Fractal analysis of flow resistance in random porous media based on the staggered pore-throat model

Abstract

Flow resistance in porous media is a hot and difficult problem due to its importance and the complexity of the fluid flow in porous media. To improve the aligned pore-throat model, a more reasonable staggered pore-throat model is established. Fractal is employed in random porous media and the analytical flow resistance formulation is derived. The formulation is the function of tortuosity, porosity, pore-throat ratio, interference coefficient and so on. It’s found that the staggered pore-throat model and the original pore-throat model have their own applicable ranges of Reynolds number and porosity respectively. The interference coefficient is negligible at low Reynolds number, while considerable at high Reynolds number. The value of the interference coefficient c is determined to be 0.8.