Quantification of spatial correlation in porous media and its effect on mercury porosimetry
- Eniricerche, San Donato Milanese (Italy). Colloid Science Group
- Loughborough Univ. of Technology (United Kingdom). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
- UK Nirex Ltd., Harwell (United Kingdom). Science Dept.
In many porous media the grains are packed in a disordered manner, rather than in regular lattices. Theoretical treatments of the properties of these media often assume that because there is no regular lattice, the pore space between grains is completely spatially disordered. Here the authors present an analysis of a real granular medium (a close packing of equal spheres) which shows that, contrary to the popular assumption, the pore space is spatially correlated. The origin of this pore space correlation is the strong spatial correlation of grain locations, which is a feature of all dense granular media. The analysis relies on physically representative network models of the pore space constructed from knowledge of the grain locations. Simulated drainage experiments on these networks agree with mercury porosimetry experiments in simple sandstones, whereas simulations in uncorrelated but otherwise identical networks do not. Thus the spatial correlation inherent in the pore space of simple porous media significantly affects mercury porosimetry. Deriving pore size distributions from mercury porosimetry without considering spatial correlation can give misleading results. The likelihood of error is compounds if such pore size distributions are used to estimate transport coefficients such as permeability, diffusivity, and electrical conductivity.
- OSTI ID:
- 178326
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Journal Name: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 177; ISSN 0021-9797; ISSN JCISA5
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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