Air permeability of a nonwoven filter medium is the measured airflow through anarea of filter media at a specified pressure drop. In some test methods it is referred toas the air permeance, a synonym. There are methods that fix the flow and measurethe pressure drop. There is also a Gurley method (TAPPI T460 and ISO 5636-5:2003) that measures the air resistance of a medium by measuring the time to passa specified volume of air through the medium at a specified pressure drop.The most popular way to measure the air permeability of a filter medium is to fix thepressure drop and measure the airflow. The Frazier Air Permeameter, manufactured bythe Frazier Precision Instrument Company, Inc., Hagarstown, Maryland USA, is diagrammedin Figure 6.2. It has been used for years for this type of measurement. The airis sucked through the clamped medium specimen into an enclosed chamber and outthrough an orifice that measures the flow. A manometer across the medium gives thepressure drop and a manometer across the orifice gives the pressure drop across the orificefor calculation of airflow. The manufacturer provides data tables for converting orificepressure drop to airflows. Figure 6.3 is a photograph of the Frazier 2000 ®- AirPermeability Instrument. This modern version implements electronic pressure sensingas well as computerized logging and manipulation of the electronic measurements.Textest AG, Schwerzenbach, Switzerland markets an air permeability tester thathas some convenient automated features including direct digital readout of thepermeability. It also has an automated clamping system for the specimen. Orifices areeasily changed by use of a turn dial instead of having to replace each one by hand.The airflow measured is based on Darcy's law discussed in Chapter 2: