International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 118 (2018) 116–128

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International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhmt

Mass transport across porous wall of a microtube: A facile way

to diagnosis of diseased state
Saikat Bhattacharjee, Sirshendu De ⇑
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Mass transport characteristics of a neutral solute in a Casson fluid through a microtube with porous wall
Received 8 May 2017 under the influence of both pressure and electric field are attempted in this work. The velocity and con-
Received in revised form 7 September 2017 centration fields were derived from first principles analytically. The expression of Sherwood number was
Accepted 25 October 2017
obtained and impact of rheological parameters on Sherwood number was quantified. Influence of system
Available online 22 November 2017
parameters on solute transport characteristics in terms of permeation flux and concentration was estab-
lished in detail. Finally, a theoretical method was developed to identify the diseased state by detecting
Keywords:
the stagnation point in the microfluidic platform without any chemical reagents.
Casson fluid
Sherwood number
Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Microtube
Porous wall

1. Introduction
Microfluidics and nanofluidics are the engineering fields
attracting immense focus of the research community in last two
decades [1]. The main reason is introduction of miniaturized fluidic
devices and their immense applicability in medical science and
other fields [1]. These microfluidic devices have changed the out-
look of engineering replacing big scale plants by smaller seized
equipment, e.g., power plant on a chip [2]. Large volume reactors
are substituted by arrays of micro reactors having greater effi-
ciency and control of performance. Lab on chip technology has
become an alternative to whole pathological laboratory by a small
chip having potential for diagnosis of biofluids [3].
Physiological fluids are gaining importance in microfluidic
research. These fluids have widely varied rheological characteris-
tics and composition. They carry the signature of pathogens in dis-
eased conditions of the body. Virus and bacteria propagate by these
fluids from one location of the body to another. Malignant cells are
transported from its source to a new destination within the host
body and this phenomenon is known as metastasis leading to can-
cer [4]. Continued research efforts are undertaken in this area and
microfluidics can contribute in better understanding of underlying
transport phenomena substantially. Blood and Lymph are two
most abundant physiological fluids of human body and in terms
of volume percentage, blood is the most important one [5]. Blood
not only transports oxygen and essential nutrients to the cells
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sde@che.iitkgp.ernet.in (S. De).
but also works as the body coolant playing a critical role in body
defence mechanism [6]. Upon infection by pathogen, blood is the
first medium to be contaminated and one can diagnose the exact
disease by its analysis. Blood viscosity, threshold shear stress,
hematocrit level are some factors which are immensely important
for maintaining a stable health condition in a human body. If one of
these parameters is changed by any means, that may be fatal. On
the contrary, estimation of these parameters gives an idea about
any anomaly present in the body. Threshold shear stress of blood
changes depending on hematocrit level, concentration of triglyc-
eride, etc. Polycythemia is a diseased condition when blood hema-
tocrit level exceeds 50 and threshold shear stress (sc ) increases to
0.0183 Pa [7]. Hyperfibrinogenemia is a rare disease when sc
increases to 0.006 Pa [7]. Diabetic blood apparently does not show
any rheological abnormality but if the same blood possesses an
enhanced hematocrit level, the detection of blood glucose level
becomes difficult due to strong interference of hematocrit with
the diagnostic procedure [8]. Crohn’s disease is characterized by
critical symptoms, like, fistulae or stenoses and patients with these
symptoms generally need to undergo surgery. However, these dis-
eases can be detected by measuring the blood hematocrit level
which is not only easy but cost effective as well [9]. Rheological
changes in blood have an influence on platelets activation and
thrombus growth in the artery facilitating the fatal and life threat-
ening phenomenon of arteriole thrombosis [10]. Sepsis and septic
shocks are the major causes of (40%–50%) mortality rate in inten-
sive care units. Rheology of red blood cell is altered during the sep-
sis shocks in body that is responsible for change of the
microcirculation system leading to multiple organ failure and

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2017.10.102
0017-9310/Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 S. Bhattacharjee, S. De / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 118 (2018) 116–128 117

Notations

A coefficient defined in Eq. (12)
 Sc Schmidt number

A1 coefficient defined as, A1 ¼ 14 Re  Sc  dL G1 AðjR; G; sc Þ Sh(x⁄) axially varying Sherwood number
B coefficient defined as, B ¼ 3Pew ShL length averaged Sherwood number
8ðA1 Þ1=3
T temperature, K
3
c concentration of solute, kg/m u axial velocity, m/s
c⁄ non-dimensional concentration uHS Helmholtz-Smoluchowski velocity, m/s
c0 initial concentration u⁄ non-dimensional axial velocity
cp permeate concentration, kg/m3 ue electro-osmotic velocity
cw wall concentration, kg/m3 up Poiseuille velocity
c⁄w non-dimensional wall concentration usc shear stress velocity, m/s
d diameter of the tube, m usw normal stress velocity, m/s
D diffusivity, m2/s v y-directional velocity, m/s
e charge of an electron, 1:6  10
19 C vw permeate velocity, m/s
Ex axial electric field, v/m x axial co-ordinate, m
G ratio between shear stress velocity and Smoluchowski x⁄ non-dimensional axial co-ordinate
velocity R1  3  y longitudinal co-ordinate, m
I integral constant defined as, 0 exp
g9
Bg dg y⁄ non-dimensional longitudinal co-ordinate
I1 Bessel function of first kind z valency of ions
I0 zeroth order Bessel function
k mass transfer coefficient, m/s Greek symbols
kB Boltzmann constant, 1.38064852  10
23 m2 kg s
2 K
1 a1 osmotic pressure coefficient, m3.5 kg
0.5 s
2
k1 constant defined in Eq. (C8) a2 osmotic pressure coefficient
k2 constant defined in Eq. (C9) b constant term defined as, b ¼ Lp DPw Dd
L length of the tube, m d 
non dimensional thickness of mass transfer boundary
Lp permeability of the tube wall, m/Pa s layer
n1 Avogadro’s number, 6:023  1023 DP w trans wall pressure drop
p applied pressure, Pa e dielectric constant of the medium, C/V.m
Pew Peclet number g similarity parameter
Pew length averaged Peclet number j inverse Debye length, m
1
r radial co-ordinate, m jR scaled Debye length
r⁄ non-dimensional radius sc threshold shear stress, Pa
R radius of tube, m sw wall shear stress, Pa
Re Reynolds number n wall potential, V
Rr real retention w surface potential, V
s flow consistency index, s
1

death [11]. Therefore, monitoring of blood rheology can be an easy
tool to detect these diseases. Blood contains two main components,
plasma and corpuscles [6]. Blood plasma obeys the Newtonian
model of viscosity but when corpuscles are suspended within it,
the overall fluid exhibits non-Newtonian characteristics [12]. Many
attempts have been made to model rheological behaviour of blood
but each model has its own shortcomings. Appanaboyina et al.,
have considered blood as an incompressible Newtonian fluid in
their study [13]. Power law fluid has been used to model the rhe-
ology of blood many times but detailed investigation reveals that
there exists a threshold shear stress for blood to flow, negating
the power law as a valid rheological model [14,15]. Chakravarty
and Mondal [16] have reported blood to be non Newtonian fluid
with complex viscosity relationship but the threshold shear stress
is missing. Quemada model is another model depicting the rheo-
logical behaviour of blood in a realistic manner. Both Casson and
Quemada model give similar stress behaviour with shear rate in
the range of 10–100 s
1 [17]. Very few modeling approaches are
found considering blood as a Casson fluid [18]. This rheological
model is more pragmatic in capturing the flow behaviour of blood
successfully as it incorporates both nonlinearity and threshold
shear stress.
Study of heat transfer and flow characteristics in case of micro
and nano channels under the influence of combined pressure and
electric field is a well explored area. However, the study of mass
transfer has not received much attention of the research commu-
nity. Mass transport characteristics of transport of neutral
macrosolute in a micron sized conduit with porous wall is reported
considering Newtonian rheology under the effect of combined
pressure and electric field in case of a power law fluid [19,20].
The extended version of these works with power law rheology is
also available [21]. Shear dispersion in capillary tube with porous
wall has been studied but with Newtonian rheology [22,23]. Mass
transport characteristics of Power law fluid under combined elec-
troosmotic and Poiseuille flow are reported in microreactors with
impervious wall [24]. Chen et al., have studied mass transport in
a microchannel bio-reactor with porous wall using Newtonian rhe-
ology [25]. Dey and Raja Sekhar have studied the hydrodynamics
and mass transport in a microchannel considering a wall with an
asymmetric deformable lining under Newtonian flow conditions
[26]. However, in that work, the channel wall was not considered
porous. Apart from this, the more realistic Casson rheology that
is the closest for the blood was not attempted.
In the present work, effort has been made to bridge this gap,
considering Casson rheology for the fluid and flow through a
microtube with porous wall under combined pressure gradient
and electric field. Detailed study has been done to estimate the
combined velocity profile and Sherwood number. The parametric
variation of different variables represents various diseased condi-
tions and pathological states. An interesting analysis to predict
the permeation flux and permeate concentration has also been pre-
sented that will be useful in real life modeling of mass transport of
neutral solutes in blood and to identify the diagnosis of diseased
state.
118 S. Bhattacharjee, S. De / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 118 (2018) 116–128

2. Theory The steady state momentum balance in x-direction is

 
dp 1 d eEx d dw
2.1. Combined velocity profile in a microtube 0¼

ðsrÞ þ r ð3Þ
dx r dr r dr dr
In this paper, the mass transport characteristics of neutral where dp is the axial pressure gradient, s is the shear stress, Ex is the
dx
solute in microtube with porous wall have been investigated. The axial electrical field strength and e is the di-electric constant of the
flow geometry is presented in Fig. 1. The fluid element in the tube solution medium.
is transported under the influence of both pressure and electric The boundary conditions of Eq. (3) are
field. The assumptions involved in the analysis are: (i) steady state
flow; (ii) wall zeta potential is low so that Debye-Huckel approxi- du
at r ¼ 0; ¼0 ð3aÞ
mation is valid; (iii) electrolyte present in the fluid is symmetric in dr
nature; (iv) flow in the micro tube is fully developed; (v) wall of the
at r ¼ R; u¼0 ð3bÞ
tube is having low porosity so that the axial velocity profile is not
perturbed; (vi) adsorption of macrosolute on the pore wall and The shear stress term in Eq. (3) is directly related to rheology of
microtube surface is neglected. The electric potential distribution fluid. In this problem, the rheology is considered to follow the Cas-
under Debye-Huckel approximation is son model to explain the flow characteristics of blood [12]. The
  expression for velocity field is,
d dw
r r
j2 r 2 w ¼ 0 ð1Þ
dr dr du 1 pffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffi 2
¼ ð s
sc Þ ð4Þ
dr s
where w is the surface potential and thickness of electric double
where sc is the threshold shear stress and s is the flow consistency
layer (EDL), i.e., the Debye length j
1 is defined as
 
2 2
1=2
index, similar to the viscosity for Newtonian fluids. The value of
j
1 ¼ 2nej1 zB Te . threshold shear stress is a direct function of Hematocrit factor of
The relevant boundary conditions are as follows, blood [12]. This factor is related to the volume fraction of red blood
corpuscles varying significantly depending on various physiological
dw states. For normal human blood, the threshold shear stress is 0.002
at r ¼ 0; ¼0 ð1aÞ
dr Pa [12]. However, this value is changed for different species of ani-
mal and also for an individual under varied pathological conditions.
at r ¼ R; w¼f ð1bÞ The expression of the combined velocity profile is derived by Eq.
where f is the wall potential and R is the tube radius. Solving Eq. (1), (A8) in Appendix A. In terms of non-dimensional variables r ¼ Rr
the expression of electric potential distribution is obtained as [27], and u ¼ uuHS (where uHS is Helmholtz-Smolchowski velocity,
uHS ¼
eE2sx n), the velocity profile is expressed as,
I0 ðjrÞ
w¼f ð2Þ

I0 ðjRÞ ðI0 ðjRÞ
I0 ðjRr  ÞÞ
1 ð1
r2 ÞG

u ðr  Þ ¼ þ þ G21 ð1
r Þ
I0 ðjRÞ 2
Combined velocity profile is derived from the Navier Stokes
1=2
Z 1
equation considering electrical body force as an added term. The I1 ðjRr Þ 

2G1 ðjRÞ þ Gr dr ð5Þ
body force is calculated from classical Maxwell’s equations consid- r I0 ðjRÞ
ering the Maxwell’s stress and osmotic stress in tandem [27].

Fig. 1. Schematic of the flow geometry. The grey particles represent the neutral solute and the positive and negative particles are anions and cations present in the system.
 S. Bhattacharjee, S. De / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 118 (2018) 116–128 119

2
  qffiffiffiffiffi ( 1=2 )2
u
where up ¼ R2s dp , G ¼ uHSp ; usc ¼ scsR and G1 ¼ uuHS
sc .
I1 ðjRÞ
dx
u ¼ ðjRÞ þG
G1 y ð10Þ
I0 ðjRÞ
2.2. Mass transport of neutral solute across the porous wall and
It may be noted that the actual velocity profile presented by Eq.
Sherwood number
(5) takes the following form by replacing r  ¼ 1
y
( )
Transport of neutral solutes is analysed by solving the species ðI0 ðjRÞ
I0 ðjRð1
y ÞÞÞ
1 ð1
ð1
y Þ2 ÞG

convective-diffusive equation at the steady state in the microtube. uðy Þ ¼ þ
I0 ðjRÞ 2
 
@c @c 1 @ @c
u þv ¼ Dr ð6Þ þ G21 ð1
ð1
y ÞÞ
@x @r r @r @r Z 1
1=2
I1 ðjRð1
y ÞÞ 
Diffusivity of solute is typically in the range of 10
10 —10
12 m2/s þ 2G1 ðjRÞ þ Gð1
y Þ dy ð11Þ
r I0 ðjRÞ
(corresponding to biological molecules), making the Schmidt num-
ber (Sc) quite high of the order 104 —106 . Thickness of mass transfer The linearized approximate velocity profile (Eq. (10)) is com-
  puted and compared with exact profile (Eq. (11)) within 10% of
boundary layer is inversely proportional to Sc Rd  Sc11=3 and hence, the tube diameter. The comparison is presented in Fig. 2 and it is
it is about 10% of radius of microtube. Thus, the curvature effect of observed that the approximate profile is well within 10% of the
the tube can be neglected within mass transfer boundary layer exact profile.
and Eq. (6) can be expressed in cartesian coordinate system by defin-
ing y ¼ R
r, where y is the distance from tube wall [28]. Under this 2.3. Solution of mass transport
situation, Eq. (6) can be written as,
Linear velocity profile derived in Eq. (10) can be expressed as
@c @c @2c
u þv ¼D 2 ð7Þ u ¼ Ay where
@x @y @y
( 1=2 )2
As thickness of mass transfer boundary layer is very small, y- I1 ðjRÞ
A¼ ðjRÞ þG
G1 : ð12Þ
component velocity within boundary layer is almost equal to the I0 ðjRÞ
permeation velocity at the wall, i.e., (v 
v w ðxÞ) [29]. Hence,
the final form of the equation becomes, and it is substituted in Eq. (9) and the following equation is
resulted.
@c @c @2c
u
v w ðxÞ ¼D 2 ð8Þ
@x @y @y @c Pew @c @ 2 c
A1 y 
¼ ð13Þ
@x 2 @y @y2
Associated boundary conditions are as follows:


@c where A1 ¼ 14 Re  Sc  dL G1 AðjR; G; G1 Þ. Eq. (13) is a parabolic partial
at y ¼ 0; v w ðc
cp Þ þ D ¼ 0 ð8aÞ differential equation with one of its boundary at infinity, thereby
@y
admitting a similarity solution. Eq. (13) along with boundary condi-
and at y ! 1; c ¼ c0 ð8bÞ tions in Eqs. (9a)–(9c) is solved and the detailed solution procedure
is outlined in Appendix C. The concentration profile of solute within
where cp is the solute concentration in permeate and c0 is that in mass transfer boundary layer in term of similarity parameter ðgÞ is
the bulk. Defining non-dimensional variables, x ¼ xL (where, L is presented in Eq. (C8).
the length of the tube), y ¼ Ry and c ¼ cc0 , Eq. (8) and its boundary The mass transfer coefficient is defined as
conditions can be made dimensionless  
@c 
kðcw
c0 Þ ¼
D ð14Þ
  @y y¼0
1 d u @c Pew @c @ 2 c
Re  Sc 
¼ ð9Þ
4 L G @x 2 @y @y2 Making Eq. (14) non-dimensional, the expression of the Sher-
wood number is obtained as,
where Re ¼ qulsw d ; Sc ¼ qlD ; d ¼ 2R; Pew ¼ vDw d.
Generally, solute concentration on the porous wall in feed side
and that at the permeate are related to an intrinsic property of the 0.10
c Solid line : Exact solution Eq. (11)
porous wall, real retention (Rr) which is defined as, Rr ¼ 1
cwp
where, cw is the solute concentration at the wall. Rr is constant 0.08 Dotted line : Approximate solution Eq. (10)
for a combination of wall material, solute and solvent system [30].
Thus, the non-dimensional forms of the boundary conditions
are, 0.06
Error: 10%
 
x ¼ 0; c ¼1 ð9aÞ
u*

 0.04
@c 
at y ¼ 0; Pew cw Rr þ ¼0 ð9bÞ G=1
@y y
0.02 G1=1.5
R=20
at y ! 1; c ¼ 1 ð9cÞ
As argued earlier, the thickness of mass transfer boundary layer 0.00
0.000 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.010
is only 1% of microtube radius, the velocity profile within boundary
y*
layer can further be simplified assuming 1
y  1. Under this
condition, the velocity profile becomes linear and the detailed Fig. 2. Comparison between exact and approximate velocity profile within 10% of
derivation is presented in Appendix B. the tube diameter.
120 S. Bhattacharjee, S. De / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 118 (2018) 116–128

 
@c (i) At a particular x , value of cw is guessed.
kd @y
 y ¼0
Shðx Þ ¼ ¼
2  ð15Þ (ii) Pew is calculated from Eq. (23).
D cw
1 (iii) The parameter B is calculated from Eq. (C4).
The above equation is expressed in terms of similarity (iv) cW is calculated from Eq. (21).
parameter. (v) If the difference between the guess value and calculated
  value of cW is within 10
3 , then repeat steps (i) to (iv) for
 1=3 dc x þ Dx .
A 1
dg
g¼0
Shðx Þ ¼
2  ð16Þ (vi) If the difference between the guess value and calculated
x cw
1
value of cW is not within 10
3 , then another value of cW is
It may be observed from Eq. (C6) and its boundary conditions guessed till convergence.

that at g ¼ 0, dc
dg
¼ k1 and cw ¼ k2 . The expression of Sherwood (vii) Steps (i) to (vi) are repeated for the whole length of the
number is obtained after substituting the expressions of k2 and microtube.
k1 from Eqs. (C8) and (C9) in Eq. (16).
2.5. Asymptotic case
ðA1 Þ1=3 
1=3
Shðx Þ ¼ 2 x ð17Þ
I
Case 1: Newtonian fluid in an impervious tube wall
Now, to get the expression of length average Sherwood number, In case of mass transfer of a Newtonian fluid through an imper-
Eq. (17) is integrated over tube length. vious tube, sc ¼ 0, and G1 ¼ 0. Under these conditions, Eq. (20) is
3A1=3 reduced to classical Leveque equation [31].
ShL ¼ 1
ð18Þ
I  1
d 3
In the above equation, I is expressed in term of B (refer Eq. ShL ¼ 1:62 Re  Sc  ð26Þ
L
(C10)). The parameter B can be evaluated in terms of length aver-
aged wall Peclet number (Pew ) by integrating Eq. (C4) as, Case 2: Newtonian fluid in microtube with porous wall
In this case, sc is equated to 0 in Eq. (20) and n is equated to 1 in
3Pew Eq. (29) in Mondal and De [21]. Both lead to same expression of
B¼ ð19Þ
8ðA1 Þ1=3 length average Sherwood number presented below.

Substituting the expressions of A1 and B in Eq. (18), the follow-

1 1 13
3 Re:Sc: dL AðjR; GÞ
ing expression of length averaged Sherwood number is obtained. ShL ¼ 4 G ! ð27Þ
R1 g3


1 1 1 0
exp
9

Pew
1 g dg
3 Re  Sc  dL AðjR; G; G1 Þ 3 3ðð14Re:Sc:dLÞG1AðjR;GÞÞ3
ShL ¼ 4 G ! ð20Þ
R1 3 h i
0
exp
g9
Pew
1 g dg where A ¼ 4G þ 2ðjRÞ II10 ððjjRÞ .
3ðð14ReScdLÞG1 AðjR;G;G1 ÞÞ3 RÞ

2.4. Algorithm for calculation of permeation flux and concentration 3. Result and discussion
across the tube wall
Operating conditions and constants
Solute concentration at the tube wall is evaluated at g ¼ 0 and Different property values and operating conditions have been
from Eq. (C11), its expression is, listed in Table 1.

1
cw ¼ R1  3  ð21Þ 3.1. Benchmarking of present formulation and testing with literature
1
BRr 0
exp
g9
Bg dg data

Solvent flux across the tube wall can be calculated from the
Eq. (27) shows that for Newtonian fluid both the present study
Darcy’s equation which is as follows,
and previous work by Mondal and De [21], predicting the same
v w ¼ Lp ðDPw
DpÞ ð22Þ expression of length averaged Sherwood number. Further attempt
has been made to match the length averaged permeation flux pro-
Here, DP w is the transmembrane pressure drop across the tube, Dp files for the present scenario with the profiles obtained by Mondal
is osmotic pressure difference and Lp is the permeability of the por- and De [21] for limiting case of a Newtonian fluid, for both assist-
ous wall. ing and opposing flow, as presented in Fig. 3. This figure shows a
Non dimensional form of this equation is given as
 
Dp
Pew ¼ b 1
ð23Þ Table 1
DP w Operating conditions and property values.

where b ¼ Lp DPw Dd . Osmotic pressure is related to the concentration Solute diffusivity, m2/s 10
10
of the neutral species using the following relationship, Tube diameter, m 200  10
6
Pressure drop across the tube (DP w ), kPa 50
p ¼ a1 ca2 ð24Þ a1 (osmotic pressure coefficient), m3:5 kg
0:5 s
2 1000
a2 (osmotic pressure coefficient) 1.5
Osmotic pressure difference across the porous tube is given as, Rr 0.9
jR 20
Dp ¼ pw
pp ¼ a1 ca02 cwa2 ½1
ð1
Rr Þa2  ð25Þ m
Lp , Pas: 10
11
The following algorithm is used to calculate the permeation flux Re  Sc  dL 103
and solute concentration in permeate, sc , Pa. 0.002
 S. Bhattacharjee, S. De / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 118 (2018) 116–128
remarkable parity between these profiles, confirming validity of
present formulation.
3.2. Effects on Sherwood number of rheological parameter
Sherwood number is defined as the ratio of convective to the
diffusive mass transport. High Sherwood number indicates the
dominance of convection over diffusion. In the present scenario,
both diffusive and convective transport of neutral species occur
simultaneously across the porous wall of the tube. Major driving
force for convection within the tube is the combined pressure
and electric field which works in synergy or discord depending
on the direction of the applied fields. When both these fields are
in same direction, the actuated flow is called the assisting flow.
Profiles of Sherwood number along the length of microtube for var-
ious operating parameters in case of assisting flow are presented in
Fig. 4. The general trend observed in this figure is that Sherwood
number decreases along the tube length. As the mass transfer
boundary layer develops along the length, the diffusive resistance
against the permeation also increases. Thus, the Sherwood number
is more at the leading edge compared to the downstream of the
tube. For example, at the set of conditions denoted by 1 in this fig-
ure, Sherwood number decreases from a very high value to 0.2 at
the end of the microtube. Effect of G is apparent from the curves
3 and 4. As already mentioned, lowering in G is associated with
increase in uHS at constant up . This enhances the axial convective
flow along the tube, restricting the growth of mass transfer bound-
ary layer, thereby increasing the Sherwood number by decreasing
the resistance against permeation. For example, at the end of
microtube, local Sherwood number increases from 0.47 to 0.6, with
a reduction in G from 2 to 0.5. Effect of jR is observed from curves
2 and 3. jR determines thickness of EDL formed within the tube.
Large jR indicates thickness of EDL is less. Such an EDL is called
compact EDL where the ionic packing is very dense at the vicinity
of the wall. At jR ¼ 20, the typical thickness of EDL is 5 lm (tube
diameter is taken as 200 lm as presented in Table 1). Thickness of
mass transfer boundary layer can be estimated as discussed in Sec-
tion 2.2. Considering the effective viscosity and density of blood
plasma as those of water and with the solute diffusivity 10
10
m2/s (refer Table 1), Schmidt number is in the order of 104 and
the thickness of mass transfer boundary layer is 4.8 lm. This
makes the mass transfer boundary layer and EDL thicknesses are
0.490
Solid line : Present work
Symbols : Data in [21]
Opposing flow Assisting flow
0.485
Pew
0.480
0.475
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
G
Fig. 3. Comparison of simulation result with the literature data [21] under
Newtonian rheology. n = 1 for Mondal and De [21] and sc ¼ 0 for present work.
Other parameters are presented in Table 1.
121
100
1. R=20; G=2; c=0.02 Pa
2. R=5; G=2; c=0.002 Pa
3. R=20; G=2; c=0.002 Pa
10 4. R=20; G=0.5; c=0.002 Pa
3
Sh(x*)
2 4
1
1
0.1
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
x*
Fig. 4. Variation of Sherwood number with length of the microtube for different
value of kR, G and sc. All other parameters are from Table 1.
of the same order, i.e., d=j
1  1. Thus, at this jR, the EDL thickness
provides sufficient resistance against the solute transport through
the boundary layer leading to augmented concentration polariza-
tion. Enhanced concentration polarization increases the osmotic
pressure difference thereby reducing the driving force for perme-
ation and results reduction in Sherwood number. On the other
hand, for jR ¼ 5, the ratio of mass transfer boundary layer to
EDL thickness is d=j
1  0:25. This indicates EDL thickness is about
4 times the thickness of the boundary layer. Therefore, the resis-
tance offered by EDL against the solute transport within the
boundary layer is less thereby reducing the concentration polariza-
tion. As a result, solution osmotic pressure difference across the
wall decreases enhancing permeation across the wall and the Sher-
wood number. At the end of microtube, Sherwood number
increases from 0.3 to 0.5 as jR changes from 5 to 20. Effect of sc
is evident from curves 1 and 3. Resistance against the convective
flow increases with yield stress, thereby reducing the effective
velocity in the tube. Reduction in effective velocity lowers the Rey-
nolds number in the tube promoting concentration polarization,
thereby lowering the Sherwood number at a particular location.
At the end of microtube, Sherwood number decreases from 0.5 to
0.2 as sc is enhanced from 0.002 to 0.02 Pa.
Variation of length averaged Sherwood number with G for dif-
ferent values of yield stress is shown in Fig. 5(a) for an assisting
flow. As discussed earlier, G represents the ratio of Poiseuille veloc-
ity to electroosmotic velocity. At a fixed yield stress, it is observed
that the average Sherwood number decreases with G. Since, curves
in this figure are generated at a fixed Reynolds number (defined on
usw ), i.e., Re:Sc: dL ¼ 103 , increase in G is realized by decreasing the
Smoluchowski velocity uHS . Since the electroosmotic flow is assist-
ing the Poiseuille flow in this case, overall convective velocity in
the microtube decreases with G, resulting in lowering the mass
transfer coefficient and hence the Sherwood number as discussed
earlier. For example, at sc ¼ 0:0002 Pa, average Sherwood number
decreases from 32 to 17 as G increases from 0.05 to 10. Yield stress
is property of a particular fluid which determines the minimum
amount of shear needed to impart a flow. Below the yield stress,
the fluid acts as a solid. Some amount of shear is expended to over-
come the initial inertia offered by the threshold shear stress in
order to make the fluid flow. Thus, fluids with high threshold shear
stress face more resistance against convection. Effects of yield
stress on Sherwood number are clear from this figure. For a fixed
G, Sherwood number decreases with yield stress. For example,
Sherwood number decreases from 22 to 11 as sc increases from
0.0002 to 0.02 Pa, when both Poiseuille and electroosmotic
122 S. Bhattacharjee, S. De / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 118 (2018) 116–128

50 responding variation of average permeate concentration of solute

(a) c= 0.02 Pa is presented in Fig. 6(b). As discussed, with increase in concentra-
c=0.002 Pa tion polarization with G, the solute concentration at wall increases
40 leading to permeation of more solutes across the porous wall of
c= 0.0002 Pa
microtube by diffusion. For example, at jR ¼ 20, average nondi-
30 mensional permeate concentration increases from 0.22 to 0.33,
as G increases from 0.1 to 10. Variation of Pew and cp with jR is also
ShL

apparent from these figures. As discussed earlier, higher jR repre-

20 3 sents a compact double layer offering less resistance to the perme-
ation across the wall, thereby increasing the permeation flux and
2 decreasing the permeate concentration.
10
1 Effect of opposing flow (electroosmotic flow is opposite to Poi-
seuille flow) is also presented in Fig. 6(a) and (b), on permeation
0 flux and permeate concentration. As electroosmotic flow opposes
0 2 4 6 8 10 the Poiseuille flow, the overall convective flow in the axial direc-
G tion of microtube decreases, leading to higher concentration polar-
ization and as a result the permeation flux decreases with G. At a
140
(b) particular G value, the electroosmotic and Poiseuille flow nullify
R=1
120 each other leading to a stagnation flow or zero flow condition. Such
R=10
scenario happens for G = 0.5 for jR ¼ 1 and G = 5 for jR ¼ 5.
R=20 At a fixed jR, electroosmotic flow is predominant at lower value
100
of G and the overall flow in microtube is in the direction of elec-
80 troosmotic flow. As G increases, electroosmotic velocity decreases
and the net flow in the microtube decreases but still in the direc-
ShL

60 tion of electroosmotic flow. As discussed earlier, this would result

in enhanced concentration polarization and hence permeation flux
40 decreases. For example, at jR ¼ 20, permeation flux decreases
3 from 4.82 to 4.65 as G increases from 0.1 to 10. At G = 0.5 for
20 2 jR ¼ 1, both electroosmotic and Poiseuille flows are almost equal
1 and opposite, giving rise to zero flow situation. Further increase
0 in G indicates lowering of electroosmotic flow even more resulting
0 2 4 6 8 10
G in a flow reversal in the direction of pressure driven flow. At higher
value of G, Poiseuille flow dominates and enhanced convection in
Fig. 5. Variation of Sherwood number with G for different values of (a) threshold the microtube reduces concentration polarization and hence, per-
shear stress and (b) scaled Debye length. All other data are taken from Table 1.
meation flux increases. For example, at jR ¼ 1, Pew increases with
G and finally reaches a value of 4.8 at G = 10. At higher jR, Debye
velocities are equal (G = 1). The resistance against the convective length is compressed and it becomes comparable with the mass
flow in the microtube increases with yield stress, as discussed transfer boundary layer and hence offers additional resistance
above, leading to decrease in mass transfer coefficient (ratio of con- against the solute transport through porous wall. Thus, at higher
vective to diffusive flow) and hence Sherwood number. jR, flow reversal takes place at relatively lower value of electroos-
Effect of jR on average Sherwood number in case of assisting motic flow, i.e., at higher G. For example, stagnation point occurs at
flow is presented in Fig. 5(b). For a fixed G, Sherwood number G = 5 at jR ¼ 5.
increases with jR. For example, Sherwood number increases from Corresponding behaviour of solute concentration in permeate is
15 to 25 as jR increases from 1 to 20 at G = 2. Higher jR indicates a observed and is presented in Fig. 6(b). As observed from this figure,
compact electric double layer leading to less resistance against the permeate concentration increases with G in case of electroosmotic
convective flow resulting into higher Sherwood number. flow assisting Poiseuille flow. As discussed earlier, increase in G
Thus, by tuning the parameters like, electroosmotic velocity and favours more concentration polarization in microtube, thereby,
electrolyte concentration (jR), the interplay between convective increasing the permeation of more solutes and consequently, per-
and diffusive transport of solute can be altered for various patho- meate concentration increases. For example, at jR ¼ 5, dimension-
logical conditions (reflected by sc ) of the patient. less average permeate concentration increases from 0.24 to 0.37 as
G increases from 0.1 to 10, leading to 54% increase in permeate
3.3. Effect of system parameters on solute transport concentration. Permeate concentration is more at lower jR at a
fixed G. For example, at G = 1, average dimensionless permeate
Variation of average nondimensional permeation flux (Pew ) concentration increases from 0.26 to 0.37 as jR is reduced from
with G is presented in Fig. 6(a), for both assisting and opposing 20 to 1.
flow. In case of assisting flow, average permeation flux decreases An interesting observation is noted in case of opposing flow. In
with G at a fixed Reynolds number. As discussed earlier, increase that case, at stagnation point, flow is stationary leading to maxi-
in G indicates a lower electroosmotic velocity, thereby reduction mum concentration polarization and the solute permeates the
in convective flow. This would reduce the shearing effect on the most and its concentration reaches maximum in the permeate
mass transfer boundary layer over the wall of microtube, thereby i.e., same as feed concentration. Beyond stagnation point, flow
increasing the concentration polarization and hence the solute reversal takes place and concentration polarization is reduced by
concentration at the wall. This, in turn, increases the solution the enhanced convection due to electroosmotic flow and permeate
osmotic pressure across the wall and reduces the effective driving concentration decreases again. Therefore, it is clearly evident that
force and hence the permeation flux. For example, Pew decreases variation of G and jR has pronounced effect on the solute concen-
from 4.82 to 4.72 with increase in G from 0.1 to 10 at jR ¼ 20. Cor- tration in permeate compared to permeation flux.
 S. Bhattacharjee, S. De / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 118 (2018) 116–128 123

5.0 1.0
(a) (b) 1: κR=1
3 2: κR=5
4.8
0.8 3: κR=20
1 2 Solid line : Assisting
4.6 Dotted line : Opposing
1: κR=1 2
Pew

0.6

C *p
2: κR=5 2
4.4 1
3: κR=20 1
Solid line : Assisting 1
0.4
4.2 Dotted line : Opposing 2

3
4.0 0.2
0.1 1 10 0.1 1 10
G
G

5.0 0.6
(c) 1: Re.Sc.d/L=10
(d)
4.9 2: Re.Sc.d/L=103 1
3 0.5
4.8 32 3. Re.Sc.d/L=105
2 Solid line : Assisting 1
4.7 0.4 Dotted line : Opposing
1: Re.Sc.d/L=10
Pew

Cp*
4.6 2: Re.Sc.d/L=103 0.3
1 2
4.5 3: Re.Sc.d/L= 105
Solid line : Assisting
0.2 3 2
4.4 Dotted line : Opposing 3
4.3 0.1
0.1 1 10 0.1 1 10
G
G

5.0 0.4
(e) (f) 1: Rr=0.8 1
2: Rr=0.9
0.3 3: Rr=0.95 1

4.8
1: Rr=0.8 1 2
Pew

0.2 Solid line : Assisting

Cp*

1
2: Rr=0.9 2 Dotted line : Opposing
3: Rr=0.95 3 2
Solid line : Assisting 2
3 0.1 3
4.6 Dotted line : Opposing
3

0.0
0.1 1 10 0.1 1 10
G G

Fig. 6. Variation of permeation and permeate concentration for different operating conditions, (a) and (b) for jR; (c) and (d) for ReSc dL; (e) and (f) for real retention (Rr). All
other parameters are from Table 1.

Effects of Re  Sc  dL on average permeation flux and permeate
concentration are presented in Fig. 6(c) and (d), respectively. The
term Re  Sc  dL contains Reynolds number defined on Poiseuille
velocity up , Schmidt number, a combination of fluid and solute
properties and geometric factor dL. Assuming solution and solute
properties and geometry of flow channel remain unaltered, varia-
tion of Re  Sc  dL can be realized by varying Reynolds number only,
i.e., the Poiseuille velocity. As Re  Sc  dL increases, the Poiseuille
flow dominates, enhancing the axial convection in the microtube,
thereby, reducing the thickness of mass transfer boundary layer
due to imposed enhanced forced convection and hence concentra-
tion polarization. As a result, the solute concentration at the wall
decreases, thereby, increasing the effective driving force and hence,
permeation flux. For example, at G = 10 average permeation flux
increases from 4.5 to 4.8 as Re  Sc  dL increases from 10 to 105, in
case of assisting flow. In case of opposing flow, similar behaviour
is obtained as expected. However, effects of Reynolds number are
marginal.
Variation of average solute concentration in permeate with
Re  Sc  dL is shown in Fig. 6(d). Just reverse trend is followed com-
pared to Fig. 6(c). Increase in Reynolds number decreases concen-
tration polarization as discussed, thereby reducing the average
solute concentration in the permeate. For example, average dimen-
sionless solute concentration decreases from 0.5 to 0.2 as Re  Sc  dL
increases from 10 to 105 in case of assisting flow. Similar behaviour
is observed for opposing flow.
The parameter, real retention Rr signifies the porosity of the
wall. This term is derived from the hydrodynamic model for porous
124 S. Bhattacharjee, S. De / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 118 (2018) 116–128

media proposed by Anderson and Quinn [32]. Real retention term
is related to the molecular sieving parameter as described by
Opong and Zydney [30]. There exist experimental methods, like
velocity variation technique [33,34] and conduction of experi-
ments under low polarization conditions (low feed concentration
of solute, high turbulence and low transwall pressure drop) [35],
to determine the value of Rr. More porous wall is represented by
low Rr values and denser wall is denoted by large Rr. Effects of Rr
on permeation flux and average solute concentration in permeate
are shown in Fig. 6(e) and (f), respectively. Permeation flux is more
at lower Rr or more porous wall. Similar trend is observed for both
assisting and opposing flows. However, variations are marginal for
range of Rr between 0.8 to 0.95. On the other hand, this range of Rr
has a dominant effect on average permeate concentration. In case
of assisting flow, permeate concentration increases at lower Rr.
For example, at G = 10, average nondimensional permeate concen-
tration increases from 0.08 to 0.33 (almost four times) as Rr
decreases from 0.95 to 0.8. In case of opposing flow, at G = 10, per-
meate concentration increases from 0.1 to 0.4 (300%) as Rr changes
from 0.95 to 0.8. Thus, the wall porosity, clubbed into the param-
eter Rr can affect the solute transport to a great extent.
3.4. Effects of solute osmotic pressure coefficients on solute transport
Solution osmotic pressure plays an important role for solute
transport across the porous wall. Effect of osmotic coefficient a1
on average permeate flux is presented in Fig. 7(a). Increase in
solute osmotic coefficient leads to enhancement of osmotic pres-
sure at solute-membrane interface resulting in a reduction of driv-
ing force (refer Eq. (24)) and consequently the permeation flux
decreases at a fixed G. This trend is similar for both assisting and
opposing flow. For example, at G = 10, permeation flux is reduced
from 4.84 to 4.43 (8.4% reduction) as a1 changes from 500 to
2500 m3.5 kg
0.5 s
2, for assisting flow. This effect is more for
opposing flow as discussed earlier. In this case, electroosmotic
and Poiseuille flow are in opposite direction and hence, the net
convective flow in axial direction is less, increasing the concentra-
tion polarization. This will lead to increase in osmotic pressure, and
hence, lower the effective driving force, reducing the permeation
flux further with a1 at a fixed G. For example, permeation flux is
decreased from 4.8 to 4.3 at G = 10, effecting 10% reduction as a1
changes from 500 to 2500 m3.5 kg
0.5 s
2. It may be observed from
this figure that effect of opposing flow is pronounced from G = 1.0
onwards. Variation of non-dimensional solute concentration in
permeate with a1 is demonstrated in Fig. 7(b). It can be observed
that the effect of change of osmotic coefficient on permeate con-
centration is more dominant. For example, at G = 10, change in
a1 from 500 to 2500 m3.5 kg
0.5 s
2 leads to rise in permeate con-
centration from 0.15 to 0.26 (73% increase), in case of assisting
flow. In case of opposing flow, increase in cp is 66%. As already dis-
cussed, increase in solution osmotic pressure leads to concentra-
tion polarization, thereby, increasing the solute permeation
through the porous wall.
3.5. Effect of threshold shear stress on wall permeation and permeate
concentration

Threshold shear stress is a direct function of Hematocrit factor

4.9 of blood. The mathematical relationship between the threshold
(a) 1 shear stress and Hematocrit is given as sc ¼ ðHct
Hct c Þ3 , where
4.8
2 Hctc is the critical Hematocrit level [12]. If due to some pathologi-
cal conditions the blood Hematocrit level decreases there will be
4.7
Solid-line : Assisting an increase in threshold shear stress. It is commonly found that
Dotted-line : Opposing in case of leukaemia, dengue, anaemia, blood Hematocrit level
4.6
decreases drastically. Hematocrit factor is defined as the fraction
Pew

3
of blood composed of red blood cells (RBC). This is measured by
4.5 =500 m3.5kg-0.5s-2 centrifugation of blood in a characteristic tube called the Hemat-
ocrit tube. Red blood cells cannot be properly packed within a con-
4.4 =1000 m3.5kg-0.5s-2
fined volume. There exists almost 3–4 vol% of plasma within two
=2500 m3.5kg-0.5s-2 RBC molecules making the packing volume less dense and renders
4.3
calculation of exact Hematocrit level erroneous by conventional
0.1 1.0 10.0 methods. By the technique elaborated in this work, one can cir-
G cumvent the inaccuracies involved in measurement of Hematocrit
level by directly measuring the threshold shear stress of blood and
0.30 still can analyse the diseased state more precisely.
(b) 1. m3.5kg-0.5s-2 Change in threshold shear stress affects the transport of solutes
across the porous wall. As the threshold shear stress increases
m3.5kg-0.5s-2 under diseased conditions, a substantial part of shear is expended
0.25
to actuate the flow, thereby reducing the net velocity in the tube,
3. m3.5kg-0.5s-2
promoting more concentration polarization and hence lowering
3 the permeation flux. This effect is clearly demonstrated in Fig. 8.
0.20
p

For assisting flow at a fixed G, average wall concentration increases

C*

Solid-line : Assisting
with sc due to more concentration polarization. For example, at G
Dotted line : Opposing = 10, the non-dimensional solute concentration at wall increases
2
0.15 from 1.97 to 2.36 as sc changes from 0.002 to 0.02 Pa. This will
result in permeation of more solutes due to concentration gradient
1 across the porous wall. In case of opposing flow, solute concentra-
tion at wall also increases but in this case, the effect is more pro-
0.10
0.1 1 10 nounced due to reduction in net convective flow (due to
opposing flow) and intensified concentration polarization. In fact,
G
at stagnation points, the wall concentration reaches maximum.
Fig. 7. Variation of permeate (a) flux and (b) permeate concentration with different At these conditions, the concentration polarization is also the high-
values of osmotic coefficient. (All other parameters used are given in Table 1). est and the same is the solute permeation.
 S. Bhattacharjee, S. De / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 118 (2018) 116–128 125

4 stress. In fact, stagnation points occur at lower value of G at higher

1. R=20; c=0.002 Pa threshold shear stress. This is due to the fact that higher shear
2. R=5; c=0.002 Pa stress reduces the Poiseuille flow more effectively. For example,
3. R=20; c=0.02 Pa stagnation point occurs at G = 8 at sc ¼ 0:0002 Pa and it is reduced
3 to G = 0.43 at sc ¼ 0:02 Pa. As discussed earlier, the solute concen-
3 tration in permeate is the maximum (refer Fig. 9b) at stagnation
points. It may be noted that stagnation points can be attained by
tuning the electric field strength and hence the Smoluchowski
cw
*

2 velocity (uHS) and they can be detected by observing the flow or

measuring the solute concentration in permeate. The change in
2 1 mass transport characteristics (i.e., by measuring the solute con-
centration in permeate) with Hematocrit can be manipulated in a
Solid line : Assisting Lab on chip or Lab on a CD device to detect human pathological
1
Dotted line : Opposing conditions [36]. Therefore, the diseased state can be diagnosed of
(by identifying the stagnation point) without any chemical
0.1 1 10 reagents and subsequent rigorous analysis.
G
3.5.1. Case study with rheological parameters of real life diseased
Fig. 8. Variation of wall concentration for different values of kR and sc. Values of blood
other parameters are from Table 1. Fig. 10 shows the profiles of permeate flux and solute concen-
tration in the permeate for two different diseased states for oppos-
ing flow situation. In the figure, curves 1 and 2 correspond to the
Variation of non-dimensional permeate flux and solute concen- blood of polycythemia and hyperfibrinogenemia having sc value
tration in permeate is presented in Fig. 9(a) and (b), respectively. 0.0183 Pa and 0.006 Pa, respectively. It can be observed that for
As observed from Fig. 9(a), at G = 10, the non-dimensional perme- these cases, stagnation points occur at G = 0.43 and 2.9 (curves 1
ation flux decreases from 4.8 to 4.75 with increase in sc from and 2). Thus, once the conditions (i.e., G and jR values) for stagna-
0.0002 to 0.02 Pa, in case of assisting flow. However, this variation tion points are calibrated with the rheological parameters of the
is marginal. An interesting phenomenon is observed in case of blood under diseased states, their detection can be easier.
opposing flow. In this case, the stagnation points occur at distinct Merrill presented an in-depth study of changes in shear stress of
conditions, corresponding to various values of threshold shear blood with different diseased conditions of human body [7]. In
order to validate the present diagnostic procedure, a case study
5.1 has been considered with the data in literature. Polycythemia is
(a) a diseased state, occurs in human body when the hematocrit level
5.0 exceeds 50. The typical shear stress of blood in this circumstance is
0.0183 Pa and the stress versus strain curve of a polycythemic
4.9
blood is available [7]. The following procedure is used to evaluate
1 the shear strain at different radial locations in the tube.
4.8 3
2
Pew

4.7 (i) Value of sc is taken as the input from literature [7] to calcu-
1: c=0.0002 Pa late G and G1 at stagnation point by the help of algorithm
2: c=0.002 Pa
2
4.6 presented in Section 2.4.
3

3: c=0.02 Pa (ii) From Eq. (5), strain rate du is calculated for a particular
1 dr 
4.5 Solid line : Assisting
value of r  using G (=0.42) and G1 (=0.048) obtained from
Dottedline : Opposing
step (i).
4.4
0.1 1 10
5.2
G
1: c=0.0183 Pa [7] 0.5
2: c=0.006 Pa [7]
c=0.0002 Pa 5.0
0.5 (b) 0.4
2: c=0.002 Pa 1
3: c=0.02 Pa
0.4 4.8 0.3
Pew

Solid line : Assisting

C*

Dotted line : Opposing

p

1 0.2
C*p

0.3 4.6
3 2 2
0.1
0.2 2
3 1 4.4
0.1 1 10
0.1
0.1 1 10 G

G Fig. 10. Permeate flux and permeate concentration profile for real life pathogenic
blood sample for opposing flow (curve 1: polycythemic blood; curve 2: hyperfib-
Fig. 9. Variation of (a) permeate flux and (b) permeate concentration for different rinogenemic blood). Values of other parameters are from Table 1. Solid lines are for
threshold shear stress. Values of other parameters are from Table 1. Pew and dotted lines are for cp .
126 S. Bhattacharjee, S. De / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 118 (2018) 116–128

14 Conflict of interest
Experimental strain rate [7]
13 Strain rate data obtained from simulation The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest relevant to
this work.
12
Appendix A
sec-0.5)

11
The form of the momentum transport equation with the electri-
10 cal body force as the added tram is given in Eq. (3) as,
Error bar: ±5%
   
9 1 d eEx d dw dp
ðr sÞ ¼ r þ ðA1Þ
r dr r dr dr dx
8
on integration which generates the following equation.
7  
0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 dw r 2 dp
rs ¼ eEx r þ þ c1 ðA2Þ
r* dr 2 dx

Fig. 11. Benchmarking of strain rate data for polycythemia disease.

dw
at r ¼ 0; ¼ 0; hence c1 ¼ 0:
dr
Rheology of Casson fluid that gives the following relationship
(iii) Strain rate at the same location of tube is estimated from the between shear rate and shear stress is given in Eq. (4),
experimental stress versus strain curve provided for poly-
du 1 pffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffi 2
cythemic blood [7]. ¼ ð s
sc Þ ðA3Þ
dr s
Comparison of experimentally estimated data with theoreti- Incorporation of the expression of s in Eq. (A2) produces the fol-
cally calculated ones is presented in Fig. 11 and they show a close lowing expression of du
dr
as follows.
agreement confirming validation of diagnostic scheme proposed
( 1=2 )2
here. du 1 dw r dp pffiffiffiffiffi
¼ eEx þ
sc ðA4Þ
dr s dr 2 dx

4. Conclusion Eq. (2) gives the potential profile within the channel as,
I0 ðjrÞ
Key physical findings from the present study are summarized w¼f ðA5Þ
I0 ðjRÞ
as: (i) the velocity field of a Casson fluid, rheologically similar to
blood is derived from first principles for a combined pressure dri- Incorporation of which in Eq. (A4) produces the following
ven and electroosmotic flow in a microtube. This provides a lead to equation.
understand the convective transport in physiological systems on    (   1=2 )2
microfluidic platform; (ii) this study provides an in-depth insight du 1 I1 ðjrÞ r dp pffiffiffiffiffi
¼ eEx jn þ
sc ðA6Þ
to underlying principles in mass transport across the porous wall dr s I0 ðjRÞ 2 dx
of the micro/nano confinement, in case of blood like rheology. Phy-
sics of solute transport in such a case has lasting implication in Now, following non-dimensional parameters are defined as,
quantification of nutrient transport from the porous arteries/veins
  rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
to cells in a physiological system along with its regulation by r eEx n 1 dp sc R
changing relevant operating conditions. Sherwood number was r ¼ ; uHS ¼ ; up ¼ ; usc ¼ :
R l 2s dx s
increased by 88% as G was changed from 0.05 to 10, at jR ¼ 20.
Similarly, increase in jR from 1 to 20 led to 67% increase in Sher- Incorporation of these parameters in Eq. (A6) results into,
wood number at G = 2. Sherwood number decreased by half as crit-
ical yield stress of Casson fluid increased from 0.0002 Pa to 0.02 Pa, ( 1=2 )2
at G = 1 and jR ¼ 20; (iii) the flow physics eventually elicits the du I1 ðjRr  Þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 ¼ uHS ðjRÞ þ up r 
usc ðA7Þ
conditions for occurrence of stagnation points in the microtube, dr I0 ðjRÞ
indicated by a sharp jump of solute concentration in the permeate
side. This unique phenomenon can be utilized to calibrate the mea- Again following ratios are assumed in order to make Eq. (A7) fully
qffiffiffiffiffi
u
surable conditions corresponding to the stagnation points with the non-dimensional as, u ¼ uuHS ; G ¼ uHSp ; G1 ¼
us c
uHS
; which ultimately
threshold shear stress of blood rheology under diseased conditions. give rise to the following two equations.
Stagnation points could be identified by the operating condition at
which permeate concentration was close to feed concentration and ( 1=2 )2

they are strong function of critical shear stress (sc ), i.e., the rheo- du I1 ðjRr  Þ
 ¼ ðjRÞ þ Gr 
G1 ðA8Þ
logical parameter. For example, stagnation point occurred at a con- dr I0 ðjRÞ
dition G = 8 and jR ¼ 20 for sc ¼ 0:0002 Pa. For every sc , there


existed a characteristics unique stagnation point for a particular du I1 ðjRr Þ

 ¼ ðjRÞ þ Gr þ G21
combination of G and jR. This work, therefore, leads to a way for- dr I0 ðjRÞ
ward to develop a diagnostic device for identifying a class of criti-
1=2
I1 ðjRr Þ
cal diseases by exploiting the interplay between blood rheology
2G1 ðjRÞ þ Gr ðA9Þ
and microfluidic parameters. I0 ðjRÞ
 S. Bhattacharjee, S. De / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 118 (2018) 116–128 127

Integration of Eq. (A9) gives 

 13
similarity parameter g ¼ yd ¼ y A1
from Eq. (B2). Then each every

2
x
ðI0 ðjRÞ
I0 ðjRr ÞÞ
1 ð1
r ÞG derivative of Eq. (B1) is converted in terms of the similarity param-
u ðr  Þ ¼ þ
I0 ðjRÞ 2 eter g and after algebraic manipulation following equation Eq. (B3)
Z 1 
1=2
I 1 jRr Þ
ð 
is generated
þ G21 ð1
r  Þ
2G1 ðjRÞ þ Gr dr ðA10Þ
r I0 ðjRÞ 2 
d c dc g2
¼

B ðC3Þ
dg2 dg 3
Appendix B
where

From Eq. (A6) the velocity gradient is found to be  1

Pew x 3
B¼ : ðC4Þ
   (   1=2 )2 2 A1
du 1 I ðjrÞ r dp pffiffiffiffiffi
¼ eEx jn 1 þ
sc ðB1Þ
dr s I0 ðjRÞ 2 dx The boundary conditions of Eqs. 9(b) and 9(c) are expressed in
terms of similarity parameters are
Now, as mentioned in Section 2.2 the coordinate with the mass 
dc
transfer boundary layer is transformed as follows, at g ¼ 0 BRr cm þ ¼0 ðC5Þ
dg
r ¼R
y ðB2Þ
In non-dimensional form which looks like at g ¼ 1 c ¼ 1 ðC6Þ

r  ¼ 1
y ðB3Þ Solution of Eq. (C3) along with above boundary conditions is

Z g  
where r ¼ Rr and y ¼ Ry. Again if Eq. (B1) is made non-dimensional g3
c ðgÞ ¼ k1 exp

Bg dg þ k2 ðC7Þ
to remodel it as, 0 9
(
1=2 )2 Integration constants k1 and k2 are evaluated using boundary
du I1 ðjr  RÞ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 ¼ uHS j þ up r
usc ðB4Þ conditions Eqs. (C5) and (C6) as,
dr I0 ðjRÞ
 
BRr
k1 ¼
ðC8Þ
2
where uHS ¼ eElx f; up ¼ R2s dp
dx
; usc ¼ scsR. 1
BRr I
Inculcation of Eq. (B3) in Eq. (B4) produces Eq. (B5),
1
(
1=2 )2 k2 ¼ ðC9Þ
du I1 ðjð1
y ÞRÞ  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 1
BRr I
 ¼ uHS ðjRÞ þ ð1
y Þup
usc ðB5Þ
dr I0 ðjRÞ where
Z 1  
Here, as y  1, 1
y can approximated to be 1. Thus, the lin- g3
I¼ exp

Bg dg: ðC10Þ
earized velocity gradient becomes, 0 9
(
1=2 )2
du

I1 ðjRÞ Substituting the constants in Eq. (C7) we get the expression of
 ¼ ðjRÞ þG
G1 ðB6Þ the concentration profile varying in g direction as
dy I0 ðjRÞ
 3Rg 
up
qffiffiffiffiffi exp
g9
Bg dg
1
BRr 0
where u ¼ uuHS ; G ¼ uHS
; G1 ¼ uuHS
sc
. In order to solve Eq. (B6) the no c ¼ R1  3  ðC11Þ
1
BRr 0 exp
g9
Bg dg
slip condition at the tube wall is assumed to be valid. Hence, the
boundary condition is give below as,
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