Numerical Investigation Inside Spiral Passive Micromixer using Nanofluid

This research work possesses a numerical analysis and comparison of mixing performance and flow behavior inside microchannels with different geometries: Simple T-shape and Spiral/Helical T-shape (without nanofluid and with nanofluid). The flow analysis is carried out using Navier-Stokes equations and mixing performance of two fluids: namely; water and dye is numerically calculated. The mixing performance is calculated with regard to mixing index or efficiency of mixing. The spiral T-shape micromixer with nanofluid (1% Al2O3) generates the vortices and induces swirling even at low Reynolds numbers as compared to a simple T-shape mixer. The circular cross-section at the beginning of mixing spiral microchannel increases the interfacial area of the fluid streams by widening the flow. The proposed spiral microchannel is found to be effective in mixing fluids at a wide range of Reynolds numbers, 5, 45, 165, 266 and 350. This suggested micromixer is easy to design and fabricate and provides a wide control for the mixing index based on Reynolds number. The results possess that the mixing in a spiral microchannel is very sensitive to the input parameters, exhibiting different characteristics at different Reynolds numbers.