We directly evaluate the flow and structural properties of three-dimensional random porous media at a microscopic level via lattice gas automata. The length scale associated with the pore structure and the geometric factor accounting for pore shape, connectivity, and tortuosity used in empirical models are independently measured. It is shown that the empricial models greatly underestimate the effect of the structure of the medium on flow properties. The tortuosity, in particular, is shown to have a much larger effect than accounted for by empirical models.

• Received 11 March 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.50.2134