A differential manometer is a device that measures the difference in pressure between two places. They can range from simple to complex digital equipment. Standard manometers are used to measure the pressure in a container by comparing it to normal atmospheric pressure. Differential manometers are also used to compare the pressure of two different containers. They are used to know which container has greater pressure and how large the difference between the two is.
The simplest differential manometer is a U-shaped tube with both ends at the same height. A liquid usually used is water or mercury and it rests at the bottom of the tube. If one end of the tube is in a place with higher air pressure, the pressure will push down the liquid on that side of the tube. By measuring the difference between the heights of liquid, it is possible to calculate the pressure difference. To calculate the pressure difference, the height difference is multiplied by the density of the gas and the acceleration due to gravity.
There are two types of differential manometer namely:
- U-tube differential manometer.
- Inverted U-tube differential manometer.
There are two types of U-tube differential manometers.
- U-tube differential manometer at the same level.
- U-tube differential manometer at different levels.
The first type of manometer has two pipes in a parallel position, Fig.1. This type of manometer is used for measuring the fluid pressure difference between these two pipes arranged at the same level. The second type of manometer, Fig.2, is used where two pipes are at a different place and are not in parallel conditions. This type of manometer is used for measuring the fluid pressure between these two pipes arranged at different levels. Differential manometers have a wide range of uses in different disciplines. One example is that they can be used to measure the flow dynamics of gas by comparing the pressure at different points in the pipe.
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