Pressure drop modeling on SOLID foam: State-of-the art correlation

The use of porous structures with high external Surface area represents an important breakthrough in industrial applications. Foam structures receive more and more scientific and industrial interest as catalyst support. Knowledge of pressure drop induced by these foam matrices is essential for successful design and operation of high performance industrial systems. In this context, the aim of this paper is to critically review the relation between permeability and structural parameters of the different foam structures. This work is willing to examine the effect of a large number of structural parameters (struts diameter, porosity, size of pores, specific Surface area...) in the prediction of bed permeability based on principals of experimental and theoretical works on the single-phase flow model found in the literature. The state-of-the-art of modeling pressure drop in foams is summarized in Table 1. The goal was to assess and to critically evaluate all available design tools, whether empirical or theoretical. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved