NEW HYPOTHESES FOR MERCURY POROSIMETRY WITH PERCOLATION APPROACH

Abstract

New hypotheses of no coalescence and no entrapment are proposed for mercury intrusion and extrusion. Pore structures are represented by a two-dimensional lattice for bond percolation and the Rayleigh distribution function taken for the pore size distribution. Different modes of hysteresis are found with the new hypotheses and the effect of accessible probability on the hysteresis loop is analyzed. A bimodal size distribution with micropores and macropores is analyzed by considering the extent of overlapping and the sequence of connection between both distributions. Mercury entrapment is also predicted by considering the pressure difference between the applied and assigned pressures, as determined by the Washburn equation, as a parameter for mercury breakage. The applicability of the proposed hypotheses is demeonstrated by showing that experimental data on an a-alumina sample could be well correlated.