Experimental and Analytical Modeling of Phase Change Micropump

In this research a phase change micropump as a novel type of non-mechanical micropumps has been investigated. A one dimensional model has been developed to describe the pumping mechanism and assess the working characteristics of the micropump. Conservation of mass, momentum and energy have been employed to obtain an algebraic equation for the flow rate which depends on seven non-dimensional numbers. The governing equation has been solved to study the effect of various operating parameters on the micropump performance. To verify the analytical approach, an experimental set up has been constructed. The results show that the theoretical model is in reasonable agreement with the experimental investigations and can describe the pumping mechanism properly. This analytical approach can be used in the design and fabrication of more efficient micropumps.