Simulation of the spatial distribution of the acoustic pressure in sonochemical reactors with numerical methods: a review

Combination effect of ultrasound and shake as a mechanical action for textile cleaning

The ultrasonic cleaning of artificially soiled fabrics with and without shake was carried out in an aqueous anionic surfactant solution. The polyester, cotton and polyester/cotton (65/35) fabrics were soiled with oleic acid or carbon black as a model soil, and cleaned together with their original fabrics with applying ultrasound for 5min. The detergency and the soil redeposition were determined from the change in the Kubelka-Munk function of the soiled and original fabric surfaces due to the cleaning. For any fabric, the removal of oleic acid and carbon black from the soiled fabric and their redeposition onto the original fabric increased with increasing electric power consumption of ultrasound. When ultrasound and shake were applied at the same time, the detergency further increased for any electric power consumption. The maximum detergency obtained with combination of ultrasound 340W and shake 160spm was compared with detergency obtained with Wascator, a horizontal axis drum type washer. It was found that the ultrasound/shake combination cleaning enabled efficient removal of both soils from any fabric and the detergency of the polyester fabrics was comparable to that with Wascator. The mechanical action during the washing was evaluated by two mechanical action test pieces commercially available, which indicated that the ultrasound/shake combination cleaning provided gentle mechanical action to the fabric in comparison with the drum type washer. The SEM observations showed the damage of the fabric and fiber surfaces was negligibly small after the ultrasound/shake combination washing.

Influence of the liquid viscosity on the formation of bubble structures in a 20kHz field

The cavitation field in a cylindrical vessel bottom-insonified by a 19.7kHz large area transducer is studied experimentally. By adding controlled amounts of Poly-Ethylene Glycol (PEG) to water, the viscosity of the liquid is varied between one- and nine-fold the viscosity of pure water. For each liquid, and for various displacement amplitudes of the transducer, the liquid is imaged by a high-speed camera and the acoustic field is measured along the symmetry axis. For low driving amplitudes, only a spherical cap bubble structure appears on the transducer, growing with amplitude, and the axial acoustic pressure field displays a standing-wave shape. Above some threshold amplitude of the transducer, a flare-like structure starts to build up, involving bubbles strongly expelled from the transducer surface, and the axial pressure profile becomes almost monotonic. Increasing more the driving amplitude, the structure extends in height, and the pressure profile remains monotonic but decreases its global amplitude. This behavior is similar for all the water-PEG mixtures used, but the threshold for structure formation increases with the viscosity of the liquid. The images of the bubble structures are interpreted and correlated to the measured acoustic pressure profiles. The appearance of traveling waves near the transducer, produced by the strong energy dissipated by inertial bubbles, is conjectured to be a key mechanism accompanying the sudden appearance of the flare-like structure.

Interplay Between Mechanochemistry and Sonochemistry

Ultrasonic irradiation-based mechanochemical strategies have recently been the subject of intensive investigation because of the advantages they offer. These include simplicity, energy savings and wide applicability. Traditional areas of sonoprocessing such as cleaning, efficient mixing and solid activation have been extended to both macromolecular and micro/nanostructures, some of which are biologically significant, ultrasound-responsive actuators and crystal design, among others. Unlike conventional mechanochemical protocols, which require little solvent usage if any at all, mechanical (and chemical) effects promoted by ultrasound are observed in a liquid medium. Tensile forces, which share similarities with solid mechanochemistry, are generated by virtue of nonlinear effects, notably cavitation, when high-amplitude waves propagate in a fluid. This work aims to provide insight into some recent developments in the multifaceted field of sono-mechanochemistry using various examples that illustrate the role of ultrasonic activation, which is capable of boosting hitherto sterile transformations and inventing new crafts in applied chemistry. After a preliminary discussion of acoustics, which is intended to provide a mechanistic background, we mainly focus on experimental developments, while we often mention emerging science and occasionally delve into theoretical models and force simulations.