Inactivation of Algae and Plankton by Ultrasonic Cavitation

Abstract

Microbial treatment by ultrasonic waves has been attracting attention as a useful water treatment technology because it does not use special chemicals and the equipment is simple. In addition, because microbial cells are destroyed during treatment, it can be applied to ingredient extraction technology. Although ultrasonic cavitation bubbles are thought to be involved in the processing mechanism, the details of the mechanism remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the destruction mechanism of algae, microcapsules, and plankton by ultrasonic waves. Each sample was irradiated with ultrasonic waves over a wide range of frequencies, and frequency dependence was observed in all the samples. For algae and microcapsules, we matched the frequencies against the resonance frequency calculated based on the mechanical resonance model using adjacent ultrasonic cavitation bubbles. As a result, a good match was found. For plankton, partial damage to the shape was observed after ultrasonic irradiation, suggesting that shear stress, which is a local action caused by bubbles, was involved. By estimating the shear stress value based on the vibration equation of bubble, it was confirmed that the tendencies match.