Adaptive Micromixer Based on the Solutocapillary Marangoni Effect in a Continuous-Flow Microreactor

Continuous-flow microreactors are an important development in chemical engineering technology, since pharmaceutical production needs flexibility in reconfiguring the synthesis system rather than large volumes of product yield. Microreactors of this type have a special vessel, in which the convective...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Micromachines (Basel) 2018-11, Vol.9 (11), p.600
Main Authors: Bratsun, Dmitry, Kostarev, Konstantin, Mizev, Alexey, Aland, Sebastian, Mokbel, Marcel, Schwarzenberger, Karin, Eckert, Kerstin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air bubbles
Alcohol
Blood vessels
Chemical engineering
Continuous flow
continuous-flow reactor
Diffusion effects
Fluid flow
Inhomogeneity
Marangoni convection
Microreactors
mixing
Reagents
Regeneration
Relaxation oscillations
solutal Marangoni effect
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Summary:Continuous-flow microreactors are an important development in chemical engineering technology, since pharmaceutical production needs flexibility in reconfiguring the synthesis system rather than large volumes of product yield. Microreactors of this type have a special vessel, in which the convective vortices are organized to mix the reagents to increase the product output. We propose a new type of micromixer based on the intensive relaxation oscillations induced by a fundamental effect discovered recently. The mechanism of these oscillations was found to be a coupling of the solutal Marangoni effect, buoyancy and diffusion. The phenomenon can be observed in the vicinity of an air⁻liquid (or liquid⁻liquid) interface with inhomogeneous concentration of a surface-active solute. Important features of the oscillations are demonstrated experimentally and numerically. The periodicity of the oscillations is a result of the repeated regeneration of the Marangoni driving force. This feature is used in our design of a micromixer with a single air bubble inside the reaction zone. We show that the micromixer does not consume external energy and adapts to the medium state due to feedback. It switches on automatically each time when a concentration inhomogeneity in the reaction zone occurs, and stops mixing when the solution becomes sufficiently uniform.
ISSN:2072-666X
2072-666X
DOI:10.3390/mi9110600