Shell Nigeria Graduate Training Programme Instrumentation

Pneumatics

5.0 PNEUMATIC SYSTEM

This system, shown in Figure C is used to indicate the level of petroleum spirit stored
in a vessel in an oil refinery. The top of the vessel is covered, but the space above
the petrol is maintained at atmospheric pressure via the inlet pipe. Because of the
hazard of sparks igniting the petrol vapour, an electrical system is dangerous unless
many precautions are taken. In this particular application a pneumatic system is
used.

Head and Pressure

The escape of vapour from the tank constitutes both a pollution nuisance and an
explosion hazard. A float-and-wire arrangement (Figure (B)) becomes more
complicated when fume leakage must be avoided. The problem is solved in the
present system by making a measurement of the level in terms of the pressure at the
bottom of the tank. The relationship between the level and this pressure is something
which now needs considering in some detail.

The level of the petrol to be measured is indicated by the height h of the petrol above
the bottom of the tank in Figure C. The cross-sectional area of the tank is A, so the
volume of petrol is hA and its mass is ρhA, where, ρ is its density. The total force
exerted on the bottom of the tank by the petrol is thus ρghA, where g is the
acceleration due to gravity. This force is Uniformly distributed over the bottom of the
tank, so the pressure at the bottom, due to the petrol, is force/area = ρgh. To this
must be added the atmospheric pressure is known as the absolute pressure.
Absolute pressure is defined as the amount by which the pressure exceeds that of a
perfect vacuum.

To sum up,

Absolute pressure at bottom of tank = ρgh + atmospheric pressure

To indicate the height, or level, of the petrol, a meter is needed which will measure
ρgh. In other words, the meter, the meter must measure the amount by which

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pressure exceeds atmospheric pressure, rather than measuring the absolute

pressure. This pressure is commonly known as gauge pressure. In other words,

Gauge pressure = absolute pressure – atmospheric pressure

For the tank, then,

Gauge pressure = ρgh

The gauge pressure is directly proportional to the height h of the petrol level above
the gauge. This height is commonly referred to as the liquid head, and the concept
of head is associated with the pressure resulting from it.

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Unit of Measure

Pressure could be measured in: SI units, as Newton’s metre-2 (1 N m-2 = 1 Pa);

kilograms force per centimetre squared (kgf cm-2) and pounds force per square inch
(p.s.i.)

It should be noted that Pa =N/m2 = 0.000145 p.s.i. The kilopascal (kPa), 1000
Pascal’s, equals 0.145 p.s.i. And most common pressures are thus expressed in
kPa.

A common abbreviation for gauge pressure is the inclusion of g after the units; for
example, p.s.i.g means pounds per square inch gauge.

Always mount the transducer if possible near the tank, and at the same or nearly the
same level with the bottom of the tank to avoid zero error. (A difference between the
levels of the tank bottom and the transducer can be accommodated, provided it is no
too great, by zero adjustment of the transducer.)

The pneumatic pressure transducer

Specification 1.1 shows a photograph and the specification of the pneumatic

pressure transducer. This comprises a pressure meter (‘measuring unit’) which
converts the liquid pressure to force, and a pneumatic transmitter, which converts
the force to pneumatic pressure.

The transducer is designed to measure differential pressure; i.e. it measures the

difference between two pressures. In the present application the low-pressure input
port (see Specification 1.1) is left open to the air, and tubing to the petrol at the
bottom of the tank connects the high-pressure input port. The transducer measures
the difference between the two inputs pressures, so it produces an output dependent
upon the absolute pressure at the bottom of the tank less atmospheric pressure, i.e.
gauge pressure.

Compressed air is fed into the air-input port shown in Specification 1.1. The
indicating gauge in the control room is connected via tubing to the pneumatic output

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port. The port delivers an air pressure linearly related to the differential pressure
input and hence to the petrol head.

We will now discuss the principle of operation of the transducer by explaining the
operation of each of its major constituent parts.

The transducer has two airtight chambers A and B, shown schematically in Figure
1(a), which are separated by an airtight flexible membrane. Chamber A connects to
the low-pressure input port and chamber B to the high-pressure input port. When the
pressures in the two chambers A and B are equal (i.e. when p1 = p2), the membrane
rests in a central, inflexible position.

When p2 is greater than p1, the membrane will flex as shown in Figure 1(b).

The diaphragm can be restored to the central position by applying, to the centre of
the diaphragm, a force, Fd, of appropriate magnitude (Figure (1)). If the area of the
diaphragm is A, then the force Fd required to bring back the diaphragm to the central
position is given by

Fd = (p2 – p1) A (1)

Figure 1

A practical arrangement for applying the force to the centre of the diaphragm is
shown in Figure 2. The force Fb rotates the bar about the fulcrum and applies a force
Fd to the diaphragm. The turning moment of Fb is Fbl1, so the force Fd is given by

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Fdl2 = Fbl1

Or

Fd = Fbl1/l2 (2)

Equating the two values of Fd from Equations (1) and (2) we get

Fbl1/l2 = (p2 – p1) A

Or

Fb = (p2 – p1) Al2/l1 (3)

If l1, l2 and A are kept constant, the externally applied balancing force Fb is
proportional to the differential pressure.

To see how the force Fb is provided, consider the arrangement shown in Figure 3.
Compressed air, at a fixed pressure pa, enters the system, passes through a
constriction and then discharges to the atmosphere through a nozzle whose aperture
can be varied

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If the nozzle were completely closed, there would be no leakage of air from the pipe
and the pressure pb in the bellows would be the same as the supply pressure pa.
When the nozzle is wide open, the bellows pressure pb will be very nearly equal to
atmospheric pressure. By controlling the size of the nozzle, the pressure pb can be
varied from a value near to atmospheric pressure to a value close to the supply
pressure pa.

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The force Fb exerted by the bellows depends on the pressure pb. In fact, provided
that large bellows movements do not occur, Fb will be almost exactly proportional to
the pressure pb. (Large bellows movement’s change the internal forces in the walls of
the bellows and so alter the relationship between pressure and resulting external
force).

By varying the nozzle size, pb can be varied until the force Fb provides sufficient
force Fd on the diaphragm to exactly balance the force due to the differential
pressure p2 – p1. From equation (3), this occurs when Fb = (p2 – p1) Al2/l1, i.e. when
Fb, and hence the output pressure pb are proportional to the differential pressure p2 –
p1. The pressure gauge, G, then indicates the value of the differential input pressure.

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In the pressure transducer, the arrangement is made automatic by using a flapper

nozzle, a device, which allows small movements of the pivoted beam to change the
nozzle size. The arrangement is shown, again schematically, in Figure 4.

In this arrangement the rate of discharge of air from the flapper nozzle, and hence
the pressure pb in the bellows, is related to the distance of the flapper from the outlet
of the nozzle.

Suppose that the pressure p2 at the high-pressure input port increases, so increasing
the force exerted by the diaphragm at the bottom of the pivoted arm and tending to
move the diaphragm to the left. Via the pivot, this causes a small movement of the
flapper towards the nozzle, reducing the air flow through the nozzle, increasing pb
and so increasing Fb. Fb will increase until the forces on the pivoted arm exactly

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balance each other, i.e. until Fb once more has the value Fb = (p2 – p1) Al2/l1. This
force-balance action ensures that Fb (and the output pressure Pb) always settles to
a value proportional to p2 – p1.

This system still suffers from two disadvantages:

1. Since displacement of the flapper is essential for its operation, flexing of the
diaphragm is essential for a reading to be registered, and a strained diaphragm
always means some non-linearity of operation because of the changing
geometry of the diaphragm. The effect can be reduced but not overcome by
making l2 small compared with the total length of the pivoted arm so that very
small diaphragm movements result in large flapper movements.

2. A large cross-sectional are for the bellows is desirable for a reasonably large
value for Fb to be generated from the output pressure pb. However, for a given
change in the differential pressure, the larger the volume of the bellows the
longer air will take to move into and out of them and so establish the final value
of Fb. This means that the response of the system will be slow; the system will
not be able to respond to rapid changes in differential pressure. In reality, the
response time is governed by the capacity of the pipe feeding pb to some
indicating or recording device, probably situated some distance away from the
transducer itself. The capacity of this pipeline will almost certainly be much
greater than that of the bellows itself and the response correspondingly slow.

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These two disadvantages can be overcome by using a relay amplifier, whose basic
function is described by Figure 5.

The internal construction of a relay amplifier is shown in Figure 6. A small closure of

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the flapper nozzle will cause a pressure increase in chamber C. This acts on the
relay diaphragm (since chamber D is vented to atmosphere) to move the double
valve downward against its leaf spring. This movement closes the upper part of the
double valve and opens the lower part, allowing air to flow directly from the supply to
the feedback bellows without passing through the constriction. The pressure in the
feedback bellows therefore increases rapidly, and by much more than the original
increase in flapper nozzle pressure. Similarly, the relay amplifier responds to a small
decrease in flapper nozzle pressure by generating a much larger pressure reduction
to the feedback bellows. The amplification of pressure changes, achieved by the
relay amplifier does not affect the basic relationship between input differential
pressure p2 - p1 and transducer output pressure pb. That relationship is established
by the force-balance principle, which says that movements of the flapper nozzle can
only cease when the force Fb (which is proportional to the output pressure pb) is
equal to the force Fd (which is proportional to the input differential pressure)
multiplied by the ratio l2/l1.

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Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the transducer. It contains

a double diaphragm instead of a single one. The transmissions bar and force bar are
two ends of a single bar pivoted at the fulcrum diaphragm. They allow changes in
differential input pressure to change the position of the flapper nozzle.

Figure 7 Internal construction of the pneumatic

transducer

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The feedback bellows exert a force on the feedback beam, which is pivoted at its top
end, and hence via the span carriage to the force bar. The position of the span
carriage can be raised and lowered by the span adjustment screw. If the span
carriage is raised, the distance l4 decreases (Figure 8) and hence the force exerted
on the force bar by the span carriage (for any given feedback bellows force Fb)
increases. At the same time the distance l1 increases, also decreasing the force Fb
required to balance any given differential pressure. The result of raising the span
carriage is therefore to reduce the force required from the feedback bellows to
achieve the force balance. This causes the output pressure change (for any given
change of differential pressure input) to be less. Variation in the position of the span
carriage therefore varies the input change corresponding to the full-scale output
change. Thus it adjusts the sensitivity of the transducer, and the total span of input
differential pressure variation to which it can respond linearly.

Figure 8

Signal transmission: the connecting pipe

The output signal from the transmitter is in the form of air pressure variations. These
are fed, via a pipe, to a pressure gauge, calibrated in level, in the control room. The

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transmission pipe is made as nearly as possible leak free, so that the pressure at the
receiving end is not less than the output pressure from the transmitter.

In the event of an accidental break in the pipe the received pressure drops to zero.
This is then obvious on the indicating pressure gauge. Zero level is usually marked
at a pointer setting of 0.2 × 105 Pa, and a lower reading than this indicates a break or
leak in the pipe. While the level is unchanging the pressure at the receiving and the
transmitting ends of the pipe are equal, providing there are no leaks. However, while
the level is changing the transmitted pressure changes too. The pressure change is
transmitted down the pipe as a sound wave.

When a transmission system is employed, the measurement is converted to a

pneumatic signal by the transmitter, which is scaled from 0 to 100 percent of the
measured value. The transmitter is mounted close to the point of measurement in
the process. The transmitter output- air pressure for a pneumatic transmitter- is
piped to the recording or control instrument. The standard output range for a
pneumatic transmitter is 3 to 15 psi, 20 to 100 kPa, or o.2 to 1.0 bar or kg/cm2.
These are the standard signals that are almost universally used. Therefore, for the
purpose of signal transmission pressure transmitters irrespective of input pressure
ranges are designed to produce an output in any of the ranges specified above.

PNEUMATIC RECORDERS AND INDICATORS

Pneumatic recorders and indicators differ only in that they always operate from a
standard 3 to 15 psi or 20 to 100 kPa signals. The indicator scale, or recorder chart,
may be labelled 0 to 1,000 psi. This would represent the pressure sensed by the
measuring transmitter and converted into the standard signal that is transmitted to
the receiver.

The receiver converts the signal into a suitable pen or pointer position. Because the
scale is labelled in proper units, it is possible to read the measured pressure.

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A typical pneumatic indicator is shown in Figure 9 (top) and its operation may be
visualised by studying Figure 9 (bottom, right).

The input signal passes through an adjustable needle valve to provide damping, then
continues to the receiver bellows. This bellows, acting in expansion, moves a force
plate. A spring opposing the bellows provides zero and spans adjustments.
Regulating the amount of spring used (its effective length) provides a span
adjustment. Setting the initial tension on the spring provides a zero adjustment.

The force plate is connected to a link that drives the pointer arbor assembly.
Changing the length of the link by turning the nut on the link provides an angularity
adjustment. The arm connecting the pointer and the arbor is a rugged crushed tube
designed to reduce torsional effects.

Over-range protection is provided to prevent damage to the bellows or pointed

movement assembly for pressures up to approximately 30 psi or about 200 kPa.

A pneumatic recorder also uses a receiver bellows assembly as shown in Figure 10

(top). This receiver provides a usually high torque due to an effective bellows area of
1.1 square inches.

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