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Department of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, PR China
Received 27 January 2007; received in revised form 24 April 2007; accepted 26 June 2007
Available online 3 July 2007
Abstract
The semi-empirical KozenyCarman (KC) equation is the most famous permeabilityporosity relation, which is widely used in the
eld of ow in porous media and is the starting point for many other permeability models. However, this relation has many limitations
from its inception, and the KC constant is an empirical parameter which was proved to be not a constant. In this paper, we briey
reviewed the KC equation, its modications and various models for the KC constant. We then derived an analytical expression for
the permeability in homogeneous porous media based on the fractal characters of porous media and capillary model. The proposed
model is expressed as a function of fractal dimensions, porosity and maximum pore size. The analytical KC constant with no empirical
constant is obtained from the assumption of square geometrical model. Furthermore, a distinct linear scaling law between the dimen-
sionless permeability and porosity is found. It is also shown that our analytical permeability is more closely related to the microstructures
(fractal dimensions, porosity and maximum pore size), compared to those obtained from conventional methods and models.
2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
0309-1708/$ - see front matter 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2007.06.003
P. Xu, B. Yu / Advances in Water Resources 31 (2008) 7481 75
[7]. The KC model has frequently been modied and has pendicular to the cylinders respectively and they also
dierent modied versions to improve the estimation of reported that the average KC constant k at equal void vol-
permeability. Table 1 summarizes some modications of ume for the case of packed spheres is related to the two
the KC equation. McGregor [8] extended the KC equation ow arrangements by k 23 kperpendicular flow 13 k
for a textile assembly in order to model the ow of dyes parallel flow. Sparrow and Loeer [24] gave the analyti-
through textile yarn packages. Bourbie et al. [9] suggested calnumerical solutions for longitudinal fully developed
an ad hoc repair using a variable power on porosity which laminar ow between cylinders arranged in triangular or
is also suitable for low porosity, and n (see Table 1) ranges square array. The results by Sparrow and Loeer matched
from the derived value of 3 for large porosities to values of well the experimental results by Sullivan [25] at low poros-
78 at very low porosities. Panda and Lake [10] expressed ities. The numerical calculations results [26,27] showed that
the single-phase permeability of unconsolidated media in the KC constant initially decreases with increase of poros-
terms of both the arbitrary particle size distribution ity and then after reaching a minimum, the constant
(PSD) and the bulk physical properties. Shih et al. [11] increases with porosity. The reviews presented above are
and Rodriguez et al. [12] modied the KC equation for collected in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 reveals that the KC constant,
glass and ber architecture, and their results show that which depends on porosity, microstructures of pores and
KC equation cannot t all the data well unless both param-
eters C and n are changed for dierent ber mats. In addi-
tion, the eective porosity [13] and percolation [14] were
taken into account for the modication of the KC equa-
tion; the fractal geometry [1518] and the Archie law
[17,18] were also used in derivation of permeability.
Numerous theoretical models, experiments and numeri-
cal calculations indicate that the KC equation does not
lead to a constant value for the KC constant, which
depends on porosity /, microstructures of pores and capil-
laries [7,19]. Carman [5] reported that the value of the KC
constant is equal to 4.8 0.3 for uniform spheres, and this
constant is usually taken to be equal to 5. Mathavan and
Viraraghavan [20] found the KC constant to be 3.4 for peat
beds. Rahli et al. [21] determined the KC constant for the
randomly packed mono-dispersed bers at dierent poros-
ities and aspect ratios. Davies and Dollimore [22] derived
the KC constant for the sedimentation of aggregates, which
is also correct for uidized beds as k = 1/[2/n3(1 /)].
Kyan et al. [23] indicated that the KC constant strongly
depends on porosity for brous beds and can increase
nearly exponentially with / for / > 0.95. Happel and Bren- Fig. 1. The relations between KC constant and porosity of porous media
ner [19] obtained the KC constant for ow parallel and per- for dierent models.
Table 1
KC equation and its modications for dierent porous media
Reference Permeability equation Media
2 3
d /
McGregor [8] K 16c 1/2
Textile assembly
Bourbie et al. [9] C/nd2 Porous media
3 2 cC 3d 3C 2d 12
Panda and Lake [10] K 72s2/1/
d
2
1C 2 2 Unconsolidated
d
Shih et al. [11]
/n1
Rodriguez et al. [12] K C1/n
Glass and ber
/3eff
Koponen et al. [13] K cC2 S 2
Square particles
Mavko and Nur [14] K(md) = Cd2(/ /c)3/(1 + /c /)2 Sanstone carbonate
2n
/ 2
Bayles et al. [15] K C 1/ 2 ; here C c=8sg b Fine particle lter cakes
2
/r2 2/
Pape et al. [16] K 8C 2
3C2 1/
D1 Sandstone
q
K / n
Civan [17] / Ca/ Porous media
/n
Costa [18] K C 1/ Fiber mats vesicular rocks
C permeability factor, n empirical exponent, c skewness of PSD, Cd coecient of variation of PSD, /e eective porosity, /c percolation
threshold, r grain radius, D fractal dimension, C interconnectivity parameter.
76 P. Xu, B. Yu / Advances in Water Resources 31 (2008) 7481
the fractal scaling law. The fractal permeability K can be Comparing with other permeabilityporosity relations such
expressed as as KozenyCarman equation, our analytical permeability
(with no empirical constant) has more fundamental physi-
L1DT
Df
KG 0
k3DT 8a cal signicance. Eq. (12) with four microstructure parame-
A 3 DT Df max ters (Df, DT, / and kmax) is a more generalized permeability
which indicates that the permeability is a function of the model compared to Eq. (8a) with totally ve parameters
pore area fractal dimension Df, tortuosity fractal dimen- (Df, DT, A, L0 and kmax). It should also be point out that
sion DT and structural parameters of a unit cell ( total cross the four microstructural parameters in Eq. (12) are not
sectional area A, representative length of L0 and the max- independent of each other, and it is believed that the
imum pore size kmax). G = p/128 is a geometry constant. expression of the permeability can be further generalized.
For straight capillaries (i.e., neglecting the tortuousness For example, the fractal dimension for pore space Df
of capillaries, then DT = 1), the permeability is reduced to may be related to porosity / and the largest pore diameter
kmax by Eq. (7). Additionally, further investigations may
K GDf k4max =A4 Df 8b need to be carried out for the relation between the two frac-
tal dimensions Df and DT.
In Eq. (8a), the parameters A and L0 need to be solved
based on the microstructures of a specic medium. In the
2.3. Analytical model for the KC constant
following, we present the general solution for the parame-
ters A and L0, and then extend Eq. (8a) to a more general
In this section, we can obtain the relationship between the
form.
maximum pore diameter kmax and the characteristic particle
The pores in a cross section can be considered as circles
diameter d by a simple geometrical model shown in Fig. 2,
with dierent diameters k, consequently, the total pore area
and the KC constant is determined accordingly by combing
in the cross section Ap can be obtained with the aid of Eqs.
Eqs. (2) and (12). Based on the idealized geometrical model,
(5) and (7) (in two dimensions, dE = 2)
the area of the square unit cell Au (see Fig. 2) is
Z kmax
p 2 pDf k2max pd 2
Ap k dN 1 / 9 Au 15
kmin 4 42 Df 41 /
Whereas the cross sectional area A is Then, the maximum pore area Amax, which can be approx-
Ap 1 / pDf k2max imated as a circle pk2max =4, can be calculated from Fig. 2
A 10
/ / 42 Df Amax pk2max =4 Au pd 2 =4 pd 2 /=41 / 16
Inserting Eq.
p (10) into (8a) and considering the approxima- Therefore, the maximum pore diameter kmax can be ex-
tion L0 A, we obtain the extended permeability pressed as a function of particle diameter d and porosity
s
1DT =2
pDf 1DT =2 42 Df 1DT =2 / /
K k2max kmax d 17
1283 DT Df 1/ 1/
11 Combining Eqs. (2), (12) and (17) yield the KC constant:
which can be also expressed as 1 /3DT =2
1DT =2 k 18
/ 36C f 1 /1DT =2
K Cf k2max 12
1/ where the coecient C f pDf
1DT =2
42Df 1DT =2
is only re-
1283DT Df
pDf 1DT =2 42Df 1DT =2
where the coecient C f is also re-
1283DT Df
lated to the fractal dimensions.
lated to porosity. Eq. (12) associates the permeability of
the homogeneous porous medium with its microstructure
and indicates that the permeability is explicitly related to
porosity, maximum pore size and the fractal dimensions
Df and DT. The dimensionless eective permeability can
be expressed as Au Amax
1DT =2
K /
K 2 Cf 13
kmax 1/
d
If a straight capillary model (DT = 1) is assumed, the per-
meability (Eq. (12)) can be reduced to particles
2 Df /
K k2 14 Fig. 2. A simple arrangement of solid particles for the maximum pore in
324 Df 1 / max porous media.
78 P. Xu, B. Yu / Advances in Water Resources 31 (2008) 7481
Using the fractal geometry theory and tortuous capil- Comparing with the pore area fractal dimension Df, few
lary model, we have now obtained the analytical expres- attention has been paid to the tortuosity fractal dimension
sion for the KC constant Eq. (18) with no empirical DT. Most investigators tend to adopt tortuosity s, not the
constant. It is obvious that the KC constant given by tortuosity fractal dimension DT, to depict the tortuousness
Eq. (18) is actually not a constant, and it strongly depends of tortuous streamlines in porous media. However, as
on porosity as well as on the microstructures of porous Majumdar [30] stated that the fractal dimension of tortuos-
media. Eq. (18) reveals that the KC constant is related ity for tortuous streamtubes is more fundamental. From
to fractal dimensions Df, DT and porosity /. While the Eq. (6), the tortuosity s can be written as
fractal dimensions Df and DT are also related to the DT 1
Lt k L0
microstructures of porous media and porosity. Therefore, s 20
our permeabilityporosity relation and the analytical L0 k
expression for the KC constant based on the fractal geom- which indicates that the smaller the diameter of a capillary,
etry theory are more closely related to the microstructures the longer the actual length of a capillary, and the higher
of porous media than those obtained by conventional the tortuosity. This is consistent with the physical situation.
methods. As stated by Majumdar [30], both porosity This equation also implies that the tortuosity fractal
and permeability are macroscopic parameters which do dimension DT keeps constant for a medium with given
not characterize the microstructure of a porous medium, porosity because the statistical self-similarity exists in the
and tortuosity is a more relevant microstructural parame- range of kmin L0, where L0 can also be considered as
ter than permeability. Therefore, the KC constant by the the upper cutout or the upper limit of self-similarity. Con-
conventional methods does not characterize the micro- sequently, the average tortuosity can be obtained as
structure of a porous medium, and the present model DT 1
Eq. (18) by using the fractal dimensions Df and DT will L0
s 21
be able to provide us with a fundamental understanding k
of ow and permeability in porous media.
where the average pore/capillary size k can be calculated
3. Results and discussion from
Z kmax " D #
Df kmax kmin kmin f
3.1. Pore area fractal dimension Df and tortuosity fractal k k f k dk 22
kmin Df 1 kmax kmax
dimension DT
Employing Yu and Lis criterion [45] gives
In the above section, we have shown that the pore area
fractal dimension Df and the tortuosity fractal dimension Df kmin
k 23
DT are more fundamental. Therefore, the determination Df 1
of the pore area fractal dimension Df and the tortuosity Therefore, the tortuosity fractal dimension DT for tortuous
fractal dimension DT are very important for the prediction streamtubes in porous media can be written as
of the permeability and KC constant in the homogeneous
ln s
porous media. In general, the fractal dimensions Df and DT 1 24
DT can be determined by the box-counting method ln Lk0
[29,44]. This method is based on the image analysis of a We adopt the results by Yu and Li [46] that the average tor-
unit cell or a suciently large cross section of a sample tuosity can be expressed as
along a plane normal to the ow direction. Yu and Cheng s
2 2 3
[44] present a detailed process of the box-counting method
6 p
1
1 147
for determining the pore area fractal dimension Df. They 16 1 p p 1/ 7
rstly polished the sample, took the image photos under s 6 1 1/ 1/ p 7
26
4 2 1 1/ 7
5
an optical microscope and numerically calculated the num-
ber of cumulative macro-pores with software Photoshop
and Visual C++. And then, from the logarithmic plots of With the aid of Eq. (10), the ratio of L0 =k can be expressed
the cumulative number of macro-pore versus pore sizes, as
the fractal dimensions Df can be determined. For theoreti- 1=2
cal analysis, we recommend, according to Eq. (7), the pore L0 Df 1 1 / p kmax
25
area fractal dimension Df can be determined by k 1=2
Df / 42 D f kmin
ln /
Df d E kmin 19 According to Eq. (19), the pore area fractal dimension Df
ln kmax can be calculated if porosity / and kmin/kmax are deter-
where dE = 2 or dE = 3 in two or three dimensions, respec- mined. The values of s and L0 =k can then be calculated
tively. While kmin kmax must be satised for fractal por- accordingly and the tortuosity fractal dimension DT can
ous media. be obtained by Eq. (24). Finally, the dimensionless perme-
P. Xu, B. Yu / Advances in Water Resources 31 (2008) 7481 79
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