Heat ultrasound effects

Ultrasound can be used to supplement or replace the microwave radiation. Ultrasound effects a high frequency mechanical vibration that warms the interior of the exposed object. In this case, the sample can exposed, and heated, as a whole. However, because ultrasonic waves can be so readily focused, it is also possible to apply them in bundled form so that they act on certain selected regions of the blank, for instance by sweeping along a raster. 

Microwave heating has already been used in combination with some other (unconventional activation processes. Such a combination might have a synergic effect on reaction efficiencies or, at least, enhance them by combining their individual effects. Application of MW radiation to ultrasound-assisted chemical processes has been recently described by some authors [18, 19]. Mechanical activation has also been successfully combined with MW heating to increase chemical yields of several reactions [1]. 

Maximum disruption is obtained in a zone close to the probe tip and the biological cells must be kept here for sufficient time to allow disruption to take place. A delicate balance must therefore be struck between the power of the probe and the disruption rate since power ultrasound, with its associated cavitational collapse energy and bulk heating effect, can denature the contents of the cell once released. Indeed for this type of usage it is important to keep the cell sample cool during sonication. The method is very effective and continues to be an important tool in microbiology and biochemistry research. 

Power ultrasound also has an additional property which is particularly beneficial in crystallisation operations namely that the cleaning action of the cavitation effectively stops the encrustation of crystals on cooling elements in the crystallisation vat and thereby ensures continuous efficient heat transfer. 

Similar results were obtained in a study of the combined effect of ultrasound (20 kHz) and heat treatment on the survival of two strains of Bacillus subtilis in distilled water, glycerol and milk [17]. When spores, suspended in water or milk, were subjected to ultrasonic waves before heat treatment little or no decrease of the heat resistance was observed. However when heat and ultrasound were applied simultaneously the heat treatment times in milk were reduced by 74% for B. subtilis var, niger-40 and by 63 % for B. subtilis var, ATCC 6051 and similar results were obtained in glycerol. Thermosonication in water was more marked reducing the heat resistance of the spores by up to 99.9 % in the 70 - 95 °C range. The effect of thermosonication was slightly diminished to 75 % as the temperature reached the boiling point of water. 

Some information is available on the mechanisms responsible for the direct or indirect effects exerted by ultrasound on antigen retrieval. Considerable heat is generated during ultrasound exposure, but the heat dissipates very quickly. Very rapid heat loss has misled some workers to state that ultrasound generates a mild increment in temperature (Portiansky and Gimeno, 1996). 

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