Simulation-assisted design of an integrated microfluidic centrifugal separator

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Microscopic biological organisms and particles are present in many forms, ranging from fungus to viruses with a wide range of sizes and properties. This presents challenges for the detection and identification of them which is crucial for medical/pharmaceutical and food processing industries. Conventional detection methods involve a lengthy culture process in order to amplify microscopic organisms to detectable populations. The synergy of traditional centrifugation-based separators and microfluidics is promising for developing scaled-down and lab-on-a-chip detectors of biological organisms and particles. Many challenges exist in scaling-down such unit operations which could be overcome through the use of multiphase computational fluid dynamics simulations. This research project involves the design of microfluidic centrifugation-based separators using simulation-based prototyping in order to save cost, reduce time-to-market, and gain access to operating conditions that are infeasible through direct experimentation.