Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 35 (2011) 849–865

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Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science

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

A critical review of the measurement techniques for the analysis of gas

microflows through microchannels
Gian Luca Morini ⇑, Yahui Yang, Habib Chalabi, Marco Lorenzini
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Energetica, Nucleare e del Controllo Ambientale, Alma Mater Studiorum, Università di Bologna, Viale Risorgimento 2, I-40136 Bologna, Italy

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

Article history: In Microfluidics, a large deviation in the published experimental data on the dynamic and thermal behav-
Received 12 November 2010 ior of microflows has been observed with respect to the classical theory but, from a chronological analysis
Received in revised form 21 February 2011 of these experimental results, it can be realized how the deviations in the behavior of fluid flows through
Accepted 21 February 2011
microchannels from that through large-sized channels are decreasing. Today, it seems to be clear that
Available online 25 February 2011
some of the inconsistencies in the data were originated from the experimental methods used for the
investigation of convective microflows. This fact highlights the need for the development of specific mea-
Keywords:
surement techniques for Microfluidics. In this work, we explore and categorize different approaches
Microfluidics
Microconvection
found in literature for measuring microflow characteristics, especially for gas flows, and the geometry
Friction factors in microchannels of the microchannels pointing out the advantages and disadvantages inherent to each experimental tech-
Rarefied gases nique. Starting from the operative definition of friction factor, the main parameters that must be checked
Compressible gases in an experimental work in order to characterize the flow are reviewed. A discussion based on uncer-
tainty analysis will be presented in order to individuate the main operative parameters that one must
be able to measure accurately to determine pressure drop in the microchannels with a low level of uncer-
tainty. In the paper each measurement technique is critically analysed to evidence the important issues
which may have been overlooked in previous researches. The main goal of this study is to give a summary
of experimental procedure and a useful guideline for experimental research in Microfluidics.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
During the last 10 years a rapid development of new microflow
devices (MFD) in several scientific fields has taken place. Nowa-
days, the manufacture of MFDs, like micropumps, microvalves,
microcold plates, microheat exchangers, and other microcompo-
nents and sensors used in chemical analysis, in biomedical diag-
nostics or in flow measurements, is a consolidated reality. The
design of new MFDs requires a deep knowledge of the fluid-
dynamic and heat transfer phenomena within microchannels in
which a liquid or gas flows.
For this reason, many experimental studies have been con-
ducted in order to analyze the behavior of convection through
microchannels, of which a review is given in [1–3]. In particular,
the main goal of these studies was to determine the friction factors
and the convective heat transfer coefficients through microchan-
nels in which a pressure-driven flow was imposed.
These experimental results have been used in order to verify if
the laws governing transport phenomena within channels of mac-
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 051 2093381; fax: +39 051 2093296.
E-mail address: gianluca.morini3@unibo.it (G.L. Morini).
roscopic dimensions still hold at the microscale, and, if not, which
new effects must be taken into account at the microscale.
A large scatter in published experimental data and inconsisten-
cies have been observed with respect to the classical theory but,
from a chronological analysis of these results, it is possible to
extrapolate how the deviations between the behavior of fluids
through microchannels and through large-sized channels are
decreasing. The last experimental works in Microfluidics seem to
highlight that some of the observed discrepancies in the data were
originated from the experimental methods used for the investiga-
tion of convective microflows.
In fact, in the last years a dramatic improvement of the tech-
niques of microfabrication has enabled a more accurate control
over the geometry of microchannels and innovative and more
accurate measurement techniques for microflows have been pro-
posed with a general improvement of the reliability/accuracy of
the experimental data reported in the literature: these latest data
seem to be in agreement with the classical theory.
This highlights the need for the development of specific mea-
surement techniques for the Microfluidics field or a refinement
and adaption of the ones used at larger scales.
In this work, we explore and categorize different approaches
found in literature for measuring microflow characteristics –
especially for gas flows – and the geometry of the microchannels

0894-1777/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2011.02.005
850 G.L. Morini et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 35 (2011) 849–865

Nomenclature

d inner diameter of circular microtube (m) Greek symbols

Dh hydraulic diameter of channel, 4 X/C (m) a coefficient defined in Table 3
f friction factor b coefficient defined in Table 3
h height of rectangular microchannel (m) c specific heat ratio
t time (s) C wetted perimeter (m)
L channel length (m) k gas mean free path (m)
K pressure loss coefficient l dynamic viscosity (Pa s)
Kn Knudsen number, k/Dh q gas density (kg/m3)
m_ mass flow rate (kg/s) r coefficient related to channel geometry in Eq. (12)
Ma Mach number s viscous stress (Pa)
p pressure (Pa) X area of cross-section (m2)
R specific gas constant (J/(kgK))
Re Reynolds number Subscripts
T temperature (K) cr critical value
v average axial velocity (m/s) in inlet value
V volume (m3) out outlet value
w width of rectangular microchannel (m) w pertains to the channel wall
W mean flow velocity (m/s) z axial direction

by examining the advantages and disadvantages inherent to each this aim as the microParticle Image Velocimetry (lPIV) [4]. The
of them. limitations of velocimetry techniques for gas flows in microchan-
Starting from the operative definition of friction factor, the main nels will be discussed in the next sections. Therefore, the mean
parameters that must be checked in an experimental campaign in velocity of flow is often calculated measuring the microchannel
order to characterize the flow are highlighted. cross-sectional area, the fluid density and the mass flow rate, as
A discussion based on uncertainty analysis is presented in order per the RHS of Eq. (2).
to pinpoint the main operative parameters that must be measured The pressure drop Dp along the channel and the viscous stresses
accurately to determine the pressure drop in the microchannels at the channel walls can be related to the mean fluid velocity by
with a low level of uncertainty. means of the following expressions:
!
qW 2 L qW 2 L qW 2
2. Pressure drop and friction factor jsw j ¼ fF Dp ¼ f D ¼ ð4f F Þ ð3Þ
2 Dh 2 Dh 2
The behavior of isothermal pressure-driven single phase fluid
where L is the microchannel length.
flows in microchannels can be studied by determining the velocity
These equations are used as definition for the Fanning friction
distribution in the fluid region with the help of the mass conserva-
factor (fF) and the Darcy friction factor (fD = 4fF). Eq. (3) evidences
tion principle (continuity equation) and the equations of conserva-
that the pressure drop along a microchannel can be predicted if
tion of fluid momentum (Navier–Stokes equation).
one knows the value of the friction factor.
Consider a flow through a straight microchannel having an axi-
For an incompressible, isothermal flow the Darcy friction factor
ally unchanging and uniform cross-section with an area equal to X
can be operatively defined as:
and a wetted perimeter equal to C; it is possible to define the
hydraulic diameter of the microchannel as: Dh 2q
fD ¼   ðp  pout Þ ð4Þ
4X L m_ 2 in
X
Dh ¼ ð1Þ
C
where pin and pout are the pressure at the channel inlet and outlet
and the mean fluid velocity as the integrated average axial velocity respectively.
over the flow area X: For isothermal compressible gas flows, using the state equation
Z   of an ideal gas, the expression of friction factor can be re-written as
1 _
m _
RT m
W¼ v z dX ¼ ¼ ð2Þ follows:
X X qX p X
 !
In Eq. (2) the relationship between the average axial velocity Dh p2in  p2out pin
fD ¼  _ 2  2 ln ð5Þ
and the measurable quantities, like mass flow rate m, _ density q L RT m pout
X
and cross-section area X or pressure p and temperature N for gases
is highlighted (R is the specific gas constant). It is important to where T is the gas temperature, and R the gas constant respectively.
highlight that Eq. (2) has been written for an ideal gas: this means Since in microchannels the pressure drop along the tube length
that we have restricted our analysis to pressures below the critical can be much larger than for conventional-size tubes, the effects of
one (pcr) and/or to temperature larger than two times the critical gas acceleration cannot be neglected in general, even for very low
temperature (Tcr) for the gas considered. This hypothesis holds in values of the Mach numbers as observed theoretically and experi-
Microfluidics because the gas temperature is generally larger than mentally by several authors [1,3,5]. The gas acceleration leads to
the critical one. During experiments in microchannels it is difficult the velocity profile change not only in magnitude but also in shape;
to directly derive the mean fluid velocity along the channel from the magnitude increment produces an additional pressure drop
the cross-sectional velocity profile, especially when the micro- while the continuous variation in shape of the velocity profile
channel is very small and without optical access which can enable means no fully or locally fully developed flow occurs. In heated
the use of non-intrusive specific optical techniques developed with microchannels, since the fluid radial temperature profile is
 G.L. Morini et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 35 (2011) 849–865
strongly dependent on the radial velocity profile no fully developed
temperature profiles will occur as long as the flow is developing.
In tubes having an inner diameter less than 500 lm and with a
large length-to-diameter ratio (long tube) high pressure ratios be-
tween inflow and outflow and high heat transfer ratios produce a
significant increase of the Mach number along the tube and high
Mach numbers yield higher friction factors and heat transfer rates.
In adiabatic and in heated microchannels, the compressibility ef-
fects can be monitored by using the diameter-to-lenght ratio (d/
L) of the microtube and the outlet Mach number defined as
follows:
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
_
4m RT out
Maout ¼
pd2 pout c
where c is the specific heat ratio of the gas considered and Tout and
pout are the gas bulk temperature and pressure at the outlet of
microchannel.
The conventional theory states that if the average value of the
Mach number (Maavg) along a channel is less than 0.3 the flow
can be modeled locally as incompressible. In addition, when the
pressure drop along the tube length is lower than 5% of the inlet
pressure, the effect of the acceleration of the gas flow in the axial
direction can be neglected (in other words, the variation of the
gas density along the channel can be neglected):
( Re
Maav g > 0:3
pin pout
pin
> 0:05
When the first inequality is satisfied, the gas flow is not locally
incompressible and the momentum and energy equation have to
be solved as coupled. When the second inequality is satisfied, even
if the gas flow can be locally modeled as incompressible, the den-
sity variation along the tube cannot be ignored. In this case, the ef-
fects due to the gas acceleration along the tube become important,
even if the Mach number is low. The gas acceleration losses are ta-
ken into account in the evaluation of the friction factor through the
second term of the right-hand side of Eq. (5). For microchannels, it
has been demonstrated by Yang et al. [6] that the friction factor is
influenced by the value of the Mach number at the outlet (Eq. (6));
when Maout is larger than 0.3 a deviation of the friction factor from
the prediction of the conventional theory is evidenced. For this rea-
son, the two constraints of Eq. (7) (with Maout instead of Maavg)
have always to be verified when an experimental determination
of the friction factor in a microchannel for a gas flow is made in or-
der to know whether compressibility effects can be considered
negligible.
In Fig. 1 the trend of the Darcy friction factor as a function of the
Reynolds number for a nitrogen flow through a microtube having a
circular cross-section, with an inner diameter equal to 172 lm and
a length of 10 cm is shown [6]. The error bars related to the exper-
imental friction factors are not shown in order to improve readabil-
ity; the maximum relative uncertainty on the friction factor is
equal to ±10% as indicated in [6]. It is possible to see that the agree-
ment between the experimental data and the Poiseuille law
(fD = 64/Re) is very good in the laminar regime, at least up to Re
equal to 1200. For Re > 1200 it is evident a departure of the friction
factors from the Poiseuille law; this behavior can be explained by
observing the value taken by the outlet Mach number (Maout) in
this case, as it becomes larger than 0.3. This result is typical for
microtubes having an inner diameter smaller than 500 lm.
In the laminar regime, the deviation from the Poiseuille law can
be theoretically explained by solving the Navier Stokes equation
for compressible flows [5,7]. When the pressure ratio increases,
the outlet Mach number increases, especially for short microtubes,
and the friction factor increases with the Mach number. Asako
851
ð6Þ
Fig. 1. Darcy friction factors for nitrogen flow through a microtube in adiabatic
conditions as a function of the Reynolds number (from Yang et al. [6]).
et al. [7] have calculated numerically how the friction factor de-
pends on the Mach number in the laminar regime and proposed
the following correlation:
64 Ma Ma2
fD ¼ þ 2:703 þ 93:89 ð8Þ
Re Re
ð7Þ As can be noticed from Eq. (4), for incompressible flows the knowl-
edge of the differential pressure between the microchannel inlet
and outlet is required only in order to determine the friction factor.
On the contrary, Eq. (5) shows that for a compressible flow even the
absolute value of the gas pressure at the inlet or at the outlet is
needed. This aspect underlines that the experimental strategies
for the determination of the friction factor must be different
whether compressibility effects are negligible or not.
The local measurement of pressure is problematic for micro-
channels: drilling pressure taps along the channel can be challeng-
ing due to the small dimensions involved. For this reason, in the
most accurate experimental works, special microchannels are de-
signed with customized pressure taps along their length (Bavière
et al. [8]). On the other hand, when commercial microtubes or
standard microdevices are used in the tests, the measurement of
the pressure along the microchannel becomes impossible. In these
cases, pressure measurements are usually performed by connect-
ing with appropriate fittings both sides of the microchannel to a
larger reservoir, where the pressure taps can be drilled without
difficulties.
However, in this way the pressure measured is not that at the
inlet and outlet, which is associated with the change of section.
These non-negligible minor losses (Dpin, Dpout) are due to the
abrupt change in flow area between the manifolds and the channel.
The total pressure drop, which is the measured pressure difference
between the reservoirs, can be expressed as follows:
Dptotal ¼ Dpin þ ðpin  pout Þ þ Dpout ð9Þ
For perfect gas flows, the minor losses at the inlet and outlet can be
determined as follows:
 2    2  
_
K in m RT _
K out m RT
Dpin ¼ ; Dpout ¼ ð10Þ
2 X pin 2 X pout
For conventional-sized tubes the values of Kin and Kout have been
established for a number of simple entrance and exit geometries
and are quoted in many textbooks (e.g. Idelchik [9]). These coeffi-
cients have been evaluated under the assumption of essentially uni-
form velocity at the inlet but considering a fully established velocity
852 G.L. Morini et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 35 (2011) 849–865
profile in the channels (that means L  Dh). These assumptions can
be considered verified for microchannels, where L > 100Dh as a rule.
In applying the data related to the values of Kin and Kout it
should be remembered that these coefficients already include the
pressure change associated with the change in the velocity profile
and depend on the geometry of the ends and of the channels. In
addition, for the estimation of the minor losses it is mandatory
to know the absolute value taken by the pressure at the inlet or
at the outlet, as evidenced by Eq. (10).
In Fig. 2 the minor losses at the inlet (Dpin) and at the outlet
(Dpout) are compared with the value of the net pressure drop
(Dpn = pin  pout) for two microtubes (5 cm and 50 cm long) with
an internal diameter equal to 100 lm [10] when a nitrogen flow
is imposed through the microtubes. From Fig. 2 it is evident that
the minor losses at the outlet of the microtubes are one order of
magnitude lower than the net pressure drop while those at the in-
let are two order of magnitude less. The relative weight of the min-
or losses increases for large values of the Reynolds number and the
contribution at the inlet becomes more important for short micro-
tubes. On the contrary, the value of the minor losses at the outlet is
independent of the length of the microtube because in the experi-
mental tests of Morini et al. [10] the gas at the exit vented directly
into the atmosphere and hence the pressure at the exit was always
equal to the atmospheric value. Fig. 2 underlines that the role of
the minor losses on the evaluation of the friction factor in laminar
regime has to be considered of importance for short microtubes (d/
L > 0.01) having a low value of the inner diameter.
The correct evaluation of these losses is a crucial point for the
accurate calculation of the friction factors for gas flows in micro-
channels. For example, to the best of the Authors’ knowledge, the
effect of the rarefaction of gases on the Kin and Kout have not been
systematically investigated up to now and this fact can be an
important source of error for the experimental investigation of
the pressure drop for rarefied flows through microchannels.
When the effects related to rarefaction become significant the
friction factor is influenced by the value of the Knudsen number,
the ratio of the gas mean free path (k) and the characteristic
dimension (usually Dh) of the channel:
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
k l pRT
Kn ¼ ¼ ð11Þ
Dh Dh p 2
where l is the dynamic viscosity of the gas, p is the local value of
the pressure and the gas mean free path is evaluated with the
Fig. 2. Minor losses and net pressure drop (Dpn = pin  pout) for nitrogen flow
through microtubes 5 cm long (empty symbols) and 50 cm long (full symbols) with
an internal diameter equal to 100 lm (from Morini et al. [10]).
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  pffiffiffiffiffiffi
formula kM ¼ p=2l= q RT proposed originally by Maxwell in
1879 [11].
The analysis of gas rarefaction effects in internal flows is a spe-
cific feature of the analysis of convective flows through microchan-
nels. When the Knudsen number is less than 0.001, rarefaction
effects can be considered negligible; for 0.001 < Kn < 0.1 the slip
flow regime occurs. From a theoretical perspective, the friction fac-
tor tends to be reduced when the Knudsen number increases be-
cause of the slip existing between the gas and the channel walls.
It has been demonstrated that in laminar regime the friction factor
depends on the Knudsen number and on the cross-section geome-
try of the microchannel as follows:
1
fD ðKnÞ ¼ fD ðKn ¼ 0Þ ð12Þ
1 þ rKn
where fD(Kn = 0) indicates the value of the Darcy friction factor in
the laminar regime for the channel geometry considered when
the rarefaction is negligible (Kn = 0); the friction factor reduction
is related to the channel geometry through the coefficient r and
to the Knudsen number. The value of r for channels with different
geometries, typical of microfluidic applications (i.e. circular, rectan-
gular, trapezoidal and double-trapezoidal) and different aspect ra-
tios was reported by Morini et al. [12].
Observing Eqs. (4)–(12) it is evident that, in order to character-
ize and analyze a microchannel flow in terms of friction factor, the
following quantities should be determined:
(a) microchannel geometry, including the roughness of the
channel wall, the hydraulic diameter: this means to know
the geometrical characteristics of the cross-section, the
geometry of the connections between the microchannels
and the reservoirs (if any) and the microchannel length;
(b) operating conditions including quantities such as fluid tem-
perature, differential pressure between inlet and outlet,
absolute pressure at one end of the channel and mass flow
rate.
The above observations can be summarized by stating that the
friction factor for a microchannel can be considered in general a
function of the following quantities:
_ T; C; X; L; K in ; K out Þ
fD ¼ fD ðDp; p; m; ð13Þ
Among the other variables appearing in Eq. (13) the friction factor
can depend in turbulent regime also on the wall relative roughness
(e/Dh) of the microchannel; it has been demonstrated that, even in
laminar regime, very large values of the relative roughness (e/
Dh > 5%) can influence the value of the friction factor [13].
Using the physical variables recalled in Eq. (13) one can calcu-
late also the Mach number by means of Eq. (6) and the Knudsen
number by means of the Eq. (11); through these values one can
check the effect of compressibility and of rarefaction on the friction
factor and compare the results with the theoretical predictions for
compressible and rarefied gases.
With these parameters in mind, special consideration must be
paid both to the design of the experimental setup and to measure-
ments during a specific test round at such a small scale to ensure a
certain accuracy for reasonable results. Focussing on the experi-
mental determination of the friction factor in microchannels for
gas flows, with the aim to discuss the role played by each param-
eter on its determination, a detailed analysis of the most interest-
ing experimental techniques for the measurement of the channel
dimensions, gas pressure, temperature, velocity and mass flow
rate, together with the analysis of the typical values of their uncer-
tainty, is presented in the coming sections.
 G.L. Morini et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 35 (2011) 849–865
3. Measurement techniques for microchannels
In this section the most interesting measurement techniques
proposed for the determination of the physical quantities useful
for the determination of the friction factor in microchannels are
summarized.
3.1. Measurement of microchannel dimension and of its roughness
In the experimental tests devoted to the pressure drop analysis
in microchannels some methods have been used in order to esti-
mate the inner diameter of microtubes. Poiseuille [14] in 1840
used mercury to fill glass capillary tubes (down to 15 lm of diam-
eter) of a fixed length in order to determine the average diameter
by weighing the tube before and after filling. This technique is very
simple and enables an accurate determination of the average flow-
ing area of a microchannel along its whole length. One limitation is
that, in order to obtain a good accuracy of the measurement for
very small tubes, one has to use very long microtubes. An advan-
tage of this method is that only a precision balance is required to
estimate the flowing area.
One interesting development of this technique is based on the
accumulation of a heavy liquid (water, mercury, etc.) flowing
through a microtube under a constant pressure drop, which gener-
ates a constant mass flow rate through the channel [7]. If one
knows the length of the microchannel, the fluid density and the
viscosity, the cross-sectional area of the microchannel can be
determined by a careful measurement of the liquid weight passing
through the microtube over a certain time interval: this implies
that the Poiseuille law is assumed to hold at the microscale too.
This technique can be very useful to reduce the uncertainty on
the determination of the inner diameter of a microtube as demon-
strated by Asako et al. [7], who reported an uncertainty of the order
of ±0.2 lm on average inner diameter measurement for a tube with
a nominal diameter of 150 lm (±0.13%). For very small mass flow
rates this measurement technique requires very long time for li-
quid accumulation. As underlined by Asako et al. [7], when water
is used as test fluid, care must be used in order to estimate the lost
weight of the accumulated liquid due to evaporation during the
experimental tests, which strongly depends on the environmental
condition. This aspect can be very critical when lower mass flow
rates are generated in the smaller microchannels.
Currently, one of the most common methods to measure micro-
channel dimensions is the scanning electron microscopy (SEM),
which images the profile of the channel cross-section with a high
resolution. When the tested microchannels are closed (e.g. com-
mercial microtubes), this technique is applicable to the inlet and
outlet sections only; no information can be derived on the axial
variation of the channel geometry and on the roughness distribu-
tion along the channel. This can represent a strong limitation for
the correct evaluation of the average channel roughness because
the inlet and the outlet sections may be non-representative
of the dominant cross-section along the length due to the cutting
which may deform the ends. In this case, only with destructive
tests after the experimental investigation can one try to recon-
struct the axial variation of the roughness and of the cross-section
by grinding the channel open. Multiple cuts along the channel may
prove useless because the action can change the channel’s cross-
section permanently. On the contrary, for open or optically acces-
sible microchannels (like silicon rectangular microchannels
bonded with a silicon/glass cover) this technique can be applied
before the specimens are sealed. With magnification and image
processing, the dimensions of the channel cross-section and the
topology of the roughness can be determined with a good accuracy.
Since this technique is convenient and exhibits satisfying accuracy,
853
it has been employed by many investigators (Tang et al. [15],
Celata et al. [16], Zohar et al. [17], Morini et al. [10,18]). It is inter-
esting to note that the Poiseuille [14] and Asako et al. [7] methods
allow to measure directly the average flowing area along the whole
length of the microchannel, which is a significant parameter for the
evaluation of the friction factor as compared to the algebraic aver-
age of the inlet and outlet area obtained by SEM imaging.
Still concerning the roughness, in non-circular microchannels
made by chemical or ion etching on silicon wafers and sealed with
different materials (glass, Pyrex, silicon) the distribution of the
wall roughness along the wetted perimeter of the channel can ex-
hibit a strong non-uniformity. However, in this case the measure-
ment of the wall roughness is generally possible by using scanning
electron microscope or profilometers along the channel before
sealing it.
Another characteristic dimension of the microchannels which
must be evaluated for the determination of the pressure drop is
the channel length L. For long microchannels, the length L is in gen-
eral larger than the inner diameter; typical values of the Dh/L ratio
fall within the range 0.1–0.001. In this case, the measurement of L
is easier than the measurement of the inner diameter. On the con-
trary, when the behavior of rarefied gases through microchannel is
studied in order to verify the predictions of the mathematical mod-
els based on the Boltzmann equation for transitional and free
molecular regimes, very short microchannels must be tested which
are characterized by Dh/L ratios near unity (Marino [19]). In this
case, the measurement of L can become problematic and, as gen-
eral rule, characterization of the microchannel must take also the
tube length into account, rather than just the hydraulic diameter,
as is otherwise customary.
3.2. Measurement of pressure
In the experimental works devoted to pressure drop analysis
through microchannels, pressure measurement has been carried
out: (i) only at the inlet and at the outlet of the channel (Kandlikar
et al. [20], Asako et al. [7], Morini et al. [18], Celata et al. [16], Tang
et al. [15], Demsis et al. [21]); (ii) and/or along the channel in order
to reconstruct the axial distribution (Zohar et al. [17], Hsieh et al.
[22], Jang and Wereley [23], Turner et al. [24], Kohl et al. [25]). In
the latter case, the knowledge of the axial pressure trend enables
to identify special effects, as those related to compressibility and
rarefaction, which can play an important role in the determination
of the pressure drop; however, the microchannel must be specifi-
cally provided with pressure taps along its length. If traditional
pressure transducers are used, these are generally placed in the
reservoirs connected to the microchannel inlet and outlet. Their
presence introduces pressure losses at the inlet and the outlet of
the channel which can be determined with Eq. (10). In order to
eliminate the effects of these minor losses the tube cutting method
has been proposed by Du et al. [26] and other authors (Asako et al.
[7], Celata et al. [16]). This technique consists of repeating the same
mass flow rate conditions of a long tube in a short one with the
same inner diameter. Since the effect of the minor losses is approx-
imately identical for both tubes, one can eliminate it by subtracting
the total pressure drop determined for the two. The short and the
long tube can be selected from a set of identical tubes or one can
obtain the short one by cutting the long tube. In the latter case,
care must be exerted in minimizing the effect of the cut on the
geometry of the microchannel. When the selection of the short
tube and the long one is made among commercial tubes with the
same nominal diameter, Asako et al. [7] demonstrated that the real
inner diameter may actually vary markedly: in their work in order
to obtain a diameter difference in each pair chosen less than
0.1 lm only three pairs of tubes were selected from precise inner
diameter measurement among more than 30 specimens, which
854 G.L. Morini et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 35 (2011) 849–865
have a nominal diameter of 150 lm but actually vary from 148 lm
to 154 lm. This kind of difference in diameter is stochastic and
uncontrollable, which means that with the tube cutting method,
the smaller the difference in tube pairs one desires, the larger the
number of the sample one has to provide.
With this method, the value of the friction factor for a microtube
can be calculated as follows (as indicated in Morini et al. [18]):
 
2q Dptotal ðL1 Þ  Dptotal ðL2 Þ D3h
f ¼
l2 L1  L2 Re2
where L1 and L2 are the lengths of the longer and shorter tube
respectively.
It has been demonstrated that this method can only be applied
correctly when the pressure drop in the tube is linear, as for incom-
pressible flows (liquids or gases under low pressure ratio pin/pout).
When the pressure distribution along the channel is not linear, as
in the case of compressible and/or rarefied flows, this method can-
not be applied. In fact, in this case the effect of the minor losses
cannot be eliminated completely, as demonstrated by Morini
et al. [18]. This means that for gas flows this method holds only
for low Reynolds numbers which corresponds to low Mach num-
bers at the outlet.
When the goal is to determine the axial distribution of the pres-
sure along a microchannel other techniques can be employed. A
non-intrusive one for the pressure determination along a micro-
channel is based on Pressure-Sensitive Paints (PSP).
PSPs are optical ‘‘molecular-sensors’’ which enable the measure
of the pressure over a surface. When excited by an outer light
source of a certain wavelength, the luminescent molecules with
which the surface of the channel cover is coated will emit lumines-
cence of a longer wavelength. By appropriate filtering, the emitted
luminescence can be detected. The luminescent intensity is sensi-
tive to oxygen molecules near the cover surface and for this reason
this technique has been proposed for the analysis of gas flows. Spe-
cifically, an increase in the oxygen concentration causes a decrease
in the intensity of the luminescence, which is known as oxygen
quenching (Huang et al. [27] and Liu et al. [28]). After calibration,
a relation between pressure and luminescent intensity can be
established. This non-intrusive measurement technique can pro-
vide pressure data with high spatial resolution both along the
channel and at the channel entrance and exit. On the other hand,
as this technique is based on oxygen quenching, it cannot be ap-
plied to test of other pure gases, such as N2 and He. Moreover,
the pressure sensitive paint is coated on a transparent cover of
the microchannel to ensure the direct contact with oxygen and
excitation of luminescent molecules from an external light source.
It is evident that the main disadvantage of this technique is tied to
the shape of the microchannel tested: circular or elliptical micro-
tubes make it impossible to coat the pressure sensitive paint onto
the inner wall, and passages which do not have a transparent side
cannot benefit from this optical technique.
The pressure sensitive paint (PSP) technique has been applied to
the measurement of the pressure distributions in high Knudsen
number regimes by Liu et al. [29] and Bell et al. [30]. Because the
PSP works as a so-called ‘‘molecular sensor’’, it is considered suit-
able for the analyses of high Knudsen number flows, which require
diagnostic tools at the molecular level. However, an application of
PSPs to microdevices is very difficult, because conventional PSPs
are very thick compared to the dimension of microdevices owing
to the use of polymer binders. Moreover, they do not have suffi-
cient spatial resolution for the pressure measurement of micro-
flows due to the aggregation of luminescent molecules in
polymer binders as indicated by Mori et al. [31].
More recently, for local measurement of pressure in high Knudsen
numbers Matsuda et al. [32,33] developed a pressure-sensitive
molecular film method (PSMF) by using the Langmuir–Blodgett
(LB) technique. Before applying PSMF to micro gas flows, the
authors have tested the dependence of temperature on pressure
sensitivity, which is the main factor of the measurement error
for this kind of pressure sensor. Matsuda et al. [33] have demon-
strated that their paint composed of Pt(II) Mesoporphyrin IX and
arachidic acid showed a small dependence of pressure sensitivity
on temperature, while that of luminescent intensity is significant.
In addition, the authors have demonstrated how, compared with
ð14Þ
the classical PSP method, the PSMF method can offer more uniform
pressure sensitivity and an enhanced intensity of luminescence
emission. By applying their technique to the determination of the
pressure field for gaseous flow through a 2-D nozzle [32], they con-
cluded that the spatial resolution of PSMF is high enough for
microscale flow measurements whose characteristic length is over
50 lm.
In order to measure the local pressure along a microchannel
Kohl et al. [25] explored and proposed the optical lever method
for pressure measurement. The microchannel presents a number
of micrometric pressure taps connected to silicon membranes
which deform according to the local pressure. The deformation
was measured recording the change in deflection angle of a fixed
incident laser targeting the membrane surface. The change in
deflection angle was measured by a photodiode sensor which can
be precisely moved and positioned. Based on this principle, an inte-
grated pressure sensor can be produced. The sensitivity of this
integrated pressure sensor can be easily adjusted by changing
the spatial resolution (the distance between the membrane and
the photodiode sensor). The uncertainty on the measured pressure
ranged from ±2.4% to ±13.3%.
Since a very precise optical system to test quantitatively the
slight slope of the pressurized membrane is involved, it requires
great labor to adjust this system. Also such optical system, which
includes a laser, a lens and several adjustable stands for precise
positioning, is expensive. In addition, the range of the measurable
pressure is limited by the mechanical strength of the membrane
material and the channel must be customized for use with this
technique.
Even microstrain gauges membranes can be employed to sense
the pressure induced at the tap from the microchannel. The defor-
mation of the membrane results in the variation of the electrical
resistance of the material making up the membrane, therefore
information on pressure can be transformed into an electrical sig-
nal, which is usually magnified for better accuracy via a Wheat-
stone bridge on the membrane, as in the work by Zohar et al.
[17] and Bavière and Ayela [8]. After careful calibration, a correla-
tion between pressure and voltage in the circuit can be given. This
pressure sensor can be used to test local pressure along the micro-
channel and has very low temperature sensitivity (±0.011% °C1),
as reported by Bavière and Ayela [8], who found no effects which
might actually be the result of inaccurate measurements at the
small scale. The constant coefficient which links pressure and elec-
trical voltage varies from one membrane to another, and each
strain gauge needs to be calibrated over a certain pressure range
before measurement. Even in this case, the microchannel and the
membranes must be specifically designed in order to use this tech-
nique. For liquids through very small microchannel, Celata et al.
[16] demonstrated that the measurement of the differential pres-
sure along the channel can be linked to the fluid temperature rise
between the inlet and the outlet of the channel due to the viscous
dissipation. This effect is more evident for fluids having a low spe-
cific heat and a large viscosity (i.e. iso-propanol). For gases, the
temperature rise due to the viscous dissipation is compensated
by the cooling due to the gas acceleration along the channel. For
this reason, this effect is not useful for the determination of the dif-
ferential pressure along a microchannel for gas flows.
 G.L. Morini et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 35 (2011) 849–865
3.3. Measurement of temperature
The measurement of the bulk fluid temperature along a micro-
channel cannot be made directly without large disturbance on the
fluid flow. Suspended micro temperature sensors within micro-
channels have been proposed in the past, as reported in an inter-
esting review paper of Nguyen [34]. The first prototypes of
suspended sensors made by Petersen et al. [35] and Lammerink
et al. [36] demonstrated that full integration between this kind
of temperature sensors and the microchannels was possible but
their impact on fluid flow was not negligible at all. Nowadays
microfabrication offers a large variety of devices to achieve local
temperature measurements. Among the existing devices it is pos-
sible to distinguish three groups: (i) thin film resistance tempera-
ture detector (lRTD), (ii) thin film thermocouple (lTFTC) and (iii)
semiconducting sensors (SC).
In microchannels, to avoid disturbances of the fluid flow, in
many cases only the wall temperature along the channel is deter-
mined by means of integrated temperature sensors and the direct
determination of the fluid bulk temperature can only be obtained
at the inlet and outlet sections of the channel by using specific ple-
nums. Sometimes, the thermal inertia of the temperature sensors
placed at the walls of the microchannel is larger or comparable
to that of the channel walls. In this case, the presence of the sen-
sors can modify the wall temperature distribution. The problem
is how to calculate the fluid temperature when the wall tempera-
ture is known. In adiabatic flows this is simple if one can assume
that thermal equilibrium exists between the walls and the fluid.
This is not the case when the flow is heated.
In the following a summary of the most interesting temperature
microsensors developed in the last years is given with the indica-
tion of the main advantages and drawbacks of each one. In Fig. 3
a schematic representation of these three different kind of temper-
ature microsensors together with their characteristic calibration
curves is given in order to highlight the main differences among
lRTD, lTFTC and SC due to their different working principle.
The first kind of temperature microsensors which can be inte-
grated in microchannels are the Microresistance Temperature
Detectors (lRTDs). This type of temperature sensors is widely used
(a) µRTD
Typical sensors Metal a
layout
R I
Characteristic
Curve
T: Temperature
R: Resistance
V: Voltage
I: Current
Fig. 3. Schematic representation of the most common temperature micro-sensors with the indication of their characteristic curve; (a) thin film resistance temperature
detector (lRTD); (b) thin film thermocouple (lTFTC) and (c) semiconducting sensors (SC).
855
in microtechnology devices firstly because it is easy to make and
secondly because it generally is characterized by a linear response.
The functioning principle of a lRTD is the same as that of the clas-
sical RTD in which the temperature-dependent electrical resistivity
of a material is used in order to estimate the temperature (Fig. 3a).
Among the several materials used for the realization of the
lRTDs the most common are Pt, poly-Si, Al, Ni, W, Au or yet Ag
[37–43]. The fabrication of the sensitive metal elements for lRTDs
is well controlled by using sputtering or evaporation CVD pro-
cesses. Platinum is commonly used for different applications in
microtechnology for its catalytic property in combination with
some gases or, at other times, for its inert properties in combina-
tion with a large variety of fluids. However, platinum films can
present some drawbacks: the first one is the need of an adhesion
layer on almost all the substrates. In many cases the deposition
of the platinum film generates an alloy with different thermal
properties than the pure material and the characteristic curve of
the electrical resistance vs temperature of the lRTD can change
completely. Moreover, platinum films can be damaged if the tem-
perature becomes larger than 550 °C. Other drawbacks of the plat-
inum films is their cost and their CMOS incompatibility [39]. For
these reasons, some microfluidics technical applications of lRTD
use polysilicon (poly-Si) [40].
Thin Film Thermocouples (lTFTCs) are active elements which
use the Seebeck effect to measure the temperature of a two-metal
junction (Fig. 3b). Microfabrication of lTFTCs can be more or less
complex depending on the existing material constraints for the
specific microdevice needed. Zhang et al. [44] proposed a chromel
thin film thermocouple embedded on a Ni substrate and demon-
strated that their behavior is similar to the standard K-Type ther-
mocouples. In fact, the embedded TFTCs of Zhang et al. [44] on
Ni substrates have shown that their thermal sensitivity is not af-
fected by the junction size between 25 lm and 80 lm. This ther-
mal sensitivity has been precisely measured for a chromel film of
100 nm and a junction of (60 lm  60 lm) up to 900 °C; the See-
beck coefficient of this lTFTCs was 40.6 lV °C1 in agreement with
the standard value of this coefficient for the classical K-Type ther-
mocouples. The results obtained by Zhang et al. [44] were con-
firmed by Choi and Li [45] who showed as a K-lTFTCs with a
(b) µTFTC (c) SC
Tmeas PN Junction
Metal b
Metal a
V
dV
Tref
I
V
856 G.L. Morini et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 35 (2011) 849–865
junction of 25 lm  25 lm and a film thickness of 150 nm were
able to provide a good sensitivity (40.4 lV °C1) up to 800 °C and
a fast response time (28 ns).
However, the authors underline that a microfabrication trouble
for this kind of microcomponents is linked to the surface quality
(especially roughness) of the thin film layers used in these lTFTCs
which can strongly influence the stability of these temperature
microsensors.
With the aim to take advantage of the CMOS compatibility pro-
cess (integration, low cost) an alternative for the temperature mic-
rosensors are the Semiconducting sensors (SCs) which use
Polysilicon active elements (Fig. 3c). Bianchi et al. [46] present a
state of the art of integrated smart temperature SCs sensors like
MOS transistors, bipolar transistors and diodes. The use of MOS
transistors as temperature sensors needs the use of the transistors
in weak inversion in order to obtain a linear relation between tem-
perature and their electrical parameters even if some limitations
due to leakage currents at high temperature can exist [47,48].
Bipolar transistors and diodes present directly a junction voltage
proportional to the absolute temperature. Generally, at room tem-
perature, silicon p–n junctions have a forward voltage drop of
0.7 V, and this voltage decrease by 2 mV for every degree of in-
crease [49]. Typical temperature range of these sensors could be
55 to 175 °C with a typical accuracy between ±0.1 and ±3 °C
[46]. Transistors with CMOS or bipolar IC technologies enable the
realization of all the needed circuits in order to integrate directly
the temperature compensation or calibration functions to the sen-
sors. Filanovsky and Lee [48] realized two temperature sensors
with signal-conditioning amplifiers to extract directly from a
MOS transistor the linear temperature dependence of VT. Using
BiCMOS technology, the first solution chosen was a threshold
extractor circuit which gave a linear temperature characteristic be-
tween 40 and 150 °C but showed some disparities linked to fab-
rication. The second one was a resistive Wheatstone bridge which
gave a non-linear temperature response but with a good repeat-
ability in the same range of temperature.
Finally, planar diffused silicon diodes seem to be a simpler way
to measure temperature when employing SCs sensors. Guha et al.
[39] showed a high temperature gas sensor consisting of an
embedded diode able to give a linear response up to 260 °C accord-
ing to the calibration with a sensitivity of 1.2 ± 0.005 mV/°C. In a
pH sensitive ISFET chip, Chin et al. [50] have integrated a p-n diode
which presented good linearity with a sensitivity of 1.51 mV/°C
(in the range 0–50 °C) and which also have been used with a spe-
cific compensation circuit dedicated to the application.
Even if, up to now, CMOS technologies are not so frequently
used in Microfluidics applications, in the future SC sensors could
have a wide range of applications in this field due to their flexibil-
ity and to their high scale of integration that enables to expand the
single sensor to an array of sensors. For example, Han and Kim [51]
Table 1
Characteristics of the micro-sensors for temperature measurement.
Authors Material
RTDs Schöler et al. [38] Platinum
Wu et al. [42] Silver paint
Wu et al. [40] Silicon
Choi et al. [43] Gold
TFTCs Zhang et al. [44] Chromel
Choi and Li [45] Chromel
Kim and Kim [61] Chromel
SCs Guha et al. [39] Silicon
Bianchi et al. [46] Silicon
Chin et al. [50] Silicon
Han and Kim [51] Silicon
have developed a 32  32 diodes (1024 diodes) array for measur-
ing the temperature distribution on a small surface (8 mm 
8 mm). This kind of sensor reduce the 2048 interconnections pads
needed for 32x32 RTD or TFTC sensor array to only 64 interconnec-
tions pads that involve a tiny chip and the simplest design. In Han
and Kim’s work [49], calibration experiments evidenced the linear
output temperature signal of this array in the range 0–100 °C with
an accuracy of ± 0.5 °C. In compensation of this flexibility at the
fabrication level, array sensors need a multiplexer to read the
measurements.
In Table 1 a selected list of microsensors for temperature mea-
surement is shown with the indication of the main technical char-
acteristics (when available) of these sensors (thermal sensitivity,
accuracy and range of application).
In many of the published scientifical works temperature mea-
surements are still obtained using traditional sensors like thermo-
couples or Platinum RTD. Bavière et al. [52] measured the
temperature along a rectangular channel by arranging four ther-
mocouples uniformly in line with the channel axis. The thermo-
couples were planted in blind holes 500 lm from the channel
wall surface. To predict the temperature of the wall surface a cor-
relation was presented based on calibration experiments and the
temperature measured by thermocouples a constant distance away
from the wall surface. This approach provides an indirect way to
obtain the local wall surface temperature along the whole channel,
which makes it possible to analyze the local heat transfer charac-
teristics. However, the existence of these holes near the channel
walls may alter the temperature distribution inside because they
introduce a heterogeneous thermal conductivity. Demsis et al.
[21] investigated the convective heat transfer coefficient in a coun-
ter flow, tube-in-tube heat exchanger. Two ports perpendicular to
the axis of the microchannel were machined and connected to the
inlet section of the inner tube 35 mm before the heated section,
one for the measurement of temperature and the other for pres-
sure. The measurement of the outlet pressure and temperature
was proposed in the same way through two ports 35 mm after
the heated section. The risk of this technique is linked to the erro-
neous evaluation of the fluid outlet temperature: if the part of tube
between the end of the heated section and the outlet side port is
not thermally insulated with care, the fluid temperature decreases
along this stretch and the temperature recorded at the exit side
port differs from the fluid temperature at the end of the heating
section. Also, the side ports may disturb the main stream inside
the tube. This kind of side ports can be readily applied to non-
circular microchannels or circular microtubes with relatively large
inner diameter; however, if the inner diameter is very small, below
0.3 mm, it becomes difficult to manufacture them.
Besides thermocouples or diode arrays which can provide single
or multipoint measurement of temperature, some specific
optical techniques have been used for the measurement of a
Thermal sensitivity Accuracy Temperature range
20–80 °C
45–105 °C
0.05 °C
40.6 lV °C1 20–900 °C
40.4 lV °C1 20–800 °C
1.20 mV °C1 0.005 mV °C1 20–260 °C
±0.1–3 °C 55–175 °C
1
1.51 mV °C 10–50 °C
±0.5 °C 0–100 °C
 G.L. Morini et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 35 (2011) 849–865
two-dimensional temperature field on a solid surface at micromet-
ric scales, such as liquid crystal thermography (Muwanga and
Hassan [53]), infrared thermography (Mosyak et al. [54]) and
temperature sensitive paints (Liu and Sullivan [28]). The most
important constrain of these optical techniques is that these
methods can be successfully applied only in the cases in which
the external surface of the test section is not thermally insulated.
3.4. Measurement of local velocity data
There is a crucial need of local experimental gas velocity data
through microdevices but all the velocimetry techniques proposed
for liquid flows in microchannels present strong limitations if ap-
plied to the analysis of gas flows through microchannels. For the
determination of the local velocity of a gas in a microchannel three
optical velocimetry techniques have been proposed in the open lit-
erature up to now: (i) the Laser-Doppler Anemometry (LDA); (ii)
the microParticle Image Velocimetry (lPIV) and (iii) the Molecu-
lar-Tagging Velocimetry (MTV).
The Laser-Doppler Anemometry (LDA) has been preliminary
used by Ladewig et al. (cited in [55]) in order to measure gas-phase
data in an operational U-shaped mini-fuel cell with channels of
2 mm  2 mm rectangular cross-section. The flow was seeded with
water droplets, but the velocity data obtained were not yet com-
plete enough to fully characterize the flow inside the minichannels.
Furthermore, LDA is a point-measurement technique; in order to
obtain a more representative visualization of the whole velocity
field in a microdevice a field-measurement technique as the micro-
Particle Image Velocimetry can be more useful. For the problems
related to the systematic use of the LDA technique for the recon-
struction of the velocity profiles in microchannels the LDA tech-
nique can be considered useless in measuring the velocity within
channels having an inner hydraulic diameter below 1 mm. On
the contrary, for the investigation of the velocity field in micro-
channels having inner diameters below 1 mm the microParticle
Image Velocimetry is nowadays a consolidated technique but only
for liquid flows. An interesting and complete review of the progress
of this technique in the recent years is due to Lindken et al. [4]. Up
to now, few works have described the application of this technique
for the analysis of gas flows through microchannels.
One reference paper in this field is due to Yoon et al. [55]; in this
paper the micro PIV technique has been used to directly measure
gas-phase velocities in situ in an operational fuel cell with chan-
nels having characteristic dimensions of 1–2 mm. For PIV measure-
ments, in macro-scale gas flows, the gas is often seeded with olive
oil particles generated by an atomizer. To this aim, high pressures
and a high flow rates are needed for the generation of the oil seed
particles. On the contrary for microscale gas flow applications, as
microfuel cell, the gas flow rate is relatively small (Reynolds num-
bers of the order of hundreds to a few thousands) and this can cre-
ate problems in the generation of appropriate tracer particles.
Since PIV is based on imaging of particulates introduced into the
flow, the accuracy of the gas-phase flow velocity measurement is
strongly dependent on the ability of the tracer particles to follow
the stream. In the work of Yoon et al. [55], water droplets have
been used as seed particles for measuring the flow in a straight
minichannel. This choice was motivated for fuel cells with the
opportunity to introduce the water particles in the gas flow using
the humidifier section without contaminating the system. The re-
sults of Yoon et al. have demonstrated that certain limitations
are encountered when trying to use such tracer in flows with sig-
nificant decelerations, such as in a 180° switchback turn. In partic-
ular, the experimental results of Yoon et al. have evidenced that
tracer particles smaller than 1 lm are required to accurately follow
the flow in such regions. This aspect is one of the most important
constraints in the application of the lPIV technique for the analysis
857
of gas flows in microchannels. Sugii and Okamoto [56] have ap-
plied the PIV technique in order to investigate the velocity distri-
bution in a fuel cell with 1 mm  0.5 mm rectangular polymer
microchannels. Even in this paper, it is stressed how the main
problem for the application of this technique to the investigation
of micro gas flow is the generation of proper seeding. In this work
fluorescent oil particles having a diameter between 0.5 and 2 lm
were used as tracer particles in a nitrogen flow for low Reynolds
numbers between 26 and 130.
Molecular-Tagging Velocimetry (MTV) is a whole-field optical
technique that relies on molecules that can be turned into long life-
time tracers upon excitation by photons of appropriate wavelength
[57]. These molecules can be either premixed or naturally present
in the flowing medium (unseeded applications). Typically, a pulsed
laser is used to ‘‘tag’’ the regions of interest, and those tagged re-
gions are interrogated at two successive times within the lifetime
of the tracer.
Lagrangian displacement vector provides the estimate of the
velocity vectors. This technique can be thought of as essentially a
molecular counterpart of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), and it
can offer advantages compared to particle-based techniques where
the use of seed particles is difficult, or may lead to complications as
for gas flows in microdevices. However, this technique has been
only used for the analysis of liquid flows in microchannels
[58,59]. On the contrary, up to now the application of this
technique for the analysis of gas flows in microchannels is not
completely consolidated. A specific European research project
(GASMEMS project) devoted to the development of velocimetry
techniques for gas flows in microchannels has been launched in
order, among others, to demonstrate the possibility of using lPIV
and MTV for the analysis of the gas flows in channels having inner
dimensions below 1 mm [60].
It is possible to conclude that for the measurement of the local
velocity data in microchannels much work is still needed in order
to adapt the velocimetry techniques proposed for liquid flows
through microdevices to the analysis of gas flows; this field is of
strategic importance especially for the optimization of microfluidic
components as, for example, the micro- and mini-fuel cells.
3.5. Measurement of flow rate
The flow rate through a microchannel can be measured directly
by means of appropriate instruments (mass or volumetric flow me-
ters) or in an indirect way by checking the value taken by other
measurable quantities, like pressure, forces, weight, volume, tem-
perature or a combination thereof. As a rule of thumb, it is possible
to use a commercial mass or volumetric flow meter for gas flows
only if the gas mass flow rate through a microchannel is larger than
108 kg/s (0.1 Nml/min). On the contrary, for very low mass flow
rates (<108 kg/s) indirect methods can be considered more reli-
able in order to determine the flow rate with low values of
uncertainty.
The commercial flow meters for gas flows can be divided in two
groups: the volumetric flow meters and the mass flow meters. The
volumetric flow meters give an indication of the flow rate regard-
less of the fluid tested; the mass flow meters, on the contrary, can
be used only with the fluid for which they have been calibrated.
The sensors of the commercial gas flow meters can be divided in
non-thermal flow sensors and thermal flow sensors. The first kind
is classified according to the mechanical working principle by
means of which the flow rate can be measured indirectly:
(1) by the drag force (i.e. using silicon cantilevers);
(2) by pressure measurements (i.e. using capacitive and/or
piezoresistive pressure sensors);
(3) by using the Coriolis principle.
858 G.L. Morini et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 35 (2011) 849–865
The main disadvantage of the non-thermal flow sensors is
linked to the dependence of the force, pressure difference and Cori-
olis force on the density of the working fluid. Since the gas density
depends on the gas temperature, a temperature compensation is a
compelling need for this kind of sensors.
As indicated by Nguyen [34], the thermal flow sensors em-
ployed in the commercial flow meters can be classified as follows:
(1) thermal mass flow sensors which measure the effect of the
flowing fluid on a hot body (micro hot-wire and micro hot-
film sensors);
(2) thermal mass flow sensors which measure the asymmetry of
temperature profile around a micro heater which is modu-
lated by the fluid flow (calorimetric sensors);
(3) thermal mass flow sensors which measure the delay of a
heat pulse over a known distance (time-of-flight sensors).
The most popular sensors among the commercial flow meters
are the calorimetric sensors: this kind of flow meters are able to
predict the mass flow rate through the sensor by means of the fol-
lowing balance equation:
Q th
_ ¼
m ð15Þ
cp ðT b;out  T b;in Þ
which puts in evidence how the gas mass flow rate can be deter-
mined by means of two local measures of temperature (Tb,out and
Tb,in) and the knowledge of the heat power (Qth) transferred to the
gas by the heater.
By using microfabrication, this kind of thermal mass flow sensor
can be directly integrated into a microchannel. Schöler et al. [38]
have shown as two classic Pt RTDs and a microheater made on a
glass substrate can be directly integrated on a SU-8 epoxy resist
microchannel (50 lm  15 lm  8000 lm). As demonstrated by
Kim and Kim [61] by using a capacitive mass flow sensor using
two K-Type TFTC (150 lm  150 lm) associated to a PDMS micro-
channel (800 lm  800 lm  4 cm), the accuracy of this kind of
mass flow meters can be strongly influenced by the position and
the thermal insulation of the microsensor.
When the gas mass flow rates that one wants to measure
through microchannels are very low (<108 kg/s) the use of com-
mercial devices becomes unsuitable because of the high level of
uncertainty afflicting the measurements. In addition, accurate
measurements of mass flow rate in microchannels are challenging
for gas flows, which have a density very sensitive to the room pres-
sure and temperature fluctuations.
Low gas flow rates can be determined using the general expres-
sion of the mass flow rate as the change of mass over time:
dm
_ ¼
m ð16Þ
dt
If the gas can be considered as an ideal gas, the mass flow rate can
always be expressed as follows:
p dV V dp pV dT
_ ¼
m þ  ð17Þ
RT dt RT dt RT 2 dt
It can be noted from Eq. (17) that if two of the three variables (vol-
ume, pressure and temperature of the gas) are kept constant while
the third one is monitored during the experiment, the mass flow
rate of the gas can be determined. This provides the basic insights
into gas mass flow rate measurements. In practice, it is impossible
to keep two of the three variables strictly unchanged, so great ef-
forts are made to minimize the fluctuations of the nominally un-
changed variables to determine the mass flow rate as accurately
as possible. These fluctuations are usually the main source of errors
in low mass flow rate measurements for gas microflows.
Based on Eq. (17) several techniques have been proposed for the
determination of the mass flow rate below 108 kg/s.
In the droplet tracking technique the gas volumetric flow rate is
measured by introducing the outflow gas into a pipette, in which
the gas pushes a droplet forward. By recording the position of
the droplet versus time under the assumption of constant pressure
and temperature, the velocity of the droplet can be determined and
knowing the diameter of the pipette the mass flow rate of gas can
be calculated. In this case, Eq. (17) can be re-written as:
p dV p pd2pip Dl
_ ¼
m ¼ ð18Þ
RT dt RT 4 Dt
where dpip is the diameter of the pipette and Dl is the distance the
droplet moves during a certain time interval (Dt). This technique
does not require expensive meters and can be performed by using
multiple microchannels. The lowest mass flow rate that can be mea-
sured with this technique depends on the specific setups and on the
maximum number of microchannels tested in parallel. As rule of
thumb, the lowest value of the mass flow rate that can be measured
by using the droplet tracking technique is of the order of 1010 kg/s.
However, it is possible to obtain lower mass flow rates if the mea-
surement is made using hundreds of identical microchannels in
parallel in a single test section. This is the case of Shih et al. [62]
who measured the mass flow rate of helium through microchannels
in the order of 1012 kg/s, which is the same order measured by
Ewart et al. [63] with nitrogen. Colin et al. [64] obtained the mass
flow rate down to the order of 1013 kg/s for helium, while Celata
et al. [16] reached flow rates of the order of 108 kg/s for the same
type of gas with this technique. However, it is technically difficult to
maintain a constant moving speed for the droplet. Another problem
is the accurate measurement of the pipette inner diameter, which
weighs most in determining the mass flow rate, as shown in Eq.
(18), and, in the case of parallel channels, their dimensions may
vary significantly and thus the value obtained is only an average.
If gas flow is accumulated in a tank for a certain time interval,
there will be a pressure rise in the tank during the flow. If the pres-
sure in the tank is under reasonable control and not very high, the
expansion of the tank or the increase in its volume can be safely
neglected. In this case Eq. (17) becomes:
V dp pV dT
_ ¼
m  ð19Þ
RT dt RT 2 dt
If the second term in the right-hand side of Eq. (19) is very small
compared to the first one (i.e. <1%) it can also be dropped and by
careful measurement and recording of pressure rise inside the tank
versus time the mass flow rate can be determined. This is usually
referred to as constant volume technique. Based on this principle,
Ewart et al. [65] built an experimental setup in which the outlet
of the microchannel is connected to a large tank. By recording the
pressure versus time inside the tank, the mass flow rate can be
determined. The lowest mass flow rate measured with this tech-
nique was of the order of 1013 kg/s. The volume of the tank should
be carefully chosen so that the pressure change is detectable by a
pressure sensor for mass flow rate calculation and at the same time
negligible to remain a nearly constant outlet pressure. Great care
should also be paid to the temperature fluctuation of the gas as it
is compressed into the tank, so that the temperature change can
be neglected, which greatly simplifies the calculation of the mass
flow rate.
Arkilic et al. [66] used a two-tank, modified constant-volume
accumulation technique to measure the mass flow rate of gas, as
the single-tank procedure would not ensure the thermal stability
needed for their experiment. In this case, Eq. (19) is not sufficient
to calculate the mass flow rate, as both upstream and downstream
pressures vary during the experiment. Instead, the pressure
 G.L. Morini et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 35 (2011) 849–865 859

difference between the two tanks (both located downstream of the
microchannel) is measured. During the test one tank is used to
accumulate the gas flowing out of the microchannel and the other
one remains in steady state which provides a pressure reference.
The pressure difference between the two tanks is measured instead
of the absolute pressure for the determination of mass flow rate, as
given by:
V dðDpÞ DpV dT
_ ¼
m 
RT dt RT 2 dt
where Dp is the pressure difference between the reference tank and
the flow tank. As the two tanks are connected before the flow starts,
this quantity is 0 at the beginning. Due to the relatively small mass
flow rate of gas through the microchannels, when the flow finishes
the pressure difference can be very small, quite several orders of
magnitude smaller than the absolute pressure in Eq. (19). Therefore,
the sensitivity of mass flow rate to the tank temperature fluctuation
is reduced by several orders, and the tank for gas accumulation can
be reasonably regarded as isothermal during the experiment. In
addition, this technique requires that the two tanks have identical
temperature and undergo the same thermal fluctuations, which
can be realized by a good design, arrangement and thermal insula-
tion of the tanks. For this reason, in the work by Pitakarnnop et al.
[67] the whole setup was thermally regulated with Peltier modules
to maintain a constant temperature.
This method provided data for mass flow rates of an order of
1011 kg/s and a sensitivity as low as 7  1015 kg/s (Arkilic et al.
[68]) was reported; Pitakarnnop et al. [67] developed a new setup
for gas microflows in which the constant volume method for mass
flow rate measurement was implied to both the upstream and
downstream flow. This offers a double-check providing the possi-
bility to compare the measured results for the same flow. Their
measured values of mass flow rates can be as small as to
7.1  1014 kg/s.
To achieve a constant mass flow rate with this technique, the
pressure difference between the two tanks should increase linearly
with time during the experiment. As the outlet of the microchannel
is directly connected to the tank, the outlet pressure keeps chang-
ing and is uncontrolled. The inlet pressure should be very carefully
adjusted with the passage of time to achieve a linear increase of
pressure difference between the two tanks. This is very difficult
to achieve in practice. Thus, the process of gas flow in the micro-
ð20Þ channel becomes time-dependent with this method.
In order to complete this review, it is possible to highlight that
the most sensitive technique for the gas detection and for the mea-
surement of very low mass flow rates in leaks is based on mass
spectrometry and it has been presented by Tison in 1993 [69].
Tison developed a specific setup to measure gaseous capillary leak
rates ranging from 106 mol/s to 1014 mol/s. A series of complex
operation steps are involved in the test so that the final determina-
tion of flow rate is dependent on the ratio of measured quantities
instead of their absolute values, which reduces the sensitivity of
possible fluctuations (temperature, pressure and so on) and ex-
pands the measurement to very low range (pressures between
104 and 108 Pa). In this work, however, the focus is on the deter-
mination of leak rates of a specific gas, helium, which, at such pres-
sures, is actually part of a mixture, so that it is the partial pressure
which has to be determined, and either ion gauges or mass spec-
trometers are used to this aim. It can be highlighted that Tison’s
technique is time-consuming (6–8 h for a single test) with respect
the other techniques reviewed and its use in microfluidics can be
considered useful only for specific tests in which the gas mass flow
rates are very low (<1015 kg/s).
To summarize the main observations made in section for each
technique, Table 2 shows the most important methods proposed
for the fluid-dynamic investigation in microchannels.
For each technique, the typical ranges of values for which they
have been applied together with the typical values of uncertainty

Table 2
Summary of the experimental techniques proposed for the analysis of the gas flows in microfluidic applications.

Physical Technique Range Typical uncertainty References

quantity
Mass flow Flow meters 50000–0.05 Nml/min 0.6%, 1%, 2% Morini et al. [18], Celata et al. [16],
rate Tang et al. [15]
Droplet tracking 108 kg/s 9.64% (calculated) Celata et al. [16]
1010–1013 kg/s (hundreds of 3–4% Shih et al. [62], Ewart et al. [63],
parallel microchannels) Colin et al. [64]
Single tank constant volume 1013 kg/s 4.5% Ewart et al. [65], Pitakarnnop et al.
[67]
Two-tank constant volume 1011 kg/s – Arkilic et al. [66,68]
Mass spectrometry method 4  1017 kg/s–4  108 kg/s 1–8% Tison [69]
Diameter Accumulation of heavy liquid 150 lm 0.13% Asako et al. [7]
SEM 0.5–40 lm 1.25–2% Zohar et al. [17]
133–730 lm 2% Morini et al. [18]
10–300 lm 0.3–2.98% Tang et al. [15]
30–254 lm 2.48–3.67% Celata et al. [16]
Temperature Thermocouples (directly, at inlet and 0–200 °C 0.17%, 0.25% Tang et al. [15], Morini et al. [18]
outlet)
Thermocouples (indirectly, along – Systematic error reduced by Baviere et al. [52]
microchannel) around 0.8 K
Thermocouples (directly, after inlet – Inlet and outlet effects Demsis et al. [21]
and before outlet) minimized
Infrared thermography 50–130 °C Sensitivity: 0.1 °C Mosyak et al. [54]
Liquid crystal thermography 43–50 °C 1.1–1.5 °C Muwanga et al. [53]
Temperature sensitive paint 10–100 °C Sensitivity. 1% °C1 Liu et al. [28]
Pressure Pressure transducer 0–1.5 MPa 0.25%, 0.5% Tang et al. [15], Morini et al. [18],
Asako et al. [7]
Tube cutting Minor losses minimized Asako et al. [7], Celata et al. [16]
Pressure-Sensitive Paints From near vacuum to 2 atm. 1 mbar Huang et al. [27], Liu et al. [28]
Pressure-sensitive molecular film 102–104 Pa – Matsuda et al. [32,33]
Microstrain gauge membrane 0.1–0.4 MPa 1% Zohar et al. [17], Baviere et al. [8]
Optical lever 0–1.4 MPa 2.4–13.3% Kohl et al. [25]
860 G.L. Morini et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 35 (2011) 849–865

are shown. The data in Table 2 may be employed during the design
of a new test rig in order to select the best measurement tech-
niques with the goal to minimize the global uncertainty on the de-
rived quantities, as shown in the next section.
4. Uncertainty analysis
Eq. (13) highlights that the friction factor is a function of
many parameters. Eqs. (4) and (5) link the friction factor and the
measurable quantities. The friction factor is a general function
f ¼ f ðx1 ; x2 ; . . . ; xn Þ in which the single measurable variable xi is
characterized by a known absolute uncertainty dxi which corre-
sponds to the relative uncertainty dxxii . Based on the theory of
uncertainty propagation, the absolute uncertainty on the friction
factor is given by [70]:
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Xn  @f 2 2
Xn Xn
df ¼ i¼1 @x
ðdxi Þ þ 2 i¼1 j¼iþ1
i @xi @xj
where covðxi ; xj Þ is the covariance associated with xi and xj . If xi and
xj are independent, their covariance is 0; if the two variables are
correlated, their covariance will not be 0. However, in experiment
the singly measured variables are independent of each other, which
greatly reduces the complexity of calculation. Even with such sim-
plification, the measurable variables might be correlated by the
instrumentation used in the experimental setup (i.e. the use of
the same pressure sensor or temperature sensor and so on) and/
or by the room conditions (via data acquisition system). However,
this kind of correlation is relatively weak (i.e. Agilent 34420A digital
multimeter for data acquisition presents a slight sensitivity of the
magnitude of 0.0008% with regard to room temperature) and can
be either negative or positive, which tends to balance out the total
contribution to the overall uncertainty of the function f. For this rea-
son, in the following discussion the measurable variables will be
considered independent to each to other, and Eq. (21) can be simply
expressed as follows for the total relative uncertainty of f:
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 2  2  2  2
df @f x1 dx1 @f x2
¼ þ
f @x1 f x1 @x2 f
For flow in microtubes, by considering all the directly measurable
quantities (inner diameter, channel length, temperature, pressure
drop, outlet pressure and mass flow rate) in the determination of
the value of friction factor, the relative uncertainty of friction factor
is given by:
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 2  2  2
df 2 dDh 2 dL 2 dT
¼ k1 þ k2 þ k3
f Dh L T
where the sensitivity coefficients, k1, k2,. . ., k6, which show how the
uncertainty of each measurable parameter contributes quantita-
tively to the uncertainty of friction factor, are listed in Table 3 for
both incompressible and compressible flow. The analytical expres-
sion of these coefficients, reported in Table 3, can be calculated by
Eqs. (22) and (23) for which:
@f xi
ki ¼ ð24Þ
@xi f
and depends on the flow conditions in the experimental test as well
on the measurement strategies adopted (i.e. the use of two absolute
pressure sensors at the inlet and at the outlet of the microchannel
or the use of one differential pressure sensor with one absolute
pressure sensor and so on).
Eq. (23) highlights that the relative uncertainty of the friction
ffi factor is more sensitive to the measured variables which are asso-
@f @f ciated to larger sensitivity coefficients and the largest one domi-
covðxi ; xj Þ ð21Þ nates the total relative uncertainty. Specifically, the accuracy of
microchannel diameter measurement has the greatest weight in
the determination of the friction factor uncertainty, followed by
mass flow rate and pressure (for compressible flows) measure-
ment, while the accuracy of length and temperature measurement
is comparatively less important. This analysis suggests that for
accurate calculations of the friction factor the measurement of
the channel diameter is of crucial importance: even a small error
may induce a large error in the calculated quantity.
When compressibility effects become important and for very
low mass flow rates (<108 kg/s), uncertainty in flow rate measure-
ments becomes large; as explained in the previous section, in these
cases the flow rate is not directly measured but it is calculated with
Eqs. (17)–(20) as a function of temperature, pressure and volume
of the system: this increases the influence of such quantities mea-
surement on the total uncertainty of the friction factor.
It can also be noted from Table 3 that, for incompressible flows
and compressible flows with low pressure drop, the uncertainty of
friction factor can be directly calculated from the error of each
measurement, without knowing the absolute values of the mea-
 2  2
dx2 @f xn dxn sured parameters. On the contrary, for compressible flows with
  þ
x2 @xn f xn comparatively large pressure drops (which is usually the case in
ð22Þ microchannels), the friction factor uncertainty depends on the
absolute values of the following experimental parameters:
Dp 2Dh
a¼ ; b¼ ð25Þ
pout fL
where Dp is the pressure drop along the whole microchannel, pout is
the outlet pressure, f is the friction factor and L in the total length of
the microchannel.
 2  2  2
2 dDp 2 dpout 2 dm _
þ k4 þ k5 þ k6 For compressible flows different strategies can be used in order
p pout m _
to determine the friction factor depending on the type of pressure
ð23Þ sensors involved in the measurement.

Table 3
Sensitivity coefficients of operative parameters in the calculation of friction factor.

Sensitivity In-compressible Compressible flow Compressible flow (non-negligible aa) Compressible flow (inlet and outlet pressure
coefficients flow (negligible aa) Strategy #1 measured) Strategy #2
k1 (diameter) 5 5 5 + 4b ln(1 + a) 5 + 4b ln(1 + a)
k2 (length) 1 1 1 1
k3 (temperature) 0 1 1 + b ln(1 + a) 1 + b ln(1 + a)
   
k4 (pressure 1 1 1 þ 2þa a  b 1þa a þ b 1 þ 2þa a lnð1 þ aÞ 2 1
2 þ a2 þ2a  b þ 2b 1 þ a2 þ2a lnð1 þ aÞ (for pin instead
drop)
of Dp)
h i
k5 (outlet 0 1 2
þ b 2þ2 a lnð1 þ aÞ þ 1þa a a2 þ2a ½1 þ b lnð1 þ aÞ  b
1
1þa2
pressure)
k6 (mass flow 2 2 2 + 2b ln (1 + a) 2 + 2b ln (1 + a)
rate)
a
a = Dp/pout; b = 2Dh/(fL).
 G.L. Morini et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 35 (2011) 849–865 861

For example, one can measure:
 the total pressure drop due to the microtube by using a differ-
ential pressure sensor together with the determination of the
absolute value of the outlet pressure (indicated as Strategy #1
in Table 3) or
 the absolute value of the pressure at the inlet and at the outlet
of the microtube (indicated as Strategy #2 in Table 3).
Of course, other combinations of pressure sensors are possible.
Each different strategy causes some difference in the expression
of friction factor and thus changes the sensitivity coefficients of
each measurement (Eq. (24)), as shown in Table 3.
In order to give some numerical examples, the influence of
sensitivity coefficients of the six measurable quantities (inner diam-
eter, microtube length, temperature, total pressure drop, outlet
pressure, mass flow rate) on the uncertainty of the friction factor
is investigated quantitatively with a set of error-free data generated
from gas flow in a 100 lm microtube with a length of 30 mm. The
flow is assumed to be compressible, isothermal and in the laminar
regime, and the gas is discharged to the atmosphere. The typical
value of uncertainty for each measurement can be chosen by using
the data in Table 2; we have assumed an uncertainty of ±2% for inner
diameter measurement, ±0.3% for length measurement, ±0.25% for
temperature measurement, ±0.5% for pressure measurement and
±2% for mass flow rate measurement.
Fig. 4 shows the influence of each measurement on the uncer-
tainty of friction factor. It can be seen that the accuracy of friction
pressure (here it is assumed that the gas is discharged directly into
the atmosphere). On the other hand the value of the pressure drop
and the mass flow rate increase greatly in microchannels when the
Reynolds number increases. This causes a change in the relative
uncertainty of these two quantities, which tends to be larger when
the pressure drop and mass flow rates are farther from the full
scale (FS) value of the instrument.
To further explore this effect, we assume the relative uncer-
tainty for pressure drop and mass flow rate is ±0.5% of the full scale
(FS) reached when the Reynolds number is 2300.
Fig. 5 shows the single contribution of the uncertainty of these
two parameters to the uncertainty on friction factor. The total fric-
tion factor uncertainty is calculated based on the changing uncer-
tainty of pressure drop and mass flow rate, as well as the constant
relative uncertainty of inner diameter (±2%), length (±0.3%), outlet
pressure (±0.5%) and temperature (±0.25%). It can be seen that for
low Reynolds number (<500), or more generally when the mea-
sured values are far from the full scale, the uncertainty of friction
factor becomes very large and sometimes this leads to unreason-
able results in Microfluidics experiments.
In order to control the uncertainty during experimental tests
over a wide range of Reynolds numbers it becomes mandatory to
use a series of devices with different full scale (FS) values.
As shown in Fig. 6, if two pressure meters and two flow rate me-
ters are used having their FS at Re = 500 and at Re = 2300 when the
30
total uncertainty
pressure drop, FS ±0.5%
uncertainty of friction factor (%)

factor is most sensitive to the measurement of inner diameter, 25 mass flow rate, FS ±0.5%
which results in an uncertainty of more than 10% on the friction
factor. This contribution grows gradually with the increase of 20
Reynolds number. The importance of mass flow rate measurement
takes the second place and a 2% deviation results in an error of
15
4–5.5% in friction factor. Compared with diameter and mass flow
rate, the influence of other quantities (pressure drop, outlet pres-
sure, length and temperature) on the accuracy of friction factor is 10
small.
In practice, the uncertainty evaluation is more complicated than 5
the previous simulation, which based on assumption of constant
values for the relative uncertainty of each measured quantity. Dur- 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
ing a specific test round for isothermal flow, four out of the six
quantities to be measured (inner diameter, microtube length, tem- Re
perature, total pressure drop, outlet pressure, mass flow rate) al-
Fig. 5. Contribution of the differential pressure sensor and of the mass flow rate
most remain constant when the imposed Reynolds number is sensor having an uncertainty equal to ±0.5% of FS (Re = 2300) on friction factor
changed, namely inner diameter, length, temperature and outlet uncertainty.

14
14

12
uncertainty of friction factor (%)

uncertainty of friction factor (%)

12

10 diameter, ±2%
length, ±0.3% 10
temperature, ±0.25% total uncertainty
8 pressure drop, ±0.5% 8 pressure drop, FS ±0.5%
outlet pressure, ±0.5% mass flow rate, FS ±0.5%
6 mass flow rate, ±2%
6

4 4

2 2

0 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Re Re

Fig. 4. Influence of each measured parameter with typical uncertainty for a Fig. 6. Effect of the use of two differential pressure sensors and mass flow rate
microtube having an inner diameter of 100 lm and a length of 30 mm. sensors having different FS (Re = 500 and Re = 2300) on friction factor uncertainty.
862 G.L. Morini et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 35 (2011) 849–865

Reynolds number becomes lower than 500 the measurement can As shown in Table 3, using pressure sensors of identical uncer-
be switched to the set of devices having their FS at Re = 500 and tainty but different strategies of pressure measurement may result
this can greatly reduce the overall uncertainty of friction factor in a different accuracy for friction factor too. In this sense, an ‘‘a
at lower Reynolds number. priori’’ uncertainty analysis can become an important design tool
By comparing the data of Fig. 6 with those of Fig. 5 it is evident for microfluidics experiences as underlined in [71].
that using more devices having different full scale values it is pos- Fig. 7 indicates that if the inlet and outlet pressure are mea-
sible to expand the range of the Reynolds number in which the fric- sured for the determination of the friction factor for a compressible
tion factor uncertainty stays below ±14%. gas microflow (Strategy #2), the sensitivity coefficients for friction
factor will be very large at lower Reynolds number compared with
the measurement of pressure drop and outlet pressure. It is evident
6 that for Reynolds number larger than 500, it is more advisable to
choose an absolute pressure sensor with a higher accuracy for
5 pressure drop the inlet section in order to reduce the total uncertainty on friction
outlet pressure (corresponds to pressure drop)
inlet pressure
factor.
sensitivity coefficient

4
outlet pressure (corresponds to inlet pressure) On the contrary, if the pressure drop and outlet pressure are
measured (Strategy #1), it is more beneficial to use a more accu-
3
rate differential pressure transducer in order to obtain a low total
2
uncertainty.
Uncertainty analysis can also be used to check the validity of
1 the results published in the literature: sometimes discrepancies
from the predictions of the theory can be traced back to the use
0 of inaccurate instrumentation for the measurements. A list of
experimental papers has been examined in order to check the level
-1 of uncertainty associated to the measured values of the friction fac-
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 tors for liquids and gases.
Re In Table 4 the declared uncertainties on the friction factors re-
ported by Ferguson et al. [72] for experiments with liquid flows
Fig. 7. Comparison of the influence of different strategies for the pressure
measurement on the sensitivity coefficients of the inlet, outlet and differential are summarized in order to have a reference for a comparison with
pressure (sensors with a fixed uncertainty (±0.5%)). the values described in this paper for gas flows. It is interesting to

Table 4
Declared uncertainties of quantities measured in experiments with liquid flows in percentage (from Ferguson et al. [72]).

Authors Geometry Pressure (%) Mass flow rate (%) Re (%) Friction factor (%)
d (%) (circular) h, w (%) (rectangular) L (%)
Li et al. [73] 2 – 0.1 1.5 2 – –
Liu and Garimella [74] – – 3.9 0.25 1.01 10.5 11.8
Wu and Cheng [75] 1.83 – 0.37 0.68 1.69 – –
Mala and Li [76] 2 – 0.2 2 2 3 9.2
Judy et al. [77] 2.5 2.5–5 – 0.25 – – –
Chen et al. [78] – – – 2 5 10.5 5.4
Celata et al. [16] – – – – 7 5 7
Peng et al. [79,80] – – – 1.5 2.5 8 10

Table 5
Declared uncertainties of quantities measured in experiment with gas flows in percentage.

Authors Geometry Pressure Temperature Mass flow rate (%) Re Friction factor (%)
(%) (%) (%)
d (%) (circular) h, w (%) L (%)
(rectangular)
Ewart et al. [63] 1.39 – – 1.5 0.02 4.5 (const. volume); 4.2 (drop – –
tracking)
Ewart et al. [65] – h: 2.13; w: 0.20 1.06 0.5 0.02 4.5 – –
Celata et al. [16] 2.48–3.67 – – – – – – 19 (flow meter);27
(pipette)
Asako et al. [7] 0.13 – 0.003 0.42 – 0.98 – 12.5
Zohar et al. [17] – h: 2; w: 1.25 – <1 <1 <8.5 – –
Hsieh et al. [22] – h: 1; w: 1 – 0.7 0.04 4.0 1.46 1.82
Maurer et al. – h: 2; w: 1 1 2 – 2 – –
[81]
Morini et al. [18] 2 – 0.3 0.5 0.25 0.5–0.6 3 10
Araki et al. [82] triangle and trapezoid 0.2 5.13 – 2.2 – 10.9
Dh: 3.23
Turner et al. [83] – – – – – 4.9 4.8
Tang et al. [15] 0.3–2.98 0.02–0.07 0.25 0.17 2 4.5 5.9
Colin et al. [64] – h: 2.23–18.5 w: 0.2 – – – – –
0.58–1.4
Pitakarnnop – h: 5.3 w: 1.4 0.2 0.5 0.2 4 (const. volume); 3.1 (drop – –
et al. [67] tracking)
 G.L. Morini et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 35 (2011) 849–865 863

Table 6
Typical values of parameters in experiments with gas flows.

Authors Geometry and size (lm) Length (mm) Pressure (kPa) T (K) Mass flow rate (kg/s) Re
Inlet Outlet
Ewart et al. [63] Circ. d: 25.2 lm 53 1.22–12.11 0.25–2.47 296.5 0.02–2  1010 0.0018–2.5
Ewart et al. [65] Rect. h: 9.38; w: 492 9.4 0.060–115.47 0.012–32.65 – 0.0049–22.5  1010 –
Celata et al. [16] Circ. d: 30–254 50–91 Up to 1000 100 – – 0.8–500
Asako et al. [7] Circ. d: 150 30–50 300 190 300 4  106 1508–2188
Zohar et al. [17] Rect. h: 0.5 and 1; w: 40 4 Up to 400 100 – 1.5–6  109 –
Hsieh et al. [22] Rect. h: 50; w: 200 24 2.7–64.63 0.68–13.19 300 0.88  108–40.9  108 2.6–89.4
Maurer et al. [81] Rect. h: 1.14; w: 200 10 140–500 48–100 296 6  10125  1010 0.001–0.07
Morini et al. [18] Circ. d: 133–730 200–1000 – – – – 100–5000
Araki et al. [82] Triangular and trapezoidal Dh: 3.92–10.3 15 and 25 – 100 295 0.2  10101.0  1010 0.042–4.19
Tang et al. [15] Circular and rectangular Dh: 10–300 27.5–100 – 100 295 – 3–6200
Colin et al. [64] Rect. h: 0.5–4.5; w: 20, 50 5 – 65–200 294 4  10132  109 –
Pitakarnnop et al. [67] Rect. h: 1.88; w: 21.2 5 Up to 300 2–50 298.5 8  10142  1011 –

note that the typical values of the friction factor uncertainties vary
from ±5.4% to ±11.8% and, in many papers, the most important
uncertainty, related to the inner diameter, was not declared. In
these works the flow was adiabatic and in many cases the temper-
ature of the test flow was not checked.
Table 5 reports a collection of declared uncertainties for exper-
iments with gases. Comparing the data of Table 4 with those of Ta-
ble 5 it is seen that for gas flows the uncertainty on the friction
factor can be larger than ±12% due to the smaller dimensions of
the tested microchannels (less than 150 lm generally) and to the
larger uncertainties on mass flow rate measurement. In fact, very
low flow rates and low values of pressure are used in these exper-
iments in order to obtain large values of the Knudsen number
(large rarefaction effects).
By observing the total uncertainties of the friction factor of Ta-
ble 5 it is interesting to note that in many experimental works the
data about the uncertainty analysis are incomplete and it is impos-
sible to know the real value of the total uncertainty on the exper-
imental friction factors.
The typical values of temperature, pressure and mass flow rate
for these works are given in Table 6, together with the range of
Reynolds numbers investigated.
It is interesting to highlight that in the experimental works in
which the tested Reynolds numbers were larger than 10 only com-
pressibility effects were evidenced and analysed; on the contrary,
in order to study the rarefaction effects on the gas microflows
the Reynolds number must be less than 10 (very low mass flow
rates). In fact, in order to study the gas rarefaction effects small
channels (usually less than 20 lm) and low values of pressure (less
than 0.1 bar) must be used. Under these conditions the values of
the mass flow rate are very low (1061014 kg/s) and specific
techniques like the droplet tracking method or the gas accumula-
tion method have to be employed to calculate the Reynolds num-
ber accurately. In the gas accumulation technique experiments
must be devised so as to keep the temperature of the tank fixed,
which may lead to difficulties in the design of the test rig.
5. Conclusions
The need for the development of specific measurement tech-
niques for the field of Microfluidics is nowadays very high. In this
paper a critical review of different approaches for the measure-
ment of the main operative parameters useful to determine the
friction factors and pressure drops through microchannels (such
as microchannel sizes, pressure, temperature and gas flow rate),
is presented highlighting both the advantages and possible prob-
lems one may encounter with each specific measurement ap-
proach. This offers advice for both researchers and engineers to
choose a suitable method based on the accuracy to be achieved,
ranges of parameters to be measured, temperature under opera-
tion, materials and sizes of microchannel, type of working fluid,
etc. It has been shown in the paper how the propagation of uncer-
tainty can be used as a powerful design tool for microfluidic
experiences.
It has been demonstrated that the uncertainty of each quantity
directly measured in experiments has a quite different influence in
determining the uncertainty of friction factor: accordingly, one
should pay greatest care to the accuracy of diameter measurement,
followed by that of mass flow rate and pressure measurement. In
the paper the uncertainties and typical values of various parame-
ters in the work of different researchers are compared, which pro-
vides useful references for future research in the field of the
analysis of the gas flow through microdevices. Of course, these data
can be useful also for the design of new experiment test rigs and
for the selection of the more appropriate devices in order to obtain
a controlled uncertainty of the data and meaningful results.
As result of this critical review the following main conclusions
can be drawn:
 About the estimation of the average inner diameter of a micro-
channel: the method of accumulation of heavy liquid proposed
by Asako et al. [7] seems to be a good one in order to reduce the
uncertainty accompanying this measurement (<0.2%). This
technique is based on the assumption that for liquid flows in
laminar regime the Poiseuille law holds also in microchannels.
However, for very small hydraulic diameters this technique
requires very long time for the liquid to accumulate; when
water is used as test fluid, care must be used in order to esti-
mate the mass lost due to evaporation during the experimental
tests, which strongly depends on the environmental conditions.
 About the estimation of the flow rate: commercial thermal mass
flow sensors can be used down to 108 kg/s (0.1 Nml/min).
When the mass flow rate is very low (<108 kg/s) the best
method is the single-tank constant volume method proposed
by Ewart et al. [65] and, more recently, the same method with
double measurement and precise temperature regulation by
Pitakarnnop et al. [67]. During the measurement, the environ-
mental conditions must be accurately checked in order to main-
tain constant temperature.
 About the determination of the pressure in a microchannel: it is
possible to reconstruct the pressure distribution along a micro-
channel but this requires specific techniques and sensors (Pres-
sure-Sensitive Paints, microstrain gauge membrane, optical
lever) which need a specific calibration and sometimes a spe-
cific test section. If one is only interested in the total pressure
drop along a microtube, usual pressure sensors can be used.
These devices can be employed with low levels of relative
uncertainty (<±0.5%) by placing them in the plenums at the inlet
864 G.L. Morini et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 35 (2011) 849–865
and outlet of the microchannel. However, in this case the cor-
rect evaluation of the minor losses at the ends of the microtube
becomes a crucial point. In addition, for compressible and
incompressible flows, different strategies of pressure measure-
ments (i.e. the combinations of absolute and differential pres-
sure sensors) may result in a different accuracy of the friction
factor.
 About the temperature: thermocouples, thermal liquid crystals
or infrared thermography can be used to estimate the surface
temperature of the microdevices but, in general, the use of clas-
sical Pt-RTD sensors and thermocouples is usually recom-
mended in order to determine the temperature in microfluidic
devices. However, it has been shown in the paper that the
improvement in the microfabrication techniques has conducted
to the realization of specific lRTD, TFTC and SC microsensors
and their integration in microchannels has been demonstrated
to be very promising for the analysis of gas dynamics in
microchannels.
 About the determination of the local velocity distribution: the
velocimetry techniques proposed for liquid flows in microchan-
nels present strong limitations if applied to the analysis of gas
flows. For the determination of the local velocity of a gas in a
microchannel two techniques have been proposed: the micro-
Particle Image Velocimetry (lPIV) and the Molecular-Tagging
Velocimetry (MTV). For lPIV, the accuracy of the gas-phase flow
velocity measurement is strongly dependent on the characteris-
tics of the tracer particles; it has been demonstrated that for gas
flows through microchannels the seeding (water or fluorescent
oil) must be characterized by diameters below 1 lm in order to
closely follow the flow especially in regions of rapid decelera-
tion (bends). This fact can determine strong problems for the
generation of the tracer particles especially for low gas flow
rates. On the other hand, the application of MTV to the analysis
of gas flows through microchannels can be considered only in
its preliminary phase. The determination of the gas local veloc-
ity in microdevices still remains an important open question.
Acknowledgement
The research leading to these results has received funding from
the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (ITN –
FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 215504.
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