Thermal mixing of two miscible fluids in a T-shaped microchannel

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Author(s)
Xu, Bin
Wong, Teck Neng
Nguyen, Nam-Trung
Che, Zhizhao
Chai, John Chee Kiong
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2010
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In this paper, thermal mixing characteristics of two miscible fluids in a T-shaped microchannel are investigated theoretically, experimentally, and numerically. Thermal mixing processes in a T-shaped microchannel are divided into two zones, consisting of a T-junction and a mixing channel. An analytical two-dimensional model was first built to describe the heat transfer processes in the mixing channel. In the experiments, de-ionized water was employed as the working fluid. Laser induced fluorescence method was used to measure the fluid temperature field in the microchannel. Different combinations of flow rate ratios were ...
View more >In this paper, thermal mixing characteristics of two miscible fluids in a T-shaped microchannel are investigated theoretically, experimentally, and numerically. Thermal mixing processes in a T-shaped microchannel are divided into two zones, consisting of a T-junction and a mixing channel. An analytical two-dimensional model was first built to describe the heat transfer processes in the mixing channel. In the experiments, de-ionized water was employed as the working fluid. Laser induced fluorescence method was used to measure the fluid temperature field in the microchannel. Different combinations of flow rate ratios were studied to investigate the thermal mixing characteristics in the microchannel. At the T-junction, thermal diffusion is found to be dominant in this area due to the striation in the temperature contours. In the mixing channel, heat transfer processes are found to be controlled by thermal diffusion and convection. Measuredtemperature profiles at the T-junction and mixing channel are compared with analytical model and numerical simulation, respectively.
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View more >In this paper, thermal mixing characteristics of two miscible fluids in a T-shaped microchannel are investigated theoretically, experimentally, and numerically. Thermal mixing processes in a T-shaped microchannel are divided into two zones, consisting of a T-junction and a mixing channel. An analytical two-dimensional model was first built to describe the heat transfer processes in the mixing channel. In the experiments, de-ionized water was employed as the working fluid. Laser induced fluorescence method was used to measure the fluid temperature field in the microchannel. Different combinations of flow rate ratios were studied to investigate the thermal mixing characteristics in the microchannel. At the T-junction, thermal diffusion is found to be dominant in this area due to the striation in the temperature contours. In the mixing channel, heat transfer processes are found to be controlled by thermal diffusion and convection. Measuredtemperature profiles at the T-junction and mixing channel are compared with analytical model and numerical simulation, respectively.
View less >
Journal Title
Biomicrofluidics
Volume
4
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© 2010 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Biomicrofluidics, Vol. 4(4), pp. 044102-1-044102-13, 2010 and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3496359.
Subject
Classical physics
Engineering practice and education not elsewhere classified
Nanotechnology