An engineering analysis of transient laminar flows in long microchannels.

An engineering model of a transient laminar flow from a pressurised vessel through a long microchannel under a condition of a rapid valve opening at a channel outlet is developed. A valve at the channel outlet, which is opening with a given speed, is modelled as a time-dependent boundary condition. Transient flows are investigated numerically by the method of characteristics. The calculations show that variations of pressure and velocity distributions along the channel over time, caused by a transient flow regime, decrease with a decrease in the channel diameter and the channel length, an increase in the time of valve opening and an increase in the fluid viscosity. © 2012 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]