Electrically driven microfluid through a porous media.

What is it about?

Filters, agricultural and natural soils, underground aquifers and oil fields, rocks and sandstone, printers, ceramics, cigarettes, skin and many biological organs contain porous where the fluids are present. Therefore, in this work, we mathematically analyze the physical behavior of an electrically driven microfluid that flows through a porous media embedded in a microcapillary. In our investigation, we can observe that the electric effects can increase the temperature of the fluid, therefore some physical properties of the fluid can be altered. One of those properties is the viscosity, which can be understood as the ability of the fluid to flow. Fluids with low viscosity flow faster than those with higher viscosity. In this investigation, the temperature of the fluid reduces the fluid viscosity and internal stresses. Also, we observed that the variations of the viscosity are not uniform along the microcapillary. On the other hand, the porous material can be treated as an electrically charged microfilter where the microfluid is stagnated. Depending on the characteristics of the porous material, the microfluid behavior also changes.

Featured Image

Photo by Tim Käbel on Unsplash

Photo by Tim Käbel on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Due to the manipulation of the properties of the fluid with electrical components and porous materials, the fluid can be precisely controlled. Some biomedical procedures such as drug supply and insulin delivery require precise control of the dose. Dialysis and purification processes requires the fluid may be retarded or accelerated. However, the behavior of the fluid can be different as expected due to the variations of the viscosity. Our results describe some regions of fluid with concentrated electrical effects, where the variations of the viscosity can increase the velocity and internal stress of the microfluid. In terms of technological aspects, a better design of microfluidic devices is relevant for a better control of microfluids considering some aspects that are relevant at small scales. In terms of economics, the mathematical analysis can be an alternative to experimental investigations, where the equipment can be very expensive. This work demonstrates mathematically how the electricity and the porous material interact whit a microfluid whose viscosity also changes.

Perspectives