Numerical investigation on layout optimization of obstacles in a three-dimensional passive micromixer

Xueye Chen; Zhongyi Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.aca.2017.01.066

Numerical investigation on layout optimization of obstacles in a three-dimensional passive micromixer

Anal Chim Acta. 2017 Apr 29:964:142-149. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2017.01.066. Epub 2017 Feb 10.

Authors

Xueye Chen¹, Zhongyi Zhao²

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Liaoning University of Technology, Jinzhou 121001, China. Electronic address: xueye_chen@126.com.
² Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Liaoning University of Technology, Jinzhou 121001, China.

PMID: 28351630
DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2017.01.066

Abstract

This paper aims at layout optimization design of obstacles in a three-dimensional T-type micromixer. Numerical analysis shows that the direction of flow velocity change constantly due to the obstacles blocking, which produces the chaotic convection and increases species mixing effectively. The orthogonal experiment method was applied for determining the effects of some key parameters on mixing efficiency. The weights in the order are: height of obstacles > geometric shape > symmetry = number of obstacles. Based on the optimized results, a multi-units obstacle micromixer was designed. Compared with T-type micromixer, the multi-units obstacle micromixer is more efficient, and more than 90% mixing efficiency were obtained for a wide range of peclet numbers. It can be demonstrated that the presented optimal design method of obstacles layout in three-dimensional microchannels is a simple and effective technology to improve species mixing in microfluidic devices. The obstacles layout methodology has the potential for applications in chemical engineering and bioengineering.

Keywords: Chaotic convection; Layout optimization; Micromixer; Orthogonal experiment.