A fractal model for resistance of flow through porous media is developed based on the fractal characters of porous media and oil the pore-throat model for capillary. The proposed model is expressed as a function of the pore-throat ratio, porosity, property of fluid, pore/capillary and particle sizes, fluid velocity (or Reynolds number) and fractal dimensions of porous media. There is no empirical constant and every parameter has clear physical meaning in the proposed model. The model predictions are compared with experiment data, and good agreement is found between them. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.