University of Santo Tomas CHE 424L:

Faculty of Engineering Chemical Engineering Laboratory I

Department of Chemical Engineering Pre-Lab Assignment

Name: Cabangal, Erwin Cayl P. Date: March 24, 2019

Section: 4ChE B Group No: 2 Instructor: Dr. Divine Sumalinog

Experiment C1: Permeability

Using the spaces provided, answer the following questions:

1. Define Permeability as a Unit Operation and give at least three industries in which this operation
is important.

Permeability is a measure of the ability of a porous media, to allow fluid to pass through it.
Permeability is widely used in the industries like Petrochemical, Coal and Polymer Industries.

2. What is meant by “porosity”? Why is it an important physical property as far as Permeability

Operation is concerned?

Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void spaces in a material. It is the ratio of volume of pores
to the total volume of the material. The concept of permeability greatly contributes in determining the
flow characteristics of fluids.

3. How does the degree of compaction affect the permeability of a packed bed?

The degree of compaction limits the behavior of a fluid through a medium. It influences how easily the
fluid can flow through a medium. The dry unit weight is used to assess the degree of compaction and it
is used as an indicator of compactness of particles in a given volume.

4. In which cases is it desirable for a material to have high degree of permeability and in which cases is
the opposite desired? Give practical examples.

Soil permeability is a property of the soil to transmit water and air and is considered to be one of the
most important qualities for fish culture. For example, If the pond is built with impermeable soil, it will
lose little water through seepage. However, if you use a more permeable soil, the seepage becomes
greater.

5. In this unit operation, what is meant by “effective hydraulic radius” of the porous medium used?

Effective hydraulic radius pertains to the ratio of the channel’s cross sectional area of the flow divided by
its wetted perimeter. The wetter perimeter refers to all the surfaces acted by shear stress from the fluid.
Effective hydraulic radius or hydraulic diameter, they are both mainly used for calculations involving
turbulent flow.