This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Koniorczyk, M. Articles by Johannesson, G. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Sampling and Analysis of Natural Isotopes in Moisture Transport from Porous Materials: Applications to Capillary Suction

Department of Building Physics and Building Materials, TU Lodz Al. Politechniki, 6, 90-924 Lodz, Poland, marcin.koniorczyk{at}p.lodz.pl

Kjartan Gudmundsson

Division of Building Technology, The Royal Institute of Technology Brinellvgen 34, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden

Gudni Johannesson

Division of Building Technology, The Royal Institute of Technology Brinellvgen 34, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden, Orkustofnun, National Energy Authority, Orkugardur Grensasvegur 9, 108 Reykjavik, Iceland

Apart from the most common ¹H and ¹⁶O we have the sister isotopes: deuterium D and ¹⁸O in water. Isotope fractionation (the change in its concentration) occurs in any thermodynamic reaction. The isotopic composition serves as a distinct mark for each water sample. To carry out the isotope analysis of pore water, which may be used to reveal the source of excessive water in building elements, firstly one has to extrude water from voids. For this we tested three different methods of retrieving water from the porous material: squeezing and evaporation - the direct methods, dilution - the indirect method. The influence of capillary suction on the hydrogen and oxygen isotopes abundance ratio was also analysed. Materials whose substantial part of voids are gel pores (cementitious materials) act as a membrane during isotope transport separating lighter from heavier isotopes and therefore cause the fractionation of isotopes. The results of performed experiments indicate that moisture transport (capillary suction) has an influence on the isotopic composition of water. Therefore the isotope analysis can be useful in the investigation of moisture behaviour of porous building materials.

Key Words: natural isotopes • moisture transport • oxygen • hydrogen • fractionation.

Journal of Building Physics, Vol. 33, No. 1, 83-96 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1744259109104068


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?