Abstract
Condensate porosity in porous materials has a significant influence on comfort, energy consumption, and material’s strength and durability. The variation of the moisture content of the material for a given variation of relative humidity describes the moisture storage capacity and has to be determined experimentally through the water sorption isotherm. However, the characterisation of sorption isotherm is very time-consuming, mostly for high relative humidity conditions, which may cause experimental errors and reproducibility problems.This paper aims to estimate experimental water condensate porosity using mercury intrusion porosimetry and nitrogen adsorption technique considering pores smaller than 0.1 μm for a wide range of porous sedimentary rock types with different petrographic characteristics. Particularly for nitrogen adsorption characterisation, we interpolated the pore volume using BJH method applied to the desorption branch. In the water adsorption test, condensate porosity is obtained with the maximum adsorbed water at RH = 100%.The ratio between water condensate porosity and total porosity in the studied porous stones is important and varies from 2 to 38%. Nitrogen adsorption technique provides the best estimation of condensate porosity (R2 = 0.979) and an effective estimation of water condensate porosity. The correlation between condensate porosity using MIP is moderate (R2 = 0.892) and presents a wider dispersion for all the range of condensate porosity. A mathematical expression that fits the shape and curvature of the water isotherm was also analysed in terms of pore structure. These studies are scarce for porous stones and our results provide valuable information for these widely used construction and building material.
Highlights
Porous materials in buildings and structures always contain a certain amount of moisture that directly affects its properties, such as gas ventilation, mechanical strength, swelling, thermal conduc-D
For nitrogen adsorption characterisation, we interpolated the pore volume using BJH method applied to the desorption branch
This paper aims to estimate experimental water condensate porosity using mercury intrusion porosimetry and nitrogen adsorption technique considering the pore range filled by water when determining water sorption, i.e., r < 0.1 lm
Summary
Porous materials in buildings and structures always contain a certain amount of moisture that directly affects its properties, such as gas ventilation, mechanical strength, swelling, thermal conduc-D. Porous materials in buildings and structures always contain a certain amount of moisture that directly affects its properties, such as gas ventilation, mechanical strength, swelling, thermal conduc-. Condensate water appears in both building indoor and outdoor environments and can become critical depending on microclimate variations and pore structure and hygrothermal properties of the material. Water affects stone’s strength and deformability and triggers salt and ice crystallisation, clay swelling, the development and proliferation of microorganisms, increasing rock reactivity and the intensity of chemical weathering processes by the presence of CO2 [4,5,6,7,8]. Hazardous gases such as 222Rn, CO2, CO, NH3 and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be accumulated as condensate water obstructs the direct passage of gases and reduces the gas diffusion coefficients [10,11,12,13]. The study of the natural radioactive radon gas (222Rn) is nowadays of great human health interest because accumulates within buildings and is inhaled by their occupants [14]
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