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Calculation of The Liquid Level Using Hydrostatic Pressure

The document discusses the calculation of liquid level in open vessels using hydrostatic pressure, highlighting the relationship between hydrostatic pressure, filling height, density, and gravitational force. A formula is provided for calculating filling height, along with a rule of thumb for water that equates 1 bar of pressure to a 10 m filling height. The text also emphasizes the importance of considering density variations for different liquids and mentions the use of submersible pressure sensors for accurate measurements.

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Danang Setiawan
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31 views3 pages

Calculation of The Liquid Level Using Hydrostatic Pressure

The document discusses the calculation of liquid level in open vessels using hydrostatic pressure, highlighting the relationship between hydrostatic pressure, filling height, density, and gravitational force. A formula is provided for calculating filling height, along with a rule of thumb for water that equates 1 bar of pressure to a 10 m filling height. The text also emphasizes the importance of considering density variations for different liquids and mentions the use of submersible pressure sensors for accurate measurements.

Uploaded by

Danang Setiawan
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 PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1/23/25, 11:41 AM Calculation of the liquid level using hydrostatic pressure

WIKA blog Products Level Hydrostatic level measurement in open …

Hydrostatic level measurement in open geometries and vessels – calcula-


tion of the filling height
Enrico Bossart

In my last blog post, I introduced the way in which hydrostatic level measurement works.
The hydrostatic pressure is used to determine the level through the measurement of the
liquid column and is directly proportional to the filling height, as well as to the density of
the medium and the force of gravity. Now, how does one calculate, from the hydrostatic
pressure, the filling height of an open vessel or an open body of water or well?

Calculation of the filling height using hydrostatic pressure


Under the influence of gravity, the hydrostatic pressure rises with the increasing height of the li-
quid column, thus with the filling height of the vessel.

Thus the level is calculated from the formula:

h = p / (ρ * g)

p = hydrostatic pressure [bar gauge]

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1/23/25, 11:41 AM Calculation of the liquid level using hydrostatic pressure

ρ = density of the liquid [kg/m³]

g = gravitational force or gravitational acceleration [m/s²]

h = height of the liquid column [m]

Rule of thumb – Water: h = 1 bar relative / (1000 kg/m³ * ~ 10 m/s²) = 10 m

For the medium water, one can thus adopt the rule of thumb that a pressure of 1 bar corres-
ponds to a filling height of 10 m.

This rule of thumb can be used for selection and specification of a suitable submersible pres-
sure sensor or pressure sensor. As a control, however, a more precise calculation should be
performed, which includes the influence of temperature on the density, as well as the location-
dependent force of gravity in the level calculation.

Since the density of a medium can significantly deviate from the density of water, this rule of
thumb only applies to liquids with densities close to water. Thus, for example, with the same
filling height of diesel and water, the hydrostatic pressure of diesel is much lower than that of
water.

Example – Diesel fuel: h = 0.82 bar gauge / (820 kg/m³ * ~ 10 m/s²) = 10 m

The density difference has, in this example, led to a measuring error of around 22 %.

Since with hydrostatic level measurement in open basins and vessels, there is constant ventila-
tion, that is to say, a pressure equalisation takes place between the gas above the liquid and
the ambient air, the pressure of the overlying gas must not be included in the calculation of the
level. By using submersible pressure sensors, such as the WIKA model LH-20 , in a gauge
pressure variant, the fluctuating ambient pressure is fully compensated.

In my next blog post, I will therefore explain the calculation of the filling height in closed geomet-
ries or vessels, and clarify the effect of the enclosed gas on the level measurement.

Note
WIKA offers different solutions for the hydrostatic pressure measurement of level. Our field ser-
vice will assist you in selecting the suitable pressure sensor for your application.

For more information about this topic, see our information platform “Hydrostatic level measure-

ment”

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1/23/25, 11:41 AM Calculation of the liquid level using hydrostatic pressure

FILLING HEIGHT HYDROSTATIC HYDROSTATIC LEVEL MEASUREMENT

SUBMERSIBLE PRESSURE TRANSMITTER

AUTHOR

Enrico Bossart
Dipl. Ing. (BA)
Product Management
WIKA Alexander Wiegand SE & Co. KG

RELATED ARTICLES

Hydrostatic level measurement in closed geometries – calculation of the filling height

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Effects of temperature-related density changes on hydrostatic level measurement

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