TY - JOUR
T1 - Residence-time distribution as a measure of mixing in T-junction and multilaminated/elongational flow micromixers
AU - Adeosun, John T.
AU - Lawal, Adeniyi
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - The ineffective mixing in microchannel mixers or reactors, primarily due to the laminar flow behavior in such microfluidic devices, has become an issue of significant interest to many researchers working in the field of microreaction engineering and related disciplines. The present study describes the numerical and experimental investigation of mixing performance in a proposed multilaminated/elongational flow micromixer (herein referred to as MEFM-4) and a standard T-junction micromixer (TjM). These two micromixers that employ different mixing enhancement strategies were fabricated from silicon using micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach was first used to establish the experimental platform for the mixing study. Tracer experiment utilizing UV-vis absorption spectroscopy detection technique was used to obtain the required concentration data for residence-time distribution (RTD) analysis. The RTD and its coefficient of variation (CoV) were used for indirect characterization of flow and mixing behavior in the micromixers. Using this measure, the proposed MEFM-4, as expected, exhibits a better mixing performance (with its narrower RTD and lower CoV values) than the standard TjM. The comparison of results from the CFD simulation and the experiment shows very good agreement, especially in the low Reynolds number flow regime (Re<29). In combination with matching experiment and advanced microfabrication techniques, CFD simulation is a powerful tool for effective design and evaluation of simple to complex microfluidic devices for useful applications in chemical analysis and synthesis.
AB - The ineffective mixing in microchannel mixers or reactors, primarily due to the laminar flow behavior in such microfluidic devices, has become an issue of significant interest to many researchers working in the field of microreaction engineering and related disciplines. The present study describes the numerical and experimental investigation of mixing performance in a proposed multilaminated/elongational flow micromixer (herein referred to as MEFM-4) and a standard T-junction micromixer (TjM). These two micromixers that employ different mixing enhancement strategies were fabricated from silicon using micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach was first used to establish the experimental platform for the mixing study. Tracer experiment utilizing UV-vis absorption spectroscopy detection technique was used to obtain the required concentration data for residence-time distribution (RTD) analysis. The RTD and its coefficient of variation (CoV) were used for indirect characterization of flow and mixing behavior in the micromixers. Using this measure, the proposed MEFM-4, as expected, exhibits a better mixing performance (with its narrower RTD and lower CoV values) than the standard TjM. The comparison of results from the CFD simulation and the experiment shows very good agreement, especially in the low Reynolds number flow regime (Re<29). In combination with matching experiment and advanced microfabrication techniques, CFD simulation is a powerful tool for effective design and evaluation of simple to complex microfluidic devices for useful applications in chemical analysis and synthesis.
KW - CFD simulation
KW - Microfabrication
KW - Micromixers
KW - Passive mixing
KW - Residence-time distribution (RTD)
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ces.2009.11.038
DO - 10.1016/j.ces.2009.11.038
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:76049128111
SN - 0009-2509
VL - 65
SP - 1865
EP - 1874
JO - Chemical Engineering Science
JF - Chemical Engineering Science
IS - 5
ER -