Fluid Mechanics for Chemical Engineers with Microfluidics and CFD, Second Edition

Chapter 12. Microfluidics and Electrokinetic Flow Effects

12.1. Introduction

Microfluidics, as described here, refers to a fluidic regime (characterized by geometric length scales usually between 100 nm and 100 μm) in which the dominant transport physics change as compared to macroscopic fluid mechanics, due either to changes in Reynolds number, the relative importance of surface effects, or relative changes in the importance or character of different mixing and reaction processes. The tools used currently to understand microfluidic systems have historically been used to study flow in capillaries, both natural (in our circulatory system) and artificial (most commonly in glass capillaries), as well as flow through porous media such as soil. While ...