Design of terminator-shaped chamber-based micromixers with different obstructions: a CFD approach

This study investigates micromixers with terminator-shaped chambers and various obstructions using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The two types of obstructions, curved and angle-shaped, were used to create chaotic advection. For Reynolds values between 0.1 and 30, the effects of obstruction shape and constriction channel width on mixing performance were investigated. Plots of the ethanol mass fraction on the x–y plane at mid-height and on the y–z planes at different distances from the confluence point were used to investigate the mixing field and its characteristics. With the constriction channel width of 75 μm, the Micromixer with Curved–Shaped Obstructions (M-CSO) achieves a mixing efficiency of around 98 % at Re = 0.1 and Re = 30. With a constriction channel width of 75 μm, the Micromixer with Angle-Shaped Obstructions (M-ASO) achieves a mixing efficiency of around 99 % at Re = 0.1 and Re = 30. The findings demonstrate that the M-ASO exhibits superior mixing efficiency.