  The lattice Boltzmann method has been successfully applied for the simulation
of flow through porous media in the creeping regime. Its technical properties,
namely discretization, straightforward implementation and parallelization, are
responsible for its popularity. However, flow through porous media is not
restricted to near zero Reynolds numbers since inertial effects play a role in
numerous natural and industrial processes. In this paper we investigate the
capability of the lattice Boltzmann method to correctly describe flow in porous
media at moderate Reynolds numbers. The selection of the lattice resolution,
the collision kernel and the boundary conditions becomes increasingly important
and the challenge is to keep artifacts due to compressibility effects at a
minimum. The lattice Boltzmann results show an accurate quantitative agreement
with Finite Element Method results and evidence the capability of the method to
reproduce Darcy's law at low Reynolds numbers and Forchheimer's law at high
Reynolds numbers.
