State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin300072, China.
Langmuir. 2023 Feb 14;39(6):2218-2232. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c02736. Epub 2023 Feb 1.
Fluids containing polymers are frequently utilized in the chemical industry and exhibit shear-thinning characteristics. The flow distribution of non-Newtonian fluids in parallelized microchannels is a key issue to be solved during numbering-up. Numbering-up means increasing the number of parallelized microchannels. In this study, a high-speed camera is used to explore the distribution of fluid flow as well as the uniformity and stability of droplets in conceptual asymmetrical parallelized microchannels. Cyclohexane and carboxymethylcellulose sodium (CMC) aqueous solutions are used as the continuous phase and dispersed phase, respectively. The effects of fluctuation of pressure difference around the T-junction, the hydrodynamic resistance in microchannels, and the shear-thinning property of fluids on flow distribution and droplet formation are revealed. The uniformity and stability of droplets in microdevices with various cavity settings are compared, and an optimal configuration is proposed. Finally, prediction models for the flow distribution of shear-thinning fluids in asymmetrical parallelized microchannels are established.
含有聚合物的流体在化学工业中经常被使用，并表现出剪切变稀的特性。在并行微通道中，非牛顿流体的流量分配是在增加并行微通道数量时需要解决的关键问题。在本研究中，高速摄像机被用于探索流体流动的分布以及概念上非对称并行微通道中液滴的均匀性和稳定性。环己烷和羧甲基纤维素钠（CMC）水溶液分别作为连续相和分散相。揭示了压力差在 T 型结周围波动、微通道内的流体动力阻力以及流体的剪切变稀特性对流量分配和液滴形成的影响。比较了具有不同腔室设置的微器件中液滴的均匀性和稳定性，并提出了最佳配置。最后，建立了用于预测非对称并行微通道中剪切变稀流体流量分配的模型。
