APPLICATIONS OF NUCLEAR-MAGNETIC-RESONANCE IMAGING IN PARTICLE TECHNOLOGY

During the past decade, the application of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) imaging techniques to problems of relevance to the process indus tries has been identified. In the context of particle technology, NMR imaging, in addition to the more routinely used techniques of Pulsed G radient Spin Echo (PGSE) NMR and NMR spectroscopy, offer new methods o f characterising pore structure, adsorption and diffusion processes wi thin particles and packed beds of particles, as well as enabling time- resolved in-situ study of processes such as two-phase flow, aggregatio n, polymerisation, crystallisation and phase separation phenomena. Thi s paper reviews recent work in these areas, and also highlights the ne w insights NMR imaging can give us regarding the characterisation of p orous materials, and the influence of the structure of the pore space on the transport processes occuring within a given porous solid.