Numerical Simulation of the Scalar Mixing Characteristics in Three-dimensional Microchannels

Based on the transport phenomena theory, the passive mixing of water and ethanol in different three-dimensional microchannels is simulated numerically. The average variance of water volume fraction is used to index the mixing efficiency in the cases with different Reynolds number and different fabricated mixers. The results show that the efficiency of liquid mixing is progressively dependent on the convective transport as the Reynolds number increases. The efficiency of serpentine microchannel decreases with the increasing Reynolds number in the laminar regime. Altering the aspect ratio of channel inlet section has no significant effect on the mixing efficiency. Increasing the area of channel inlet section will cause the decrease of the mixing efficiency. The mixing in serpentine channels is the most efficient among three different mixers because of the existence of second flow introduced by its special structure.