A Computational Model for Analyisis of Field Force and Particle Dynamics in a Ferro-Magnetic Microfluidic System

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents the development of a computational model for analyzing the magnetic field, particle dynamics, and capture efficiency of magnetic and non-magnetic microparticles in a ferro-magnetic microfluidic system. This computational model demonstrates a proof-of-concept of a method for greatly enhancing magnetic bio-separation in microfluidic systems using an array of conductive elements arranged in quadrature. In contrast to previous works, our approach theoretically uses a microfluidic device with an electronic chip platform consisting of integrated copper electrodes that carry currents to generate programmable magnetic field gradients locally. In practice, alternating currents would be applied to the electrodes in quadrature to create a periodic magnetic field pattern that travels along the length of the microchannel. This work is a phase 1 study that analyzes particle dynamics in a static magnetic field. The model, which is described in more detail in the methods section, combines a Eulerian-Lagrangian and two-way particle-fluid coupling CFD analysis with closed-form magnetic field analysis that be used to predict magnetic separation considering dominant magnetic and hydrodynamic forces similar to our previous work in magnetic drug targeting. The result of this analysis show that the proposed magnetic capture configuration provides substantially enhanced particle capture efficiency relative to conventional systems.