Swirling-flow micro mixer and method

Abstract

A method and apparatus for efficiently and rapidly mixing liquids in a swirling flow micro system is disclosed. The micro mixer disclosed is a passive mixer of planar structure for simpler configuration and fabrication. The streams injected tangentially into the mixing chamber produce circular multi-lamination for effective mixing of the injected streams. The injection velocity and position can be altered by adjusting the contour and exit area of the nozzles. The planar mixer can be fabricated by the normal photolithography process in conjunction with anodic bonding. More economically the layered structures of the mixer can also be fabricated in thin plastic sheets using stamping, embossing or other thermal deformation techniques. The different layers are thermally bonded for mass production.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.