Monitoring of liquid flow through microtubes using a micropressure sensor
Monitoring of liquid flow through microtubes using a micropressure sensor
The pressure-driven liquid flow through microtubes was studied in a range of very low Reynolds numbers (<0.15) by monitoring the pressure change in situ. Cylindrical microtubes with diameters ranging from 50 ?m to 500 ?m were examined and two types of tube material, namely PEEK polymer and fused silica were compared. A good linear relation for the pressure drop versus flow rate was obtained. Apparent deviations between the measured slopes with those calculated using conventional theory were attributed to uncertainties in the calculated values which are dominated by the uncertainties in the microtube diameters. It was found that a period of stabilisation time was required for reaching a steady flow after the syringe pump was switched on/off or to a different flow rate. The stabilisation time was likely due to the compressibility of the fluid. Insignificant difference between PEEK polymer and fused silica microtubes in terms of flow resistance was observed. The in-situ measurement of pressure drops provides a convenient approach for monitoring fluid flow through microtubes and detecting dimensional changes within microchannels in Lab-on-a-Chip and microreactor systems.
microtube, laminar flow, pressure sensor, liquid flow monitoring
19-24
Zhang, Xunli
d7cf1181-3276-4da1-9150-e212b333abb1
Coupland, Paul
c339c70b-963a-4435-a9cd-229a98050f1b
Fletcher, Paul D.I.
a34b4165-1e93-4661-bd28-71f1fa9b002b
Haswell, Stephen J.
443a65de-9f13-4fbf-8b70-7de24004957b
January 2009
Zhang, Xunli
d7cf1181-3276-4da1-9150-e212b333abb1
Coupland, Paul
c339c70b-963a-4435-a9cd-229a98050f1b
Fletcher, Paul D.I.
a34b4165-1e93-4661-bd28-71f1fa9b002b
Haswell, Stephen J.
443a65de-9f13-4fbf-8b70-7de24004957b
Zhang, Xunli, Coupland, Paul, Fletcher, Paul D.I. and Haswell, Stephen J.
(2009)
Monitoring of liquid flow through microtubes using a micropressure sensor.
Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 87 (1), .
(doi:10.1016/j.cherd.2008.06.007).
Abstract
The pressure-driven liquid flow through microtubes was studied in a range of very low Reynolds numbers (<0.15) by monitoring the pressure change in situ. Cylindrical microtubes with diameters ranging from 50 ?m to 500 ?m were examined and two types of tube material, namely PEEK polymer and fused silica were compared. A good linear relation for the pressure drop versus flow rate was obtained. Apparent deviations between the measured slopes with those calculated using conventional theory were attributed to uncertainties in the calculated values which are dominated by the uncertainties in the microtube diameters. It was found that a period of stabilisation time was required for reaching a steady flow after the syringe pump was switched on/off or to a different flow rate. The stabilisation time was likely due to the compressibility of the fluid. Insignificant difference between PEEK polymer and fused silica microtubes in terms of flow resistance was observed. The in-situ measurement of pressure drops provides a convenient approach for monitoring fluid flow through microtubes and detecting dimensional changes within microchannels in Lab-on-a-Chip and microreactor systems.
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micro_pressure_sensing_ChERD09_v87_pp19-24.PDF
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Published date: January 2009
Keywords:
microtube, laminar flow, pressure sensor, liquid flow monitoring
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 64697
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/64697
ISSN: 0263-8762
PURE UUID: 921c696e-4cf0-42e5-8cdc-7bf8a4184edf
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Date deposited: 09 Jan 2009
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:55
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Contributors
Author:
Paul Coupland
Author:
Paul D.I. Fletcher
Author:
Stephen J. Haswell
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