Bjorn Gielen

The effects of ultrasound on micromixing.

The Villermaux-Dushman reaction is a widely used technique to study micromixing efficiencies with and without sonication. This paper shows that ultrasound can interfere with this reaction by sonolysis of potassium iodide, which is excessively available in the Villermaux-Dushman solution, into triiodide ions. Some corrective actions, to minimize this interference, are proposed. Furthermore, the effect of ultrasonic frequency, power dissipation, probe tip surface area and stirring speed on micromixing were investigated. The power and frequency seem to have a significant impact on micromixing in contrast to the stirring speed and probe tip surface area. Best micromixing was observed with a 24kHz probe and high power intensities. Experiments with different frequencies but a constant power intensity, emitter surface, stirring speed, cavitation bubble type and reactor design showed best micromixing for the highest frequency of 1135kHz. Finally, these results were used to test the power law model of Rahimi et al. This model was not able to predict micromixing accurately and the addition of the frequency, as an additional parameter, was needed to improve the simulations.

Ultrasound precipitation of manganese carbonate: The effect of power and frequency on particle properties

The influence of ultrasonic frequency and intensity on particle shape, tap density and particle size distribution was investigated during the precipitation of manganese carbonate. For the first time, a broad frequency range of 94 till 1135 kHz was studied in one single reactor setup. Smaller and more spherical particles were observed during sonication compared to silent conditions. Lower frequencies and increased intensities result in smaller and more spherical particles. The most spherical particles with superior tap densities are obtained at the lowest frequency and most elevated intensity. Moreover, the results indicate that a particle size threshold exists, below which the particle size cannot be reduced by a further increase of the ultrasonic intensity or reduction of the frequency. Sonication of already formed spherical powders resulted in particles with smaller sizes but unaffected shapes. Finally, one test with pulsed ultrasonic irradiation resulted in equally sized particles with similar sphericity as the ones produced under continuous sonication.

Influence of dissolved gases on sonochemistry and sonoluminescence in a flow reactor

In the present work, the influence of gas addition is investigated on both sonoluminescence (SL) and radical formation at 47 and 248 kHz. The frequencies chosen in this study generate two distinct bubble types, allowing to generalize the conclusions for other ultrasonic reactors. In this case, 47 kHz provides transient bubbles, while stable ones dominate at 248 kHz. For both bubble types, the hydroxyl radical and SL yield under gas addition followed the sequence: Ar>Air>N2>>CO2. A comprehensive interpretation is given for these results, based on a combination of thermal gas properties, chemical reactions occurring within the cavitation bubble, and the amount of bubbles. Furthermore, in the cases where argon, air and nitrogen were bubbled, a reasonable correlation existed between the OH-radical yield and the SL signal, being most pronounced under stable cavitation at 248 kHz. Presuming that SL and OH originate from different bubble populations, the results indicate that both populations respond similarly to a change in acoustic power and dissolved gas. Consequently, in the presence of non-volatile pollutants that do not quench SL, sonoluminescence can be used as an online tool to qualitatively monitor radical formation.

Characterization of stable and transient cavitation bubbles in a milliflow reactor using a multibubble sonoluminescence quenching technique

The bubble type, generated by an ultrasonic field, was studied in a batch and flow reactor using a multibubble sonoluminescence (MBSL) quenching technique with propanol and acetone. The influence of frequency and transducer configuration was evaluated using the same piezoelectric element in both setups. Results show that the bubble type not only depends on the frequency, but also on the input power or transducer configuration. Additionally, the effect of flow on sonoluminescence yield and bubble type was studied in the continuous setup at various frequencies. As the flow becomes turbulent, the sonoluminescence signal reaches a plateau for three out of four frequencies, and a transition from transient to stable cavitation occurs for frequencies below 200 kHz.