Statistical Models to Describe the Structure of Porous Ceramic Membranes

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Abstract
A knowledge of the material structure of porous membranes is essential in the computation of flux–pressure differential and blinding behavior. The data provided by manufacturers on the internal pore properties, mercury porosimetry and air permeability, is of limited use since it is based for interpretation on an assumed matrix of cylindrical pores. Ceramic membranes are considered in this work for which three different types are investigated. None of these show any resemblance to structures assumed for an interpretation of this data. The pore structure in all examples vary and it is concluded that deterministic models to describe this are not valid. Statistical models based on random division of 2 and 3 dimensional space are proposed to describe the structure of cellular ceramic membranes (2 space model), sintered ceramic membranes and foam membranes (3 dimensional space models). The models are shown to be inter–related providing a direct comparison between the membrane structures. The structures proposed by the models are compared and agree well with experimental data.