Comparison of the Mercury Intrusion Porosimerty, Capillary Flow Porometry and Gas Permeability of Eleven Species of Korean Wood

Abstract

The typical methods of mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) and capillary flow porometry (CFP) were used to evaluate the pore size of cross-section of wood and the effect of the pore structure on the permeability of wood was analyzed in this study. The results of this study were as followings: The pore size of wood measured by CFP was larger than that measured by MIP except for Lime tree, Korean red pine and Paulownia. Among the three pore types of porous materials defined by IUPAC (through pores, blind pores, and closed pores), only through pores are related to permit fluid flow. MIP measures the pore size of both through pores and blind pores, while CFP measures the pore size of only constricted through pores. Therefore, pore size measured by MIP was not related to gas permeability, however pore size measured by CFP had a proportional relationship with gas permeability.