Numerical study of electroosmotic micromixing of non-Newtonian fluids

Biofluids which exhibit non-Newtonian behavior are widely used in microfluidic devices which involve fluid mixing in microscales. In order to study the effects of shear depending viscosity of non-Newtonian fluids on characteristics of electroosmotic micromixing, a numerical investigation of flow of power-law fluid in a two-dimensional microchannel with nonuniform zeta potential distributions along the channel walls was carried out via finite volume scheme. The simulation results confirmed that the shear depending viscosity has a significant effect on the degree of mixing efficiency. It was shown as the fluid behavior index of power-law fluid, n, decreases, more homogeneous solution can be achieved at the microchannel outlet. Hence, electroosmotic micromixing was found more practical and efficient in microscale mixing of pseudoplastic fluids rather than those Newtonian and dilatant ones. Furthermore, it was found that increase in Reynolds number results in lower mixing efficiency while electroosmotic forces are kept constant.     

Improvements on bed‐shear stress formulation for pier scour computation

This paper introduces an improved formula for the bed‐shear stress by applying the vorticity effect and its application in a 3D flow and sediment model to estimate scouring around bridge piers. Up to now, the sediment transport formulae used for computing pier scour were developed based on the general scouring in unobstructed flow. The capability for numerical models to predict local scour around bridge piers was severely restricted by the sediment transport formulae. The new formula introduced in this paper can take into account vortices that affect the local scour process by adding some terms into the classic bed‐shear stress equation. The 3D numerical model system used in this study consists of three modules: (a) an unsteady hydrodynamic module; (b) a sediment transport module; and (c) a Fation module. The hydrodynamic module is based on the 3D RANS equations. The sediment transport module is comprised of semi empirical models of suspended load and non‐equilibrium bed load. The bed‐deformation module is based on the mass balance for sediment. The model was used to simulate pier scour in tree different test cases: (1) a circular pier; (2) a square pier; and (3) a rectangular pier, by applying the ordinary sediment equation and the newly introduced sediment equation. Results of both numerical simulations were compared against laboratory measured data and also in case 1 with result of Olsen and Melaaen (J. Hydraul. Eng. 1993; 119 (9):1048–1054). Comparisons show that the new sediment formula could predict the scour more accurately than the ordinary one. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Novel Four‐Component Approach for the Synthesis of Polyfunctionalized 1,4‐Dihydropyridines in Aqueous Media

The four‐component reaction of dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate (=dimethyl but‐2‐ynedioate; DMAD), aromatic aldehydes, and malononitrile (=propanedinitrile) leads to polyfunctionalized 1,4‐dihydropyridine derivatives. The reaction proceeds at room temperature and in the presence of a catalytic amount (20%) of (NH₄)₂HPO₄ as a base in aqueous media.     

Synthesis of benzodiazepines catalyzed by chitosan functionalized by triacid imide as a superior catalyst

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Chitosan functionalized by triacid imide has been applied as an effective catalyst for the synthesis of benzodiazepines by one-pot reactions of...