Experimental study of small-scale spatial variation in filtration coefficient using tracer method

The procedure for studying the nonuniformity of filtration flows in capillary-porous media was developed. Time dependences of local filtration coefficients averaged over the area and their spatial variation during the flow of water and aqueous electrolyte solutions were studied on soil samples of undisturbed structure using tracer method. It was found that the transformation of a pore space structure accompanied with reverse variations in pore sizes occurs because of the action of disjoining pressure in thin films depending on the ion nature. Relaxation times corresponding to the times necessary to attain equilibrium within interlayer gaps of clay minerals were determined. The conclusion was made that if the system volume is constant, the variations in the pore space structure take place because of decrease in the relative fraction of macropores and their sizes.