14. Seymour, James D.; Wallace, Henry C.; Gupta, Ram B. Sonochemical reactions at 640 kHz using an efficient reactor. oxidation of potassium iodide. Ultrason. Sonochem. (1997), 4(4), 289-293.

Abstract

Ultrasound can be used to oxidize aq. pollutants. However, due to economic reasons higher oxidn./destruction rates and higher energy efficiency are needed. Recent studies suggest that the higher ultrasound frequencies provide better oxidn. rates than the conventional 20 kHz. Another area for improvement is reactor configuration. We have tested two new reactor configurations with proper focusing and reflection of ultrasound for max. utilization. Reactor configuration plays an important role in the overall efficiency. In the new reactors, transducers and reaction mixt. are sepd. by a polymer acoustic window which allows efficient transfer of ultrasound energy and not the heat from the transducer to the reaction mixt. One reactor at 640 kHz provides a 100% enhancement over the best reported rate for the oxidn. of potassium iodide, on a per-W basis. Expts. conducted at varying initial KI concns. show interesting behavior. Increasing the KI concn. by over eight fold merely increases the iodine prodn. rate by two fold. This suggests that in the oxidn. region surrounding the bubble, the KI concn. is much different than in the bulk. It is proposed that the hydrophobic bubble region has lower and near satn. KI concn.

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