Abstract
A micromixer with unbalanced three-split rhombic sub-channels was proposed, and analyses of the mixing and flow characteristics of this micromixer were performed in this work. Three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations in combination with an advection-diffusion model with two working fluids (water and ethanol) were solved for the analysis. The mixing index and pressure drop were evaluated and compared to those of a two-split micromixer for a range of Reynolds numbers from 0.1–120. The results indicate that the proposed three-split micromixer is efficient in mixing for a range of Reynolds numbers from 30–80. A parametric study was performed to determine the effects of the rhombic angle and sub-channel width ratio on mixing and pressure drop. Except at the lowest Reynolds number, a rhombic angle of 90° gave the best mixing performance. The three-split micromixer with minimum minor sub-channel widths provided the best mixing performance.
Highlights
In recent years, lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a rapidly rising research topic within the instrumentation and healthcare industries
The mixing performance and pressure drop were analyzed with two geometric parameters, the rhombic angle and sub-channel width ratio, for Reynolds numbers from 0.1–120
A parametric study of the unbalanced three-split rhombic micromixer was performed to improve the mixing performance with respect to two geometric parameters
Summary
Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a rapidly rising research topic within the instrumentation and healthcare industries. A passive mixer reduces the diffusion path between the fluid streams by splitting and recombining the flow [11]. Various investigations have been performed to characterize the mixing of fluids based on the analysis of laminar flow and mixing in passive micromixers such as T mixers, Y mixers, different types of serpentine micromixers [13,14], micromixers with patterned grooves [15,16,17], and split and recombine (SAR) micromixers [18,19,20,21]. Based on the mentioned studies, it is clear that a passive SAR micromixer, wherein the main channel is divided into two sub-channels and the sub-channels recombine after a certain distance in a repetitive fashion, is very effective in enhancing the mixing of fluids. The mixing performance and pressure drop were analyzed with two geometric parameters, the rhombic angle and sub-channel width ratio, for Reynolds numbers from 0.1–120
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