Neutron Radiography Applications in Studies of Drying of Capillary-Porous Systems

Abstract

The application of modern digital neutron radiography in the study of the drying process in porous media is demonstrated with two simple examples of cylindrical and rectangular samples made of different materials. The statistical method of image analysis is presented and the standard deviation of grey scale values (referred to brightness) is shown to be a useful measure of receding drying front emergence. The motion of the drying front was analyzed and found neither linear nor proportional to the square root of time and was delineated with nonlinear functions different for each sample shape.

Keywords:

• Drying phases
• Neutron radiography
• Porous media
• Receding drying front

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work has been supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Poland and the National Science Foundation of Republic of South Africa within the “Neutron Radiography/Tomography of Porous Media” project No. 7963/R10/R11, performed according to the Scientific and Technological Co-operation Agreement between Poland and South Africa.