Combination of fractal geometry and hydrodynamics: A novel approach to thestudy of a multicapillary electrophoresis system

In this paper, the effect of the capillary structure and its organization i n a multicapillary electrophoresis system (MES) were studied. The model was based on a combination of the dynamics of energy transport and the mathema tics of fractal geometry. It demonstrated that in order to minimize the ene rgy transport the geometric system structure must obey certain power laws. The results obtained showed that these power laws depend on the hydrodynami c regime and the capillary material. For polymeric capillaries in a pulsed flow, the viscous resistance in the fractal multicapillary system (FMS) var ied with 1/r(2) for the smallest capillaries (r was the dimension of the ca pillary cross-section) and with 1/r(4) (Poiseuille flow regime) for the lar gest capillaries. For a constant flow, the Poiseuille regime was always res pected. The FMS can use high field strengths without too much energy dissip ation to perform rapid and efficient separation.