PRESSURE I N STATIONARY FLUIDS

General

The term fluid for our discussion is used to designate both liquids and gases.
A liquid and a gas have many properties that are identical. They are alike
because both are very active or movable. In fact they are so active or free to
move that a liquid or gas does not have any definite shape. They take the shape
of the vessel that may contain them.

In our process operations, we constantly deal with fluids and the equipment
used in moving or storing these fluids. It is the intent of this topic to
present practical applications of laws and principles which govern the action of
fluids in motion will be discussed in a later topic.

Difference between Force, Weight and Pressure

In studying liquids + gases, we must discuss the difference between the terms
"force", "weight" and "pressure". "Force" means a push or pull. "Weight" means
heaviness. "Pressure" means the push or pull or weight per unit area of the
surface acted upon. Pressure can be defined as:

Pressure = Force or.

Area Acted Upon

Pressure = _______Weight
Area Acted Upon

To help understand the difference between weight and pressure, suppose we have
three blocks shown on the next page laying on a table top. Each block weighs
the same amount.

However, the amount of pressure produced on the table top by the blocks
depends on the way the block is placed on the table top or the shape of the
block.

0626L V- 1
Fig. A. Fig. B.

In Figure P. the block weighing 5 kg would exert a pressure of 0.15625 kg/cm2

and in figure B, the same 5 kg block would exert a pressure of 0.3125 kg/cm2.
To make the point more drastic, suppose we had a 5 kg block shaped as shown
below:

Since Pressure = Weiaht The the pressure exerted by the

Area

block would be ____________5__________ = 5 =

20Kg/Cm2
.5 x.5 .25

0626L V- 2
PRESSURE PRODUCED BY LIQUIDS

All Fluids (Liquids and Gases) have Weight

Water weighs approximately 1000kg/m 3. Air at atmospheric pressure and 15 0C

weighs 1.2kg/m3. Hydrogen, the lightest gas known, weighs 0.0849 kg/m 3. This
fact can be easily verified by weighing a nitrogen or oxygen cylinder used
in the plant before and after emptying the cylinder.

Pressure

Since all fluids have wei ght, they create a pressure a gainst the walls that
hold them. The pressure exerted by a liquid at any given point or loation in a
vessel depends upon the height or liquid above it. This pressure is
independent of the shape of the vessel. For example in the vessels below:

The pressure gauges on the bottom of all vessels would read the same because the
height of liquid above the gauges is the same.

Different liquids weigh different amounts for the same volume and therefore
would create different pressures. One cubic meter of water weighs 1000 kg.
If this cubic meter of water were put in a box 1 meter high, 1 meter wide, and 1
meter long, the total force on the bottom of the box would be 1000 kg. This
total force would be distributed over an area 1 meter square or. 10 000 cm2; the
pressure thus equals 0.1 kg/cm2 or. 0.1 Bar. If a box were filled with water
that was 2 meters high and held two cubic meters the pressure would equal 1000 x
2 or. 0.2 Bar. Each meter of water height will develop 0.1 Bar. Pressure. For
example a 30 meter tower, if filled with water, would create 3.0 Bar at the
bottom of the tower.

One cubic meter of mercury weighs 13500 kg and will build up 1.35 Bar per meter
of height. The weight of one cubic centimeter of material is called the den sit.
of that material. The density of water is 1.0 gram per cubic centimeter at 40C.
The density of a substance compared to the density of
water is called the relative density. Mercury has a density of 13.5 grams per
cubic centimetre and therefore is 13.5 times denser than water. Gasoline, on the
other hand, is lighter than water. Its density is approximately 0.75 grams per
cubic centimetre.
Given below are some weights of fluids per cubic meter of volume and the
corresponding pressure buildups which will be obtained for each meter of
height above the point at which a pressure is determined.
•
Fluid Weight per Density Pressure Buildup
Cubic meter. Per meter of Height
1. Aerated catalyst in
stand pipe 720kg .72 0.072 Bar.
2. Water. 1000kg 1.0 0.1 Bar.
3. Mercury 13500kg 13.5 1.35 Bar.
4. Gasoline 750kg .75 0.075 Bar.

Pressure Resulting From An External Load

The final or total pressure exerted at any given point in a vessel, pump, line
etc, will depend upon the head or weight of l i q u i d being handled plus any
external pressure being exerted on the liquid being handled. Suppose we had a
vessel as shown in the figure filled with water to a height of 6 meters. I f the
vessel is open to the atmosphere, the pressure that would be indicated by a
pressure gauge located at the bottom of the vessel would be 6 x 0.1 or. 0.6 Bar.
Now suppose we close the opening in the vessel and add pressure to the vessel
with a compressed gas, so that the pressure gauge at the top o f the vessel reads
14 Bars. In order to determine the pressure at the bottom o f the vessel, we would
have to add the pressure produced by the height of the water to the pressure
produced by the compressed gas. We would find that the pressure gauge located at
the bottom of the vessel would read 14.6 Bar.

A. Drum has not had gas added. Top
gauge reads zero, bottom gauge
reads 0.6 Barg. (How do you know
that this bottom gauge would read
0.6 Barg?
B. Drum has gas added so that
top gauge reads 14.0 Barg
then bottom gauge must read
14.6 Barg (Why?)
 Transmission of Pressure

Pressure in a fluid is exerted equally in all directions. This principle can

best be illustrated if you will recall the shape a balloon takes when it is
blown up or filled with water. Because of this fact, hydraulic systems can
actuate valves and the brakes of your car, and fluids can be pumped from one
place in the plant to another.

PRESSURE PRODUCED BY CASES

Because gases respond so readily to different temperatures and because they have
the property of compressibility it is possible to utilize them to our advantage
in our type of industry. Air is stored in vessels for use in air drills, air
hammers, and pumps. Nitrogen, oxygen and many other gasses are stored in drums
and later transported in cylinders to consumers. Steam is generated and is held
under pressure to be used in steam engines, steam pumps and steam turbines. High
pressure burner line gas is moved from its source to the point of use through
pipe lines by pressurising and transporting it under pressure.

To study some of the principles governing the behavior of gases, suppose we use
air which is the most common gas known. Air is so common that we rarely think of
it as being a gas or even as having weight or volume yet we know that a vessel or
a pipe line cannot be filled with a liquid unless the air is allowed to get out.
It can be demonstrated by wei ghing an empty can, then pumping air into it +
sealing it, that air does have weight. Since air does have weight it builds up
static pressure much the same as liquids do. One cubic meter of air weighs about
1.2 kg. A room 3m wide, 6m long, and 3m high has 54 cubic meter, of air in it
weighing about 64.8 kg. The deep layer of air which blankets the earth exerts a
pressure much like the water pressure at the bottom of the ocean.

This pressure is known as atmospheric pressure and is about 1.013kg per square
centimeter. (1.013 Bar) at sea level. At higher elevations, the atmospheric
pressure is less than that. In fact, for every 300 metres of elevation; the
pressure falls off a little more than 0.03 Bar. We do not notice or feel this 1
Bar pressure on our bodies because pressure is exerted in all directions and the
pressure inside our body is the same as the pressure outside and we only notice
a difference in pressure (when driving up a mountain rapidly, our ears
"poP").

Gauge Pressure

In process work, we are usually interested in how much more pressure there is
than atmospheric: Therefore, most of our plant pressure gauges are calibrated so
that "0" on the gauge is atmospheric pressure. On this type gauge, a reading is
therefore called bar gauge. There are some gauges, however where atmospheric
pressure is shown as 1.0 Bar. A reading on this type of gauge is called Bar.
absolute (Bara). 0.5 Bara is therefore 0.5 Bar less than atmospheric pressure.

r
Vacuum

When a pressure is less than atmospheric pressure, it is called a vacuum. A

vacuum is a lack of air or fluid. Long ago, it was proven that air could be
almost completely withdrawn from a vessel and that a vacuum, or lack of air,
remained. It is impossible to pump absolutely all the air out of a container
and thus make a perfect vacuum, (0 Bara) but enou gh air can be pumped out to be
effective. At first, vacuum pumps were found only in laboratories. Then it was
found that the principle of the vacuum could be used elsewhere. Electric light
bulbs and X-rays bulbs are made with a vacuum which makes them more efficient.
A vacuum is used on the condensers of our steam turbines, in our plant to
evacuate air or hydrocarbon from reactors and vessels etc. A gasoline engine
gets its charge by pulling a vacuum on the carburetor, thus filling the
cylinders with an explosive mixture of gas and air.

Since we have found that air has wei ght and rushes into any available space, we
know it exerts pressure. Like water, it exerts as much pressure upward as
downward and to all sides, and we do not notice it. A German demonstrated this
fact when he made a pair of half spheres 56cros in diameter. He ground them
together and pumped out the air to as nearly a complete vacuum as possible. It
took eight horses to pull them apart. This proves that the atmosphere has an
immense amount of pressure.

There are many means of achieving a vacuum. If a distillation tower, for

example, is filled with water., 211 the air is displaced. If the tower is then
started draining without opening a vent at the top, a vacuum will be created
with possible serious dama ge to the equipment since atmospheric pressure at 1
Bar or lko/cm2 approx is being exerted on the outside of the tower. Another
means for creating a vacuum is through the displacement of air., hydrocarbon cr
inert gas with a condensible fluid such as steam. If, after the non-condensible
fluids have been thoroughly displaced, the vessel is then allowed to cool while
not vented, a very effective vacuum is produced. If the vessel being steamed is
a fractionating tower equipped with overhead condensers, it is possible to
create a vacuum even while steaming by using too much cooling water on the
condensers. For this reason, it is vitally important that cooling water in
condensers be carefully controlled while steaming. It is equally important that
sufficient vents be left open while the tower is coolin g to guard against the
creation of vacuum. It should always be remembered that atmospheric pressure of
1 bar or. 1 kg per cm2 constantly applied to all our equipment. As soon as we
allow the internal pressure in a vessel to fall below atmospheric pressure, we
begin to subject the vessel to enormous forces. For example, on a 3m x 10m
drum, if the pressure is 0.5 bar less than atmospheric the total force that the
atmosphere would create on the drum would be about 423900kg or. 423.9 tonnes.

A vacuum can be measured by a mercury column. Earlier in this paper we

mentioned mercury would build up 1.35 bar pressure per meter of height. If a
vacuum is applied to the top end of a long glass tube and the bottom open end
put in a jar of mercury, the mercury will rise 100mm for every 0.135 bar less
than atmospheric pressure. The reason that the mercury column rises is that as
air is removed from the top of the tube a lower pressure than atmospheric
pressure is crated above the column of mercury and the atmospheric pressure
outside the tube pushes the mercury up, the mercury will rise only about 760
mm. Since water is lighter than mercury, normal atmospheric pressure will push
water only 10m high in a column. This is why the best pump in the world cannot
have a water suction lift hi gher than lOm. This is also why suction conditions
on a pump are very important if the pump is to operate properly.

0626L
 Almost all of our process gauges read vacuum in bar less than atmospheric
pressure. Since 1 bar. = 750 mm of mercury, 0.5 bar less than atmospheric
pressure would read 375mm on the mercury scale.

Gas Under. Pressure

As has been stated, gas has great compressibility. When compressed and released,
it immediately returns to its former state. So great is this property that if
not enclosed in a container, the gas will mix with outside gases and is soon
lost. This property makes air, a mixture of common gases, a useful material for
filling footballs, air cushions, automobile tires, etc and as a medium for
transferring energy. An Irishman named Robert Boyle set forth the principle
that at a constant temperature the volume of a gas varies with the pressure.
That is, to reduce a volume of gas to one-half its normal volume the pressure
of the gas will have to be doubled. Thus, if a quantity of gas with a pressure
of say 2 bar must be reduced to 1/10 the space, the pressure will have to be
increased 10 times as much as 2 bar or. 20 bar. This principle has many
valuable uses in our plant. It is necessary to know the strength of boilers, gas
containers, pipe lines, etc., in order to know how much a gas may be compressed
with safety.

Nm3 (Normal cubic meter)

The volume a kilogram of gas will occupy is also affected by the temperature.
Since this volume does chan ge so much with pressure and temperature, a
standard set of conditions is used to measure gas. These conditions are normal
atmospheric pressure and 15.6 0C temperature. Where you see Nm 3/hr.
it means normal cubic meter per hour. For example, a cubic meter of gas under
three times atmospheric pressure (3 barg) would occupy 3 cubic meter under
standard conditions and is said to be 3Nm 3.

While we are discussing the effects of temperature on gases, we should examine

the effect of temperature on liquids. As you will recall, we noted that gases
differfrom liquids in one important aspect - that they are compressible. This
difference is particularly important when the effect of temperature on liquids
is considered. Like gases, liquids increase in volume when they are heated.
However, since liquids are not compressible, pressures will increase enormously
if a constant volume of liquid is heated. IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THIS FACT
IN HANDLING LIQUIDS IN OUR PLANT. IF A LINE IS TO BE SHUT OFF, ONE END SHOULD
BE LEFT OPEN OR A BLEEDER OPENED SO THAT THE VOLUME EXPANSION RESULTING FROM
THE SUN'S RADIANT HEAT OR ANY OTHER HEAT SOURCE CAN BE RELEASED. SIMILARLY, ON
HEAT EXCHANGERS, THE COLD FLUID SIDE SHOULD ALWAYS BE GIVEN AN OUTLET TO AVOID
OVERPRESSURING AS A RESULT OF THE HEAT PICK-UP FROM THE HOT FLUID SIDE.

For the same reason, sample containers should always have about 10% gas space
left above the liquid to allow for thermal expansion to avoid rupturing the
container.

Pressure Affects Boiling Point

One of the main uses for pressure in our plant is to change the boiling point
of liquids. For example, water boils at 100°C under normal atmospheric
pressure. At 6.9 barg water boils at 170°C. At 0.7 bar, less than atmospheric
pressure water boils at 70 0C. The same reduction in boiling point applies to
liquid hydrocarbons.

P
P
ressure is used in many cases to help liquify a gas. Many of the gases
con
densed in a overhead accumulator. 7 barg would not condense under
at
mospheric pressure.

O626L V - 7
 SUMMARY - PRESSURE

PRESSURE IS FORCE OR WEIGHT PER UNIT AREA.

ALL FLUIDS (LIQUIDS AND GASES) HAVE WEIGHT.

ALL FLUIDS BUILD UP STATIC PRESSURE.

THE AMOUNT OF STATIC PRESSURE DEPENDS ON THE HEIGHT OF FLUIDS AND THE DENSITY -
NOT THE SHAPE OF THE VESSEL.

FLUID PRESSURE IS TRANSMITTED IN ALL DIRECTIONS EQUALLY.

THE WEIGHT OF AIR CAUSES AN ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE OF APPROX 1 BARA.

LESS THAN 1 BARA IS A VACUUM.

A SMALL PRESSURE OVER AN AREA LIKE A TANK OR VESSEL CAN CREATE LARGE FORCES.

ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE CAN COLLAPSE MANY VESSELS THAT HAVE A VACUUM INSIDE.

CONDENSING GASES IN VESSELS OR DRAINING OF LIQUIDS FROM VESSELS OR TANKS NOT

PROPERLY VENTED WILL CREATE A VACUUM.

GASES ARE COMPRESSIBLE - LIQUIDS ARE NOT,

IF THE PRESSURE ON A GAS IS DOUBLED, THE VOLUME WILL HALVE.

IF THE PRESSURE IS HALVED, THE VOLUME WILL DOUBLE. PRESSURE

AFFECTS BOILING POINT.