Internal pressure measurements in microchannels of different shapes

This paper was presented at the 3rd Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2011), which was held at the Makedonia Palace Hotel, Thessaloniki in Greece. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University of Thessaly, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute.This paper presents the experimental results of determining friction factors for two microchannels with circular cross-sections: rectilinear and curvilinear. The inner diameter of the channels is 68.9 and 70.3 μm. The Reynolds numbers ranged from 320 to 3215. Pressure measurements are carried out simultaneously in 16 locations along the straight microchannel and in 12 locations for the curved microchannel. The friction factor for the straight microchannel is in good agreement with the theoretical value for the round smooth tubes. For the curved microchannel, the friction factor value of the curved section is less than the reference value for smoothly curved tubes. The Reynolds number for the laminar-turbulent transition in a straight microchannel is 2300–2600. In the curved microchannel the transition is not observed. The length of the developing region was identified, and the inlet minor loss coefficient is calculated.This work was supported by the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (integration project of SB RAS no. 110)

Nano-flow thermal sensor applying dymamic w-2w sensing method

This article presents microchannel thermal flow sensors fabricated using standard micromachining technology. The sensors comprise of a SiXNY microchannel created by etching of a poly-Si sacrificial layer. The channels are released by KOH etching through inlets and outlets etched from the backside of the substrate. Liquid flow is measured by platinum resistors deposited on top of the microchannel, while the channel is thermally isolated from the substrate by a SiXNY membrane. Flow rates of DI water in the order of nl⋅min-1 have been measured using a dynamic sensing method applying heat waves

Measurement of substrate thermal resistance using DNA denaturation temperature

Heat Transfer and Thermal Management have become important aspects of the developing field of uTAS systems particularly in the application of the the uTAS philosophy to thermally driven analysis techniques such as PCR. Due to the development of flowing PCR thermocyclers in the field of uTAS, the authors have previously developed a melting curve analysis technique that is compatible with these flowing PCR thermocyclers. In this approach a linear temperature gradient is induced along a sample carrying microchannel. Any flow passing through the microchannel is subject to linear heating. Fluorescent monitoring of DNA in the flow results in the generation of DNA melting curve plots. This works presents an experimental technique where DNA melting curve analysis is used to measure the thermal resistance of microchannel substrates. DNA in solution is tested at a number of different ramp rates and the di®erent apparent denaturation temperatures measured are used to infer the thermal resistance of the microchannel substrates. The apparent variation in denaturation temperature is found to be linearly proportional to flow ramp rate. Providing knowledge of the microchannel diameter and a non-varying cross-section in the direction of heat flux the thermal resistance measurement technique is independent of knowledge of substrate dimensions, contact surface quality and substrate composition/material properties. In this approach to microchannel DNA melting curve analysis the difference between the measured and actual denaturation temperatures is proportional to the substrate thermal resistance and the ramp-rate seen by the sample. Therefore quantitative knowledge of the substrate thermal resistance is required when using this technique to measure accurately DNA denaturation temperatur

Viscous dissipation effect in trapezoidal microchannels at constant heat flux

This paper was presented at the 2nd Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2009), which was held at Brunel University, West London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, IPEM, the Italian Union of Thermofluid dynamics, the Process Intensification Network, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group and the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.Present paper is dealt with the steady state, laminar and hydrodynamically and thermally developed flow in a trapezoidal channel under H2 boundary condition is investigated. Slip flow, temperature jump and viscous dissipation effects are considered. Firstly, Navier-Stokes equations are transformed from physical plane to square domain, and then solved using finite difference method. Also, it is possible to obtain fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics for a rectangular microchannel with this method. The effects of aspect ratio, rarefaction, base angle and viscous heating on Nusselt number are discussed. The results of the numerical method are verified with the conventional theory of macrochannels (i.e. Kn=0, Br=0). Also, the friction factors and the Nusselt numbers for Br=0, Kn≠0 are in a good agreement with the available results of flow and heat transfer of rectangular microchannels in the literature. The results showed that the increase in rarefaction reduces the Nusselt numbers in trapezoidal and rectangular microchannels. When the Kn number is fixed and the Br number is small, the microchannel with the higher aspect ratio has the greater Nu, but for higher Br numbers, the greater aspect ratio results in smaller Nu. Also, at the same rarefaction, when Br number is large, the difference between Nu number of different aspect ratios decreases

MEMS flow sensors for nano-fluidic applications

This paper presents micromachined thermal sensors for measuring liquid flow rates in the nanoliter-per-minute range. The sensors use a boron-doped polysilicon thinfilm heater that is embedded in the silicon nitride wall of a microchannel. The boron doping is chosen to increase the heater’s temperature coefficient of resistance within tolerable noise limits, and the microchannel is suspended from the substrate to improve thermal isolation. The sensors have demonstrated a flow rate resolution below 10 nL/min, as well as the capability for detecting micro bubbles in the liquid. Heat transfer simulation has also been performed to explain the sensor operation and yielded good agreement with experimental data

Effect of microchannel aspect ratio on residence time distributions and the axial dispersion coefficient

The effect of microchannel aspect ratio (channel depth/channel width) on residence time distributions and the axial dispersion coefficient have been investigated for Newtonian and shear thinning non-Newtonian flow using computational fluid dynamics. The results reveal that for a fixed cross sectional area and throughput, there is a narrowing of the residence time distribution as the aspect ratio decreases. This is quantified by an axial dispersion coefficient that increases rapidly for aspect ratios less than 0.3 and then tends towards an asymptote as the aspect ratio goes to 1. The results also show that the axial dispersion coefficient is related linearly to the Reynolds number when either the aspect ratio or the mean fluid velocity is varied. However, the fluid Péclet number is a linear function of the Reynolds number only when the aspect ratio (and therefore hydraulic diameter) is varied. Globally, the results indicate that microchannels should be designed with low aspect ratios (≤ 0.3) for reduced axial dispersion