Author(s)

S. Hardt, F. Schonfeld, F. Weise, Ch. Hofmann, V. Hessel & W. Ehrfeld

Abstract

Mixing and emulsification processes in micromixers developed by the Institute of Microtechnology Mainz (IMM) are investigated by means of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). For both miscible and immiscible fluids the CFD results are compared to experimental data obtained with transparent micromixer made from photosensitive glass. It is found that in the case of miscible liquids the accuracy of numerical predictions is limited by artifacts from numerical diffusion. However, streamline tracking techniques offer an alternative method for computing flow patterns in micromixers. Corresponding flow patterns comply with photographic images of the mixing zone. Subsequently, the case of immiscible liquids is investigated using volume tracking techniques. The simulations, based on a 3D model

Keywords