Permeability for fractal porous media - A summary

In this paper, a summary of recent advances made in predicting the permeabilities for flow through fractal porous media by fractal theory and technique is presented. This summary includes: a brief review on the conventional methods for permeability. including experimental, numerical and analytical; the theoretical bases for fractal analysis of permeabilities in porous media; the fractal permeability models for both saturated and unsaturated porous media, determination (both analytically and experimentally) of fractal dimensions for pore area and for tortuous flow paths in porous media; comparisons between the model predictions and experimental data. This summary indicates that the fractal theory and technique can provide a way for predicting permeabilities for fractal porous media.