Transient flow patterns and bubble slug lengths in parallel microchannels with oxygen gas bubbles produced by catalytic chemical reactions

Transient flow patterns and bubble slug lengths were investigated with oxygen gas (O-2) bubbles produced by catalytic chemical reactions using a high speed camera bonded with a microscope. The microreactor consists of an inlet liquid plenum, nine parallel rectangular microchannels followed by a micronozzle, using the MEMS fabrication technique. The etched surface was deposited by the thin platinum film, which is acted as the catalyst. Experiments were performed with the inlet mass concentration of the hydrogen peroxide from 50% to 90% and the pressure drop across the silicon chip from 2.5 to 20.0 kPa. The silicon chip is directly exposed in the environment thus the heat released via the catalytic chemical reactions is dissipated into the environment and the experiment was performed at the room temperature level. It is found that the two-phase flow with the catalytic chemical reactions display the cyclic behavior. A full cycle consists of a short fresh liquid refilling stage, a liquid decomposition stage followed by the bubble slug flow stage. At the beginning of the bubble slug flow stage, the liquid slug number reaches maximum, while at the end of the bubble slug flow stage the liquid slugs are quickly flushed out of the microchannels. Two or three large bubbles are observed in the inlet liquid plenum, affecting the two-phase distributions in microchannels. The bubble slug lengths, cycle periods as well as the mass flow rates are analyzed with different mass concentrations of hydrogen peroxide and pressure drops. The bubble slug length is helpful for the selection of the future microreactor length ensuring the complete hydrogen peroxide decomposition. Future studies on the temperature effect on the transient two-phase flow with chemical reactions are recommended.

A New Designed Two-Dimensional Bifurcation Parallel-Plate Flow Chamber

解决平行平板流槽每次实验只能观测壁面培养细胞受一种剪应力作用的问题。作者在平行平板流槽的基础上,首次提出了一种改进后的流槽--二维平板分叉流槽。通过数值模拟,给出了流体作定常流动时,流速和壁面剪应力的分布。结果发现,利用这种二维平板分叉流槽可以研究壁面培养的细胞在不同大小剪应力作用下的力学行为。该研究结果为流槽的合理设计和使用,并分析剪应力空间分布对内皮细胞的影响有重要实际意义。

A Label-Free Protein Microfluidic Array for Parallel Immunoassays

A label-free protein microfluidic array for immunoassays based on the combination of imaging ellipsometry and an integrated microfluidic system is presented. Proteins can be patterned homogeneously on substrate in array format by the microfluidic system simultaneously. After preparation, the protein array can be packed in the microfluidic system which is full of buffer so that proteins are not exposed to denaturing conditions. With simple microfluidic channel junction, the protein microfluidic array can be used in serial or parallel format to analyze single or multiple samples simultaneously. Imaging ellipsometry is used for the protein array reading with a label-free format. The biological and medical applications of the label-free protein microfluidic array are demonstrated by screening for antibody–antigen interactions, measuring the concentration of the protein solution and detecting five markers of hepatitis B.

Experimental Investigation On The Holdup Distribution Of Oil-Water Two-Phase Flow In Horizontal Parallel Tubes

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the holdup distribution of oil and water two-phase flow in two parallel tubes with unequal tube diameter. Tests were performed using white oil (of viscosity 52 mPa s and density 860 kg/m(3)) and tap water as liquid phases at room temperature and atmospheric outlet pressure. Measurements were taken of water flow rates from 0.5 to 12.5 m(3)/h and input oil volume fractions from 3 to 94 %. Results showed that there were different flow pattern maps between the run and bypass tubes when oil-water two-phase flow is found in the parallel tubes. At low input fluid flow rates, a large deviation could be found on the average oil holdup between the bypass and the run tubes. However, with increased input oil fraction at constant water flow rate, the holdup at the bypass tube became close to that at the run tube. Furthermore, experimental data showed that there was no significant variation in flow pattern and holdup between the run and main tubes. In order to calculate the holdup in the form of segregated flow, the drift flux model has been used here.

Materials selection in mechanical design for microsensors and microactuators

Microsensors and microactuators are vital organs of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), forming the interfaces between controller and environment. They are usually used for devices ranging in size at sub-millimeter or micrometer level, transforming energy between two or more domains. Presently, most of the materials used in MEMS devices belong to the silicon material system, which is the basis of the integrated circuit industry. However, new techniques are being explored and developed, and the opportunities for MEMS materials selection are getting broader. The present paper tries to apply 'performance index' to select the material best suited to a given application, in the early stage of MEMS design. The selection is based on matching performance characteristics to the requirements. A series of performance indices are given to allow a wide range comparison of materials for several typical sensing and actuating structures, and a rapid identification of candidates for a given task. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of surface tension on the mode selection of vertically excited surface waves in a circular cylindrical vessel

Singular perturbation theory of two-time-scale expansions was developed in inviscid fluids to investigate patternforming, structure of the single surface standing wave, and its evolution with time in a circular cylindrical vessel subject to a vertical oscillation. A nonlinear slowly varying complex amplitude equation, which involves a cubic nonlinear term, an external excitation and the influence of surface tension, was derived from the potential flow equation. Surface tension was introduced by the boundary condition of the free surface in an ideal and incompressible fluid. The results show that when forced frequency is low, the effect of surface tension on the mode selection of surface waves is not important. However, when the forced frequency is high, the surface tension cannot be neglected. This manifests that the function of surface tension is to cause the free surface to return to its equilibrium configuration. In addition, the effect of surface tension seems to make the theoretical results much closer to experimental results.

The mechanism of pattern selection in coupled map lattices

The pattern selection of one-dimensional coupled map lattices is studied in this paper. It is shown by spatiotemporal variable separation that there exists a threshold wavelength in pattern selection which possesses wave-like structures in space and periodic chaotic motion in time.

平行圆板流动腔(Parallel-circular-plateflowchamber)

<正>生物力学研究的趋势十分明显的是,由宏观方面的研究转向细观和微观方面的研究。人们从个体、器官和组织的生物力学方面,转向细胞甚至分子水平的研究。在力的作用下,细胞的形态、生理作用等发生的变化引起了人们极大的兴趣,其中流体流动时剪应力对细胞的作用尤为人们所特别关注,因为有血液在血管中流动时的剪应力对血管内皮细胞的作用这样的实际生理背景。剪应力不但可以影响内皮细胞的形态结构,而且对在细胞诸多生理方面有影响。

Parallel Fully-Implicit Computation of MHD Acceleration Experiments

A three-dimensional MHD solver is described in the paper. The solver simulates reacting flows with nonequilibrium between translational-rotational, vibrational and electron translational modes. The conservation equations are discretized with implicit time marching and the second-order modified Steger-Warming scheme, and the resulted linear system is solved iteratively with Newton-Krylov-Schwarz method that is implemented by PETSc package. The results of convergence tests are plotted, which show good scalability and convergence around twice faster when compared with the DPLR method. Then five test runs are conducted simulating the experiments done at the NASA Ames MHD channel, and the calculated pressures, temperatures, electrical conductivity, back EMF, load factors and flow accelerations are shown to agree with the experimental data. Our computation shows that the electrical conductivity distribution is not uniform in the powered section of the MHD channel, and that it is important to include Joule heating in order to calculate the correct conductivity and the MHD acceleration.

On optimal message vector length for block single parallel partition algorithm in a three-dimensional ADI solver

It has long been recognized that many direct parallel tridiagonal solvers are only efficient for solving a single tridiagonal equation of large sizes, and they become inefficient when naively used in a three-dimensional ADI solver. In order to improve the parallel efficiency of an ADI solver using a direct parallel solver, we implement the single parallel partition (SPP) algorithm in conjunction with message vectorization, which aggregates several communication messages into one to reduce the communication costs. The measured performances show that the longest allowable message vector length (MVL) is not necessarily the best choice. To understand this observation and optimize the performance, we propose an improved model that takes the cache effect into consideration. The optimal MVL for achieving the best performance is shown to depend on number of processors and grid sizes. Similar dependence of the optimal MVL is also found for the popular block pipelined method.

MODIFIED DIRECT TWOS-COMPLEMENT PARALLEL ARRAY MULTIPLICATION ALGORITHM FOR COMPLEX MATRIX OPERATION

A direct twos-complement parallel array multiplication algorithm is introduced and modified for digital optical numerical computation. The modified version overcomes the problems encountered in the conventional optical twos-complement algorithm. In the array, all the summands are generated in parallel, and the relevant summands having the same weights are added simultaneously without carries, resulting in the product expressed in a mixed twos-complement system. In a two-stage array, complex multiplication is possible with using four real subarrays. Furthermore, with a three-stage array architecture, complex matrix operation is straightforwardly accomplished. In the experiment, parallel two-stage array complex multiplication with liquid-crystal panels is demonstrated.

Parallel optical negabinary arithmetic based on logic operations

On the basis of signed-digit negabinary representation, parallel two-step addition and one-step subtraction can be performed for arbitrary-length negabinary operands.; The arithmetic is realized by signed logic operations and optically implemented by spatial encoding and decoding techniques. The proposed algorithm and optical system are simple, reliable, and practicable, and they have the property of parallel processing of two-dimensional data. This leads to an efficient design for the optical arithmetic and logic unit. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.