Precise control of the pressure-driven flows considering the pressure fluctuations induced by the process of droplet formation

Abstract

The pressure-driven device is designed to control the flow rates of the droplet microfluidic systems, which can significantly reduce the flow-rate fluctuations coming from the pump source. As monodisperse droplets are formed in the microchannel, periodic pressure fluctuations can be induced by the dynamic process of droplet formation, which can influence the stability and control precision of the pressure-driven flows. The effects of the pressure fluctuations induced by the droplet formation process on the dynamic characteristics of the open-loop and closed-loop control pressure-driven devices are comparatively studied. Particularly, a proportional–integral controller (PI controller) is integrated with the closed-loop control pressure-driven device and the effects of the PI controller parameters on the stability and control accuracy of the pressure-driven flows are tested experimentally. Particularly, by properly choosing the parameters of the PI controller, the magnitude of the periodic pressure fluctuations can be reduced drastically, which obviously increases the control precision of the pressure-driven flows.