Hydrodynamic separator with optimal microchannel length

A hydrodynamic separator configured to separate a liquid having dispersed particles comprising:

• a substrate;
• a liquid channel defined by the substrate, the liquid channel configured to receive a liquid having a Reynolds number (Re) within the channel, the liquid channel having an inlet and an outlet,
• wherein:
• the liquid channel is curved to define an inner radius (RC) (mm) and has a liquid channel length (LD) (mm) along the curve,
• the liquid channel has a rectangular cross-section along the length of the curve,
• the rectangular cross-section has a height (h) (μm), a width (w) (μm) that increases or decreases towards the outlet, and a hydraulic diameter (DH) (μm), the liquid channel length (LD) (mm) is greater than or equal to a linear focusing length (Lf), and
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• f
• =
• R
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• w
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• 24.3
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• when measured under conditions where the Reynolds number (Re) is less than 1000, a Dean Number (De) is between 5 and 25, and the diameter (a) is greater than 8% of the hydraulic diameter (DH) and less than 50% of the height (h).

A hydrodynamic separator configured to separate a liquid having dispersed particles having a diameter (a), comprising:

• a substrate;
• a liquid channel defined by the substrate, the liquid channel configured to receive a liquid having a Reynolds number (Re) within the channel, the liquid channel having an inlet and an outlet,
• wherein:
• the liquid channel has a curved inner wall defining an inner radius (RC) and a curved outer wall defining an outer radius, wherein the inner radius is constant from the inlet to the outlet,
• the liquid channel has a liquid channel length (LD) along the curved inner wall,
• the liquid channel has a rectangular cross-section along the liquid channel length, and
• the rectangular cross-section has a channel width (w) between the inner wall and outer wall,
• where the channel has a tapered region where the channel width tapers between the inlet and the outlet.