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Pore Size Distributions as Measured by the Mercury Intrusion Method and Their Use in Predicting Permeability
Author(s) -
Klock G. O.,
Boersma L.,
DeBacker L. W.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1969.03615995003300010009x
Subject(s) - particle size , permeability (electromagnetism) , particle size distribution , mercury (programming language) , porosity , intrusion , soil water , porous medium , mineralogy , mercury intrusion porosimetry , materials science , soil science , chemistry , geology , composite material , biochemistry , geochemistry , membrane , computer science , programming language
Several equations to predict the permeability of a porous medium from its pore size distribution have been proposed. Pore size distributions of soils are most commonly obtained from soil water release curves. In the present study pore size distributions were obtained by the mercury intrusion method and used in the calculation of intrinsic permeability. The calculated permeability values were compared with measured values for a range of pore size distributions. Permeabilities and pore size distributions of 54 systematically selected particle size classes of glass beads and sand were measured. Limits of the particle size classes ranged from 44–53 to 208–246 microns for the particle diameters. Millington and Quirk's equation was used to calculate the permeabilities. The calculated permeabilities agree with the measured values only when a correction factor is used. Some limitations of the mercury intrusion technique used to obtain pore size distributions are discussed.