Eur. Phys. J. E (2009) 28: 293-304
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2008-10411-7

Regular Article

Permeability of aqueous foams

Laboratoire de Physique des Matériaux Divisés et des Interfaces, UMR 8108 du CNRS, Université Paris-Est, 5 Boulevard Descartes, 77 454, Marne-la-Vallée cedex 2, France

^* e-mail: elise.lorenceau@univ-mlv.fr

Received: 19 May 2008
Revised: 20 October 2008
Accepted: 19 December 2008
Published online: 3 February 2009

Abstract

We perform forced-drainage experiments in aqueous foams and compare the results with data available in the literature. We show that all the data can be accurately compared together if the dimensionless permeability of the foam is plotted as a function of liquid fraction. Using this set of coordinates highlights the fact that a large part of the published experimental results corresponds to relatively wet foams ( ∼ 0.1 . Yet, most of the foam drainage models are based on geometrical considerations only valid for dry foams. We therefore discuss the range of validity of the different models in the literature and their comparison to experimental data. We propose extensions of these models considering the geometry of foam in the relatively wet-foam limit. We eventually show that if the foam geometry is correctly described, forced drainage experiments can be understood using a unique parameter --the Boussinesq number.