Single-phase flow distribution and mixing in a novel microfluidic header: Experimental and CFD studies

Abstract

A novel microfluidic header is proposed for scaling-up microbore tube-based applications of chemical microprocessing. A scale-up factor of up to 24 is demonstrated. The performance of the header is rigorously evaluated for uniform flow distribution and mixing of two incoming reactant streams. The effects of flow velocity and flow rate ratio on coefficient of variance of flow (COVflow) and mixing (COVmixing) are studied. An increase in flow velocity is seen to reduce values of COVmixing as well as COVflow. Experiments are conducted for two different scale-up factors (16X and 24X). COVmixing as low as 8.57% and 5.96% could be attained for the two levels of scale-up studied (i.e. 16X and 24 X case respectively). This indicates the efficient flow distribution and mixing achieved by the header. Euler Lagrangian CFD simulations are carried out to substantiate the experimental trends. The results of numerical simulations are in line with the experimental observations. In addition to predicting values of COVmixing the model also provides information on the quality of mixing at the integrated microfluidic T junctions.