A comparison of liquid–liquid porosimetry equations for evaluation of pore size distribution

Abstract

This paper reviews and numerically tests many of the methods for the determination of pore size distribution of liquid membranes by liquid–liquid porosimetry. The flux through membranes was defined for flow of two immiscible liquids when drops or a liquid jet is formed, as well as the case when the interface is forced out by sufficient pressure. Several methods from literature for the determination of pore size distribution, some variations of these, and one new method are presented with a consistent theoretical basis. Using numerical tests it was found that all methods were very sensitive to measurement noise as low as ±0.1%, and that some form of data smoothing, such as a smoothing spline, was required to obtain a satisfactory distribution. The effects of elastic and permanent membrane compression were tested and a method was proposed to reduce the resulting error. A method based on the ratio of flux liquids with and without a liquid–liquid interface was recommended as it was less sensitive to the effects of compression in some cases and it provides a check when compression is not repeatable.