A semi‐empirical approach for determining the number density and void fraction of acoustic cavitation bubbles in sono‐reactors

Abstract

AbstractA new semi‐empirical technic has been established relying on the linkage between the chemistry in the bulk liquid and that taking place in the acoustic cavitation bubble. The open‐source COPASI software has been used for the optimization of number density according to the total yield of a single bubble and the fitting of the experimental yield of hydrogen peroxide in the sonicated solution. It was observed that the number density is increased with the rise of ultrasound frequency from 200 to 1140 kHz, independently of the saturating gas nature (O2, Ar or air). Within this range of wave frequencies, i.e. from 200 to 1140 kHz, the number of active bubbles goes up from 9.35 × 107 to 3.65 × 1015 L−1 s−1. On the other side, it has been demonstrated that the number density obtained under air atmosphere is greater than that resulting either under argon or oxygen‐saturating gas. Interestingly, with respect to the saturating gas nature (O2, Ar, air) and the range of ultrasound frequency (200–1140 kHz), it was observed that the increase of number density was not necessarily accompanied by a proportional increase of void fraction (total volume of bubbles).