An introduction to flow and transport in fractal models of porous media: Part I

This special issue gathers together a number of recent papers on fractal geometry and its applications to the modeling of flow and transport in porous media. The aim is to provide a systematic approach for analyzing the statics and dynamics of fluids in fractal porous media by means of theory, modeling and experimentation. The topics covered include lacunarity analyses of multifractal and natural grayscale patterns, random packing's of self-similar pore/particle size distributions, Darcian and non-Darcian hydraulic flows, diffusion within fractals, models for the permeability and thermal conductivity of fractal porous media and hydrophobicity and surface erosion properties of fractal structures.