• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.129-134
• /
• 2008

Ultrasonic cavitational energy distributions were measured in a large-scale sonoreator. In application of 110 and 170 kHz of ultrasound, the cavitational energy was just detected near the transducer module. However 35 and 72 kHz ultrasound made good distributions from the module to the end of the sonoreactor, Especially, 72 kHz ultrasound application showed most stable and highest cavitational energy value through the whole length. In the comparison between input power and cavitational energy, linear relationships were obtained in 35 and 72 kHz and it was anticipated that these results would be used for the optimization of input power for the design of sonoreactors. And three dimensional energy distribution was depicted through the mapping of cavitaional energy. Average energy in the large-scale sonoreactor was estimated as 62.8 W, which was about 40 % of input power.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.23-31
• /
• 2020

The performance of a downward-irradiation sonoreactor was investigated using calorimetry, KI dosimetry, luminol (Sonochemiluminescence, SCL) method, and aluminium foil erosion method as one of the basic steps for the optimal design of downward-irradiation sonoreactors. The applied frequency was 28 kHz and the input electrical power was 280 - 300 W. The liquid height, from the reactor bottom to the transducer module surface, ranged from 1λ (53.6 mm) to 2λ (107.1 mm). For various liquid heights, the magnitude of calorimetric power and the mass of cavitation-generated I₃^- ion varied significantly. It was found that the additional application of mechanical mixing resulted in higher sonochemical activity, especially in the cavitational active zone, which was induced by violent liquid flow in the reactor. In aluminium foil erosion tests, it was found that less ultrasound energy reached the bottom of the reactor due to the violent liquid flow and no significant sonophysical effect was observed for higher mixing rate conditions (100 and 200 rpm).

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.128-134
• /
• 2016

Acoustic emission spectra was analyzed to investigate the distribution of sound pressure in a 36 kHz sonoreactor. The sound pressure of fundamental frequency (f: 36 kHz), harmonics (2f: 72 kHz, 3f: 108 kHz, 4f: 144 kHz, 5f: 180 kHz, 6f: 216 kHz), and subharmonics (1.5f: 54 kHz, 2.5f: 90 kHz, 3.5f: 126 kHz, 4.5f: 162 kHz, 5.5f: 198 kHz, 6.5f; 234 kHz) was measured at every 5 cm from the ultrasonic transducer using a hydrophone and a spectrum analyzer. It was revealed that the input power of ultrasound, the application of mechanical mixing, and the concentration of SDS affected the sound pressure distributions of the fundamental frequency and total detected frequencies frequencies significantly. Moreover a linear relationship was found between the average total sound pressure and the degree of sonochemical oxidation while there was no significant linear relationship between the average sound pressure of fundamental frequency and the degree of sonochemical oxidation.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.642-649
• /
• 2018

The effect of gas sparging on sonochemical oxidation was investigated in a 300 kHz sonoreactor under various liquid height/volume conditions ($5{\sim}30{\lambda}$, 3.4 ~ 9.0 L), determined by the wavelength of the applied frequency. The electrical input power was maintained constant for all cases . Sonochemical activity drastically decreased from $15{\lambda}$ and the liquid height of $10{\lambda}$ was suggested as the optimal height for 300 kHz without gas sparging. In our previous research, the sonochemical activity observed was five-times higher when air sparging was applied for 36 kHz. On the other hand, no enhancement was obtained at 10, 15, 25 and $30{\lambda}$ using air sparging (1, 3, and 6 L/min) for 300 kHz in this study $20{\lambda}$ and optimization of gas sparging was conducted at $20{\lambda}$ using various gases including air, Ar, $O_2$, $N_2$, and mixtures of Ar and $O_2$. It was found that gas sparging using pure Ar or pure $O_2$ resulted in lower sonochemical activity compared to that of air sparging due to the imbalance between the intensity of cavitation phenomena and the generation of oxidizing radical species. Consequently, the gas mixture of $Ar:O_2$ = 80 % : 20 % (DO saturation ${\approx}100%$) was suggested as an optimal gas sparging condition.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.115-122
• /
• 2019

The objective of this study was to investigate the sonophysical and sonochemical effects induced by acoustic cavitation in heterogeneous systemin a 28 kHz double-bath reactor using calorimetry, the aluminiumfoil erosion test, and the luminol test. With no glass beads, calorimetric power in the inner vessel increased as much as the outer sonoreactor lost and total calorimetric power was maintained for various liquid height conditions (0.5 ~ 7 cm) in the vessel. Higher calorimetric energy was obtained at higher liquid height conditions. Similar results were obtained when glass beads were placed with various beads heights (0.5 ~ 2.0 cm) and relatively high calorimetric energy was obtained in spite of large attenuation in the glass beads layer. An aluminium foil placed between the bottom of the inner vessel and the glass beads layer was damaged, indicating significant sonophysical effects. Much less damage was detected when the foil was placed above the beads layer due to large attenuation of ultrasound. Sonochemical effects, visualized by sonochemiluminescence (SCL), also decreased significantly when the beads were placed in the vessel. It was established that the optimization of the liquid height above the solid-material layer could enhance the sonophysical and sonochemical effects in the double-bath sonoreactors.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.92-98
• /
• 2015

The physical effect induced by acoustic cavitation was investigated to accumulate basic data for the design of ultrasonic soil washing processes using aluminum foil erosion tests. A square aluminum foil was placed on the glass beads in the pyrex vessel submerged in the sonoreactor equipped with a 36 kHz ultrasound transducer module at the bottom. Cavitational erosion of foils was quantitatively analyzed for various glass bead diameter conditions (1, 2, and 4 mm), glass bead height conditions (5, 10, 15, and 20 mm), and water height conditions (5, 10, 15, and 20 mm). It was found that aluminum foil erosion significantly increased as the glass bead diameter increased and water height over the glass bead increased due to less attenuation of ultrasound and the optimization of sound field for cavitation. Moreover mechanical mixing was suggested to move constantly particles to the bottom area where the acoustic cavitation occurs most violently. It was because aluminium foil erosion by ultrasound transmitted through glass beads was relatively too weak.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.205-212
• /
• 2014

Ultrasound technology can be applied in various fields including environmental, energy, and material engineering processes. In this study the effect of liquid height/volume on calorimetric energy and sonochemical oxidation was investigated as one of the basic steps for the design of water/wastereater treatment sonoreactors. The liquid height was increased from 0 to $4{\lambda}$ by $1/4{\lambda}$ and it was found that both calorimetric energy and sonochemical oxidation were significantly increased at relatively high liquid height/volume where the power density was relatively low. The sonochemiluminescence (SCL) images for the visualization of the activity of cavitation also showed that larger and more stable active zone was formed with high SCL intensity at high liquid height/volume. Therefore, it was revealed that sonoreactors for water/wasterwater treatment could be significantly effective in terms of removal efficiency and energy consumption.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.38 no.5
• /
• pp.211-219
• /
• 2022

In this study, the effect of liquid height/volume on sonochemical oxidation reactions was investigated in 300 kHz sonoreactors. The gas mixture of Ar/O₂ (50:50) was applied in two modes including saturation and sparging, and zero-order reaction (KI dosimetry) and first-order reaction (Bisphenol A (BPA) degradation) were used to quantitatively analyze sonochemical oxidation reactions. For the zero-order reaction, the highest sonochemical oxidation activity was obtained for the liquid height of 5𝛌, and the lowest height for both the gas saturation and sparging conditions. In addition, the sparging did not enhance the sonochemical oxidation activity for all height conditions except for 50𝛌, where very low activity was obtained. It was found that in sonochemiluminescence (SCL) images the sonochemical active zone was formed adjacent to the liquid surface for the gas sparging condition due to the formation of the standing wave field while the active zone was formed adjacent to the transducer at the bottom due to the blockage of ultrasound. For the first-order reaction, the highest activity was also obtained at 5𝛌 and the comparison based on the reactant mass was not appropriate because the concentration of the reactant (BPA) decreased significantly as the reaction time elapsed. Consequently, it was revealed that the determination of optimal liquid height (ultrasound irradiation distance) based on the wavelength of the applied ultrasound frequency was very important for the optimal design of sonoreactors in terms of reaction efficiency and reactor size.