Porous catalysts and membrane supports: A relationship between mass transport and textural properties.

Abstract:
The objective of this project is a modern approach to characterization of catalyst and membrane support pore structures and the investigation of a relationship between mass transport and pore structure. The pore structure characterization of macroporous solids will be namely accomplished by the generation of 3D image from many serial 2D cuts of actual porous media. This information will be further supplemented by the one extracted from capillary pressure curves of mercury porosimetry. The 2D images will be acquired by means of high-resolution electron microscopy (SEM, TEM) and be processed by special software for image analysis. The reconstructed pore space will serve as the key information for the development of a 3D random pore network model, which will allow the applicants to study a more rational prediction of mass transport phenomena in porous solids. Multicomponent mass transport as well as permeation flow of a single gas will be investigated under steady and unsteady conditions.