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Model ID: 19

Microchannel Cell

This example was originally formulated by Albert Witarsa under Professor Bruce Finlayson’s supervision at the University of Washington in Seattle. It was part of a graduate course in which the assignment consisted of evaluating the potential of patents in the field of microfluidics through mathematical modeling.

The model treats an H-micro cell for separation through diffusion. The cell puts two different laminar streams in contact for a controlled period of time. The contact surface is well-defined and, by controlling the flow rate, it is possible to control the amount of species that are transported from one stream to the other through diffusion.

The concentration distribution shown in the figure shows that the diffusion coefficient for the species is low enough to avoid any larger mixing between the streams. The simulation shows that the H-cell is able to separate lighter molecules from heavier ones.

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