Question #4

If uncertainty of 5% may be tolerated in measuring an air stream velocity, can a water U-tube
manometer of 1 mm H
2
O resolution be used in measuring an air stream of 5 m/s velocity?, show
why?. Density of air is to be taken as 1.23 kg/m
3
. The air velocity is given by:




Solution:






h
w
= 0.00156 m = 1.56 mm



Therefore the U-tube can not be used since u
h
(0.156 mm) << U-tube resolution of 1 mm



Another Solution:


h
w
= 0.00156 m = 1.56 mm





Therefore 1.728-1.56 = 0.168 mm << 1 mm (available resolution) . It cant be used







gh 2
V
air
w w
air

=
( ) mm 156 . 0 m 000156 . 0 u u 6 . 1598 u
h
V
0.25 u
h
V
u

6 . 1598
) 00156 )(. 23 . 1 ( 2
) 81 . 9 )( 1000 ( 2
h 2
g 2
h
V
,
u
h
V
u
i
i
u
h h h
w
air
h
w
air
V
w air
w
w
air
h
w
air
V
n i
1 i
2
R
u
x
R

= = =
|
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.
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\
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c
c
=
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.
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\
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c
c
=
= =

=
c
c
|
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.
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\
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c
c
= =

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\
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c
c
=
=

23 . 1
1)h (1000)(9.8 2
5
w
=

gh 2
V
air
w w
air

=

23 . 1
1)h (1000)(9.8 2
5
w
=
mm 728 . 1 001728 . 0 h
23 . 1
1)h (1000)(9.8 2
s / m 25 . 5 5 * % 5 5
w
w
= = = = +

Question #5
A certain obstruction type flow meter (Orifice, Venture, Nozzle) is used to measure the mass flow of
air at low velocities. The relation describing the mass flow is given by:

Where:
C = empirical discharge coefficient
A = flow area
p
1
and p
2
= the upstream and downstream pressures, respectively.
T
1
= upstream temperature
R = gas constant for air.
It is required to calculate the percent uncertainty in the mass flow rate for the following conditions:
C = 0.92 0.005 (from calibration data)
p
1
= 1.7 bar
abs
0.034 bar
abs

T
1
= 22
o
C 1.1
o
C T
1
= 295 K
p = p
1
- p
2
= 0.1 bar
abs
0.00035 bar
abs
(measured directly)
A = 1.0 cm
2
0.001 cm
2

Solution:

It is obvious that

The different derivatives are:









Percentage of uncertainty in the mass flow rate is then calculated by:










( )
2 1
1
1
p p
RT
gp 2
CA m =
) T , P , P A, , C ( f m
1 1
A =
P
RT
gP 2
A
C
m
1
1
A =
c
c
P
RT
gP 2
C
A
m
1
1
A =
c
c
1/2 -
1
1 1
P P
RT
g 2
A C 5 . 0
P
m
A =
c
c
1/2 -
1
1
1
P
RT
gP 2
A C 5 . 0
P
m
A =
A c
c
3/2 -
1
1
1
T P
R
gP 2
A C 5 . 0
T
m
A =
c
c
2
1
T
2
P
2
1
P
2
A
2
C m
T
u
4
1
P
u
4
1
P
u
4
1
A
u
C
u
m
u
1 1
|
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\
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+
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.
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\
|
A
+
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\
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+
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\
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+
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\
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=
A

% 1706 . 1 0.011706

295
1 . 1
4
1
1 . 0
00035 . 0
4
1
7 . 1
034 . 0
4
1
1
001 . 0
92 . 0
005 . 0
m
u
2 2 2 2 2
m
=
|
.
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\
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+
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\
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+
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\
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+
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\
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+
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\
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=