Fluid Permeability of Partially-Nonuniform Particulate Bed

Abstract

A number of expressions for fluid permeability of particulate bed have been suggested in literatures. While common formulae, e.g. Kozeny-Carman equation, describe the permeability by macroscopic characteristics of particulate bed such as particle volume fraction and particle size distribution, the permeability also depends on local inhomogeneity in flow channel which is formed by microscopic configuration of the particles. On the assumption of Stokes flow, this article mentions that hydrodynamic effect by the presence of multiple particles on the flow field is affected by the positional relationship between individual particles. Some theoretical and numerical results for the particulate bed with different particle configurations are presented. Furthermore, this article reports the results of authors recent study which shows the dependence of the permeability of polydisperse particulate bed on spatial distribution of particles with different radii. The mechanism of fluid permeation in particulate bed with arbitrary nonuniform structures is discussed.