Chemoconvective mixing in a Y-shaped continuous-flow microchannel

The continuous-flow microreactors, being designed for small-scale production of pharmaceutical substances, have a moderate volume and ensure steady synthesis for pharmaceutical production while using noninvasive methods for mixing of ingredients. The paper describes experimental and simulation study of the efficiency for natural convection mechanisms for solutions mixing in a Y-type symmetric microreactor. The mixing zone is arranged for the discovery of convection potential. We consider both variants of chemically inert and chemically active systems. A model reaction is represented by a rapid acid-base neutralization reaction. The theoretical model comprises the 3D Navier—Stokes equation and the reactants transport equations (written with account for nonlinear diffusion). Experimental and numerical results have been compared. The dependency for the effective mixing length on the instability type and solvents flow rates was found.