2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

We describe approaches that combine CAD, prototyping, microfluidics, and image analysis to study and optimize microscale fluid-based processes of wide interest in manufacturing and the chemical processing industries, including heat transfer, filtration, mixing, and chemical reactions. Miniaturized fluid systems are implemented on palm-sized, clear plastic ‘chips’ that host a network of conduits, chambers, filters, manifolds, and flow control devices. Fluids are delivered to the chip and actuated by programmable syringe pumps. Using colored and fluorescent dyes, images and videos to study flow characteristics and mixing can be captured, processed, and analyzed with low-cost CCD cameras and commonly available image processing software (ImageJ or MATLAB®). Similarly, heats of mixing, heats of reaction, and convective, conductive, and radiative heat transfer can be analyzed using thermal image infrared (8-12 microns) cameras. Student projects include CAD of microfluidic chips, fabrication of chips using a CO2 laser cutter, 3D-printer, or CNC mill; experimental setup on a desktop with programmable syringe pumps, sensors, and CCD and thermal infrared camera, experimentation, and analysis of images. We study concurrent and countercurrent heat exchangers, various active and passive mixers, heats of mixing between alcohols and aqueous salt solutions, and acid-base neutralization reactions. These laboratory projects provide instructive and accessible hands-on experimentation, at levels ranging from intuitive and visual to more analytical treatments, in subject areas of fluid mechanics, heat transfer, reaction engineering, image processing and machine vision, engineering modeling, and rapid prototyping. We emphasize skills and concepts gained for their relevancy to energy efficiency, sustainability, and green manufacturing.