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Pressure Measurement
Pressure Measurement
Pressure Measurements
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Pressure
• Pressure is the force per unit area that a liquid or gas
exerts on its surroundings, such as the force or
pressure of the atmosphere on the surface of the
Earth, and the force that liquids exert on the bottom
and walls of a container.
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Absolute, differential, and gauge pressures
1. Total vacuum is zero pressure or lack of pressure, as would be experienced in outer
space, and is very difficult to achieve in practice.
2. Atmospheric pressure is the pressure on the Earth’s surface, due to the weight of the
gases in the Earth’s atmosphere (14.7 psi or 101.36 kPa absolute). The pressure
decreases above sea level.
4. Gauge pressure is the pressure measured with respect to atmospheric pressure, and is
normally expressed in psig or kPa(g). Note the use of a and g when referencing the
pressure to absolute and gauge.
5. Differential pressure is the pressure measured with respect to another pressure, and
is expressed as the difference between the two values. This represents two points in a
pressure or flow system, and is referred to as the “delta p,” or ∆p.
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Other Definitions
• Static pressure is the pressure of a fluid or gas that is
stationary or not in motion.
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Pressure Gauges
• Many of the devices used to monitor fluid pressure in
industrial processes involve the monitoring of the elastic
deformation of diaphragms, bellows and tubes. The following
are some common examples of such sensors.
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Diaphragms
• Diaphragms consist of a thin layer or
film of a material supported on a rigid
frame.
• The movement of the center of a
circular diaphragm as a result of a
pressure difference between its two
sides is the basis of a pressure gauge.
• The displacement will be proportional
to the value of pressure difference.
• The movement of the center of a
diaphragm can be monitored by some
form of displacement sensor.
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Diaphragms
• Pressure can be applied to one side of the film for gauge
sensing, with the other inlet port being left open to the
atmosphere.
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Diaphragms
• Sensing the position of the diaphragm using capacitance and
ac bridge is very accurate, and excellent linear correlation
between pressure and output signal amplitude can be
obtained.
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A Piezoelectric pressure sensor
• When certain crystals, such
as quartz and tourmaline,
are stretched or
compressed, electrical
charges appear on their
surfaces. This effect is called
piezo-electricity.
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A Piezoelectric pressure sensor
• The voltage produced by the crystal is proportional to
Pressure exerted on the crystal surface. This voltage can be
amplified, and hence the device is used as a pressure sensor.
• The bellows is the most sensitive of the mechanical devices for low-
pressure measurements (i.e., 0.5 to 210 kPa).
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Bellows
• Bellows devices can be used for absolute, gauge, and differential pressure
measurements.
• Differential measurements can be made by mechanically connecting two
bellows to be opposing each other when pressure is applied to them, as
shown in below.
• When pressures P1 and P2 are applied to the bellows, a differential scale
reading is obtained. P2 could be atmospheric pressure for gauge
measurements.
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Using LVDT with bellows
The LVDT can be used to convert the linear motion of a bellows into an
electrical signal. The bellows converts the differential pressure between P1
and P2 into linear motion, which changes the position of the core in the LVDT.
The device can be used as a gauge sensor when P2 is open to the
atmosphere.
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Bourdon tube
• The Bourdon tube is C-shaped tube with an almost rectangular
or elliptical cross-section made from e.g. stainless steel or
phosphor bronze.
• When the pressure inside the tube increases the closed end of
the C opens out, thus the displacement of the closed end
becomes a measure of the pressure.
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Bourdon tube
• The operating principle is that the outer edge of the cross
section has a larger surface than the inner portion. When
pressure is applied to the Bourdon tube, the outer edge has a
proportionally larger total force applied because of its larger
surface area, and hence the free end of the tube moves
outward.
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Bourdon tube
Bourdon tubes can also be shaped into helical or spiral shapes to
increase their measurement range.
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