Water vapor sorption hysteresis of ceramic bricks

Abstract

A quantification of the hysteretic effects and their thorough analysis was carried out for three types of ceramic bricks. Water vapor adsorption/desorption isotherms were measured by the standard desiccator method. The desorption measurements were carried out from capillary moisture content as well as from equilibrium moisture content corresponding to the relative humidity of 98 %. For all three tested types of bricks the hysteretic effects were present but their significance differed depending on the particular type of brick. Significant differences were noticed also in desorption curves determined from capillary moisture content and from equilibrium moisture content corresponding to the relative humidity of 98 %. Based on the measured data a possible correlation between pore structure parameters and noticed hysteretic effects as well as relevance of the open pore model are discussed. The obtained adsorption/desorption curves were approximated by an analytical relation.