Measurement of the Effective Diffusivity in Porous Media by the Diffusion Cell Method

Introduction There has been a vast amount of investigation in the field of experimental and theoretical treatments of the effective diffusivity in porous media for more than half of a century [1-4]. The effective diffusivity is required for several reasons [5]; for example, during catalyst formulation, active species can be laid down precisely or with specified concentration profiles on a porous matrix or support. In experimental work on heterogeneous reactions an effective diffusivity is needed to obtain the value of the Thiele modulus and hence to determine the intrinsic reaction kinetics. In reactor design the diffusivity is needed to evaluate the Thiele modulus, which can then be an aid in predicting reaction rates for heterogeneous systems. In addition, a simple and quick testing method could be used as a screening or quality control procedure during catalyst manufacture.