A determination of the effective viscosity for the Brinkman–Forchheimer flow model

The effective viscosity mu{sub e} for the Brinkman-Forchheimer flow (BFF) model has been determined experimentally for steady flow through a wall-bounded porous medium. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques were used to measure non-invasively the ensemble-average velocity profile of water flowing through a tube filled with an open-cell rigid foam of high porosity (phi = 0.972). By comparing these data with the BFF model, for which all remaining parameters were measured independently, it was determined that mu{sub e} = (7.5{sub -2.4}{sup +3.4}) mu{sub f}, where mu{sub f} was the viscosity of the fluid. The Reynolds number, based upon the square root of the permeability, was 17. 14 refs.