Dimensions, Unit Conversion and Basic Engineering Calculations

ENGINEERING DIMENSIONS, UNITS AND BASIC CALCULATIONS
Environmental engineers perform numerous calculations while analyzing and designing. We double
and even triple-check key steps. But it’s also important to pay attention to those seemingly minor
details such as units, to avoid being bitten by a simple error.
The ability to solve problems by using engineering calculations represents the very essence of
engineering.
While certainly not all engineering problems can be solved by using numerical calculations, such
calculations are absolutely necessary for the development of technical solutions.
Engineering calculations make it possible to describe the physical world in terms of units and
dimensions that are understood by all those with whom communication takes place.
Fundamental Dimension: A unique quantity that describes a basic characteristic, such as force
(F), mass (M), length (L), and time (T ).
Derived dimensions: Dimensions calculated by an arithmetic manipulation of one or more

fundamental dimensions. For example, velocity has the dimensions of length per time (L/T ), and
volume is L3.
Dimensions are descriptive but not numerical. They cannot describe how much; they simply
describe what.
Units and the values of those units are necessary to describe something quantitatively.
For example, the length (L) dimension may be described in units as meters, yards, or fathoms.
Adding the value, we have a complete description, such as 3 meters (m), 12.6 yards (yd), or 600
fathoms (fth).
Three Systems Of Units Are in Common Use
a. SI System: (System International d’Unites): It is based on meter for length, second for time,
kilogram for mass, and degree Kelvin for temperature.
Force is expressed in Newtons.
The SI units are now used throughout the world,

b. American Engineering System: It is based on old system of feet, pounds (mass), and seconds,
with force expressed as pounds (force).
The tremendous advantage of the SI system over the older English (and now American) system is
that it works on a decimal basis, with prefixes decreasing or increasing the units by powers of ten.
c. CGS: The centimetre–gram–second system of units is a variant of the metric system based on the

centimetre as the unit of length, the gram as the unit of mass, and the second as the unit of time.
Some FUNDAMETAL DIMENSIONS Units Conversions
1. Mass 2. Area
• SI units= kilogram (kg) • SI units= square meter (m2)
• USCS= pounds (lb) • USCS= sq. Feet (Ft2)
• Conversion factor to lb=2.204 • Conversion factor to Ft2= 10.7639
• That is, multiply with 2.20
3. Length
SI units= meter (m)
USCS (United States Customary System 2.85 cm = ? in.
Units)= ft 2.85 cm  conversion factor = ? in.
Conversion factor to ft=3.28
2.54 cm = 1 in.
That is, multiply the length in SI units with
3.28 to get the length in ft.
4. Temperature
SI units= Celsius (oC)
USCS= Fahrenhite (F)
Conversion factor oF= 1.8(oC)+32
DERIVED DIMENSIONS
1. Density
The density of a substance is defined as its mass divided by a unit volume, or
ρ = MV
Where
ρ = density
M = mass
V = volume
In the SI system the base unit for density is kg/m3 while in the American engineering
system density is commonly expressed as lbM/ft3 [where lbM = pounds (mass)].
Water in the SI system has a density of 1 × 103 kg/m3, which is equal to 1 g/cm3. In
the American engineering system, water has a density of 62.4 lbM/ft3.
2. Concentration
a. The derived dimension concentration is usually expressed gravimetrically as the

mass of a material A in a unit volume consisting of material A and some other material
B. The concentration of A in a mixture of A and B is
where
CA = concentration of A
MA = mass of material A
VA = volume of material A
VB = volume of material B
In the SI system the basic unit for concentration is kg/m3. However, the most widely
used concentration term in environmental engineering is milligrams per liter (mg/L).
Example:
Plastic beads with a volume of 0.04 m3 and a mass of 0.48 kg are placed into a container, and 100
liters of water are poured into the container. What is the concentration of plastic beads, in mg/L?
Solution
Lets say A represents the beads
and B the water:
b. Another measure of concentration is parts per million (ppm). This is numerically equivalent to
mg/L if the fluid in question is water because one milliliter (mL) of water weighs 1 g (i.e., the density
is 1.0 g/cm3). This fact is demonstrated by the following conversion:
So 1 gram in a million grams, or 1 ppm.
c. Some material concentrations are most conveniently expressed as percentages, usually in terms of
mass:
It can be also expressed as a ratio of volumes.

In air pollution control, concentrations are generally expressed gravimetrically as mass of pollutant
per volume of air at standard temperature and pressure.
3. Flow Rate
In engineering processes the flow rate can be either gravimetric (mass) flow rate or volumetric (volume)
flow rate.
The former is in kg/s or lbM/s while the latter is expressed as m3/s or ft3/s.
Mass = Density × Volume
Thus, a volumetric flow rate (QV) can be converted to a mass flow rate (QM) by
multiplying by the density of the material: QM = QVρ
where QM = mass flow rate

QV = volume flow rate
ρ = density
The relationship between mass flow of some component A, concentration of A, and the total volume
flow (A plus B) is
Example:
A wastewater treatment plant discharges a flow of 1.5 m3/s (water plus solids) at a solids concentration
of 20 mg/L (20 mg solids per liter of flow, solids plus water). How much solids is the plant discharging
each day?
Example: A wastewater treatment plant discharges a flow of 34.2 mgd (million gallons per day) at a
solids concentration of 0.002% solids (by weight). How many pounds per day of solids does it
discharge?
4. Retention Time
Also called detention time or even residence time.
Retention time is the time an average particle of the fluid spends in the container through which the
fluid flows (which is the time it is exposed to treatment or a reaction)
Mathematically, if the volume of a container, such as a large holding tank, is V (L3), and the flow rate
into the tank is Q (L3/t), then the residence time is
The average retention time can be increased by reducing the flow rate Q or increasing the volume V,
and decreased by doing the opposite.
Example:
A lagoon has a volume of 1500 m3, and the flow into the lagoon is 3 m3/hr. What is the retention time
in this lagoon?
APPROXIMATIONS IN ENGINEERING CALCULATIONS
Engineers are often called on to provide information not in its exact form but as approximations. They
are very helpful in preliminary estimate—a number—and quickly!
Based on whatever information/approximations might be available in the face of problem.
Procedure:
1. Carefully defining the problem
2. Introducing simplifying assumptions
3. Calculating an answer
4. Checking the answer, for units and numbers.
5. A reality check is necessary
Example:
An environmental engineer may be asked by a client, what it might cost to build a new wastewater
treatment plant for the community.
Solution Approach:
1. She have rough estimate about population of the community (100,000)
2. Based on experience, she has idea that domestic wastewater flow might be about 100 gal per person per
day thus requiring a plant of about 10 mgd capacity.
3. Further she takes into account the factor of safety and additional sewage from other sources, she/he may
estimate that a 15-mgd capacity may be adequate.
4. Knowing that the available watercourses for discharging the effluent are all small streams that may dry up
during droughts, a high degree of treatment is required. She figures that nutrient removal will be needed.
Such treatment plants, she is aware, cost about $3 million per million gallons of influent to construct. She
calculates that the plant would cost about $45 million.
5. Giving herself a cushion, she could respond by saying, “About $50 million.”
This is exactly the type of information the manager seeks because he is only trying to decide whether to ask
for a bond issue of around $100 million or $200 million. There is time enough for more exact calculations
later.
Use of Significant Figures
significant figures in the answer reflect the accuracy of the data and the assumptions.
Significant figures are those that transfer information based on the value of that digit.
How silly it would sound to say that the treatment plant would cost about $5,028,467.19.
Significant figures are those that transfer information based on the value of that digit.

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ENGINEERING DIMENSIONS, UNITS AND BASIC CALCULATIONS

Derived dimensions: Dimensions calculated by an arithmetic manipulation of one or more

The SI units are now used throughout the world,

c. CGS: The centimetre–gram–second system of units is a variant of the metric system based on the

The density of a substance is defined as its mass divided by a unit volume, or

a. The derived dimension concentration is usually expressed gravimetrically as the

So 1 gram in a million grams, or 1 ppm.

It can be also expressed as a ratio of volumes.

where QM = mass flow rate

Based on whatever information/approximations might be available in the face of problem.

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