Laboratory Methods for Determining Hydraulic Conductivity 569 9.3.2 Hyprauuic Conouctiviry Quite a few empirical formulas for calculating hydraulic conductivity using grain size analysis, can be found in today’s literature. The vast majority, however, are not dimensionally homogeneous and represent various modifications of the few initial works such as those of Hazen or Kozeny. It should be clearly understood that all these empirical formulas have various limits of application and give just approximate values of hydraulic conductivity for small point samples. Since they are derived for different experimental materials and condi- tions, itis very common that several formulas applied to the same sample will yield several different values of hydraulic conductivity The following dimensionally correct general formula of hydraulic conductivity ean be used for expressing most empirical equations currently in use (Vukovic and Soro, 1992): K Sorte (0.23) where g is the gravitational acceleration, v is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid, C is a dimensionless coefficient, which depends on various parameters of the porous medium such as grain shape, structure, and heterogeneity, /(n) is a function of porosity n, and de is the effective grain size (usually dio). ‘Three empirical formulas, all having specific application limits, are expressed in the form of Equation 9.23 and used to calculate the hydraulic conductivity of the three samples (adapted from Vukovie and Soro, 1992). ‘The Hazen equation is Sadi (0.24 where Gy = 6x 104 (9.240) Sen) = [1+ 101 ~ 0.26)] (9.240) “The Hazen equation is applicable for sediments with the coefficient of uniformity less than $ (U < 5) and the effective grain size between 0.1 and 3 mm (0.1 mm < dio < 3 mm). Equation 9.24 is a more complex form of the inital Hazen formulas, The simplified form is K= Ci (024) where the values of C are arbitrarily taken from the range of 1200 for clean uniform sand to 400 for silty and clayey heterogeneous sand. This formula was later modified by Lange (1958) to account for the sample porosity (Equation 9.24). ‘The Kozeny equation is K-2asondiy (9.25) where G=83x 107 (9.25a)isi Hydrogeology and Groundwater Modeling TABLE 9.5 Hydraulic Conductivity (in ms) of the Three Samples Calculated Using Three Empirical Formulas (n)=—" (9.25b) B (ay » 924 ‘The formula does not express the hydraulic conductivity as a function of porosity. It is applicable for 1 < U < 20, and 0.06 mm < dy < 0.6 mm, which makes it useful for analyzing heterogeneous porous media with poorly sorted grains, such as sample 3 in our example. For comparison, the hydraulic conductivities of all three samples are calculated using all three equations and the results are shown in Table 9.5. Gravity acceleration (g) is assumed to bbe 9.81 m/s” and the kinematic viscosity (0) is 1.14 « 10 m?/s for the groundwater having a temperature of 15°C. Porosities of samples 1, 2, and 3, as determined in the laboratory, are 0.35, 0.27, and 0.21, respectively. Table 9.5 shows that the difference between calculated hydraulic conductivities increases «with the increasing uniformity coefficient. When choosing hydraulic conductivity that will be used for further calculations, one should always have in mind specific limitations of these formulas. Having in mind the applicability of cach equation, the following values should be chosen: Sample 1 (coarse sand): 9.09 x 10-* m/s (Kozeny formula) Sample 2 (medium sand): 5.81 x 10 * m/s (Hazen formula) Sample 3 (silty sand): 1.56 x 10-* m/s (Breyer formula) REFERENCES Lambe, T-W., 1951, Soil Testing for Engineers, Jobn Wiley & Sons, New York, 165 pp. Lange, O.K., 1958, Basie Hydrogeology (in Russian: Osnovi gidrogeologi, Moskovskii Gosudarstveni Univerzitet, Moscow. ‘Vukovic, Mand Soro, A., 1992. Determination of Hydraulic Conductivity of Porous Media from Grain- ‘Size Composition, Water Resources Publications, Littleton, 86 pp.