A seat microvalve nozzle for optimal gas-flow capacity at large-controlled pressure

Seat microvalves are the most common microvalve type for gas-flow control. This paper presents a general method for optimizing the flow capacity of a seat valve nozzle and diminishing the requirements on the valve actuator´s stroke length. Geometrical analysis and finite element (FE) simulations show that for controlling large gas flow at elevated pressure, the optimal nozzle design in terms of flow capacity for a given actuator performance is a multiple-orifice arrangement with miniaturized circular nozzles. Experimental results support the design introduced in this paper.