Pore Size Distribution Controls Dynamic Permeability
- Jimmy Xuekai Li,
- Reza Rezaee,
- Tobias M. Müller,
- Mohammad sarmadivaleh
Abstract
Probing the flow permeability of porous media with elastic waves is a
formidable challenge, also because the wave-induced oscillatory motion
renders the permeability frequency dependent. Existing theoretical
models for such a dynamic permeability assume that the frequency
dependence is primarily controlled by a single characteristic length
scale of the pore space. However, the fact that in most natural porous
media there exists a distinct range of pore sizes is ignored. To
overcome this limitation, we develop a dynamic permeability model that
explicitly incorporates the pore size distribution. We show that the
pore size distribution has a first-order effect on the dynamic
permeability. Since the pore size distribution is measurable from
techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance, the results indicate the
possibility to jointly use remote-sensing technologies for improved
geomaterial characterization and optimized permeability manipulation of
manufactured porous media.