Prediction of the liquid film characteristics in open inclined microchannels

Abstract

Falling Film Microreactor (FFMR) is one of the most important microfluidic devices for gasliquid applications. In these devices extended specific surfaces (up to 20,000m2/m3) can be obtained while the liquid film remains stable over a wide range of gas and liquid flow rates. In an effort to propose new design correlations for these devices, in a previous work we proposed correlations for the prediction of the gasliquid interface and the thickness of the liquid film. In this study we aim to investigate the validity of these correlations when different channel materials are used, namely brass and silicon. Velocity profiles have been also obtained by a μ-PIV system, while the thickness of the liquid film and the shape of the interface were also determined using the μ-PIV system. It was proved that the shape of the interface can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by the previously proposed correlations. Also the film thickness can be predicted with acceptable accuracy provided that some of the constants are modified according to the material of the test section.