There is a statistical correlation between absolute permeability and effective porosity which can be approximated by various empirical models based on PORO-PERM correlations.

The most generic approach to permeability modelling is based on the concepts of Flow Zone Indicator :

k = 1014.24 \cdot FZI^2 \cdot \frac{\phi^3}{( 1 - \phi)^2}

In case for each lithofacies the model represents conventional Cozeny-Karman permeability @model

In a more general case, the Flow Zone Indicator keeps dependance on variation of shaliness and effective porosity within a given lithofacies:

FZI =FZI(V_{sh}, \, \phi)

but not as strong as permeability and with a better separation between lithofacies which makes it easier to pick up the correlation.

Below is the list of popular permeability-porosity models also called PORO-PERM correlations:

References

See also