NEWTONIAN AND NON-NEWTONIAN FLUID-FLOWS T HROUGH FIXED-BEDS OF PLATE-SHARED PARTICLES

Fixed beds of plate shape particles have been studied in two different ''flow-particle'' configurations. From pressure drop measurements per formed for a Newtonian fluid flow, two characteristic structural param eters have been determined by using a capillary-type model. The differ ences concerning the hydrodynamic behaviour of the two configurations are discussed and a factor characterizing the bed anisotropy is propos ed, A dimensionless equation allowing the pressure drop determination for Newtonian and non-Newtonian purely viscous fluid flow in the two c onfigurations, for a large range of Reynolds numbers, is proposed and tested with experiments.