Fig. 3.

Specific hydraulic conductivity (K) of gel with added round particles as a function of particle radius (r_a) for 3 particle volume fractions in the gel of φ = 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1. K_m is the specific hydraulic conductivity without added particles (φ = 0) and is the characteristic hydrodynamic length scale of the gel. Using K_m ≈ 2 × 10⁻¹³ cm², the effect of particle size on K becomes constant for radii greater than ∼100 nm.