Control mechanism of an organic self-regulating microfluidic system

The control mechanism and fluid dynamic properties of a previously developed organic pH regulation system are analyzed. The system regulates an output fluid stream to a pH of 6.7 with varying input flow rates. A pH sensitive hydrogel post acts as the feedback pH sensor and flow regulator. The contro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of microelectromechanical systems 2003-12, Vol.12 (6), p.848-854
Main Authors: Sanghoon Lee, Eddington, D.T., Youngmin Kim, Wooseung Kim, Beebe, D.J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied fluid mechanics
Buffers
Computational fluid dynamics
Computational methods in fluid dynamics
Control systems
Dynamical systems
Dynamics
Exact sciences and technology
Feedback
Fluid dynamics
Fluid flow control
Fluidics
Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications)
Hydrogels
Instruments, apparatus, components and techniques common to several branches of physics and astronomy
Mathematical models
Mechanical factors
Mechanical instruments, equipment and techniques
Microfluidics
Micromechanical devices and systems
Navier-Stokes equations
Optical buffering
Optical microscopy
Orifices
Physics
Regulators
Studies
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Summary:The control mechanism and fluid dynamic properties of a previously developed organic pH regulation system are analyzed. The system regulates an output fluid stream to a pH of 6.7 with varying input flow rates. A pH sensitive hydrogel post acts as the feedback pH sensor and flow regulator. The control mechanism of the system is studied through numerical modeling of the regulator and the model is validated through experimentation. Analysis of the fluid dynamics at a T-channel junction, in which two buffer streams merge into one, is performed by solving the Navier-Stokes equation with commercial software. Various areas of a star-shaped orifice are occluded by a flexible membrane to throttle the rate that compensating buffer is fed back into the system. The relationship between orifice open area and volume of compensating buffer through the orifice was analyzed numerically. The axial and lateral visualization of the hydrogel post was obtained via optical microscopy. The model of the regulation system successfully predicts experimental results.
ISSN:1057-7157
1941-0158
DOI:10.1109/JMEMS.2003.820292