Darcys law

Groundwater Hydraulics
Daene C. McKinney

Summary
Linear Transport Laws Properties NAPLS Darcys Law
Darcys Experiment Specific Discharge Average Velocity Validity of Darcys Law

Hydraulic Conductivity
Permeability

Vertical Flow

Linear Transport Laws

Fouriers Law Heat is transferred from a region of higher temperature to a region of lower temperature Ohm's law Electricity is transferred from a region of higher voltage to a region of lower voltage Fick's law Mass is transferred from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration
Q kA dT dx

dV dx

J DA

dC dx

Darcys Law
Water flow through an aquifer. Conservation of Momentum: Determined experimentally by Darcy, it can be derived from the Navier-Stokes equations Like: Fourier's law, Ohm's law, or Fick's law Darcy's law (conservation of momentum) and the continuity equation (conservation of mass) are used to derive the groundwater flow equation

Properties
Fluid
Density () = mass per unit volume Specific weight (gg) = weight per unit volume Specific gravity (SG=/w) = ratio of fluid density to that of water Viscosity (m) = resistance of fluid to yield to shear when it is in motion

Porous Medium
Storage Properties (porosity, particle size, elasticity) Transmissive Properties (conductivity)

Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids

NAPLs
Insoluble in water and Separate phase

Dense NAPLs
More dense than water Chlorinated hydrocarbons Trichloroethylene-TCE TetrachloroethylenePCE Density increases with increasing halogenation

Density difference of 0.1% causes sinking

Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids

Light NAPLs
Lighter than water Petroleum hydrocarbons Oil Gasoline

Density difference between water and NAPL of 1% can influence flow Low viscosity NAPLs migrate more rapidly than high viscosity NAPLs

Darcy

http://biosystems.okstate.edu/Darcy/

/echo.epfl.ch/VICAIRE/

Darcys Experiment
P1/g
hL

L P2/g v

Q
z1 Sand column Datum plane Q z2

Darcys Experiments
Flow through sand filters Discharge (Q) proportional to
Area, A Head drop, h1-h2 Inverse of length, L

K = hydraulic conductivity [L/T]

QA

h1 h2 L

h h2 h1
q Q h K A L

Groundwater Velocity
Specific discharge
Darcy velocity
Q = flow A = total cross-sectional area through which flow occurs

Q A

Average velocity

Q A

Head Loss in Porous Media

Piezometric head
h1 = p1

+ z1

Energy is lost in the flow through the porous medium due to friction Energy equation Neglect velocity terms Flow is always from higher head to lower head
2 V12 p1 V2 p + + z1 = + 2 + z 2 + hL 2g g 2g g

Validity of Darcys Law

We ignored kinetic energy (low velocity) We assumed laminar flow We can calculate a Reynolds Number for the flow
rqd10 NR = m

q = Specific discharge d10 = effective grain size diameter

Darcys Law is valid for NR < 1

Hydraulic Conductivity
A combined property of the medium and the fluid Ease with which fluid moves through the medium
K k
k g = = = =

g m
Porous medium property Fluid properties Water vs NAPL Water vs Air

intrinsic permeability density dynamic viscosity gravitational constant

Permeability and Hydraulic Conductivity

Summary
Linear Transport Laws Properties NAPLS Darcys Law
Darcys Experiment Specific Discharge Average Velocity Validity of Darcys Law
q Q A

Q A

NR =

rqd10 m
g m

K k

Hydraulic Conductivity
Permeability