A lattice Boltzmann algorithm for electro-osmotic flows in microfluidic devices

In this paper, a finite-difference-based lattice Boltzmann (LB) algorithm is proposed to simulate electro-osmotic flows (EOF) with the effect of Joule heating. This new algorithm enables a nonuniform mesh to be adapted, which is desirable for handling the extremely thin electrical double layer in EOF. The LB algorithm has been validated by simulating a problem with an available analytical solution and it is found that the numerical results predicted by the algorithm are in good agreement with the analytical solution. The LB algorithm is also applied to modeling a mixed electro-osmotic/pressure driven flow in a channel. The numerical results show that Joule heating plays an important role in EOF.