PASSIVE FLOW-RATE REGULATORS USING THE PARALLEL MEMBRANE VALVES RECTIFYING DYNAMIC INLET PRESSURE

摘要

We present passive flow-rate regulators using parallel membrane valves rectifying dynamic inlet pressure. The parallel membrane valves in the passive flow-rate regulator are designed to deflect and adjust the flow resistance according to the inlet pressure, thus maintaining a constant flow-rate independent of the inlet pressure variation. The prototype was fabricated by PolyDiMethylSiloxane (PDMS) micromolding process. In the experimental study, the dynamic inlet pressure in the range of 20 and 50 kPa was applied at the varying frequency of 1～80 Hz and the outlet flow-rate was measured. The prototype maintained as the constant flow-rate of 5.82±0.29 μl/s at the dynamic inlet pressure. The present passive flow-rate regulator has shown the strong potential for the precise sample delivery in integrated microfluidic systems.