Intrusion and extrusion mercury porosimetry measurements at Al2O3-C - influence of measuring parameter

Abstract Pores exert a dominating influence on the mechanical and thermomechanical properties of refractory material such as strength and thermal shock behavior. Thus, it is essential to characterize and quantify their number, size and size distribution. Mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) is an analytical technique used to characterize the material's porous nature relating to the pore diameter distribution, total pore volume, bulk and apparent density. The technique involves the intrusion of non-wetting mercury into the sample as a function of pressure whereby the measurement can be extended by an extrusion process or even a cycling of intrusion and extrusion. Quite a lot of publications using the mercury intrusion/extrusion porosimetry have in common that specifics of the measuring parameter are not provided. This complicates the replication of studies for interested scientists. Measuring parameters can affect mercury intrusion/extrusion porosity results. They are even more relevant when performing combined intrusion/extrusion studies due to a large impact of the measuring parameters on the extrusion step. Therefore, this study attempts to provide an overview of the influence of the measuring parameters on the mercury intrusion/extrusion porosimetry results. The specific parameters are the stem and bulb volume of the penetrometer, equilibrium time, data analysis options, sample/particle size and sample amount.