Parametric study on the influence of varying angled inlet channels on mixing performance in simple T micromixers and vortex T micromixers across a wide range of Reynolds numbers

Abstract

Micromixers become the core elements of lab-on-chip (LOC) devices used for mixing fluid samples at a very small scale. For modest Reynolds numbers, the nature of fluid movement is laminar across the microchannel hence mixing is challenging. Numerous designs of micromixers for mixing enhancement inside microfluidic devices have been developed to solve this issue. The current investigation looks at the performance of two distinct versions of passive micromixers i.e. simple T micromixer (STMM) and vortex T micromixer (VTMM), employing different angular configurations (i.e. 30°, 60°, 90°, 120° and 150°) on their inlet channel to monitor the consistency of blending for the Reynolds number in a range of 10–150. Numerical investigations were done by performing simulations on these geometrical arrangements to evaluate the level of mixing, pressure gradient and cost of mixing. The outcome indicates the performance of mixing is dependent on the angular arrangement of inlet channels. For STMM, the layout with inlet channels at 120° performs most effectively, whereas, for VTMM, the configuration with inlets at 90° performs best.