Pedotransfer functions for permeability: A computational study at pore scales

Jeffrey D. Hyman; Piotr K. Smolarkiewicz; C. Larrabee Winter

doi:10.1002/wrcr.20170

Pedotransfer functions for permeability: A computational study at pore scales

Jeffrey D. Hyman, Piotr K. Smolarkiewicz, C. Larrabee Winter

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Three phenomenological power law models for the permeability of porous media are derived from computational experiments with flow through explicit pore spaces. The pore spaces are represented by three-dimensional pore networks in 63 virtual porous media along with 15 physical pore networks. The power laws relate permeability to (i) porosity, (ii) squared mean hydraulic radius of pores, and (iii) their product. Their performance is compared to estimates derived via the Kozeny equation, which also uses the product of porosity with squared mean hydraulic pore radius to estimate permeability. The power laws provide tighter estimates than the Kozeny equation even after adjusting for the extra parameter they each require. The best fit is with the power law based on the Kozeny predictor, that is, the product of porosity with the square of mean hydraulic pore radius.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	2080-2092
Number of pages	13
Journal	Water Resources Research
Volume	49
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/wrcr.20170
State	Published - Apr 2013

Keywords

Darcy law
Konezy-Carman equation
pedotransfer function
permeability
pore scale

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Water Science and Technology

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10.1002/wrcr.20170

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title = "Pedotransfer functions for permeability: A computational study at pore scales",

abstract = "Three phenomenological power law models for the permeability of porous media are derived from computational experiments with flow through explicit pore spaces. The pore spaces are represented by three-dimensional pore networks in 63 virtual porous media along with 15 physical pore networks. The power laws relate permeability to (i) porosity, (ii) squared mean hydraulic radius of pores, and (iii) their product. Their performance is compared to estimates derived via the Kozeny equation, which also uses the product of porosity with squared mean hydraulic pore radius to estimate permeability. The power laws provide tighter estimates than the Kozeny equation even after adjusting for the extra parameter they each require. The best fit is with the power law based on the Kozeny predictor, that is, the product of porosity with the square of mean hydraulic pore radius.",

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AU - Hyman, Jeffrey D.

AU - Smolarkiewicz, Piotr K.

AU - Larrabee Winter, C.

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AB - Three phenomenological power law models for the permeability of porous media are derived from computational experiments with flow through explicit pore spaces. The pore spaces are represented by three-dimensional pore networks in 63 virtual porous media along with 15 physical pore networks. The power laws relate permeability to (i) porosity, (ii) squared mean hydraulic radius of pores, and (iii) their product. Their performance is compared to estimates derived via the Kozeny equation, which also uses the product of porosity with squared mean hydraulic pore radius to estimate permeability. The power laws provide tighter estimates than the Kozeny equation even after adjusting for the extra parameter they each require. The best fit is with the power law based on the Kozeny predictor, that is, the product of porosity with the square of mean hydraulic pore radius.

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Pedotransfer functions for permeability: A computational study at pore scales

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Keywords

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