Flow Resistance Characteristics of Power Low Fluid Flow Through the Structured Porous Media

The flow characteristics of power law fluid in finite wall three-dimensional structured packed beds of spheres was investigated experimentally. The packed beds of spheres was in Simple Cubic configuration and enclosed in square cross-section duct, and the Partially Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide (HPAM) solutions with different concentrations and temperatures was chosen as the working fluids (a power-law type non-Newtonian fluids). The relationships between the friction factor and Reynolds number was verified by the modified Ergun type equations. And found that the coefficients ' E A and ' E B had certain relations with the power index and would vary for different concentrations and temperatures of the fluids. However, the results showed that the existing Ergun correlations for random porous media failed to predict the resistance factor for finite wall structured beds, and the new modified Ergun correlation was proposed and verfied to be valid for power law fluid. At last, the study highlighted the need for pinpointing of the different flow regimes.