Cavitation process fluids

Peshkovsky SL (1986) Cavitation of fluid in acoustic wave In Physical and chemical effects upon manufacturing processes, Metallurgiya, Moscow, p 93... 

A rapid movement of fluids caused by a variation of sonic pressure subjects the solvent to compression and rarefaction. This movement can be described as a motion that alternatively compresses and stretches the molecular structure within the cavitation process. This rapid movement of fluids is... 

Cavitation occurs when the pressure rises downstream of the vena contracta. When it reaches the vapor pressure of the process fluid, the vapor bubbles implode and release powerful microjets that will damage any metallic surface in the area. 

Impingement/cavitation Impingement can happen in situations where process fluid is forced to change its flow direction abruptly. Common offshore area for the occurrence of cavitation is in pump impellors where pressure changes take place and high liquid flow rates occur. 

Cavitation has three negative side effects in valves—noise and vibration, material removal, and reduced flow. The bubble-collapse process is a violent asymmetrical implosion that forms a high-speed microjet and induces pressure waves in the fluid. This hydrodynamic noise and the mechanical vibration that it can produce are far stronger than other noise-generation sources in liquid flows. If implosions occur adjacent to a solid component, minute pieces of material can be removed, which, over time, will leave a rough, cinderlike surface. 

We can aggravate the corrosion effect if misiiligned parts have relative movement, sueh as loose fit bearings or rapid changes in the system. Cavitation, erosion and high fluid velocity advance the corrosion process. 

The energy of fast fluid flow can be utihzed to intensify processes in chemical reactors and there are two basic ways of doing it by purposefully creating the cavitation conditions in the reacting liquid or by using a supersonic shockwave for fine phase dispersion. 

MiUy, P. J., Toledo, R. T., Chen, J., and Kazem, B. (2007). Hydrodynamic cavitation to improve bulk fluid to surface mass transfer in a nonimmersed ultraviolet system for minimal processing of opaque and transparent fluid foods. /. Food Sci. 72, M407-M413. 

Wear is the removal of surface material by one of three mechanisms erosion, abrasion, or cavitation. Erosion is the removal of a polymer s surface by abrasive materials carried in a fluid medium. We see this type of wear in plastic pipes used to transport waterborne slurries of minerals in mining operations and in vacuum transfer pipes used to convey powders in a stream of air. Abrasion is the result of two surfaces sliding against each other. We commonly observe abrasion of polymers in the fabrics of our clothes and upholstery. Cavitative wear is caused by voids in a liquid medium collapsing against a surface. It is essentially an impact process. Cavitation is a relatively uncommon cause of wear in polymers. Pump impellers are one of the few applications where polymers must resist this type of wear. 

In the literature we can now find several papers which establish a widely accepted scenario of the benefits and effects of an ultrasound field in an electrochemical process [13-15]. Most of this work has been focused on low frequency and high power ultrasound fields. Its propagation in a fluid such as water is quite complex, where the acoustic streaming and especially the cavitation are the two most important phenomena. In addition, other effects derived from the cavitation such as microjetting and shock waves have been related with other benefits reported for this coupling. For example, shock waves induced in the liquid cause not only an enhanced convective movement of material but also a possible surface damage. Micro jets of liquid, with speeds of up to 100 ms-1, result from the asymmetric collapse of cavitation bubbles at the solid surface [16] and contribute to the enhancement of the mass transport of material to the solid surface of the electrode. Therefore, depassivation [17], reaction mechanism modification [18], surface activation [19], adsorption phenomena decrease [20] and the mass transport enhancement [21] are effects derived from the presence of an ultrasound field on electrode processes. We have only listed the main phenomena referring to the reader to the specific reviews [22, 23] and reference therein. 

The paper gives an overview of effects occurring or acoustic treatment of dissolved and molten polymers. Emphasis is made on acoustic cavitation discovered recently not only in low-viscous fluids but also in molten polymers. Major guidelines have been specified for practical utilization of acoustic treatment of flowable polymers in molding intensification of extrusion processes, reduction in thickness of produced films, directed mechanical destruction, chemical activation of melts, etc. Efficiency of overlapping high-frequency vibrations in molding of molten thermoplastics is discussed in terms of power consumption. 

When liquids are being pumped, it is important to keep the pressure in the suction line above the vapor pressure of the fluid. The available head measured at the pump suction is called the net positive suction head available (NPSHA). At sea level, pumping 15°C (60°F) water with the impeller about 1 m below the surface, the NPSHA is about 9.1 m (30 ft). It increases with barometric pressure or with static head, and decreases as vapor pressure, friction, or entrance losses rise. Available NPSHA is the characteristic of the process and represents the difference between the existing absolute suction head and the vapor pressure at the process temperature. The required net positive suction head required (NPSHR), on the other hand, is a function of the pump design (Figure 2.121). It represents the minimum margin between suction head and vapor pressure at a particular capacity that is required for pump operation. Cavitation can occur at suction pres-... 

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