title: Investigation of design parameters in ultrasound reactors with confined channels.
abstract: This paper presents a three-dimensional numercial simulation of sonochemical degradation upon cavitational activity. The model relates the simulation of the acoustic pressure distribution to the sonochemical reaction rate. As a case study, the thermal degradation of carbon tetrachloride during sonication is studied in a tubular milliscale reactor. The model is used to optimize the reactor diameter, ultrasound frequency and power dissipated to the ultrasound transducers. The results indicate that multiple transducers at a moderate power level are more efficient than one transducer with high power level. Furthermore, the average cavity volume fraction is proposed as a reaction independent parameter to estimate the optimal reactor design. Within the results obtained in this paper, it appears possible to optimise reactor design based on this parameter.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, KU Leuven, De Croylaan 46, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium. jeroen.jordens@cit.kuleuven.be
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jordens
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Honings
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Degrève
authors.forename: Leen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Braeken
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Van Gerven
mesh_terms: D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D014465:Ultrasonics / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride