Air pycnometer

Description

The vacuum air pycnometer has been designed to determine the volume and density of solid material, such as soil samples. It can be applied in every field where it's important to calculate a specific weight, such as soil research, powder- and granulate investigations for the pharmaceutic industry, road building, brick factories, and the food industry (coffee, leguminous plants, etc.). The apparatus is especially useful to measure the volumes of irregularly shaped objects.

The principle

An under pressure is created in the vacuum bell that the object to be measured is placed in. Depending on the gas volume present in the bell, more or less air will be extracted. The quantity of the air present is independent of the volume taken by the object to be measured. After the under pressure has stabilized, the volume of the object can be read from the calibrated scale.

Remarks

• Uses mercury (enclosed)

Applications

The pycnometer can be applied wherever knowing a specific weight is desired:

• In soil research, such as the determination of the porosity of soil samples. It is recommended to use soil sampling rings with a 100 cc contents when taking undisturbed soil samples.
• Powder- and granulate research in the pharmaceutical industry
• Measuring the pore volume of tarmac (road construction) or clay and bricks (brickworks)
• Volume determinations of seeds, coffee beans, legumes, etc. in the food industry
• Laboratory soil density measurements

Limitation: Temperature variations influence the measurements (can be prevented by climate control in the laboratory).