Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) micromixer using multi-vortical flow

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a novel chaotic micromixer of which mixing mechanism is based upon magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) multi-vortical flow generation in a simple straight microchannel. In the microchannel of the micromixer has electrodes patterned on two side walls and bottom wall. Lorentz forces are variously induced by changing applied voltages at the patterned electrodes in order to pump and mix conductive fluids in the microchannel. Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulations were conduced to characterize mixing behaviors inside the MHD micromixer. The mixing efficiencies were also evaluated for the various flow conditions.