Computational methodology for the development of microdevices and microreactors with ANSYS CFX

Harrson S Santana; Adriano G P da Silva; Mariana G M Lopes; Alan C Rodrigues; Osvaldir P Taranto; João Lameu Silva Jr

doi:10.1016/j.mex.2019.12.006

Computational methodology for the development of microdevices and microreactors with ANSYS CFX

MethodsX. 2019 Dec 10:7:82-103. doi: 10.1016/j.mex.2019.12.006. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Harrson S Santana¹, Adriano G P da Silva¹, Mariana G M Lopes¹, Alan C Rodrigues¹, Osvaldir P Taranto¹, João Lameu Silva Jr²

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemical Engineering, University of Campinas, Zip Code 13083-852, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
² Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of South of Minas Gerais, Zip Code 37560-260, Pouso Alegre, MG, Brazil.

Abstract

In the present paper, a computational methodology for the development of microdevices and microreactors are presented. The methodology was based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), i.e., the solution of transport equations governing the flow field. The methodology presents a step-by-step tutorial for modeling and simulation of such microdevices that can be used by beginner or experienced users. The proposed methodology was employed in two study cases: fluid mixing and fluid mixing accompanied by chemical reaction. Two new geometry designs were evaluated: a micrometric scale channel with triangular cross section (MT) and a millimeter range scaled channel (MTB). It is expect that the reported methodology contributes to the popularization of CFD usage among researchers, scientists and Microfluidic enthusiasts. Also, it can motivate future studies to focus firstly on geometry optimization by numerical simulations, providing a faster and economical way to develop microdevices. •A CFD-based methodology was presented for the development of microdevices and microreactors•The methodology can be used in distinct fluid mixing and chemical reaction systems•Numerical simulation allows a faster microdevice development procedure with costs reductions.

Keywords: Computational fluid dynamics; Microfluidics; Microreactor; Numerical simulation; Process optimization; Santana/Silva Jr. computational methodology.