What is permeability in porous media fluid mechanics?

Permeability is a physical property measuring a porous material's ability to let fluids pass through it. It is determined not only by porosity, but also by pore shapes and their level of connectedness. The SI unit for permeability is the square metre, though the darcy or millidarcy is commonly used in practice.

What we know

• Permeability of porous media is a measure of the ability for fluids like gas or liquid to flow through media such as rock or soil. [1, 2]
• The permeability of a medium is related to porosity, pore shapes, and their level of connectedness. [2]
• The SI unit for permeability is the square metre, and practical units include the darcy and millidarcy. [2]
• Hydraulic conductivity depends on the intrinsic permeability of the material along with fluid density, viscosity, and degree of saturation. [5]

Where to go next

• how it workedHow does porosity affect fluid flow?
• the bigger pictureWhat are the applications of porous materials in energy storage?
• compared withHow is hydraulic conductivity calculated?
• whoWho was Henry Darcy and how did he study fluid flow?
• a case in pointHow do biological tissues function as porous media?
• an unexpected connectionHow do bones and cork share physical properties with oil reservoirs?Both biological tissues like bones and natural substances like petroleum reservoirs are classified as porous media containing voids filled with fluids.

Sources

• [1]permeability (Wikidata Q256699) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Permeability (porous media) · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Porous medium · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Fluid flow through porous media · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Hydraulic conductivity · CC BY-SA 4.0