For gas flow in small characteristic dimensions (e.g., very fine sand, nanoporous structures etc.), the particle-wall interactions become more frequent, giving rise to additional wall friction (Knudsen friction). For a flow in this region, where both viscous and Knudsen friction are present, a new formulation needs to be used. Knudsen presented a semi-empirical model for flow in transition regime based on his experiments on small capillaries. For a porous medium, the Knudsen equation can be given as
where  is the molar flux,  is the gas constant,  is the temperature,  is the effective Knudsen diffusivity of the porous media. The model can also be derived from the first-principle-based binary friction model (BFM). The differential equation of transition flow in porous media based on BFM is given as
This equation is valid for capillaries as well as porous media. The terminology of the Knudsen effect and Knudsen diffusivity is more common in mechanical and chemical engineering. In geological and petrochemical engineering, this effect is known as the Klinkenberg effect. Using the definition of molar flux, the above equation can be rewritten as
This equation can be rearranged into the following equation
Comparing this equation with conventional Darcy's law, a new formulation can be given as
where
This is equivalent to the effective permeability formulation proposed by Klinkenberg:
where  is known as the Klinkenberg parameter, which depends on the gas and the porous medium structure. This is quite evident if we compare the above formulations. The Klinkenberg parameter  is dependent on permeability, Knudsen diffusivity and viscosity (i.e., both gas and porous medium properties).