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Research Papers: Techniques and Procedures

# A Fast Method for Determining the Flow Conductance of Gas Microfluidic Devices

[+] Author and Article Information
Matteo Martinelli

Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italymatteo.martinelli@polito.it

Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italyvladimir.viktorov@polito.it

J. Fluids Eng 132(12), 121401 (Dec 22, 2010) (6 pages) doi:10.1115/1.4003089 History: Received March 29, 2010; Revised November 12, 2010; Published December 22, 2010; Online December 22, 2010

## Abstract

This paper presents a fast method for determining the conductance of gas microfluidic devices with low flow rates and very small pressure drops starting from 30 Pa, corresponding to $Re=0.3$. This method is based on discharging a gas-pressurized chamber through the microfluidic device under test. The microfluidic device’s conductance can be estimated as a function of inlet pressure and the Reynolds number of the flow by recording the upstream pressure during the discharging process and calculating the time derivative of the gas pressure. The pressurized chamber is considered as an isothermal chamber. Experimental results show that a sufficiently accurate isothermal discharging process up to an upstream-to-downstream pressure ratio of 0.8 can be achieved by immersing the chamber in a thermal bath. The method presented here is very fast, requiring only a few seconds for the acquisition procedure and computerized data processing.

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Copyright © 2010 by American Society of Mechanical Engineers
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## Figures

Figure 1

Error eq between Eqs. 1,7; n=1.4

Figure 2

Experimental apparatus layout

Figure 3

Scheme of the microfluidic device

Figure 4

Experimental and fitted curves recorded and calculated for a discharging process with initial pressure p0=450 Pa. Curves overlap.

Figure 5

Fitted curve p(t) and derivative curve dp(t)/dt calculated using MATLAB curve fitting tool and curve fitting analysis for a discharging process with initial pressure p0=450 Pa

Figure 6

Upstream pressure p1 for different initial pressures p0

Figure 7

Flow conductance of the microfluidic device calculated with Eq. 16 for a discharging process with initial pressure p0=30 kPa

Figure 8

Flow conductance of the microfluidic device calculated with Eq. 14 for a discharging process with initial pressure p0=450 Pa

Figure 9

Flow conductances calculated with Eqs. 16,17 as a function of upstream pressure

Figure 10

Flow conductance as a function of Re, calculated with Eq. 17; Hagen–Poiseuille model

Figure 11

Flow conductance as a function of Re, calculated with Eq. 16; Bernoulli model

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