Clog mitigation in a microfluidic array via pulsatile flows

摘要: Clogging is a common obstacle encountered during the transport of suspensions and represents a significant energy and material cost across applications, including water purification, irrigation, biopharmaceutical processing, and aquifer recharge. Pulsatile pressure-driven flows can help mitigate clogging when compared to steady flows. Here, we study experimentally the influence of the amplitude of pulsation 0.25P0 ≤ δP ≤ 1.25P0, where P0 is the mean pressure, and of the frequency of pulsation 10−3 Hz ≤ f ≤ 10−1 Hz on clog mitigation in a microfluidic array of parallel channels using a dilute suspension of colloidal particles. The array geometry is representative of a classical filter, with parallel pores that clog over time, yielding a filter cake that continues to grow and can interact with other pores. We combine flow rate measurements with direct visualizations at the pore scale to correlate the observed clogging …