Porous ceramics for multistage Knudsen micropumps—modeling approach and experimental evaluation

This paper describes the evaluation of four types of porous ceramics for use as thermal transpiration materials in Knudsen pumps that operate at atmospheric pressure. Knudsen pumps are motionless gas pumps that utilize thermal transpiration along a channel or a set of channels; the channels must have a temperature gradient and must constrain the flow to remain within the free molecular or transitional flow regimes. Of the ceramics evaluated, a clay-based, 15 bar synthetic ceramic (15PC) presents the most favorable properties for Knudsen pumps. For an input power of 3.4 W, a 25 × 25 mm2 nine-stage Knudsen pump that uses this material provides a maximum pressure head of 12 kPa and a maximum gas flow rate of ≈3.7 μL min−1. Reliability tests demonstrate more than 11 750 h of continuous operation without any deterioration in their gas pumping capabilities. A fitted model suggests that the temporal evolution of pressure at the sealed outlet of a Knudsen pump can be captured adequately using four parameters. These parameters correspond to various nonidealities that play dominant roles in the transient response of these pumps. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)