Numerical simulation of electroosmotic flow in two micropumps with series connection to evaluate the increase in performance of integrated micropump

Electrosmotic micropumps are a group of microfluidic devices in which the movement of a fluid stream is formed by the application of an external electric field. This field is generally applied to the micropump by means of two electrodes immersed in the electrolyte. How to install the current-carrying electrode plates in the electrolyte fluid and their placement on the passage of the fluid flow is an issue that can have adverse effects on the quality of operation of the micropump. In this article, a method can be used to overcome this problem. In this method, the electrode plates, instead of being placed in the path of the fluid flow, are connected to the wall of the micropump with the help of T-shaped connections and while affecting the fluid mass, they do not obstruct the flow of the fluid flow. Such a connection, in addition to solving the previous problem, has another advantage, which is the possibility of serializing the pumps and increasing their pressure head. All simulations performed in this paper are performed in a two-dimensional geometry between two parallel plates and the flow conditions are assumed to be steady state, laminar and incompressible. The finite volume method is used to solve the equations governing the fluid flow field, internal and external electric fields, and the distribution of positive and negative ion concentrations called Nernst-Planck. According to the results, serialization of two micropumps in comparison with micropumps of the same length increases the outlet pressure head by up to 80%.