Numerical Simulation of Mixing Characteristics in a Split-and-Recombine Microchannel

Abstract

The mixing efficiency in microdevices is limited by laminar flow. For passive mixing, the structure of micromixer determines its mixing performance. A novel micromixer with a self-designed repetitive SAR (split-and-recombine) mixing element was carried out and investigated in the present work. The number of mixing elements for simulation was confirmed primarily. Based on the established model, the flow and geometric parameters in this micromixer were discussed systematically by numerical simulation and evaluated by mixing index. Furthermore, the mixing performance of SAR micromixer was compared with conventional T-shaped micromixer for Reynolds numbers ranging from 0.05 to 960. Finally, we concluded that the novel SAR micromixer revealed high performance of mixing due to the enhanced convection. In addition, its input power was similar to that of T-shaped micromixer, which provided the possibility for future industrial applications.