Passive and Active Micromixers

Previously, the fabrication of micromixers was based on microsystem technology or microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology, which focused on hard materials such as silicon and glass [2]. Recently, polymers have been extensively used for fabricating micromixers. Polymers have several advantages over silicon and 

Micro Process Engineering, Vol.l Fundamentals, Operations and Catalysts Edited by V. Hessel, A. Renken, J.C. Schouten, and J.-I. Yoshida Copyright 2009 WILEY-VCH Verkg GmbH Co. KGaA, Weinheim ISBN 978-3-527-31550-5 

Since different types of micromixers have different operating conditions, this chapter considers and discusses various micromixer types separately. Depending on the particular mixer types, attention is paid to a number of operating parameters such as R nolds number (Re) and Pedet number (Pe). The R nolds number 

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V. Flessel, FI. Lowe, F. Schonfeld, Micromixers-a review on passive and active mixing principles, Chem. Eng. Sci. 60 (2005) 2479. 

Table 4.1 Passive and active mixing techniques used in micromixers.

Figure 4.14 Schematic representation of selective passive and active mixing principles used in micromixers [26]. (Adapted with permission from the authors.)...

In contrast to the presented passive mixers, active micromixers rely on external power input to introduce perturbations within the laminar flow to accelerate mixing. A selection of different external perturbation sources are summarized in Table 4.1 and are discussed briefed here. 

Hessel, V., Lowe, H., and Schoenfeld, F. (2005). Micromixers - a review on passive and active mixing principles. Chemical Engineering Science, Vol. 60, Issues 8-9, pp. 2479-2501. 

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