Title :
A thermopneumatically actuated microvalve for liquid expansion and proportional control
Author :
Henning, Albert K. ; Fitch, John ; Hopkins, Dean ; Lilly, Les ; Faeth, Rick ; Falsken, Ed ; Zdeblick, Mark
Author_Institution :
Redwood Microsyst. Inc., Menlo Park, CA, USA
Abstract :
The analysis, design, fabrication, and testing of a thermopneumatic expansion valve to control single-phase and two-phase flow of liquids is described. The valve is normally open, and shuts off flow with low power consumption, below 0.5 watt, reducing the power consumption of earlier thermopneumatic designs by a factor of ten. The device has been applied as an expansion valve to the problem of proportional control of refrigerants. Differential pressures of 140 psid (~1 MPa) are sustained across the valve. Flow rates up to 10 gm/sec for the refrigerant R-134a have been demonstrated
Keywords :
flow control; fluidic devices; microactuators; pneumatic control equipment; proportional control; refrigeration; semiconductor device testing; valves; 0.5 W; 1 MPa; R-134a; Si; Si membrane layer; anodic bonding; design; differential pressures; expansion valve; fabrication; flow rates; liquid expansion; low power consumption; micro-fluidics; proportional control; refrigerants; single-phase flow control; testing; thermopneumatically actuated microvalve; two-phase flow control; Biomembranes; Energy consumption; Fluid flow; Fluid flow control; Heat transfer; Liquids; Microvalves; Proportional control; Refrigerants; Valves;
Conference_Titel :
Solid State Sensors and Actuators, 1997. TRANSDUCERS '97 Chicago., 1997 International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Chicago, IL
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-3829-4
DOI :
10.1109/SENSOR.1997.635228
