Development of an ultrasonic resonator for ballast water disinfection

Osman, H., Lim, F. , Lucas, M. and Balasubramaniam, P. (2016) Development of an ultrasonic resonator for ballast water disinfection. Physics Procedia, 87, pp. 99-104. (doi: 10.1016/j.phpro.2016.12.016)

Abstract

Ultrasonic disinfection involves the application of low-frequency acoustic energy in a water body to induce cavitation. The implosion of cavitation bubbles generates high speed microjets >1 km/s, intense shock wave >1 GPa, localized hot spots >1000 K, and free-radicals, resulting in cell rupture and death of micro-organisms and pathogens. Treatment of marine ballast water using power ultrasonic is an energy-intensive process. Compared with other physical treatment methods such as ultraviolet disinfection, ultrasonic disinfection require 2 to 3 orders of magnitude more energy to achieve similar rate of micro-organism mortality. Current technology limits the amount of acoustic energy that can be transferred per unit volume of fluid and presents challenges when it comes to high-flow applications. Significant advancements in ultrasonic processing technology are needed before ultrasound can be recognized as a viable alternative disinfection method. The ultrasonic resonator has been identified as one of the areas of improvement that can potentially contribute to the overall performance of an ultrasonic disinfection system. The present study focuses on the design of multiple-orifice resonators (MOR) for generating a well-distributed cavitation field. Results show that the MOR resonator offers significantly larger vibrational surface area to mass ratio. In addition, acoustic pressure measurements indicate that the MOR resonators are able of distributing the acoustic energy across a larger surface area, while generating 2-4 times higher pressures than existing ultrasonic probes.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This research is funded by Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and Sembcorp Marine Ltd., under the Industrial Postgraduate Programme (IPP) grant number COY-15-IPP/140002.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Lim, Dr Fannon and Lucas, Professor Margaret
• Authors: Osman, H., Lim, F., Lucas, M., and Balasubramaniam, P.
• Subjects: T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General); T Technology > TC Hydraulic engineering. Ocean engineering
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
• Journal Name: Physics Procedia
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 1875-3892
• ISSN (Online): 1875-3884
• Published Online: 27 December 2016
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Physics Procedia 87: 99-104
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a creative commons license