Abstract. Fluid flow on different scales is of interest for several Earth science disciplines like petrophysics, hydrogeology and volcanology. To parameterize fluid flow in large-scale numerical simulations (e.g. groundwater and volcanic systems), flow properties on the microscale need to be considered. For this purpose experimental and numerical investigations of flow through porous media over a wide range of porosities are necessary. In the present study we sinter glass bead media with various porosities. The microstructure, namely effective porosity and effective specific surface, is investigated using image processing. We determine flow properties like hydraulic tortuosity and permeability using both experimental measurements and numerical simulations. By fitting microstructural and flow properties to porosity, we obtain a modified Kozeny-Carman equation for isotropic low-porosity media, that can be used to simulate permeability in large-scale numerical models. To verify the modified Kozeny-Carman equation we compare it to the computed and measured permeability values.
Using onset times from frequent geophysical surveys to understand reservoir fluid flow and to estimate flow properties