LAPSE:2020.0777
Published Article
LAPSE:2020.0777
Water Droplets Translocation and Fission in a 3D Bi-Planar Multifurcated T-Junction Microchannels
Inn-Leon Lu, Voon-Loong Wong, Jit-Kai Chin, Kuzilati Kushaari
July 2, 2020
Droplet fission has gained notable interest in drug delivery applications due to its ability to perform parallel operations in single device. Hitherto, droplet flow behavior in a 3D constriction was scarcely investigated. This study aims to investigate droplets fission inside a 3D bi-planar multifurcated microfluidic device. The flow behavior and droplet size distribution were studied in trifurcated microchannels using distilled water as dispersed phase (1 mPa·s) and olive oil (68 mPa·s) as continuous phase. Various sizes of subordinate daughter droplets were manipulated passively through the modulation of flowrate ratio (Q) (0.15 < Q < 3.33). Overall, we found droplet size coefficient of variations (CV%) ranging from 0.72% to 69%. Highly monodispersed droplets were formed at the upstream T-junction (CV% < 2%) while the droplet fission process was unstable at higher flowrate ratio (Q > 0.4) as they travel downstream (1.5% < CV% < 69%) to splitting junctions. Complex responses to the non-monotonic behavior of mean droplet size was found at the downstream boundaries, which arose from the deformations under nonuniform flow condition. CFD was used as a tool to study the preliminary maximum velocity (Umax) profile for the symmetrical (0.01334 m/s < Umax < 0.0153 m/s) and asymmetrical branched channels (0.0223 m/s< Umax < 0.00438 m/s), thus complementing the experimental model studies.
Keywords
3D multifurcated microchannels, droplet fission, emulsions, microfluidics, Newtonian, two-phase flow
Suggested Citation
Lu IL, Wong VL, Chin JK, Kushaari K. Water Droplets Translocation and Fission in a 3D Bi-Planar Multifurcated T-Junction Microchannels. (2020). LAPSE:2020.0777
Author Affiliations
Lu IL: Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, SEGi University, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya 47810, Selangor, Malaysia; Department of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
Wong VL: School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University Malaysia Campus, Putrajaya 62200, Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya, Malaysia [ORCID]
Chin JK: School of Applied Sciences, Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK [ORCID]
Kushaari K: Department of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
Journal Name
Processes
Volume
8
Issue
5
Article Number
E510
Year
2020
Publication Date
2020-04-26
Published Version
ISSN
2227-9717
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Original Submission
Other Meta
PII: pr8050510, Publication Type: Journal Article
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LAPSE:2020.0777
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doi:10.3390/pr8050510
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Jul 2, 2020
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CC BY 4.0
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Jul 2, 2020
 
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Original Submitter
Calvin Tsay
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