Numerical Simulation and Performance Analysis of Multi-Stage Electroosmotic Micropumps

Abstract

In Electro-Osmotic Pumps (EOPs), a micro fluid flow is formed by applying an external electric field via two electrodes immersed in the electrolyte. The immersed electrodes, due to lying in the fluid flow path, can consider an obstacle that can negatively affect the flow inside the microchannel. This issue is usually neglected in studies performed on the electroosmotic flows. Concerning this motivation, in this paper, a novel concept of a multi-stage EOP (introduced earlier by the researchers) was investigated numerically where the electrodes were attached to the wall of the micropump so as not to obstruct the fluid flow and to facilitate the serialization of micropumps. A two-dimensional numerical code is developed to analyze the steady-state performance of the multi-stage EOP. The governing equations for the fluid flow, internal and external electric fields, and ion concentration distribution are solved using the Finite Volume method. The results showed that in the multi-stage EOP consisting of multiple micropumps connected in series, the maximum pressure of EOP will enhances by increasing the number of micropumps. In contrast, the maximum flow rate remains approximately constant. The relationship between the maximum pressure, and the strength of the applied external electric field, was also investigated based on the electric field strength, and the results were expressed as a mathematical correlation.