Experimental and Numerical Investigations of Air Flow Characteristics Through Microporous Media

The effect of particle diameter on the air flow characteristics in various micro-porous media test sections was studied experimentally and numerically. The test sections were made of bronze particles with average diameters of 200 μm, 125 μm, 90 μm and 40 μm. The experimentally measured friction factors in the porous media with average diameters of 200 μm and 125 μm agree well with the known correlation. However, the experimental values for the friction factors in the micro-porous media with 90 μm a and 40 μm average diameters are much less than the known correlation. Also, the differences between the experimental results and the known correlation increase with decreasing average particle diameter. Numerical simulations of the air flow in micro-porous media including rarefaction were performed using the CFD code FLUENT 6.1 to predict the pressure drop characteristics in the four test sections. The calculated friction factors for the non-slip flow regime in the micro-porous media agree well with the known correlation and the experimental data. The numerically predicted friction factors for the slip flow regime in the micro-porous media with 90 μm and 40 μm diameter particles were less than the known correlation and close to the experimental data. The results show that rarefaction effects occur in air flows in the micro-porous media with particle diameters less than 90 a and that numerical calculations with velocity slip on the boundary can simulate the slip flows in micro-porous media.