Y-Pin bone-inspired micromixer for effective mixing in bio-chemical reaction applications: a numerical insight
摘要
Micromixers are indispensable to microfluidic systems and influence the mixing of different species in chemical processes. This research involved modeling and comparing a novel bio-inspired Y-Pin Bone (YPB)-shaped micromixer with conventional micromixers (Y and T-shaped), which inculcates the transverse inlet mixing mechanism for enhanced mixing. The YPB-shaped micromixer, inspired by fish Y-pin bones, differs from current designs by maintaining one inlet constant along the mixing channel and refining the angle between inlets. To evaluate mixing effectiveness, researchers solved the Navier–Stokes equation and convection-diffusion equation using finite element analysis, simulated with COMSOL Multiphysics 6.2 software. The study examines design aspects, mixing mechanisms, and parameters, including inlet velocity, flow rate, mixing length, mixing efficiency, and pressure drop, for Reynolds numbers (Re) from 0.1 to 100. The YPB-shaped micromixer showed superior mixing performance, achieving over 99% efficiency under low Reynolds number (Re = 0.1) conditions, where diffusion dominates, and high Reynolds number (Re