In micromixer devices, laminar characteristics of the flow domain and small diffusion constants of the fluid samples that are mixed characterize the mixing process. The advection dominant flow and transport processes that develop in these devices not only create significant challenges for numerical solution of the problem, but they are also the source of numerical errors which may lead to confusing performance evaluations that are reported in the literature. In this study, the finite volume method (FVM) and finite element method (FEM) are used to characterize these errors and critical issues in numerical performance evaluations are highlighted. In this study, we used numerical methods to evaluate the mixing characteristics of a typical T-shape passive micromixer for several flow and transport parameters using both FEM and FVM, although the numerical procedures described are also equally applicable to other geometric designs as well. The outcome of the study shows that the type of stabilization technique used in FEM is very important and should be documented and reported. Otherwise, erroneous mixing performance may be reported since the added artificial diffusion may significantly affect the mixing performance in the device. Similarly, when FVM methods are used, numerical diffusion errors may become important for certain unstructured discretization techniques that are used in the idealization of the solution domain. This point needs to be also analyzed and reported when FVM is used in performance evaluation of micromixer devices. The focus of this study is not on improving the mixing performance of micromixers. Instead, we highlight the bench scale characteristics of the solutions and the mixing evaluation procedures used when FVM and FEM are employed.

Laminar fluid flow and advection-dominant transport produce ineffective mixing conditions in micromixers. In these systems, a desirable fluid mixing over a short distance may be achieved using special geometries in which complex flow paths are generated. In this paper, a novel design, utilizing semi-circular ridges, is proposed to improve mixing in micro channels. Fluid flow and scalar transport are investigated employing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool. Mixing dynamics are investigated in detail for alternative designs, injection, and diffusivity conditions. Results indicate that the convex alignment of semi-circular elements yields a specific, helicoidal-shaped fluid flow along the mixing channel which in turn enhances fluid mixing. In all cases examined, homogenous concentration distributions with mixing index values over 80% are obtained. When it is compared to the classical T-shaped micromixer, the novel design increases mixing index and mixing performance values by the factors of 8.7 and 3.3, respectively. It is also shown that different orientations of ridges adversely affect the mixing efficiency by disturbing the formation of helicoidal-shaped flow profile.

Passive micromixers are miniaturized instruments that are used to mix fluids in microfluidic systems. In microchannels, combination of laminar flows and small diffusion constants of mixing liquids produce a difficult mixing environment. In particular, in very low Reynolds number flows, e.g., Re < 10, diffusive mixing cannot be promoted unless a large interfacial area is formed between the fluids to be mixed. Therefore, the mixing distance increases substantially due to a slow diffusion process that governs fluid mixing. In this article, a novel 3-D passive micromixer design is developed to improve fluid mixing over a short distance. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are used to investigate the performance of the micromixer numerically. The circular-shaped fluid overlapping (CSFO) micromixer design proposed is examined in several fluid flow, diffusivity, and injection conditions. The outcomes show that the CSFO geometry develops a large interfacial area between the fluid bodies. Thus, fluid mixing is accelerated in vertical and/or horizontal directions depending on the injection type applied. For the smallest molecular diffusion constant tested, the CSFO micromixer design provides more than 90% mixing efficiency in a distance between 260 and 470 µm. The maximum pressure drop in the micromixer is found to be less than 1.4 kPa in the highest flow conditioned examined.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools are used to investigate fluid flow and scalar mixing in micromixers where low molecular diffusivities yield advection dominant transport. In these applications, achieving a numerical solution is challenging. Numerical procedures used to overcome these difficulties may cause misevaluation of the mixing process. Evaluation of the mixing performance of these devices without appropriate analysis of the contribution of numerical diffusion yields over estimation of mixing performance. In this study, two- and four-inlet swirl-generating micromixers are examined for different mesh density, flow and molecular diffusivity scenarios. It is shown that mesh densities need to be high enough to reveal numerical diffusion errors in scalar transport simulations. Two-inlet micromixer design was found to produce higher numerical diffusion. In both micromixer configurations, when cell Peclet numbers were around 50 and 100 for Reynolds numbers 240 and 120, the numerical diffusion effects were tolerable. However, when large cell Peclet number scenarios were tested, it was found that the molecular diffusivity of the fluid is completely masked by false diffusion errors.

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