METHOD OF ULTRASONIC CAVITATION SPRAYING OF LIQUIDS

A method is proposed for the ultrasonic cavitation spraying of liquid with an increased efficiency and with formation
of smaller-size droplets, compared to those provided by the known methods. The method proposed is based on
the formation of cavitation bubbles in the liquid kept under pressure and acted upon by ultrasonic vibrations.
A mathematical definition of the process has been developed and its critical parameters (the amplitude of the
ultrasonic vibrations and the hydraulic pressure) at which minimum-size droplets are formed were revealed. For
the practical realization of the method, a cavitation sprayer has been designed and the sizes of the droplets formed
were investigated depending on the parameters of the process. The cavitation sprayer designed provides, at an
ultrasonic vibration frequency of 24.3 kHz and a hydraulic pressure of 9∙10 ⁵ Pa, the formation of droplets of size
not larger than 45 μm. In this case, the rate of a liquid flow is smaller than 10 mL / s. For comparison, a known
method of ultrasonic spraying of liquid at a frequency of 22–24 kHz and the existing ultrasonic sprayers, working
at this frequency, give no way of forming droplets of size smaller than 100 μm

Author:  A. V. Shalunov, O. B. Kudryashova, S. A. Terentiev, V. N. Khmelev
Keywords:  ultrasound, cavitation spraying, liquid, dispersion, droplets
Page:  1310