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Darcy(unit)Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Darcy(unit)
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Adarcy(ordarcyunit)andmillidarcy(mdormD)areunitsofpermeability,namedafterHenryDarcy.
TheyarenotSIunits,buttheyarewidelyusedinpetroleumengineeringandgeology.Likesomeother
measuresofpermeability,adarcyhasdimensionalunitsinlength.

Contents
1 Definition
2 Origin
3 Conversions
4 References

Definition
Permeabilitymeasurestheabilityoffluidstoflowthroughrock(orotherporousmedia).Thedarcyis
definedusingDarcy'slaw,whichcanbewrittenas:

where:
isthevolumetricfluidflowratethroughthemedium
istheareaofthemedium
isthepermeabilityofthemedium
isthedynamicviscosityofthefluid
istheappliedpressuredifference
isthethicknessofthemedium
Thedarcyisreferencedtoamixtureofunitsystems.Amediumwithapermeabilityof1darcypermitsa
flowof1cm/sofafluidwithviscosity1cP(1mPas)underapressuregradientof1atm/cmactingacross
anareaof1cm.Amillidarcy(md)isequalto0.001darcyandamicrodarcy(d)equals0.000001darcy.
Typicalvaluesofpermeabilityrangeashighas100,000darcysforgravel,tolessthan0.01microdarcyfor
granite.Sandhasapermeabilityofapproximately1darcy.[1]

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Origin
ThedarcyisnamedafterHenryDarcy.Rockpermeabilityisusuallyexpressedinmillidarcys(md)because
rockshostinghydrocarbonorwateraccumulationstypicallyexhibitpermeabilityrangingfrom5to500md.
TheoddcombinationofunitscomesfromDarcy'soriginalstudiesofwaterflowthroughcolumnsofsand.
Waterhasaviscosityof1.0019cPataboutroomtemperature.
AlthoughtheunitisnamedafterHenryDarcy,itshouldbenotedthattheunitabbreviationisnot
capitalized(contrarytoindustryuse).TheAmericanAssociationofPetroleumGeologists[2]usethe
followingunitabbreviationsandgrammarintheirpublications:
darcy(pluraldarcys,notdarcies):d
millidarcy(pluralmillidarcys,notmillidarcies):md

Conversions
ConvertedtoSIunits,1darcyisequivalentto9.8692331013mor0.9869233(m).[3]Thisconversionis
usuallyapproximatedas1(m).[3]Notethatthisisthereciprocalof1.013250theconversionfactorfrom
atmospherestobars.
Specificallyinthehydrologydomain,permeabilityofsoilorrockmayalsobedefinedasthefluxofwater
underhydrostaticpressure(~0.1bar/m)atatemperatureof20C.Inthisspecificsetup,1darcyis
equivalentto0.831m/day.[4]

References
1. PeterC.Lichtner,CarlI.Steefel,EricH.Oelkers,ReactiveTransportinPorousMedia
(http://books.google.com/books?ei=woosT4DHKYrXmAXjo531Dw&id=nMsPAQAAIAAJ),Mineralogical
SocietyofAmerica,1996,ISBN0939950421,p.5.
2. "TheAmericanAssociationofPetroleumGeologistStyleGuides"(PDF).
3. TheSIMetricSystemofUnitsandSPEMetricStandard(PDF)(2nded.).SocietyofPetroleumEngineers.June
1984[Firstpublished1982].
4. K.N.Duggal,J.P.Soni:ElementsofWaterResourcesEngineering.PublisherNewAgeInternational,1996,
p.270

RichardSelley's"ElementsofPetroleumGeology(2ndedition),"page250.
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