Other transport properties of porous media

Abstract

In this chapter we discuss air (non-wetting phase) permeability, thermal conductivity, and diffusion in both liquid and gas phases. The saturation dependence of thermal conductivity serves to illustrate some interesting limitations and complications of a percolation-based approach. Then we summarize a treatment of the frequency-dependent electrical conductivity in hydrated smectite clay minerals. We interpret these experimental results using critical path analysis for interacting hopping charges (a topic of Chap. 5) through surface water between and on the outside surfaces of sheet silicates, which also brings in the subject of the continuity of water paths.We then address the particle size dependence of the ac conductivity.While we argued in Chap. 5 that the hydraulic conductivity cannot be predicted from the dc electrical conductivity (because dc electrical conductivity mostly follows the universal scaling of percolation), ac conductivity does appear to have utility for predicting the hydraulic conductivity. Finally we briefly present potential applications to electroseismic phenomena, and give a combined summary for Chaps. 6 and 7. © 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland.