What Is Permeability? Definition, Formula and Types

Permeability—a fundamental concept that holds significant influence over fluid flow through porous materials across various industries and geological processes. From hydrogeology to petroleum engineering, permeability stands as a crucial topic, holding relevance for professionals and researchers alike. Read on to learn more about the intricacies of permeability, examining its practical applications in optimizing fluid flow, resource management, and engineering design.

What Is Permeability?

Permeability quantifies the ease of liquids, gasses, or specific chemicals passing through the material. Fluids can flow more effortlessly through a material exhibiting high permeability compared to one with low permeability.

The permeability of a substance depends on its porosity,  pore shapes, and connectivity. Fluid flow can be influenced by various geological conditions due to the brittle deformation of rocks in fault zones, which is explored in fault zone hydrogeology. Additionally, permeability is impacted by the internal pressure of the material.

What Is Permeability’s Unit?

The unit for earth permeability in the International System of Units (SI) is m². In practical terms, permeability is often measured in Darcys (d) or millidarcies (md) (1 Darcy ≈ 10⁻¹² m²).

The name “Darcy” honors Henry Darcy, the French Engineer who first described water flow through sand filters for potable water supply that also invented Darcy’s Law. Permeability values for various materials typically range from a fraction to several thousand millidarcies. Additionally, the unit of cm² is sometimes used (1 cm² = 10⁻⁴ m² ≈ 10⁸ d).

What Are The Examples of Permeability?

Permeability is vital in the oil and gas, petrochemical, and power industries, playing a crucial role in various applications. Here are some examples:

1. Oil and Gas Industry

• Reservoir Permeability: Understanding rock permeability is essential for assessing hydrocarbon flow in oil and gas reservoirs, and optimizing drilling and production strategies.
• Fractured Reservoir Permeability: In unconventional reservoirs like shale gas formations, the permeability of natural fractures affects production rates and recovery.

2. Petrochemical Industry

• Catalyst Permeability: Catalyst design relies on permeability for efficient petrochemical processes, influencing reaction rates and product yields.
• Membrane Permeability: Separation processes use membrane permeability for effective purification and component separation.

3. Power Industry

• Geothermal Reservoir Permeability Geothermal power generation considers permeability for fluid flow and energy production.
• Porous Media Permeability: Power plants using porous media rely on permeability for optimal heat transfer and fluid flow, enhancing energy conversion.
• Permeability assessment helps optimize operations, ensuring efficiency and sustainability across these industries.

What Are Permeability Types?

Permeability types refer to the different classifications or categories of permeability based on specific conditions or fluid interactions within porous materials. The main permeability types are:

1. Effective Permeability

The effective permeability of a rock to a fluid phase (such as oil, gas, or water) in a porous medium measures the capability of that phase to flow in the presence of other fluid phases. For instance, the effective permeability to oil measures its flow capability when water is present, and in some cases, when both water and gas phases coexist.

Similarly for gas, effective permeability indicates its ability to flow in the presence of oil, water, or both. It is crucial to differentiate between effective permeability to fluids and the absolute permeability of the rock. 

2. Absolute Permeability

Absolute permeability is the permeability assessment of the rock’s capacity to flow or transmit fluids when a single fluid or phase is present. The symbol commonly employed for permeability is “k,” and it is measured in darcies or millidarcies.

Absolute permeability is a key parameter in understanding fluid behavior within porous media. When a material is fully saturated with a single fluid, its absolute permeability quantifies the ease with which the fluid can flow through the interconnected pores and channels. This property plays a vital role in determining the rate at which fluids, such as water, oil, or gas, can be transported through rocks or soils.

3. Relative Permeability 

Relative permeability is defined as the ratio of material permeability to the permeability of free space (or vacuum), denoted as μ_relative = μ/μ_o (Equation 17.5).

When a fluid flows through a porous medium, the presence of other fluids or phases can significantly affect its permeability. Relative permeability provides valuable insight into how these different fluids interact and influence each other’s flow behavior.

What Is Permeability Formula?

Permeability is a crucial factor in Darcy’s law, establishing the relationship between discharge (flow rate) and fluid properties like viscosity in response to a pressure gradient within porous media.

Therefore:

Relation to Hydraulic Conductivity

The hydraulic conductivity (K) serves as the global proportionality constant for water flow through a porous medium, with units measured in m/s. Permeability (k), also known as intrinsic permeability, is an integral component of hydraulic conductivity, measured in m². 

The calculation of permeability can be determined using the following method:

Permeability Model Based on Conduit Flow

Permeability is commonly assessed in the laboratory using Darcy’s law under steady-state conditions or, more broadly, by applying different solutions to the diffusion equation for unsteady flow situations.

Permeability can be represented using the Hagen-Poiseuille equation for viscous flow in a pipe as:

In conclusion, permeability in geology holds significant importance as it influences fluid flow through rocks and soils. This concept is relevant to various fields, including hydrogeology, petroleum engineering, and environmental studies.

The complexities of permeability arise from multiple factors, such as rock properties and pore structure. While understanding and quantifying permeability can be challenging, it provides valuable insights into fluid dynamics, resource management, and engineering design. 

Embracing the intricacies of permeability leads to innovative solutions and an enhanced understanding of Earth’s subsurface processes, contributing to sustainable practices and improved knowledge in the geology domain.

In PetroSync, you can explore the concept of permeability as part of our comprehensive well-completion and workover training. This training program offers a diverse range of in-depth subjects that collectively contribute to a holistic understanding of the dynamics within the oil and gas industry.

Among the invaluable topics covered is permeability – a fundamental element crucial for reservoir characterization. Our training curriculum encompasses a series of meticulous subjects under the umbrella of well-completion and workover training, and permeability holds a pivotal place within this framework.

You can enroll in the Well Completion and Workover training to not only grasp the fundamentals of permeability but also to recognize its central role in optimizing well completion and workover strategies with PetroSync. Reserve your spot and dive into this critical aspect of reservoir engineering and enhance your expertise in the industry with us!