Use of Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry (MIP) Technique to Measure the Porosity of Anodes in Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC)

Abstract

The present research is aimed to calculating the porosity of anodes in solid oxide fuel cell through Mercury Intrusion porosimetry (MIP). There are various techniques used to measure the porosity of the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). MIP is a method used to find the porosity of anodes due to its high accuracy, and some additional information which includes particle size distribution, pore size distribution, average pore size and bulk density. The working principal of MIP is that when sample is filled with mercury then high pressure is applied which makes the mercury to penetrate into the pores of the sample. The instrument measures the pore volume with the help of capacitive system as the pressure gradually increases to its maximum value and then decrease to its lowest value. This system calculates the volume of mercury intruded for each pressure whether the pressure is increasing or decreasing. The instrument is connected to a computer with dedicated software which calculates the percentage porosity of the sample. The results suggested the importance of PH and agitator on porosity. What we have to provide is the sample mass, sample density and the temperature of the laboratory. However for cleaning purposes of mercury, ethanol could be used instead of acetone, as mercury intrusion porosimeter involves few plastic parts like dilatometer holder and cap. Whereas acetone has catastrophic effect on them, and these parts are very expensive to replace.

Keywords: Mercury, Intrusion, Solid oxide, Fuel cell, Porosity, Anodes, Porosimetry