Design and Numerical Analysis of a Split-and-Recombined ‘(Y-H)’ Micromixer

A novel split-and-recombined (SAR) micromixer namely ‘(Y-H)’ composed with one ‘Y’ and one ‘H’ shaped mixing unit is proposed. The proposed micro mixer is composed of four identical elements that are connected by angles alpha and beta. The alpha value is varied from 0° to 90° and the beta value is always kept constant (equal to zero) to analyze the effect on the SAR process and mixing performance for Reynolds numbers from 0.1 to 100. The numerical data shows that the SAR process strongly depends on the connecting angle alpha; the index increases from 65% to 98% when the alpha value changes from 0 to 45 degrees at Re = 100. The mixing index also varies with the number of elements and Reynolds numbers. The proposed mixer has a significantly lower mixing energy cost (MEC) for all alpha values except 0 degrees. In addition, the split-and-recombined process, the influence of secondary flow, and pressure drop characteristics at various Reynolds numbers are presented and discussed.