Commerical Micro Pump

Have you tried here?

yes, I could not find anything in the µL/min range that was small enough.

Syringe Pumps and Dispensers Skip Navigation Don't know if this helps. I Googled µL/min pump.

Have you tried Tuthill? spendy sons of ... haven't looked at their stuff in a good while.. but sourced some tiny hydraulic pumps for aerospace application once from them... If I remember right, they should be able to find a solution... I'm sure there are many others out there who cater to the medical world.

But hey... maybe I'm just completely talking out my arse on this one, as I did no research before making my recommendation.

syringe pumps don't help...too big

I have discussed this kind of requirement some years ago with a fellow. There was no choice at that time, because he needed such small device (actually a compressor, not a pump) that should work with a very very little flow without pulsating at all. The final answer was a pressure accumulator, followed by a pressure regulating valve and a needle valve for flow control. The flow was too small, so, a reasonable sized accumulator could handle a good time of operation between recharging (what could be done without stopping anything). I really don't know if it matches your needs, but it is never too much to try to think about different answers for the same problem. Even if they seem invalid at first sight.

That sounds like a good logical solution.

My question is how long does it need to be continuous for?

An insulin pump could provide this flow rate quite nicely, however, typical units can hold 3mL, which would mean that you would need to (somehow) place two in parallel so that when one goes down the other can be refilled, is 3000 min/ 50 hours an OK length of time for the system?

regards,

(diabetic) Guest

it only needs to be continuous for a maximum of 20 minutes

Peristaltic pump is probably your best bet. Try one of the guys that supply to the medical industry such as this.

I suggest that you have another look at syringe pumps. In my years in the medical faculty at University we had pumps that operated syringes through complete stroke in as much as 48 hours, so using a 0.5ml syringe that would be 500uL/2880minutes or around 0.2uL/minute.

Cannot remember the supplier (long time ago).

Mechanism was related to variable speed drive running worm gear the depressed the plunger. (Also had a 10x and 100X button to allow you to prime the lines.)

We are currently using a syringe pump for experimentation, but need a smaller sized pump for a PORTABLE "Lab-on-a-chip" device

I think you can check with Williams Miltonroy pumps - Air operated dual seal plunger pumps

I have access to a 4" cavitate centrifugal pump that should manage your flow requirements.

A pulsating pump with a pressure vessel or constant head tank may deliver continues flow.

We don't know what you try to achieve with the small flow.

One reason that I can imagine is color filling engraving.

Please supply more detail.

pump will be used to pump fluid through a PORTABLE "Lab-on-a-Chip" device

Have you looked a these guys? http://www.fmipump.com/pip.html

If you wish to get REALLY small, you can open a dialogue for OEM supply to you from Debiotech in Switzerland, to incorporate into your product.

They are the developers/suppliers of the new nano-insulin pump on a chip, with developer samples reportedly available now.

http://www.debiotech.com/products/msys/chronojet.html