CH2007D

PROCESS INSTRUMENTATION
Lecture – 9
Pressure Measurement – 3
Manometers – 3, Elastic Types
 Liquid Manometers

 U-tube Manometer
 Well Type Manometer
 Enlarged Leg Manometer
 Inclined Tube Manometer
• Micromanometer
• Ring-balance Manometer
 Micromanometer

• Micromanometer is based on the principle of inclined tube manometer.

• It is used for the measurement of extremely small differences of pressure.
• The meniscus of the inclined tube is adjusted at a reference level, viewing through
a magnifier provided with cross hair line. This is done for p1 = p2.
• The adjustment is done by moving the well up and down by a micrometer.
• For p1 ≠ p2, the shift in the meniscus position is restored to zero by
raising/lowering the well as before and
the difference between these two
readings gives the pressure difference
in terms of height.
• It can have a resolution of the order of
40 × 10–4 kg/cm2.
 Ring-balance Manometer
• Ring-balance manometer is not truly a manometer.
• It is a tube, normally made of polythene or other light and transparent material,
bent into the form of a ring which is supported near its centre by a knife-edge
pivot.
• The tubular chamber is divided into two parts by splitting, sealing and filling with
a suitable light liquid like kerosene or paraffin oil for isolating the two pressures.
• Pressure taps are made with two flexible tubings.
• Pressures 𝑝1 and 𝑝2 act against the sealed walls and rot-
ate the ring which is balanced by the counter weight w.
• By taking moments about the knife edge, we get
2𝑤𝑅 sin 𝜙
𝑝1 − 𝑝2 =
𝛼𝑑
where, 𝛼  the tube cross-sectional area,
d  the ring diameter,
R  the distance from the pivot at which the counter weight is located,
𝜙  the deflection angle.
 Manometric Fluid

• Mercury
– Many advantages over other manometric fluids
• Low vapour pressure
• Non-sticky nature, called ‘quick’ in nature
• Wide temperature range (from –20°C to 350°C)
– Disadvantages
• High density is disadvantageous for low pressure differential pressure
measurements
• It is quite expensive.
• Other liquids like water, kerosene, ethyl alcohol and benzene,
etc., are also used with colouring agents when necessary
– Their high vapour pressure and large coefficient of expansion make
them quite unsuitable for many applications.
Elastic Pressure Transducers
 Elastic Type Pressure Gauges
• Elastic types are used for measurement of pressure up to about 700
MPa.
1. Bourdon tubes or pressure springs
2. Bellows elements
3. Diaphragms
• Bellows elements and diaphragm gauges are suitable up to about 3
to 6 MPa.
• Bourdon tubes have very high ranges.
 Bourdon Tube

• Bourdon tubes are generally are of three types

– C-type
– Helical type
– Spiral type
 Bourdon Tube
• Eugene Bourdon
• A circular cross-sectional tubing when deformed in any way tends to
return to the circular form under the action of pressure.
• The commercial Bourdon pressure gauges have near elliptical cross-
section and the tube is generally bent into a C-shape.
• The tube is made from materials such as
– Phosphor bronze – up to 600 psi
– Steel, alloy steel – up to 10,000 psi and higher
– Beryllium-copper – up to 10,000 psi
• The tube is soldered or welded to a socket at the base through
which a pressure connection is made.
• The free end is sealed by what is known as the tip.
 Bourdon Tube
• As the fluid under pressure enters the Bourdon tube, it tries to be
‘reformed’ and because of a free tip available, this action causes the
tip to travel in free space and the tube unwinds.
• The simultaneous actions of bending and tension due to the internal
pressure make a nonlinear movement of the free tip.
• This travel is suitably guided and amplified for useful measurement
of the internal pressure.
• The main requirement in the design of the gauge is that whenever
the same pressure is applied, the movement of the tip should be the
same and on withdrawal of the pressure the tip should return to the
initial point.
 Bourdon Tube
• The tip of the Bourdon tube is connected to a segmental lever through an
adjustable length link.
• The lever length may also be adjustable.
• The segmental lever end on the segment side is provided with a rack
which meshes to a suitable pinion mounted at a spindle.
• The segmental lever is suitably pivoted and the spindle holds the pointer
as shown.
 Diaphragm Pressure Gauge
• Diaphragm elements are used for comparatively low pressure measurements.
• Pressure is proportional to the deflection of the diaphragm.
• Metallic diaphragm with good spring characteristics
• Slack diaphragm  Non-metallic with no elastic characteristics —usually opposed by a
calibrated coil spring or any other suitable elastic member.
• The force that acts against a thin stretched diaphragm causes
a deflection of the diaphragm with its centre
deflecting the most.
• For working the member within the elastic
limits the deflection at the centre should
be restricted to less than 1/3 of its thick-
ness.
• The materials used for slack diaphragm are
goldbeaters’ skin, animal membrane, impr-
egnated silk cloths, silk and synthetic mater-
ials like teflon, neoprene, polythene, etc.
• Range of slack diaphragm gauge vary from 50 Pa to 0.1 MPa
 Diaphragm Pressure Gauge
• The sensitivity can be increased by cascading several diaphragm capsules.
• A capsule is formed by joining two diaphragms, at the periphery.
• An inlet line is provided usually at the central position.
• The deflection of the instrument will be the sum of the individual capsule
deflections.
• Instead of straight diaphragms, corrugated diaphragms are also used for making a
capsule.
• Corrugation increases strength of the member and gives linear deflection.
• Number and depth of corrugation, number of capsules, capsule diameter, shell
thickness and material characteristic will determine the total amount of
deflection for a given pressure differential.