Abstract: | An analysis describing viscoelastic flow of a FENE fluid in packed beds or porous media is presented based on the capillary hybrid model of the flow. A close similarity is revealed between the functional relationship of the reduced elongational viscosity to and that relating the reduced mean elongational viscosity λH ? to the Deborah number which is utilized in the flow expressions. The agreement obtained between the predicted and experimentally determined evaluations of the resistance factor, including the effects of variation of polymer concentration, molecular weight and solvent quality was found to be satisfactory. Onset Reynolds numbers for enhanced flow resistance are also predicted successfully. |