Related papers: Growth of clogs in parallel microchannels
Clogging can occur whenever a suspension of particles flows through a confined system. The formation of clogs is often correlated to a reduction in the cross-section of the channel. In this study, we consider the clogging by bridging, i.e.,…
The flow of a charged-stabilized suspension through a single constricted channel is studied experimentally by tracking the particles individually. Surprisingly, the behavior is found to be qualitatively similar to that of inertial dry…
Accumulation of particles while flowing past constrictions is a ubiquitous phenomenon observed in diverse systems. Some of the common examples are jamming of salt crystals near the orifice of salt shakers, clogging of filter systems,…
We report on a microfluidic method that allows measurement of a small concentration of large contaminants in suspensions of solid micrometer-scale particles. To perform the measurement, we flow the colloidal suspension through a series of…
Clogging is a common obstacle encountered during the transport of suspensions and represents a significant energy and material cost across applications, including water purification, irrigation, biopharmaceutical processing, and aquifer…
We report observations of the self-assembly of coated droplets into regular clusters at the sudden expansion of a microfluidic channel. A double emulsion consisting of a regular train of coated microdroplets was created upstream of the…
We propose a mechanism to control the formation of stable obstructions in two-dimensional micro-channels of variable sections taking advantage of the peculiar clustering property of active systems. Under the activation of the…
This paper describes an experimental study of filtration of a colloidal suspension using microfluidic devices. A suspension of micrometer-scale colloids flows through parallel slit-shaped pores at fixed pressure drop. Clogs and cakes are…
Blockage of pores by particles is found in many processes, including filtration and oil extraction. We present filtration experiments through a linear array of ten channels with one dimension which is sub-micron, through which a dilute…
We study the transport of inertial particles in water flow in porous media. Our interest lies in understanding the accumulation of particles including the possibility of clogging. We propose that accumulation can be a result of hydrodynamic…
Bioclogging, the clogging of pores with living particles, is a complex process that involves various coupled mechanisms such as hydrodynamics and particle properties. This article explores bioclogging at the microscale level. At this scale,…
Non-equilibrium collective behavior of self-propelled colloidal rods in a confining channel is studied using Brownian dynamics simulations and dynamical density functional theory. We observe an aggregation process in which rods…
When suspended particles are pushed by liquid flow through a constricted channel they might either pass the bottleneck without trouble or encounter a permanent clog that will stop them forever. However, they may also flow intermittently…
Microscopic particles flowing through narrow channels may accumulate near bifurcation points provoking flow reduction, clogging and ultimately chip breakage. Here we show that the full flow behavior of colloidal particles through a…
Particle suspensions in confined geometries can become clogged, which can have a catastrophic effect on function in biological and industrial systems. Here, we investigate the macroscopic dynamics of suspensions in constricted geometries.…
Unrestricted particle transport through microfluidic channels is of paramount importance to a wide range of applications, including lab-on-a-chip devices. In this article, we study using video microscopy the electro-osmotic aggregation of…
Forcing dense suspensions of non-cohesive particles through constrictions might either result in a continuous flow, an intermittent one, or indefinite interruption of flow, i.e., a clog. While one of the most important (and obvious)…
The sudden arrest of motion due to confinement is commonly observed via the clogging transition in the flow of particles through a constriction. We present results of a simple experiment to elucidate a similar transition in the…
Introducing a model to study deposition and erosion of single particles at microscopic scale, we investigate the clogging and erosive processes in a pore. The particle diameter, concentration, and adhesive forces rule the way particles are…
When attracted by a stimulus (e. g. light), microswimmers can build up very densely at a constriction and thus cause clogging. The micro-alga \textit{Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii} is used here as a model system to study this phenomenon. Its…