TY - JOUR
T1 - Improving the mixing performance of side channel type micromixers using an optimal voltage control model
AU - Wu, Chien Hsien
AU - Yang, Ruey Jen
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided to this study by the National Science Council of Taiwan under Grant No. NSC-94-2212-E-006-097 and by the National Nano Device Laboratories of Taiwan under Grant No. NDL-94S-C-022. The authors would also like to thank Mr. S. B. Huang and Dr. G. B. Lee for their invaluable assistance during the course of this study. Finally, the access provided to major fabrication equipment by the Center for Micro-Nano Technology, National Cheng Kung University is greatly appreciated.
PY - 2006/6
Y1 - 2006/6
N2 - Electroosmotic flow in microchannels is restricted to low Reynolds number regimes. Since the inertia forces are extremely weak in such regimes, turbulent conditions do not readily develop, and hence species mixing occurs primarily as a result of diffusion. Consequently, achieving a thorough species mixing generally relies upon the use of extended mixing channels. This paper aims to improve the mixing performance of conventional side channel type micromixers by specifying the optimal driving voltages to be applied to each channel. In the proposed approach, the driving voltages are identified by constructing a simple theoretical scheme based on a 'flow-rate-ratio' model and Kirchhoff's law. The numerical and experimental results confirm that the optimal voltage control approach provides a better mixing performance than the use of a single driving voltage gradient.
AB - Electroosmotic flow in microchannels is restricted to low Reynolds number regimes. Since the inertia forces are extremely weak in such regimes, turbulent conditions do not readily develop, and hence species mixing occurs primarily as a result of diffusion. Consequently, achieving a thorough species mixing generally relies upon the use of extended mixing channels. This paper aims to improve the mixing performance of conventional side channel type micromixers by specifying the optimal driving voltages to be applied to each channel. In the proposed approach, the driving voltages are identified by constructing a simple theoretical scheme based on a 'flow-rate-ratio' model and Kirchhoff's law. The numerical and experimental results confirm that the optimal voltage control approach provides a better mixing performance than the use of a single driving voltage gradient.
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U2 - 10.1007/s10544-006-7707-5
DO - 10.1007/s10544-006-7707-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 16688571
AN - SCOPUS:33746398139
SN - 1387-2176
VL - 8
SP - 119
EP - 131
JO - Biomedical Microdevices
JF - Biomedical Microdevices
IS - 2
ER -