A pressure tank or pressurizer is used in a piping system to maintain a desired pressure. Applications include buffering water pressure in homes. [1]
A pressure tank or pressurizer is used in a piping system to maintain a desired pressure. Applications include buffering water pressure in homes. [1]
Referring to the figure on the left, a submersible water pump is installed in a well. The pressure switch turns the water pump on when it senses a pressure that is less than Plo and turns it off when it senses a pressure greater than Phi. While the pump is on, the pressure tank fills up. The pressure tank is then depleted as it supplies water in the specified pressure range to prevent "short-cycling", in which the pump tries to establish the proper pressure by rapidly cycling between Plo and Phi.
A simple pressure tank would be just a tank which held water with an air space above the water which would compress as more water entered the tank. Modern systems isolate the water from the pressurized air using a flexible rubber or plastic diaphragm or bladder, because otherwise the air will dissolve in the water and be removed from the tank by usage. Eventually there will be little or no air and the tank will become "waterlogged" causing short-cycling, and will need to be drained to restore operation. The diaphragm or bladder may itself exert a pressure on the water, but it is usually small and will be neglected in the following discussion.
Referring to the diagram on the right, a pressure tank is generally pressurized when empty with a "charging pressure" Pc, which is usually about 2 psi below the turn-on pressure Plo (Case 1). The total volume of the tank is Vt. When in use, the air in the tank will be compressed to pressure P and there will be a volume V of water in the tank (Case 2). In the following development, all pressures are gauge pressures, which are the pressures above atmospheric pressure (Pa, which is altitude dependent). The ideal gas law may be written for both cases, and the amount of air in each case is equal:
where N is the number of molecules of gas (equal in both cases), k is Boltzmann's Constant and T is the temperature in Kelvin. Assuming that the temperature is equal for both cases, the above equations can be solved for the water pressure/volume relationship in the tank:
Tanks are generally specified by their total volume Vt and the "drawdown" (ΔV ), which is the amount of water the tank will eject as the tank pressure goes from Phi to Plo, which are established by the pressure switch: [2] [3]
The reason for the charging pressure can now be seen: The larger the charging pressure, the larger the drawdown. However, a charging pressure above Plo will not allow the pump to turn on when the water pressure is below Plo, so it is kept a bit below Plo. Another important parameter is the drawdown factor (fΔV), which is the ratio of the drawdown to the total tank volume:
This factor is independent of the tank size so that the drawdown can be calculated for any tank, given its total volume, atmospheric pressure, charging pressure, and the limiting pressures established by the pressure switch.
In thermodynamics, enthalpy, is the sum of a thermodynamic system's internal energy and the product of its pressure and volume. It is a state function used in many measurements in chemical, biological, and physical systems at a constant external pressure, which is conveniently provided by the large ambient atmosphere. The pressure–volume term expresses the work that was done against constant external pressure to establish the system's physical dimensions from to some final volume , i.e. to make room for it by displacing its surroundings. The pressure-volume term is very small for solids and liquids at common conditions, and fairly small for gases. Therefore, enthalpy is a stand-in for energy in chemical systems; bond, lattice, solvation, and other chemical "energies" are actually enthalpy differences. As a state function, enthalpy depends only on the final configuration of internal energy, pressure, and volume, not on the path taken to achieve it.
Bernoulli's principle is a key concept in fluid dynamics that relates pressure, speed and height. Bernoulli's principle states that an increase in the speed of a fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in static pressure or the fluid's potential energy. The principle is named after the Swiss mathematician and physicist Daniel Bernoulli, who published it in his book Hydrodynamica in 1738. Although Bernoulli deduced that pressure decreases when the flow speed increases, it was Leonhard Euler in 1752 who derived Bernoulli's equation in its usual form.
An ideal gas is a theoretical gas composed of many randomly moving point particles that are not subject to interparticle interactions. The ideal gas concept is useful because it obeys the ideal gas law, a simplified equation of state, and is amenable to analysis under statistical mechanics. The requirement of zero interaction can often be relaxed if, for example, the interaction is perfectly elastic or regarded as point-like collisions.
In physical chemistry, Henry's law is a gas law that states that the amount of dissolved gas in a liquid is directly proportional to its partial pressure above the liquid. The proportionality factor is called Henry's law constant. It was formulated by the English chemist William Henry, who studied the topic in the early 19th century.
Hemodynamics or haemodynamics are the dynamics of blood flow. The circulatory system is controlled by homeostatic mechanisms of autoregulation, just as hydraulic circuits are controlled by control systems. The hemodynamic response continuously monitors and adjusts to conditions in the body and its environment. Hemodynamics explains the physical laws that govern the flow of blood in the blood vessels.
In thermodynamics, an isothermal process is a type of thermodynamic process in which the temperature T of a system remains constant: ΔT = 0. This typically occurs when a system is in contact with an outside thermal reservoir, and a change in the system occurs slowly enough to allow the system to be continuously adjusted to the temperature of the reservoir through heat exchange (see quasi-equilibrium). In contrast, an adiabatic process is where a system exchanges no heat with its surroundings (Q = 0).
In thermodynamics, an isobaric process is a type of thermodynamic process in which the pressure of the system stays constant: ΔP = 0. The heat transferred to the system does work, but also changes the internal energy (U) of the system. This article uses the physics sign convention for work, where positive work is work done by the system. Using this convention, by the first law of thermodynamics,
A compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor.
The equilibrium constant of a chemical reaction is the value of its reaction quotient at chemical equilibrium, a state approached by a dynamic chemical system after sufficient time has elapsed at which its composition has no measurable tendency towards further change. For a given set of reaction conditions, the equilibrium constant is independent of the initial analytical concentrations of the reactant and product species in the mixture. Thus, given the initial composition of a system, known equilibrium constant values can be used to determine the composition of the system at equilibrium. However, reaction parameters like temperature, solvent, and ionic strength may all influence the value of the equilibrium constant.
In physics, Washburn's equation describes capillary flow in a bundle of parallel cylindrical tubes; it is extended with some issues also to imbibition into porous materials. The equation is named after Edward Wight Washburn; also known as Lucas–Washburn equation, considering that Richard Lucas wrote a similar paper three years earlier, or the Bell-Cameron-Lucas-Washburn equation, considering J.M. Bell and F.K. Cameron's discovery of the form of the equation in 1906.
Thermal expansion is the tendency of matter to change its shape, area, volume, and density in response to a change in temperature, usually not including phase transitions.
In science and engineering, hydraulic conductivity, is a property of porous materials, soils and rocks, that describes the ease with which a fluid can move through the pore space, or fracture network. It depends on the intrinsic permeability of the material, the degree of saturation, and on the density and viscosity of the fluid. Saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ksat, describes water movement through saturated media. By definition, hydraulic conductivity is the ratio of volume flux to hydraulic gradient yielding a quantitative measure of a saturated soil's ability to transmit water when subjected to a hydraulic gradient.
A thermodynamic cycle consists of linked sequences of thermodynamic processes that involve transfer of heat and work into and out of the system, while varying pressure, temperature, and other state variables within the system, and that eventually returns the system to its initial state. In the process of passing through a cycle, the working fluid (system) may convert heat from a warm source into useful work, and dispose of the remaining heat to a cold sink, thereby acting as a heat engine. Conversely, the cycle may be reversed and use work to move heat from a cold source and transfer it to a warm sink thereby acting as a heat pump. If at every point in the cycle the system is in thermodynamic equilibrium, the cycle is reversible. Whether carried out reversible or irreversibly, the net entropy change of the system is zero, as entropy is a state function.
Lateral earth pressure is the pressure that soil exerts in the horizontal direction. The lateral earth pressure is important because it affects the consolidation behavior and strength of the soil and because it is considered in the design of geotechnical engineering structures such as retaining walls, basements, tunnels, deep foundations and braced excavations.
Lung compliance, or pulmonary compliance, is a measure of the lung's ability to stretch and expand. In clinical practice it is separated into two different measurements, static compliance and dynamic compliance. Static lung compliance is the change in volume for any given applied pressure. Dynamic lung compliance is the compliance of the lung at any given time during actual movement of air.
Thermodynamic heat pump cycles or refrigeration cycles are the conceptual and mathematical models for heat pump, air conditioning and refrigeration systems. A heat pump is a mechanical system that allows for the transmission of heat from one location at a lower temperature to another location at a higher temperature. Thus a heat pump may be thought of as a "heater" if the objective is to warm the heat sink, or a "refrigerator" or “cooler” if the objective is to cool the heat source. In either case, the operating principles are similar. Heat is moved from a cold place to a warm place.
The Thomas–Fermi (TF) model, named after Llewellyn Thomas and Enrico Fermi, is a quantum mechanical theory for the electronic structure of many-body systems developed semiclassically shortly after the introduction of the Schrödinger equation. It stands separate from wave function theory as being formulated in terms of the electronic density alone and as such is viewed as a precursor to modern density functional theory. The Thomas–Fermi model is correct only in the limit of an infinite nuclear charge. Using the approximation for realistic systems yields poor quantitative predictions, even failing to reproduce some general features of the density such as shell structure in atoms and Friedel oscillations in solids. It has, however, found modern applications in many fields through the ability to extract qualitative trends analytically and with the ease at which the model can be solved. The kinetic energy expression of Thomas–Fermi theory is also used as a component in more sophisticated density approximation to the kinetic energy within modern orbital-free density functional theory.
ΔP is a mathematical term symbolizing a change (Δ) in pressure (P).
Blade element momentum theory is a theory that combines both blade element theory and momentum theory. It is used to calculate the local forces on a propeller or wind-turbine blade. Blade element theory is combined with momentum theory to alleviate some of the difficulties in calculating the induced velocities at the rotor.
An axial fan is a type of fan that causes gas to flow through it in an axial direction, parallel to the shaft about which the blades rotate. The flow is axial at entry and exit. The fan is designed to produce a pressure difference, and hence force, to cause a flow through the fan. Factors which determine the performance of the fan include the number and shape of the blades. Fans have many applications including in wind tunnels and cooling towers. Design parameters include power, flow rate, pressure rise and efficiency.
