Applications of Microfluidic Devices in Food Engineering

Skurtys, Olivier; Aguilera, José Miguel

doi:10.1007/s11483-007-9043-6

Cited by 130 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 121 publications

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“…At the same time, the accurate control and manipulation of multilayer microscale flows has become increasingly popular in modern biomedical and other applications. Examples include techniques for concentrating leukocytes from whole blood samples (see SooHoo & Walker 2009), integrated lab-on-chip systems (see Beebe et al 2002;Figeys & Pinto 2000;Hibara et al 2001;Surmeian et al 2002), and the use of microfluidic devices in food engineering (Skurtys & Aguilera 2008). Potential applications in MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical) devices in the aerospace industry have been suggested, such as microthrusters that can propel small scale spacecrafts and satellites -see (Polsin & Choueiri 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonlinear interfacial dynamics in stratified multilayer channel flows

2013

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The dynamics of viscous immiscible pressure-driven multilayer flows in channels are investigated using a combination of modelling, analysis and numerical computations. More specifically the particular system of three stratified layers with two internal fluid-fluid interfaces is considered in detail in order to identify the nonlinear mechanisms involved due to multiple fluid surface interactions. The approach adopted is analytical/asymptotic and is valid for interfacial waves that are long compared to the channel height or individual undisturbed liquid layer thicknesses. This leads to a coupled system of fully nonlinear partial differential equations of Benney-type that contain a small slenderness parameter that cannot be scaled out of the problem. This system is in turn used to develop a consistent coupled system of weakly nonlinear evolution equations, and it is shown that this is possible only if the underlying base-flow and fluid parameters satisfy certain conditions that enable a synchronous Galilean transformation to be performed at leading order. Two distinct canonical cases (all terms in the equations are of the same order) are identified in the absence and presence of inertia, respectively. The resulting systems incorporate all the active physical mechanisms at Reynolds numbers that are not large, namely, nonlinearities, inertia-induced instabilities (at non-zero Reynolds number) and surface tension stabilisation of sufficiently short waves. The coupled system supports several instabilities that are not found in single long-wave equations including, transitional instabilities due to a change of type of the flux nonlinearity from hyperbolic to elliptic, kinematic instabilities due to the presence of complex eigenvalues in the linearised advection matrix leading to a resonance between the interfaces, and the possibility of long-wave instabilities induced by an interaction between the flux function of the system and the surface tension terms. All these instabilities are followed into the nonlinear regime by carrying out extensive numerical simulations using spectral methods on periodic domains. It is established that instabilities leading to coherent structures in the form of nonlinear travelling waves are possible even at zero Reynolds number, in contrast to single interface (two-layer) systems; in addition, even in parameter regimes where the flow is linearly stable, the coupling of the flux functions and their hyperbolic-elliptic transitions lead to coherent structures for initial disturbances above a threshold value. When inertia is present an additional short-wave instability enters and the systems become general coupled Kuramoto-Sivashinsky type equations. Extensive numerical experiments indicate a rich landscape of dynamical behaviour including nonlinear travelling waves, time-periodic travelling states and chaotic dynamics. It is also established that it is possible to regularise the chaotic dynamics into travelling wave pulses by enhancing the inertialess instabilities through the advective terms. ...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonlinear interfacial dynamics in stratified multilayer channel flows

2013

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“…Microfluidics is suitable for these operations and microfluidic systems were developed to generate emulsions and foams, and for fluid mixing and dispersion (Skurtys and Aguilera, 2008). Tetala et al (2009) developed a three-phase microfluidic device for the small-scale purification of alkaloids from plant extracts.…”

Section: Food Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applications of Microfluidics in the Agro-Food Sector: A Review

Kim¹,

Lim²,

Mo³

2016

Journal of Biosystems Engineering

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Background: Microfluidics is of considerable importance in food and agricultural industries. Microfluidics processes low volumes of fluids in channels with extremely small dimensions of tens of micrometers. It enables the miniaturization of analytical devices and reductions in cost and turnaround times. This allows automation, high-throughput analysis, and processing in food and agricultural applications. Purpose: This review aims to provide information on the applications of microfluidics in the agro-food sector to overcome limitations posed by conventional technologies. Results: Microfluidics contributes to medical diagnosis, biological analysis, drug discovery, chemical synthesis, biotechnology, gene sequencing, and ecology. Recently, the applications of microfluidics in food and agricultural industries have increased. A few examples of these applications include food safety analysis, food processing, and animal production. This study examines the fundamentals of microfluidics including fabrication, control, applications, and future trends of microfluidics in the agro-food sector. Conclusions: Future research efforts should focus on developing a small portable platform with modules for fluid handling, sample preparation, and signal detection electronics.

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“…Microfluidic technologies are indicated to manipulate small quantities of liquids or fluids usually through channels with at least one dimension smaller than 1 mm, for emulsion formation, mixing and dispersion [Skurtys & Aguilera, 2008]. This leads to greatly reduced reagent consumption and exhibits intrinsically efficient heat and mass transfer due to high surface area-to-volume ratios [Hung & Lee, 2007;Il Park et al, 2010].…”

Section: Principles and Advantagesmentioning

confidence: 99%