Microfluidic Sensor Passive Fluid Circulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing water quality monitoring systems in pressure pipes are invasive, costly, and require intensive maintenance, with a need for sensors that can autonomously measure chlorine concentration and other chemical parameters efficiently and safely worldwide.
Innovation Solution
A microfluidic sensor that uses a mixer and analyzer to analyze fluid from a pressure pipe without a pump, leveraging pressure differences to passively draw fluid and minimize reactant consumption, with a miniaturized reactant tank and optical cell for chlorine measurement, ensuring safety and low maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If a pump is used to circulate fluid from the substrate to the housing, then the fluid can be moved against pressure differences, but the device complexity and maintenance requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the pump from the system entirely. Instead of using active pumping, the housing is positioned completely outside the pressure pipe, and fluid is circulated through passive pressure-driven flow and gravity assistance, eliminating the need for mechanical pumping components and their associated maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the natural pressure differential existing in the pressure pipe itself to drive fluid circulation. The fluid flow is self-regulating based on the pressure gradient between the sampling point and the housing, requiring no external energy input or active control mechanisms.
2Stress or pressure
If the housing is completely immersed in the fluid to be measured, then pressure equilibrium is achieved, but the device becomes invasive and requires extensive sealing
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is extracted from the fluid environment and positioned completely outside the pressure pipe. Only minimal sampling ports penetrate the pipe wall, dramatically reducing invasiveness and sealing requirements while the housing remains at atmospheric pressure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is divided into two distinct pressure zones: the pressure pipe containing the process fluid, and the atmospheric pressure housing containing the analysis components. This segmentation allows each part to operate in its optimal pressure environment without compromising the other.
3Reliability
If multiple sealing points are required for submersible operation, then pressure containment is improved, but maintenance intensity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
By extracting the housing from the pressure environment, the number of sealing points is reduced from multiple submersible seals to just one or two simple ports where sampling lines penetrate the pipe wall. This dramatically simplifies maintenance while maintaining pressure containment integrity.
4Duration of action of stationary object
If the sensor operates autonomously for long time periods, then maintenance frequency is reduced, but available detection technologies are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses passive pressure-driven fluid circulation and incorporates automated sample handling and analysis. The housing contains all necessary reagents and detection components, allowing autonomous operation for extended periods without human intervention while maintaining versatility through programmable analysis sequences.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a cost-effective, minimally invasive, and autonomously operating sensor that can continuously measure chlorine and other chemical parameters with low reactant consumption, ensuring long-term operation and safety by preventing reactant contamination of the water system.
Implementation Method 1
an outlet port of the analyzer is subjected to a second pressure lower than the first pressure in the pipe, such that the fluid passively moves from the pipe, on the one hand, to the analyzer via the mixer, and on the other hand, to said at least one tank
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a microfluidic sensor for analyzing a fluid which is in a pipe and which is under a first pressure. The sensor includes a mixer for mixing amount of fluid from the pipe with at least one amount of a reactant from at least one tank, and an analyzer for analyzing the resulting mixture. The sensor further includes a sampling channel for sampling an amount of the fluid in the pipe, in order to supply the fluid the mixer and to pressurize the at least one tank. According to the invention, an outlet of the analyzer is subjected to a second pressure that is lower than the first pressure in the pipe, such that the fluid passively moves from the pipe towards the analyzer via the mixer, as well as towards the tank.