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How to Calculate Permeability

How to Calculate Permeability thumbnail
Permeability measures how well substances like rock transmit fluid.

Permeability measures how well porous substances transmit fluids. French engineer Henri Darcy developed a formula to calculate permeability using the material's length and cross-sectional area and the fluid's total discharge, dynamic viscosity and pressure drop.

Things You'll Need

  • Calculator or computer
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Instructions

    • 1

      Multiply the total discharge (volume per time, in cubic meters per second) by dynamic viscosity (thickness, or density, in kilograms per meter second).

    • 2

      Multiply the result by the length over which the pressure drop takes place, in meters.

    • 3

      Divide the result by the pressure drop, in pascals.

    • 4

      Divide the result by the medium's cross-sectional area, in square meters.

    • 5

      Multiply the result by -1. This converts your negative answer to a positive value of permeability, in square meters.

Tips & Warnings

  • If you don't have a calculator handy, enter your formula into your computer's calculator or a Google search bar.

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References

  • Photo Credit rocks image by Richard Hodgkins from Fotolia.com

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