Numerical study of split t-micromixers

Three-dimensional numerical simulations were performed to study the liquid flow inside split T-type micromixers, investigating the effects of various operating and design parameters on the mixing process. While for small Reynolds numbers, the mixing efficiency of a split T-micromixer is larger than that of a simple T-micromixer, it was found that, when Re = 100, mixing is further enhanced by the formation of vortex pairs. This is not only a function of the flow rate, but it depends also on the geometry of the device and on the ratio between the flow rates in the inlet sub-channels. In general, at a given flow rate, vertical splits induce a much better mixing than horizontal splits, while the reverse may occur for strongly unequal inlet flow rates.