressure may be measured with respect to any arbitrary datum.
The two most common datum used are (i) absolute zero pressure
and (ii) local atmospheric pressure.
• When pressure is measured above absolute zero (or complete
vacuum), it is called an absolute pressure.
10
• When It is measured either above or below atmospheric pressure as
a datum, it is called gage pressure.

• This is because practically all pressure gages read zero when open to
the atmosphere and read only difference between the pressure of the
fluid to which they are connected and the atmospheric pressure.

• If the pressure of a fluid is below atmospheric pressure it is

designated as vacuum pressure (suction pressure on negative gage
pressure) ; and its gage value is the amount by which it is below that
of the atmospheric pressure.

• A gage which measures vacuum pressure is known as vacuum gage.

11
Example: What are the gauge pressure and absolute
pressure of a point 3 m below the free surface of a
liquid having a density of 1.53 x 103 kg/m3 if the
atmospheric pressure is equivalent to 750 mm of
mercury?. The specific gravity of mercury is 13.6
and density of water = 1000 kg/m3

12
13
Barometer:
• A barometer is a scientific instrument that is used to measure air
pressure in a certain environment.
• Because atmospheric pressure changes with distance above or below sea
level, a barometer can also be used to measure altitude. There are four
main types of barometers: mercury, water, aneroid and digital
barometer.
• In the mercury barometer, atmospheric
pressure balances a column of mercury,
the height of which can be precisely
measured.
• A mercury barometer consists of an open
flat container filled with mercury. A
glass tube with one end sealed, is placed
in the center of the container. The open
end is positioned at the bottom inside the
mercury.
14
• When atmospheric pressure is measured by a barometer, the
pressure is also referred to as the barometric pressure.
• The pressure at the bottom of the barometer is equal to the
atmospheric pressure. The pressure at the very top can be taken
as zero because there is only mercury vapor above this point and
its pressure is very low relative to the atmospheric pressure.
Therefore, the atmospheric pressure using the barometer and this
equation
Patm = ρgh
Where ρ is the density of mercury, g is the gravitational
acceleration, and h is the height of the mercury column
above the free surface area.

15
Manometer:
• A manometer is a device that measures air pressure using a
container with a "U"-shaped tube open at one or both ends.
• In a closed manometer, a sample of gas is introduced into one
end, which is then capped.
• Then, a fluid of known density is poured into the other end.
• The fluid will stop moving when the pressure of the gas trapped
between the cap and the fluid together with the pressure at the
bottom of the fluid column on that side matches the pressure of
air plus the pressure of the fluid column on the open side.
• The height of the fluid on the open side will be higher on that side
when air pressure is less than the gas pressure and lower on the
open side when the air pressure exceeds the gas pressure.
• Use this height difference to calculate the gas pressure.

16
17
• If the pressure (from supply) is greater than the atmospheric
pressure (as shown by the image above), it will drive down the
liquid level in the left side of the manometer. The pressure of the
gas, Pgas can be calculated by:
Pgas = atm. pressure + pressure of mercury column (height, Δh)
Pgas = patm + ρgΔh

• If the gas pressure (from the gas supply) is smaller than the
atmospheric pressure, it will drive down the liquid level in the
right side of the manometer. The pressure of the gas, Pgas can be
calculated by:
Pgas = atm. pressure − pressure of mercury column (height, Δh)
Pgas = patm − ρgΔh

18
U- Tube Differential Manometer:
It consists of glass tube bent in U-shape, the two ends of which
are connected to the two gage points between which the pressure
difference is required to be measured. Figure shows such an
arrangement for measuring the pressure difference between any
two points A and B. The lower part of the manometer contains a
manometric liquid which is heavier than the liquid for which the
pressure difference is to be measured and is immiscible with it.
When the two limbs of the manometer are connected to the gage
points A and B, then corresponding to the difference in the
pressure intensities pA and pB the levels of manometric liquid in
the two limbs of the manometer will be displaced through a
distance x as shown in Fig.

19
20
By measuring this difference in the levels of the manometric
liquid, the pressure difference (pA - pB) may be computed as
indicated below.

If S1 and S2 are the specific gravities of the liquid at A or B and

the manometric liquid respectively, then by commencing at A
where the pressure is pA, the pressure head at C in terms of water
is equal to

[(pA /w)+ (y+x)S1]

in which w is the specific weight of water.

21
Further, since points C and C’ are at the same level and are lying in
the same continuous static mass of liquid,
Pressure at C = Pressure at C’
Further from C’ to D there being an increase in the elevation, the
pressure head decreases, so that the pressure head at D in terms of
water is equal to
[(pA /w)+ (y+x)S1 – xS2].
Similarly from D to B there is an increase in elevation and hence the
gage equation becomes
[(pA /w)+ (y+x)S1 – xS2 –yS1] = pB/w
Or, pA /w – pB/w = x( S2 – S1)
If, for example, the manometric liquid is mercury (S2 = 13.6) and the
liquid at A or B is water (S1 = 1) then the difference in pressure
heads at the Points A and B is 12.6 times the deflection x of the
manometric liquid in the two limbs of the manometer.
22
As such the use of Mercury as manometric liquid in U-tube manometer
is suitable for measuring large pressure differences.
However, for small pressure differences, mercury makes precise
measurement difficult, and hence for such cases it is common to use a
liquid which is only slightly heavier than the liquid for which the
pressure difference is to be measured.
Often the points A and B between which the Pressure difference is to be
measured are not at the same level, as shown in Fig. For such cases also,
by adopting the same procedure, the following gage equation may be
obtained in order to compute the pressure difference between the points
A and B.

23
24
Example: As shown in the accompanying figure, pipe M contains
carbon tetrachloride of specific gravity 1.594 under a pressure of
1.05 kg(f)/cm2 and pipe N contains oil of specific gravity 0.8. If the
pressure in the pipe N is 1.75 kg(f)/cm2 and the manometric fluid
is mercury. find the difference x between the levels of mercury.

25
26
27
Home work:
In the accompanying figure, fluid A is water, fluid B is oil of specific gravity 0.85,
z = 0.7 m and y = 1.5 m. Compute pressure difference between m and n.

28