Abstract
A novel parallel laminar micromixer with a two-dimensional staggered Dean Vortex micromixer is optimized and fabricated in our study. Dean vortices induced by centrifugal forces in curved rectangular channels cause fluids to produce secondary flows. The split-and-recombination (SAR) structures of the flow channels and the impinging effects result in the reduction of the diffusion distance of two fluids. Three different designs of a curved channel micromixer are introduced to evaluate the mixing performance of the designed micromixer. Mixing performances are demonstrated by means of a pH indicator using an optical microscope and fluorescent particles via a confocal microscope at different flow rates corresponding to Reynolds numbers (Re) ranging from 0.5 to 50. The comparison between the experimental data and numerical results shows a very reasonable agreement. At a Re of 50, the mixing length at the sixth segment, corresponding to the downstream distance of 21.0 mm, can be achieved in a distance 4 times shorter than when the Re equals 1. An optimization of this micromixer is performed with two geometric parameters. These are the angle between the lines from the center to two intersections of two consecutive curved channels, θ, and the angle between two lines of the centers of three consecutive curved channels, ϕ. It can be found that the maximal mixing index is related to the maximal value of the sum of θ and ϕ, which is equal to 139.82°.
Highlights
Among the rapidly-developing microfludic devices, such as micro heat exchangers, microreactors, and DNA analyzers, a micromixer plays an important role in bio-analytical and chemical applications.Recently, an increasing number of researchers have integrated micromixers into their analysis systems.The synthesis of active ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry [1] and the studies of immuno-magnetic cell sorting [2] are two examples
A parallel lamination micromixer with two-dimensional curved rectangular channels is designed in our study
The split-and-recombination (SAR) structures of flow channels result in the reduction of the diffusion distance of two fluids
Summary
Among the rapidly-developing microfludic devices, such as micro heat exchangers, microreactors, and DNA analyzers, a micromixer plays an important role in bio-analytical and chemical applications.Recently, an increasing number of researchers have integrated micromixers into their analysis systems.The synthesis of active ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry [1] and the studies of immuno-magnetic cell sorting [2] are two examples. Among the rapidly-developing microfludic devices, such as micro heat exchangers, microreactors, and DNA analyzers, a micromixer plays an important role in bio-analytical and chemical applications. An increasing number of researchers have integrated micromixers into their analysis systems. Many researches on the miniaturization of chemical analysis systems have considered the reactions of solutions in a microsystem. A micromixer was incorporated into a hybridization chamber to aid in mixing during loading [3]. The main advantage using microstructured mixers is their ability to achieve a rapid and efficient mixing between two fluids [4]. The wide applications of micromixers have garnered a lot of attention, and the micromixer has been moved from the sub-systems of micro-TAS to one of the crucial components of MEMS. Fast mixing can decrease analysis time and improve reaction efficiency in industrial applications. Mixing of the liquid flows in microchannels is difficult because the flows belong to the regime of laminar flow and mixing in microfluidic devices is dominated by molecular diffusion
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