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Chemical Process Instrumentation: Pressure Measurement: Moderate and High Pressure Measuring Instruments

The document discusses Bourdon tubes, which are elastic element type pressure gauges invented in 1849. Bourdon tubes have a C-shaped hollow elliptical cross-section that straightens under applied pressure, causing the closed end to move. This movement is amplified through linkages to a pointer on a scale. Bourdon tubes are inexpensive and widely used to measure static pressures of gases and liquids. Sensitivity can be increased using spiral or helical coils at the cost of measurement range and manufacturing complexity. Differential pressure and temperature compensation are also discussed.

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105 views14 pages

Chemical Process Instrumentation: Pressure Measurement: Moderate and High Pressure Measuring Instruments

The document discusses Bourdon tubes, which are elastic element type pressure gauges invented in 1849. Bourdon tubes have a C-shaped hollow elliptical cross-section that straightens under applied pressure, causing the closed end to move. This movement is amplified through linkages to a pointer on a scale. Bourdon tubes are inexpensive and widely used to measure static pressures of gases and liquids. Sensitivity can be increased using spiral or helical coils at the cost of measurement range and manufacturing complexity. Differential pressure and temperature compensation are also discussed.

Uploaded by

lvrevathi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CHEMICAL PROCESS INSTRUMENTATION

Pressure Measurement: Moderate and High


Pressure Measuring Instruments
(WEEK – 5: LECTURE - 23)

Dr. Debasis Sarkar


Department of Chemical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

1
Pressure measurement
Today’s Topic:

 Bourdon tubes (Elastic Element Type Pressure Gage)

2
Bourdon Tubes
Inventer: Eugene Bourdon(France, 1849)

Bourdon tube pressure gages find wide


range of application. It provides consistent,
inexpensive measurement of static
pressure in industries and laboratories.

It usually measures gage pressure of both


gaseous and liquid fluids.

3
Bourdon Tubes
• The C shaped Bourdon tube has a hollow, elliptical cross section. It is
closed at one end and the fluid pressure is applied at the other end.
• When pressure is applied, its cross section becomes more circular, causing
the tube to straighten out until the force of the fluid pressure is balanced
by the elastic resistance of the tube material.
• Since the open end of the tube is fixed, changes
in pressure move the closed end.

4
Bourdon Tubes
• A pointer is attached to the closed end of the tube
through a linkage arm and a gear and pinion
assembly, which rotates the pointer around a
graduated scale.
• A hair spring is used to fasten the spindle of the
frame of the instrument to provide necessary tension
for proper meshing of the gear teeth and thereby
freeing the system from the backlash.
• The deflection can also be measured by a
displacement transducer such as
LVDT/Potentiometer/Capacitive type etc.

5
Bourdon Tubes
K P R 0.2
 
E  0.33t 0.6

θ = angular length, P = applied pressure,


E = modulus of elasticity, t= thickness,
α = major axis, β = minor axis,
Δδ = angular deviation, R = radius of curvature
K = constant

6
Bourdon Tubes
A typical C-type Bourdon tube has:
• Radius = 25 mm, Tube wall thickness = 0.254 to1.27 mm
• Maximum displacement travel = 4 mm
• Error = 1% full-scale deflection
• Typical range: 0.1 MPa to 700 MPa
• Materials used: Bronze, Beryllium-copper, Steel, Alloy-steel,
NiSpanC.

7
K P R 0.2
Spiral and Helical Bourdon Tubes  
E  0.33t 0.6
To increase sensitivity, Bourdon tube elements can
be extended into spirals or helical coils. This increases
their effective angular length and therefore increases the
movement at their tip, which in turn increases the
sensitivity and resolution of the Bourdon tube. Spiral

These both give a much greater


deflection at the free end for a
given applied pressure.
Helical

8
Bourdon Tubes
• However, this increased measurement performance is gained
at the expense of a substantial increase in manufacturing
difficulty and cost compared with C-type tubes, and is also
associated with a large decrease in the maximum pressure
that can be measured. In other words, range of instrument is
decreased.
• Helical and spiral types: maximum pressure measurable = 700
bar.

9
Bourdon Tubes

10
Bourdon Tubes: Measurement of Differential
Pressure
We can measure differential pressure also with Bourdon-tube gages. Two
Bourdon tubes are connected with one pointer in such a way that they
indicate the pressure difference, rather than either of two actual pressures.

11
Bourdon Tubes: Temperature Compensation
Ambient temperature will affect the reading of a metallic elastic pressure element, such as a
Bourdon tube, bellows or diaphragm. Modulus of elasticity decreases with increase in
temperature. Thus under a constant input pressure, as the ambient temperature increases,
the element will deflect more resulting in erroneous readings.
K P R 0.2
 
To compensate for the affects of ambient temperature deviations
E  0.33t 0.6
upon the Bourdon tube, a bimetallic link can be incorporated into the
movement.

Note that the temperature compensation option is designed to compensate for


ambient temperature only, not the temperature of the process medium.

12
Bourdon Tubes: A Note About Calibration
• Usually, air is used to calibrate a Bourdon tube during manufacture
and the pointer of Bourdon tubes is normally set at zero when no
pressure is applied.
• If a different fluid (particularly a liquid) is subsequently used with a
Bourdon tube, the fluid in the tube will cause a non-zero deflection
according to its weight compared with air, resulting in a reading
error of up to 6%.
• This can be avoided by calibrating the Bourdon tube with the fluid
to be measured (instead of using air).

13
End of Lecture – 23

14

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