The electric double layer effect on the microchannel flow stability and heat transfer

The effect of the electric double layer (EDL) on the linear stability of Poiseuille planar channel flow is reported. It is shown that the EDL destabilises the linear modes, and that the critical Reynolds number decreases significantly when the thickness of the double layer becomes comparable with the height of the channel. First results coming from direct numerical simulations on the non-linear effects show also that the by-pass transition is much more rapid in the presence of EDL. There is an acceptable qualitative correspondence between the estimated transitional Reynolds numbers and some experiments, showing that early transition is plausible in microchannels under some conditions. Several questions remain however unanswered such as the surface conduction effect on EDL.