University of Santo Tomas CHE 424L:

Faculty of Engineering Chemical Engineering Laboratory I

Department of Chemical Engineering Pre-Lab Assignment

Name: BAUTISTA, Monica Lea S. Date: March 25, 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 property of a porous material that allows fluid to pass through it without being chemically or
physically affected. Permeability is widely used in 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 is the fraction of the material’s total volume that is occupied by pores or voids. Permeability is almost
directly proportional to its porosity. The permeability of rocks made of large or coarse grains, will be higher
than those of small, or fine, grains.

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

The degree of compaction determines the behavior of a fluid through a medium and identifies whether the
fluid can easily flow through a porous medium. It is necessary to use the dry unit weight to assess the degree
of compaction which is an indicator of compactness of solid soil 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 the best application of having a high degree of permeability. It is one of the most
important qualities to consider for fish culture. A pond built in impermeable soil will lose little water through
seepage. The more permeable the soil, the greater the seepage.

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

It is one of the properties that controls water discharge and is defined to be the ratio of the channel’s cross-
sectional area of the flow to its wetted perimeter. Hydraulic radius determines how much work the channel
can do.