Computer Simulation Improves Design of Hand-Held Chemical Analysis System
Computer Simulation Improves Design of Hand-Held Chemical Analysis System
Computer Simulation Improves Design of Hand-Held Chemical Analysis System
THE CHALLENGE
Designing a micro-electro-mechanical
system (MEMS) that operates on too
small a scale to measure
The preconcentrator needs to collect
as much analyte as possible and
release most or all of it in a very short
period of time
T H E S T O RY
Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin
Company, has developed a hand-held
chemical analysis system designed to be
used by first responders for the detection
of toxic agents. The first stage of the
ChemLab system is the preconcentrator
which samples and collects analytes from
an inlet gas stream and ejects them on
command into the separation stage. Due
to difficulties associated with measuring
flow on a micro scale, designing the
preconcentrator was challenging. Sandia
engineers worked with consultants at ESI
Group to simulate fluid flow and chemical
reactions through the preconcentrator
with ESIs CFD-ACE+ computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) software. The simulation
results showed that in the initial concept
design flow rushes along the sides of
the preconcentrator with poor wetting
of the adsorbent pillars resulting in
inefficient adsorption of analyte. Sandia
and ESI engineers modified the design
by rearranging the pillars to improve
wetting and optimize the adsorption and
desorption phases.
THE BENEFITS
Sandia substantially improved the
preconcentrator design
Simulation reduces the number of
prototypes that were needed.
DESIGN CHALLENGES
The challenges to the engineers designing the preconcentrator were to collect as much of the
analyte as possible on the adsorbent surfaces in the least possible time and provide a sharp peak
of analyte flux for detection by the sensor. The design parameters included the geometry of the
preconcentrator, the mass flow rates during the adsorption and desorption phases, the carrier
gases during adsorption and desorption phases, adsorption and desorption kinetics, and the
desorption temperature profile. Microfluidic devices such as the _ChemLab are not well suited to
traditional build and test design methods. The small size of the devices makes it nearly impossible
to instrument them with sensors that would be required to evaluate local fluid flow. Without
quantitative information, engineers normally are left to rely upon on their instinct and guesswork
in attempting to optimize the design.
A substantial improvement over the conventional design methods was achieved in this application
by simulating the performance of the preconcentrator using CFD-ACE+. The CFD simulation
showed that in the original design, flow rushes along the edges of the preconcentrator to avoid the
obstructions presented by the pillars. The result was that there was very little contact between the
flow and pillars. Engineers rearranged the pillars in an effort to solve this problem. The basic idea
was to position the pillars to block off the escape route around the sides of the preconcentrator.
They accomplished by running the pillars all the way across the preconcentrator so that the gas flow
was forced to go through the rows of pillars. Re-running the analysis using this geometry showed a
greatly improved flow profile with much more wetting of the adsorbent pillars.
After the optimal flow geometry was determined, four simulations were performed to measure
the surface reactions involved in adsorption and desorption of the analyte. Two different flow
rates were used for the adsorption phase and two different gases and two different flow rates were
used for the desorption phase. The simulation results showed much more analyte is adsorbed with
a flow rate of 300 mL/min. Analyte concentration drops dramatically across the chip for the 60 mL
case with virtually no analyte found on the pillars away from the inlet.
w w w. e s i - g ro u p . c o m
VelocityMagnitude - m/s
35
Loading Inlet
Loading Outlet
VelocityMagnitude - m/s
32
Wall
Wall
Pillars removed
Pillars removed
Wall
Wall
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