NON-DARCIAN AIR-FLOW THROUGH CERAMIC FOAMS

This paper presents the first results on fluid flow through (laboratory-made) ceramic foams. Pressure drop (DELTA-P) vs airflow rate (U) measurements show that Darcy's law does not hold and that the non-Darcian airflow through the foams satisfies an equation of the form DELTA-P = aU + bU2. A permeability quotient is defined, which appears to be a qualitative measure for the average pore size of a foam. A Reynolds number defined in terms of this quotient can be used to estimate the Darcian flow range for a certain fluid.