Experimental study of gas and liquid permeability of a mortar

Eight samples cored from the same mortar were used to investigate their respective gas, ethanol and water permeability. Two gas and liquid permeability cells, using special devices for measuring the injected flow under steady conditions, were designed and presented in this paper. The obtained results showed that water permeability was systematically lower (in an order of magnitude from 1 to 2) than gas permeability whereas ethanol permeability was intermediate between these two values. Nevertheless, ethanol and gas permeabilities were found of the same order and, when gas permeability is corrected from the Klinkenberg (or slippage) effect, the results given by these two fluids are virtually identical and can be considered to be the intrinsic permeability value. Thus, the differences observed between water and gas permeability values have to be explained by other phenomena such as rehydration, dissolution and migration of fine elements or water adsorption in the thinnest pores.