Effects of geometric parameters on the performance of a viscous micropump with dual rotating cylinders

Micropump has many attractive features which make them potential for use in biomedical engineering and in a number of miniature technologies. In this study, the effects of geometric parameters on the performance of a viscous micropump consisting of two counter rotating cylinders have been investigated using 3D laminar simulations. These cylinders are placed symmetrically at vertical position inside the micropump. To capture the flow field, the Navier-Stokes equations have been computed based on Finite Volume Method (FVM). Numerical results have been validated with available experimental data for the case of a single rotor micropump. The performance of the viscous micropump was studied in terms of the dimensionless average velocity, driving power and efficiency. To study the effect of geometric parameters, various pumps were simulated by varying the cylinders position, channel height and channel width. Numerical result shows that geometric parameters play a significant role on the pump performance. It is found that for a given pump geometry and operating conditions, there is an optimal cylinder position that results in maximum pump efficiency. Besides, the effect of channel width is found insignificant on the pump performance when the channel width is 20 times the cylinder diameter.Micropump has many attractive features which make them potential for use in biomedical engineering and in a number of miniature technologies. In this study, the effects of geometric parameters on the performance of a viscous micropump consisting of two counter rotating cylinders have been investigated using 3D laminar simulations. These cylinders are placed symmetrically at vertical position inside the micropump. To capture the flow field, the Navier-Stokes equations have been computed based on Finite Volume Method (FVM). Numerical results have been validated with available experimental data for the case of a single rotor micropump. The performance of the viscous micropump was studied in terms of the dimensionless average velocity, driving power and efficiency. To study the effect of geometric parameters, various pumps were simulated by varying the cylinders position, channel height and channel width. Numerical result shows that geometric parameters play a significant role on the pump performance. It is f...