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Since the majority of fluids in engineering and biologic applications are non-Newtonian, the study on mixing of non-Newtonian fluids is very important. Secondary flows are used in curved micromixers to improve the mixing of fluids. In this study, a numerical study was performed on the mixing of non-Newtonian fluids in curved micromixers using Open source CFD code of OpenFOAM. The flow was assumed three-dimensional, steady and incompressible and Reynolds numbers were between 0.1-300. Also, water and CMC solution were used for simulation of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid flows, respectively. The effect of Reynolds number, power-law viscosity parameters and micromixer geometry on mixing index and non-dimensional pressure drop was studied and results were compared with those of the straight channel micromixer. The results showed that the mixing index decreased by decreasing the power law index. The mixing index was high for shear thinning flows in micromixers with sharp turns. Also, by increasing the Reynolds number, and therefore velocity, centrifugal force effects increased and mixing improved. Simultaneous investigation of mixing index and pressure drop showed that for low Reynolds numbers and small power law indexes micromixer-b had better performance.

Keywords: non-Newtonian fluid, secondary flow, passive micromixer, Mixing index

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