Accurate prediction of the pressure drop through micro-pillar arrays is essential for many micro total analysis system (μTAS) applications (e.g., liquid chromatography and filtration). Minimizing the pressure drop for such applications is often vital for performing their primary functions efficiently. In this paper, numerical investigation of pressure drop through square micropillar arrays with different pillar diameter and pitch was conducted. Finite volume discretization method was employed for the numerical simulations using commercial code. Simulation results were validated against experimental data from the literature. A parametric study of geometric variables (pillar diameter, pitch, and height) was performed. Models available from the literature for predicting the permeability of a 2D micropillar array were accessed by comparison to the numerical results. Both dimensional analysis and simulation results were used to develop a new model for square arrangements of micropillar arrays which shows good agreement with numerical simulation results for both 2D and 3D cases. The maximum absolute error between the 3D simulation results and predicted value of the pressure drop has been decreased from 67.3% using a model from the literature to only 1.9% using the proposed model.
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