Title:Micromixing Enhancement by Optimizing the Geometry of a Micromixer by Means of Response Surface Methodology: Application to Chemical Microreactors
Volume: 9
Issue: 1
Author(s): Joaquin Ortega-Casanova*Pablo Benitez-Alcaide
Affiliation:
- Universidad de Malaga, Andalucia Tech, Malaga,Spain
Keywords:
Response surface, CFD, microchannel, laminar flow, mixing energy cost, T-channel, micromixer.
Abstract: Objecive: The Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is applied to optimize a passive micromixing
unit according to three different targets.
Method: To that end several numerical simulations of the low Reynolds number flow in a micromixer,
comprising a T-channel and a mixing unit in the main channel, have been conducted. The mixing is enhanced
by means of two bars at known angles inside the mixing unit. The input parameter of the optimization
process is the distance between bars and, depending on the desired target, different optimal separations
are proposed. It has also been assessed how different mixing parameters change when multiple
repetitions of the mixing unit, up to 10, are used in the microchannel.
Conclusion: This has allowed us to identify the use of 10 units as the best configuration to get the highest
efficiency, but the use of 1 unit as the cheapest one, from a mixing cost point of view. Additionally,
some configurations have also been assessed as potential chemical microreactors, and it will be shown
that they perform better as microreactor than as micromixer.