Effects of Magnetic Particles Entrance Arrangements on Mixing Efficiency of a Magnetic Bead Micromixer

In this study, a computer code is developed to numerically investigate a magnetic bead micromixer under different conditions. The micromixer consists of a microchannel and numerous micro magnetic particles which enter the micromixer by fluid flows and are actuated by an alternating magnetic field normal to the main flow. An important feature of micromixer which is not considered before by researchers is the particle entrance arrangement into the micromixer. This parameter could effectively affect the micromixer efficiency. There are two general micro magnetic particle entrance arrangements in magnetic bead micromixers: determined position entrance and random position entrance. In the case of determined position entrances, micro magnetic particles enter the micromixer at specific positions of entrance cross section. However, in a random position entrance,particles enter the microchannel with no order. In this study mixing efficiencies of identical magnetic bead micromixers which only differ in particle entrance arrangement are numerically investigated and compared.The results reported in this paper illustrate that the prepared computer code can be one of the most powerful and beneficial tools for the magnetic bead micromixer performance analysis. In addition, the results show that some features of the magnetic bead micromixer are strongly affected by the entrance arrangement of the particles.

An efficient microreactor with continuous serially connected micromixers for the synthesis of superparamagnetic magnetite nanoparticles

A new microreactor with continuous serially connected micromixers(CSCM)was tailored for the coprecipitation process to synthesize Fe_(3)O_(4) nanoparticles.Numerical simulation reveals that the two types of CSCM microchannels(V-typed and U-typed)proposed in this work exhibited markedly better mixing performances than the Zigzag and capillary microchannels due to the promotion of Dean vortices.Complete mixing was achieved in the V-typed microchannel in 2.7 s at an inlet Reynolds number of 27.Fe_(3)O_(4) nanoparticles synthesized in a planar glass microreactor with the V-typed microchannel,possessing an average size of 9.3 nm and exhibiting superparamagnetism,had obviously better dispersity and uniformity and higher crystallinity than those obtained in the capillary microreactor.The new CSCM microreactor developed in this work can act as a potent device to intensify the synthesis of similar inorganic nanoparticles via multistep chemical precipitation processes.

Numerical simulation on micromixer based on synthetic jet

This paper studied a concept of micromixer with a synthetic jet placed at the bottom of a rectangular channel. Due to periodic ejections from and suctions into the channel, the fluids are mixed effectively. To study the effects of the inlet velocity, the jet intensity and frequency, and the jet location on the mixing efficiency, 3-D numerical simulations of the micromixer have been carried out. It has been found that when the jet intensity and the frequency are fixed, the mixing efficiency increases when Re 〈 50, and decreases when Re 〉 50 with the best mixing efficiency achieved at Re = 50. When the ratio of the jet velocity magnitude to the inlet velocity is taken as 10 and the jet frequency is 100 Hz, the mixing index reaches the highest value. It has also been found that to get better mixing efficiency, the orifice of the synthetic jet should be asymmetrically located away from the channel＇s centerline.

Novel Micromixer with Complex 3D-Shape Inner Units: Design, Simulation and Additive Manufacturing

In this paper,a novel micromixer with complex 3D-shape inner units was put forward and fabricated by metal Additive Manufacturing(AM).The design of the micromixer combined the constraints of selective laser melting technology and the factors to improve mixing efficiency.Villermaux-Dushman reaction system and Compute Fluid Design(CFD)simulation were conducted to investigate the performance and the mechanism of this novel micromixer to improve mixing efficiency.The research found that the best mixing efficiency of this novel micromixer could be gained when the inner units divided fluid into five pieces with a uniform volume.Compared with a conventional micromixer without obstacle in the channel,the micromixer designed in this research achieved higher mixing efficiency and reduce the pressure drop by 10.34%.The mixing behaviour in this novel micromixer was discussed,which mainly contains two types:collisions and swirls.Via collisions,the fluid micro masses would hit each other directly,which broke the boundaries of micro masses and promoted the interchange of species in the whole flow field.In swirls,the fluid micro masses were drawn into thin and long slices,which increased the size of the contact area and enhanced molecule diffusion.Finally,the application scheme of this novel micromixer was briefly discussed.

CFD study of flow-diffusion process in Y-shape micromixer

A CFD simulation was carried out to investigate the mixing process in a Y-shape micromixer with the software Fluent 6.3. The definition of the "diffusion angle" is proposed to describe the molecular diffusion process associated with the flow at low Reynolds number. The linear relationship between the diffusion angle and the Peclet number(Pe) is determined by both theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. Moreover, the simulation results reveal that the diffusion angle is only related to the Peclet number whilst it is irrelevant to the changes of Re(Reynolds number) and Sc(Schmidt number). The range of Peclet number and Reynolds number for experimental measurement are also suggested as Pe≤10000 and Re≤10.

Mixing Dynamics and Synthesis Performance of Staggered Herringbone Micromixer for Limit Size Lipid Nanoparticles

Staggered herringbone micromixer has shown good efficiency of mixing and performance of synthesizing nanoparticles.To bring a detailed understanding of the mixing dynamics and syn-thesis performance of this kind of micromixer,this paper carries out a high-fidelity numerical simu-lation and a parametrial experimental study on a well-established design.A passive tracer is induced in the numerical simulation to analyze mixing dynamics induced by the staggered herring-bone structures.Three effects are identified to reveal the underlying mechanisms,including folding,stretching,and splitting.To the authors’knowledge,the splitting effect is identified for the first time by the isosurface of the passive tracer,to show the high efficiency of the staggered herring-bone design.The micromixer is then used to synthesize lipid nanoparticles by mixing a mixture of lipid and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)(PLGA)solutions with deionized water.Under a wide mass ratio of lipid and PLGA solutions,nanoparticles with good monodispersity are synthesized to reflect the good compatibility of the micromixer and the mixture.In addition,an optimized mass ratio is identified from the parametrical experiment.

RESEARCH ON THE MECHANISM OF DIFFUSION AND MIXING IN THE MICROCHANNEL FLOWAND MICROMIXER

The mechanism of diffusion and mixing in the micro-channel flow was studied numerically and experimentally in detail. Based on the theoretical and computational results, the micro-mixers with high efficiency were designed. The conclusions drawn from this thesis are helpful for the practical usage.

Design and Fabrication of a Three Dimensional Spiral Micromixer

In this work, we present a three dimensional micromixer which consists of two layers of spiral channels overlapped together in the vertical direction. This micromixer is designed by using a smooth channel twisted into double-layer spiral geometry with simple topological structure. Based on the principle of Dean effects, this kind of structure is beneficial to produce, enhance and sustain the Dean vortices, which can perturb the laminar fluid effectively. In order to improve the mixing performance, the detailed parameters have been optimized by using the computational fluid dynamics software. The results indicate that the erect channel which is connected with the two layers of spiral channels plays a critical role for well mixing. Meanwhile, the effect of mixing has been identified in a fabricated glass-micromixer. The mixing efficiency of 90% has been achieved by optimizing the flow rate and the structure of the erect channel. Thus, this micromixer has manifested high mixing efficiency and presents good practicability in the versatile microfluidic systems.

Selective Condensation Reaction of Phenol Using A Micromixer

1 Results Bisphenol-F,which is synthesized by the acid catalyzed condensation reaction of phenols and form aldehyde is a useful raw material of epoxy resins having superior heat resistance and low viscosity. The commodity bisphenol,however,includes high molecular weight compounds,which are derived from tris-phenols and other highly condensed compounds.Such contaminants impair largely the feature of low viscosity which the bisphenol-F epoxy resin has.To overcome this problem,the molar ratio of phenol/for...

A pneumatic micromixer facilitating fluid mixing at a wide range flow rate for the preparation of quantum dots

A novel fluid micromixer based on pneumatic perturbation and passive structures was developed. This micromixer facilitates integration and is applicable to fluid mixing over a wide range of flow rates. The microfluidic mixing device consists of an S-shaped structure with two mixing chambers and two barriers, and two pneumatic chambers designed over the S-shaped channel. The performance of the micromixer for fluids with wide variation of flow rates was significantly improved owing to the integration of the pneumatic mixing components with the passive mixing structures. The mixing mechanism of the passive mixing structures was explored by numerical simulation, and the influencing factors on the mixing efficiency were investigated. The results showed that when using a gas pressure of 0.26 MPa and a 100 pm-thick polydimethylsiloxane （PDMS） pneumatic diaphragm, the mixing of fluids with flow rates ranging from 1 to 650 ~tL/min was achieved with a pumping frequency of 50 Hz. Fast synthesis of CdS quantum dots was realized using this device. Smaller particles were obtained, and the size distribu- tion was greatly improved compared with those obtained using conventional methods.

Enhanced mixing efficiency for a novel 3D Tesla micromixer for Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids

The fabrication of constructs with gradients for chemical,mechanical,or electrical composition is becoming critical to achieving more complex structures,particularly in 3D printing and biofabrication.This need is underscored by the complexity of in vivo tissues,which exhibit heterogeneous structures comprised of diverse cells and matrices.Drawing inspiration from the classical Tesla valve,our study introduces a new concept of micromixers to address this complexity.The innovative micromixer design is tailored to enhance the re-creation of in vivo tissue structures and demonstrates an advanced capability to efficiently mix both Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids.Notably,our 3D Tesla valve micromixer achieves higher mixing efficiency with fewer cycles,which represents a significant improvement over the traditional mixing method.This advance is pivotal for the field of 3D printing and bioprinting,and offers a robust tool that could facilitate the development of gradient hydrogel-based constructs that could also accurately mimic the intricate heterogeneity of natural tissues.

Process and performance of DAAF microspheres prepared by continuous integration from synthesis to spherical coating based on microfluidic system

In order to improve the energy output consistency of 3, 3’-diamino-4, 4’-azoxyfurazan(DAAF) in the new insensitive booster and the safety and efficiency in the preparation process, a continuous preparation system of DAAF from synthesis to spherical coating was designed and established in this paper, which combined ultrasonic micromixing reaction with microdroplet globular template. In the rapid micromixing stage, the microfluidic mixing technology with ultrasonic was used to synergistically strengthen the uniform and rapid mass transfer mixing reaction between raw materials to ensure the uniformity of DAAF particle nucleation-growth, and to prepare high-quality DAAF crystals with uniform structure and morphology and concentrated particle size distribution. In the microdroplet globular template stage, the microfluidic droplet technology was used to form a droplet globular template with uniform size under the shear action of the continuous phase of the dispersed phase solution containing DAAF particles and binder. The size of the droplet template was controlled by adjusting the flow rate ratio between the continuous phase and the dispersed phase. In the droplet globular template, with the diffusion of the solvent in the dispersed phase droplets, the binder precipitates to coat the DAAF into a ball, forming a DAAF microsphere with high sphericity, narrow particle size distribution and good monodispersity. The problem of discontinuity and DAAF particle suspension in the process was solved, and the coating theory under this process was studied. DAAF was coated with different binder formulations of fluororubber(F2604), nitrocellulose(NC) and NC/glycidyl azide polymer(GAP), and the process verification and evaluation of the system were carried out. The balling effects of large, medium and small droplet templates under different binder formulations were studied. The scanning electron microscope(SEM) results show that the three droplet templates under the three binder formulations exhibit good balling effect and narrow particle size distribution. The DAAF microspheres were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction(XRD), differential scanning calorimetry(DSC), thermo-gravimetric(TG) and sensitivity analyzer. The results showed that the crystal structure of DAAF did not change during the process, and the prepared DAAF microspheres had lower decomposition temperature and lower mechanical sensitivity than raw DAAF. The results of detonation parameters show that the coating of DAAF by using the above three binder formulations will not greatly reduce the energy output of DAAF, and has comparable detonation performance to raw DAAF. This study proves an efficient and safe continuous system from synthesis to spherical coating modification of explosives, which provides a new way for the continuous, safe and efficient preparation of spherical explosives.

Enhancement of liquid-liquid micromixing performance in curved capillary microreactor by generation of Dean vortices

Micromixing efficiency is an important parameter for evaluating the multiphase mass transfer performance and reaction efficiency of microreactors.In this work,the novel curved capillary reactor with different shapes was designed to generate Dean flow,which was used to enhance the liquid-liquid micromixing performance.The Villermaux-Dushman probe reaction was employed to characterize the micromixing performance in different curved capillary microreactors.The effects of experiment parameters such as liquid flow rate,inner diameter,tube length,and curve diameter on micromixing performance were systematically investigated.Under the optimal conditions,the minimum value of the segmentation factor XS was 0.008.It was worth noting that at the low Reynolds number(Re<30),the change of curved shape on the capillary microreactor can significantly improve the micromixing performance with XS reduced by 37.5%.Further,the correlations of segment index XS with dimensionless factor such as Reynolds number or Dean number were developed,which can be used to predict the liquid-liquid micromixing performance in capillary microreactors.

Experimental and numerical investigations on micromixing performance of multi-orifice cross-flow jet mixers

Multi-orifice cross-flow jet mixers(MOCJMs)are used in various industrial applications due to their excellent mixing efficiency,but few studies have focused on the micromixing performance of MOCJMs.Herein,the flow characteristics and micromixing performance inside the MOCJM were investigated using experiments and computational fluid dynamics(CFD)simulations based on the Villermaux/Dushman system and the finite-rate/modified eddy-dissipation model.The optimal A value was correlated with the characteristic parameters of MOCJMs to develop a CFD calculation method applicable to the study of the micromixing performance of the MOCJMs.Then the micromixing efficiency was evaluated using the segregation index XS,and the effects of operational and geometric parameters such as mixing flow Reynolds number(ReM),flow ratio(RF),total jet area(ST),the number of jet orifices(n),and outlet configuration on the micromixing efficiency were investigated.It was found that the intensive turbulent region generated by interactions between jets,as well as between jets and crossflows,facilitated rapid reactions.XS decreased with increasing ReM and decreasing RF.Furthermore,MOCJMs with lower ST,four jet orifices,and the narrower outlet configuration demonstrated a better micromixing efficiency.This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the micromixing performance of MOCJMs and provides valuable guidance for their design,optimization,and industrial application.

A State-of-the-Art Review of Mixing in Microfluidic Mixers

Microreaction technology is one of the most innovative and rapid developing fields in chemical engineering, synthesis and process technology. Many expectations toward enhanced product selectivity, yield and purity, improved safety, and access to new products and processes are directed to the microreaction technology. Microfluidic mixer is the most important component in microfluidic devices. Based on various principles, active and passive micromixers have been designed and investigated. This review is focused on the recent developments in microfluidic mixers. An overview of the flow phenomena and mixing characteristics in active and passive micromixers is presented, including the types of physical phenomena and their utilization in micromixers. Due to the simple fabrication technology and the easy implementation in a complex microfluidic system, T-micromixer is highlighted as an example to illustrate the effect of design and operating parameters on mixing efficiency and fuid flow inside microfluidic mixers.

Investigation of Nitration Processes of iso-Octanol with Mixed Acid in a Microreactor

In this paper, the nitration characteristic of alcohols with mixed acid for the synthesis of energetic mate-rials in a stainless steel microreactor was investigated experimentally. The nitration of iso-octanol with HNO3-H2SO4 mixed acid was chosen as a typical model reaction which involved fast and strong exothermic liquid-liquid heterogeneous reaction process. The influences of mixed acid composition, flow rate, organic/aqueous flow ratio and reaction temperature have been investigated. The results indicated that the reaction could be con-ducted safely and stably in the microreactor at 25-40°C, which are enhanced compared to 15°C or below for safe operating conditions in the conventional reactors. Moreover, the 98.2% conversion of iso-octanol could be obtained and no by-products were detected in all cases.

Electrokinetic mixing of two fluids with equivalent conductivity

Electrokinetic(EK)micromixers have been widely studied in the past decade for biochemical applications,biological and chemical analysis,etc.Unfortunately,almost all EK mixers require different electrical conductivity between the two fluids to be mixed,which has greatly limited their wide applications,in cases where the two streams to be mixed have equivalent electrical conductivity.Here we show that mixing enhancement between two fluids with identical conductivity can be achieved in an EK micromixer with conductive sidewalls,where the electric field is in transverse direction of the flow.The results revealed that the mixing became stronger with increased conductivity value.This mixing method provides a novel and convenient strategy for mixing two liquids with the same or similar electrical conductivity in microfluidic systems,and could potentially serves as a powerful tool for sample preparation in applications such as liquid biopsy,and environmental monitoring,etc.

3D printed millireactors for process intensification

The scope of the present research aims at demonstrating the 3D printing use in the manufacturing of microchannels for chemical process applications. A comparison among digital model processing applications for 3D print(slicers) and a print layer thickness analysis were performed. The 3D print fidelity was verified in several devices, including the microchannels’ printing with and without micromixer zones. In order to highlight the 3D print potential in Chemical Engineering, the biodiesel synthesis was also carried out in a millireactor manufactured by 3D printing. The millireactor operated under laminar flow regime with a total flow rate of 75.25 ml·min^-1(increment of about 130 times over traditional microdevices used for biodiesel production).The printed millireactor provided a maximum yield of Ethyl Esters of 73.51% at 40 ℃, ethanol:oil molar ratio of7 and catalyst concentration of 1.25 wt% and residence time about 10 s. As a result of flow rate increment attained in the millireactor, the number of required units for scaling-up the chemical processes is reduced. Using the approach described in the present research, anyone could produce their own millireactor for chemical process in a simple way with the aid of a 3D printer.

Characterization of mixing in an optimized designed T–T mixer with cylindrical elements

Passive micromixers are preferred over active mixers for many microfluidic applications due to their relative ease in integration into complex systems and operational flexibility.They also incur very low cost of manufacturing.However,the degree of mixing is comparatively low in passive mixers than active mixers due to the absence of disturbance in the flow by external forces and the inherent laminar nature of microchannel flows.Various designs of complex channel structures and three-dimensional geometries have been investigated in the past to obtain an efficient mixing in passive mixers.But the studies on mixing enhancement with simple planar geometries of passive mixers have been few and limited.The present work aims to investigate the possibility of mixing enhancement by employing simple planar type designs,such as T-mixer and T–T mixer with cylindrical elements placed in the mixing channel.The mixing performance has been evaluated in the Reynolds number range of 6 to700.Numerical results have shown that T–T mixer with cylindrical elements performed significantly well and obtained very good mixing quality over basic T-mixer for the entire range of Reynolds number(6 to 700).The device has also shown better mixing as compared to basic T–T mixer and T-mixer with cylindrical elements.A larger pair of vortices formed in the stagnation area due to the presence of a cylindrical element in the junction.Cylindrical elements downstream caused significant enhancement in mixing due to splitting and recombining action.The size of the cylindrical element in the T–T mixer has been optimized to obtain better mixing performance of the device.Remarkable improvement in mixing quality by T–T mixer with cylindrical elements has been obtained at the expense of small rise in pressure drop as compared to other passive designs considered in this study.Therefore,the current design of T–T mixer with cylindrical elements can act as an effective and simple passive mixing device for various micromixing applications.

Micro T-Mixer with Baffles: Effect of Baffle Height and Setting Angle on Mixing

Chaotic mixing in eight different types of micro T-mixer flow has been studied experimentally and numerically. The present experimental study was performed to visualize two-liquid flows in a micro T-mixer with baffles. The Reynolds number, baffle height and setting angle were varied to investigate their effect on the mixing performance. Three micro T-mixer models were produced, which are several centimeters long and have a rectangular cross-section of few millimeters a side. The mixing of two-liquid was measured using the laser induced fluorescence (LIF) technique. Moreover, three-dimensional numerical simulations were conducted with the open-source CFD solver, OpenFOAM, for the same configuration as used in the experiments to investigate the detailed mechanism of the chaotic mixing. As a result, it was found that the mixing of two-liquid is greatly improved in the micro T-mixer with baffle. The baffle height and setting angle show a significant influence on the mixing performance.