A model for permeability estimation in porous media using a capillary bundle model with the similarly skewed pore size distribution

Abstract

Permeability estimation has a wide range of applications in different areas such as water resources, oil and gas production or contaminant transfer predictions. Few models have been proposed in the literature using different techniques to estimate the permeability from properties of the porous media, such as porosity, grain size or pore size. In this study, we develop a model for permeability for porous media using an upscaling technique. For this, we conceptualize a porous medium as a bundle of capillary tubes with the similarly skewed pore size distribution. The proposed model is related to microstructural properties such as maximum radius, porosity, tortuosity and a characteristic constant of porous media. The model is successfully compared to published experimental data as well as to an existing model in the literature.