Asymmetric inertial migration in curvilinear laminar flows for micro-separation

• The 11th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (MicroTAS 2007)

We present a new separation technology based solely on intrinsic flow characteristics in curvilinear channels. Dispersed particles in a curvilinear channel at low Reynolds numbers make transverse migration and become ordered for micro-separation. The transverse particle migration involves competition between three effects from shear flows: the tubular pinch effect (TP effect) [1], centrifugal force, and Dean¡¯s vortex [2], resulting in counterintuitive ¡®inside¡¯ particle concentration.

citation

Seo, J. ; Lean, M. ; Kole, A. Asymmetric inertial migration in curvilinear laminar flows for micro-separation. The 11th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences; 2007 October 07-11; Paris; France.