Intrinsic permeability

Relation to hydraulic conductivity

The global proportionality constant for the flow of water through a porous medium is called the hydraulic conductivity (K, unit: m/s). Permeability, or intrinsic permeability, (k, unit: m) is a part of this, and is a specific property characteristic of the solid skeleton and the microstructure of the porous medium itself, independently of the nature and properties of the fluid flowing through the pores of the medium. This allows to take into account the effect of temperature on the viscosity of the fluid flowing though the porous medium and to address other fluids than pure water, e.g., concentrated brines, petroleum, or organic solvents. Given the value of hydraulic conductivity for a studied system, the permeability can be calculated as follows: