MICRO PUMPS, VALVES AND

MIXERS

Susan Beatty
Dave Ni
Kunal Thaker
 OUTLINE
 Micro pumps
 Micro valves
 Micro mixers
 Keypoints (conclusion)
MICROPUMPS
 GENERAL TYPES OF
MICROPUMPS
 BUBBLE PUMPS
 DIFUSSER PUMPS
 MEMBRANE PUMPS (most common)
 ROTARY PUMPS
 ELECTROHYDRODYNAMIC PUMPS
 ELECTROOSMOTIC/ ELECTROPHORETIC
PUMPS
 ULTRASONIC PUMPS
 OPTICAL PUMPS
 BUBBLE/DIFUSSER PUMP
 The formation and collapse of a bubble in the
liquid is used to drive the flow of the liquid
 Allows for a valve-less diffuser design
 Greatly enhances mixing of the constituent
phases
 Flow rate in the range of 4-5 μL/sec for 250-
400Hz

http://www.me.berkeley.edu/~lwlin/papers/2002Tsai.pdf
 MEMBRANE PUMPS
 Method of displacing the membrane
– Magnetically
– Electrostatically
– With a piezoelectric
– Thermally (SMA and thermopneumatically)
 Sensitive to blockage by particulates in the fluid
 Flow rate in the range of 100-10000 μL/sec

http://ej.iop.org/links/60/IYwveEquvuX,ovtuKcQOMw/jm8218.pdf http://www.ajou.ac.kr/~mems/proj-1-1.htm
 ROTARY PUMPS
 Very rare and not commonly researched
 Extremely complicated fabrication process
 High susceptibility to failure
 Very precise control of the fluid flow and direction
 Good for transporting high impurity liquids

http://cmmt.gatech.edu/Mark/Publications/Allen_95_Fluid_Micropumps_Rot_Mag_Actu.pdf
 ELECTROHYDRODYNAMIC
PUMPS
 Uses an applied electric field on the fluid to
be pumped to induce charge and also to
electrostatically move the induced charges
 Not suitable for the delivery of most biological
fluids, as a very specific fluid conductivity is
required
 Extremely high voltages are required to move
the fluids (~700volts)
 Has an equivalent magnetohydrodynamic
pump
 ELECTROOSMOTIC/
ELECTROPHORETIC PUMPS
 Electrophoretic pumping relies on the presence of ions in the fluid
– The ions are manipulated through the application of an electric
field and flow is induced
 Electroosmotic flow relies on the presence of ions on the surfaces of
the fluidic channel
Example- between glass and organic fluids
– An applied electric field allows for the movement of the bulk fluid
 Flow rate on the order of 15 μL/sec
 No moving parts

http://www.stanford.edu/~chenaiwa/Micropump_Jmems.pdf
ULTRASONIC/OPTICAL PUMPS
 Ultrasonic pumps use piezoelectric networks
to actuate on a cyclical basis to produce
predictable fluid motion
– Most applicable to mixing, not pumping
 In optical pumps, heat is introduced to the
fluid by way of optical absorption
– Gradients in the fluids heat result in
viscosity and surface tension gradients,
which in turn lead to fluid flow by way of
the thermocapillary effect
– Most applicable to mixing, not pumping
VALVES
 VALVE CLASSIFICATION
 Non-moving valve
 Passive valves
 Actuated valves
 NON_MOVING VALVES
 Diffuser Valve
– Provides
directional
resistance

http://www.cr.org/publications/MSM2001/html/T67.02.html
 PASSIVE VALVES
 Cantilever

 Disc

 Membrane

Shoji, Journal of micromechanics and microengineering 1994

 PASSIVE VALVES (con’t)
 Piston

http://www.ca.sandia.gov/microchem/microfluidics/valves/valves1.html

 Gas controlled

Quake, Science 2000

 ACTIVE VALVES
 Valve types based on actuation
– Electromagnetic
– Piezoelectric
– Pneumatic
– Shape memory alloy
– Thermopneumatic
– Chemical
 MICROMIXERS

Definition: The controlled micro-

mixing of two or more fluids
GENERAL TYPES OF MIXERS
 Laminating Mixers

 Plume Mixers
Micrograph of Silicon-glass -- Copyright, Meinhart,
Bayt 1998
http://www.engineering.ucsb.edu/~nari/mycurrentresearch
.htm

 Active Mixers
 LAMINATING MIXERS
 At the microscopic
scale the use of
laminating mixers is
try to “laminate” two
or more fluids
together to increase
the contact area and Two fluids entering the inlet ports laminate at the

enhance diffusion first horizontal junction, producing two side-by-side

fluid streams. Successive vertical separation and

(0.5 to 12 ml/min)
horizontal reuniting of fluid streams increases the
number of laminates with each stage and, thus, the
contact area between the two fluids.
http://transducers.stanford.edu/stl/Projects/fluidic-charact.html
 PLUME MIXERS
 Takes advantage of the behavior of a
fluid leaving a narrow nozzle (15mm)
 Generates a small plume which
increases the contact area of two liquids
 Homogeneous mixing in 1.2 secs in a
0.5 ml volume at a 45 ml/min flow rate
 ACTIVE MIXERS
 The use of external energy
– Ultrasonic traveling wave pumps
moving fluids in a circulating path

– Bubble pumps – two large pumps used

to generate push & pull forces
 KEY POINTS
 Membrane pumps are the most common type of
micro pumping device currently fabricated
 An attempt is being made to phase out check
valves and other mechanisms that slow down the
frequency response of the pumping system.
– Drive toward diffuser valves
 More flow loss, but increase in frequency.
 Pumps with non-moving parts are preferred due
to higher reliability, etc.
 Bubble, electroosmotic, and electrophoretic
pumps tend to be the direction in bio-micro
fluidics applications.
KEY POINTS (con’t)
 Passive valves are commonly used
because they are easier to fabricate and
are smaller that actuated valves
 The easier and cheaper the valve is to
fabricate the more likely it will be used
 Chemically reactive valves are ideal for
bio-microfluidics because they are easy
to make, they are small and they
behave as an active valve
 KEY POINTS (con’t)
 Laminating Mixers – to laminate fluids
together
 Plume Mixers – plume is generated to
increase contact area of two liquids
 Active Mixers – uses external energy to
mix fluids