The height of the saturation zone ane permeability of the ice-crystal bed were measured in the gravitational field, and the following results were obtained:
1. The height of the saturation zone of the ice-crystal bed was lower than that of the bed packed with such inert particles as the crushed quartz which was similar to that of ice crystals in average size. The permeability of the former bed was superior to that of the latter bed. These results could be understood on the assumption that the thin water film exist on the surface of ice crystal in the state of equilibrium.
2. The relation between the height of the saturation zone and the permeability of the bed was derived from the Yamaguchi's and Carman's equations as mentioned below:
ρmH (g K)^1/2/λcosθ= (1/5)^1/2_ε3/2/(1-ε)[m (1-ε)^-1/3-n]
where H is the height of saturaion zone, K is permeability,λ is surface tension,θ is contact angle (cosθ=1),ε is porosity,ρm is the density of solution, g is gravitational constant, and m and n are constants. The values of m and n for ice-crystal bed, in which the size of the crystals and the porosity of the bed were not uniform, were different from those of the bed uniformly packed with the crushed quartz of uniform size, indicating 0.446 and 0.433, respectively.