Fluid processes in smart microengineered devices: Hydrodynamics and thermodynamics in microspace
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Chemical Engineering
Abstract
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Organisations
Publications
Radhakrishnan A
(2018)
Nonlinear Dynamics of Gas-Liquid Separation in a Capillary Microseparator
Radhakrishnan A
(2019)
Hydrodynamic Characterization of Phase Separation in Devices with Microfabricated Capillaries
in Langmuir
Cao E
(2021)
Study of Liquid-Solid Mass Transfer and Hydrodynamics in Micropacked Bed with Gas-Liquid Flow.
in Industrial & engineering chemistry research
| Description | In this project, a more detailed understanding of how gases can be separated from liquids in the microscale was sought. A microfluidic device, fabricated using semiconductor processing techniques, was tested to observe its operational limits in terms of successful gas-liquid separation. Results deviated from known theoretical equations and hence a more detail analysis was carried out. A digital microscope with a high-speed imaging camera was commissioned and videos of the separation process recorded. A computational script was written on a programming language called Python, to automatically analyse the properties of the liquid from the high-speed videos. A theoretical analytical model was then developed, directly based on these experimental results, without the need for any arbitrary tuning variables as commonly found in literature. This model was able to accurately estimate the separation performance of the gas-liquid separation device, which can now be applied to create designs with better separation performances. The model also helped us better understand how gas separates from liquids in the microscale. Secondly, knowledge gathered on gas-liquid interactions in the microscale is being applied currently to study an industrially important operation - distillation. There is a dire need to improve the distillation capabilities, both in terms of yielding higher-purity liquids and reducing the energy demands, while maintaining a comparable volume of production. Using novel microscale devices, we can aim to achieve a better contact of the gas and the liquid than in a larger scale device. Work is being carried out in hybrid silicon-glass devices with precision fabricated capillaries and intricate mixing geometries (i.e., herring-bone structures). Simultaneously, work is also being carried out on devices with novel metallic candle wick-like coatings (similar to a heat pipe). |
| Exploitation Route | Separation of valuable chemicals constitutes 10-15% of the world's energy consumption. With ever-growing demands, new sustainable strategies are being researched and developed. Among these are specialty devices that exploit the advantages of capillarity (as in a candle wick). The model developed can be used by scientists and engineers to predict when a gas-liquid or liquid-liquid separation stops working without performing costly experiments. This model can also be used to develop newer and better designs, thereby avoiding expensive and tedious trial-and-error based prototyping steps. Furthermore, the underlying phenomenon, with a better understanding, can also be applied to study various subjects like drug delivery, self-cleaning materials, anti-microbial surfaces, etc. With regards to micro-distillation, the novel devices being tested and characterised for their separation efficiency can be scaled-up for larger volumes of production at lower energy demands. This will be of particular interest in the industrial sector where operational costs can be significantly reduced with higher efficiency devices. |
| Sectors | Chemicals,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Description | Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering (CNIE) Inspiration Grant |
| Amount | £4,980,773 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/K038656/1 |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2018 |
| End | 11/2018 |
| Description | 70th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society - Division of Fluid Dynamics, 2017, "Dynamical phase separation using a microfluidic device: experiments and modeling" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Oral Presentation - Benjamin Aymard, Urbain Vaes, Anand Radhakrishnan, Marc Pradas, Asterios Gavriilidis, & Serafim Kalliadasis; "Dynamical phase separation using a microfluidic device: experiments and modeling"; November 2017, 70th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society - Division of Fluid Dynamics, Volume 62, Number 14. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2017.DFD.F15.3 |
| Description | IChemE, Mixing Subject Interest Group, 2016, "High-content Data Extraction from Multiphase Flow Systems via Optical High-speed Imaging Methodology" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Poster presentation A. N. Pallipurath Radhakrishnan, G. Valitov, L. Mazzei, A. Gavriilidis, "High-content Data Extraction from Multiphase Flow Systems via Optical High-speed Imaging Methodology", in Transport and Mixing in Micro-Scale Flow, IChemE, Mixing Subject Interest Group, UCL, 11th November, 2016. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Keynote Talk - Micro and Millifluidic Separation Processes |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited Keynote Lecture by A Gavriilidis, L. Mazzei, A. Radhakrishnan, & G. Valitov, on "Micro and Millifluidic Separation Processes" at IMRET 2018, 15th International Conference on Micro Reaction Technology; Karlsruhe, Germany. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Nonlinear Dynamics of Gas-Liquid Separation in a Capillary Microseparator |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Oral Presentation - Anand Radhakrishnan, Marc Pradas, Serafim Kalliadasis, & Asterios Gavriilidis; "Nonlinear Dynamics of Gas-Liquid Separation in a Capillary Microseparator"; June 2018, ASME 2018 16th International Conference on Nanochannels, Microchannels, and Minichannels; Dubrovnik, Croatia |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/proceeding.aspx?articleid=2698575 |