Mixing in microfluidic devices and enhancement methods

Ward, Kevin; Fan, Z. Hugh

doi:10.1088/0960-1317/25/9/094001

Cited by 347 publications

(251 citation statements)

References 93 publications

(159 reference statements)

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“…Microfluidics has extremely widespread applications ranging from drug development, chemical and biomedical analysis, and food processing to pharmaceuticals and pathogen detection . In particular, microfluidic micromixers play crucial roles to enhance mixing of dissimilar fluid properties that can be driven either actively or passively .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Method for determining mixing index in microfluidics by RGB color model

Mahmud

Tamrin

2020

Asia-Pacific J Chem Eng

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Microfluidic mixing is a key process in miniaturized analysis system. Achieving adequate mixing performance is considerably difficult in microfluidic micromixer, as the flow is always associated with unfavorable laminar flow and dominated by molecular diffusion. The mixing performance of these micromixers are generally characterized as a function of mixing index based on dispersion (homogeneity) information, leading to either an overestimated or underestimated mixing index. This paper presents a new method for determining the mixing index of micromixers based on RGB color model by decoding mixing images to their respective red, green, and blue pixel intensities. Several digital composite images were used to perform initial benchmarking, and the proposed method accurately quantified the mixing index significantly better than previously adopted methods. The practicality of the method was further demonstrated by characterizing mixing of well‐known micromixers, namely T‐ and Y‐ micromixers, at varying Reynolds numbers of 5 ≤ Re ≤ 100. The results show that the mixing index decreases with the increase in Reynolds number, whereas the mixing index of the T‐micromixer was superior to that of Y‐micromixer, both agreeing well with the literature. The mixing index of these micromixers at varying Reynolds numbers of 5 ≤ Re ≤ 100 calculated using other methods were also compared and discussed. The proposed method is foreseen handy and robust in characterizing mixing in real time for gradient mixing in networked microchannels and multivortex mixing for the manipulation of fluids, particles, and biological substances.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Method for determining mixing index in microfluidics by RGB color model

Mahmud

Tamrin

2020

Asia-Pacific J Chem Eng

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“…For these reasons, gas-liquid reactions can be improved by employing flow conditions [13]. As a consequence, interfacial area mixing and flow of gas-liquid systems in confined spaces have been subject to extensive research by academia [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Optimization of Gas–Liquid Dispersion in Micronozzles Assisted by Design of Experiment

2017

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Abstract:In recent years gas-liquid flow in microchannels has drawn much attention in the research fields of analytics and applications, such as in oxidations or hydrogenations. Since surface forces are increasingly important on the small scale, bubble coalescence is detrimental and leads to Taylor bubble flow in microchannels with low surface-to-volume ratio. To overcome this limitation, we have investigated the gas-liquid flow through micronozzles and, specifically, the bubble breakup behind the nozzle. Two different regimes of bubble breakup are identified, laminar and turbulent. Turbulent bubble breakup is characterized by small daughter bubbles and narrow daughter bubble size distribution. Thus, high interfacial area is generated for increased mass and heat transfer. However, turbulent breakup mechanism is observed at high flow rates and increased pressure drops; hence, large energy input into the system is essential. In this work Design of Experiment assisted evaluation of turbulent bubbly flow redispersion is carried out to investigate the effect and significance of the nozzle's geometrical parameters regarding bubble breakup and pressure drop. Here, the hydraulic diameter and length of the nozzle show the largest impacts. Finally, factor optimization leads to an optimized nozzle geometry for bubble redispersion via a micronozzle regarding energy efficacy to attain a high interfacial area and surface-to-volume ratio with rather low energy input.

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“…Mixing is often a crucial step in functional microfluidics, especially in material synthesis and bioassays . Traditional microfluidic devices operate in a low‐ Re regime, yielding laminar flow profiles in which mixing is limited by diffusion.…”

Section: Pulsatile Flows In Microfluidic Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pulsatile Flow in Microfluidic Systems

Dincau

Dressaire

Sauret

2019

Small

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This review describes the current knowledge and applications of pulsatile flow in microfluidic systems. Elements of fluid dynamics at low Reynolds number are first described in the context of pulsatile flow. Then the practical applications in microfluidic processes are presented: the methods to generate a pulsatile flow, the generation of emulsion droplets through harmonic flow rate perturbation, the applications in mixing and particle separation, and the benefits of pulsatile flow for clog mitigation. The second part of the review is devoted to pulsatile flow in biological applications. Pulsatile flows can be used for mimicking physiological systems, to alter or enhance cell cultures, and for bioassay automation. Pulsatile flows offer unique advantages over a steady flow, especially in microfluidic systems, but also require some new physical insights and more rigorous investigation to fully benefit future applications.

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Mixing in microfluidic devices and enhancement methods

Cited by 347 publications

References 93 publications

Method for determining mixing index in microfluidics by RGB color model

Method for determining mixing index in microfluidics by RGB color model

Energy Optimization of Gas–Liquid Dispersion in Micronozzles Assisted by Design of Experiment

Pulsatile Flow in Microfluidic Systems

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