Grain-size model for hydraulic conductivity estimation of porous media. Issue 9 (23rd August 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chandel, Abhishish; Shankar, Vijay
• Is Part Of: Water practice and technology. Volume 17:Issue 9(2022)
• Page Start: 1836
• Page End: 1848
• Publication Date: 2022-08-23
• Subjects: aquifer -- groundwater -- hydraulic conductivity -- porous media; Sewerage; Sewerage -- Management; Water-supply; Water-supply engineering; Periodicals; 628.205
• DOI: 10.2166/wpt.2022.101
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1751-231X

Abstract

Abstract: Hydraulic conductivity (k) is an important hydraulic parameter of porous media, and its accurate prediction plays a vital role in sub-surface flow investigations. The study uses the borehole soil samples to develop a k model using parameters, effective grain-size (d10 ), and standard deviation ( σ ). The influence of d10 and σ on the k and evaluation of k values via four empirical models is also assessed in this study. For soil samples, the k increases with the increase in the d10 grain-size and decreases with the increase in the σ value. The evaluation of k via empirical models infers that the Hazen model performs well in the estimation of k values. The evaluation of k using various statistical indicators points towards low error statistics (MAE, RMSE, and BIAS) and high determination coefficient (R 2 ) between the measured and developed model-based k values, which substantiate the efficacy of the developed model as compared to the existing empirical models for estimating the k. To establish the versatility of the developed grain-size model, its validation was done using independent soil samples for estimating k values. HIGHLIGHTS: The research proposes a grain-size model for estimating the hydraulic conductivity of porous media by examining the effect of the σ/d10 parameter on k. The established hydraulic conductivity model served as a valuable tool for calculating aquifer yield and groundwater recharge with precise accuracy. Graphical Abstract