A 3D-printed flow distributor with uniform flow rate control for multi-stacked microfluidic systems. Issue 8 (23rd March 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Park, Young-June; Yu, Taejong; Yim, Se-Jun; You, Donghyun; Kim, Dong-Pyo
• Is Part Of: Lab on a chip. Volume 18:Issue 8(2018)
• Page Start: 1250
• Page End: 1258
• Publication Date: 2018-03-23
• Subjects: Miniature electronic equipment -- Periodicals; Combinatorial chemistry -- Periodicals; Biotechnology -- Periodicals; 543.0813
• DOI: 10.1039/c8lc00004b
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1473-0197

Abstract

Abstract : We present a flow distributor which ensures uniform flow distribution among stacked microchannels and its design manual for a scaled-up microfluidic system. Abstract : In the scale-up of chemical production in a microfluidic system, it is challenging to prevent flow maldistribution from a single inlet into stacked multiple microchannel exits. In the present study, a compact flow distributor equipped with a fluidic damper is developed by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) along with experimental validation. A microfluidic flow distributor, which is equipped with an optimized fluidic damper and consists of 25 exit channels, is fabricated as an integrated body using a digital light processing (DLP) type 3D printer. The 3D printed flow distributor with a CFD-optimized fluidic damper is found to achieve a low maldistribution factor (MF) of 2.2% for the average flow rate over 25 exit channels while inducing only a minor increment (<6%) in the pressure drop. A generalized manual is proposed for the design of optimal flow distributors with different scale-up dimensions. Using the manual, an optimal flow distributor with 625 stacked microchannels with a MF of only 1.2% is successfully designed. It is expected that the design manual and the rapid printing platform will allow the efficient development of multi-channel stacked micro-devices such as those in drug delivery and energy conversion systems where equidistribution of fluid flow is highly demanded.