Two-fluid mixing in a microchannel

A numerical study of the mixing of two fluids (pure water and a solution of glycerol in water) in a microchannel was carried out. By varying the glycerol content of the glycerol/water solution, the variation in mixing behavior with changes in the difference in the properties of the two fluids (e.g., viscosity, density and diffusivity) was investigated. The mixing phenomena were tested for three micromixers: a squarewave mixer, a three-dimensional serpentine mixer and a staggered herringbone mixer. The governing equations of continuity, momentum and solute mass fraction were solved numerically. To evaluate mixing performance, a criterion index of mixing uniformity was proposed. In the systems considered, the Reynolds number based on averaged properties was Re=1 and 10. For low Reynolds number (Re=1), the mixing performance varied inversely with mass fraction of glycerol due to the dominance of molecular diffusion. The mixing performance deteriorated due to a significant reduction in the residence time of the fluid inside the mixers.