Title

Effect Of Geometry On Droplet Formation In The Squeezing Regime In A Microfluidic T-Junction

Keywords

Capillary number; Lattice Boltzmann; Microfluidics; Multiphase flow

Abstract

In the surface tension-dominated microchannel T-junction, droplets can be formed as a result of the mixing of two dissimilar, immiscible fluids. This article presents results for very low Capillary numbers and different flow rates of the continuous and dispersed phases. Through three-dimensional lattice Boltzmann-based simulations, the mechanism of the formation of "plugs" in the squeezing regime has been examined and the size of the droplets quantified. Results for Rec ≪ 1 show the dependence of flow rates of the two fluids on the length of the droplets formed, which is compared with existing experimental data. It is shown that the size of plugs formed decreases as the Capillary number increases in the squeezing regime. This article clearly shows that the geometry effect, i.e., the widths of the two channels and the depth of the assembly, plays an important role in the determination of the length of the plugs, a fact that was ignored in earlier experimental correlations. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.

Publication Date

6-1-2010

Publication Title

Microfluidics and Nanofluidics

Volume

8

Issue

6

Number of Pages

799-812

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-009-0513-7

Socpus ID

77953617878 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/77953617878

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