Numerical and experimental investigations on liquid mixing in static micromixers

The importance of micromixers for microreaction technology demands some well-founded knowledge on the mixing behaviour of these devices. We show by numerical simulations as well as experimentally that increasing vorticity inside static T-shaped micromixers with rectangular cross-sections occurs even at low Reynolds numbers and that these effects can be used to improve the mixing quality. Hereby we distinguish between three flow regimes. Additionally, we give a new identification number for this kind of problems and we show that this number suits for static T-mixers. This is confirmed by simulations and experimental measurements. The results will help to understand the mixing process inside microchannels. The overall aim is to develop basic rules for the design and implementation of successful micromixers. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.