Desorption of a fixed-bed adsorber by ultrasound

Adsorption processes offer the possibility to remove trace impurities of liquid process streams. An important step in adsorption processes is the regeneration of the adsorbent as it does not only affect the adsorption-desorption cycle but also the expenses of the following process steps. In this study, various desorption experiments of a loaded polymeric resin have been conducted. They were performed with cold and hot water as well as with ultrasound at different frequencies and intensities. The results indicate, that an important factor of ultrasound enhanced desorption is the temperature rise due to ultrasonication. But as regeneration is more effective at higher frequencies even though temperatures inside the column are lower, another ultrasonic effect occurs during ultrasonic desorption.     

Experimental and predictive study on the performance and energy consumption characteristics for the regeneration of activated alumina assisted by ultrasound

Activated alumina used in dehumidification should be regenerated at more than 110 °C temperature, resulting in excessive energy consumption. Comparative experiments were conducted to study the feasibility and performance of ultrasonic assisted regeneration so as to lower the regeneration temperature and raise the efficiency. The mean regeneration speed, regeneration degree, and enhanced rate were used to evaluate the contribution of ultrasound in regeneration. The effective moisture diffusivity and desorption apparent activation energy were calculated by theoretical models, revealed the enhanced mechanism caused by ultrasound. Also, we proposed some specific indexes such as unit energy consumption and energy-saving ratio to assess the energy-saving characteristics of this process. The unit energy consumption was predicted by artificial neural network (ANN), and the recovered moisture adsorption of activated alumina was measured by the dynamic adsorption test. Our analysis illustrates that the introduction of power ultrasound in the process of regeneration can reduce the unit energy consumption and improve the recovered moisture adsorption, the unit energy consumption was decreased by 68.69% and the recovered moisture adsorption was improved by 16.7% under 180 W power ultrasound compared with non-ultrasonic assisted regeneration at 70 °C when initial moisture adsorption was 30%. Meanwhile, an optimal regeneration condition around the turning point could be obtained according to the predictive results of ANN, which can minimize the unit energy consumption. Moreover, it was found that a larger specific surface area of activated alumina induced by ultrasound contributed to a better recovered moisture adsorption.     

超声波在树脂再生中的应用

本文阐述了超声波用于树脂再生的最新技术，超声脱附以及它的原理一超声场聚能效应。该方法和传统的化学方法相比较：不仅具有操作简单，化学药品消耗少，排污量少等优点。而且还能增加树脂的脱附速率，减少脱附时间，增加解吸平衡物的浓度。本文综述了在这一领域的最近研究进展，各种不同频率和功率对树脂再生效果的影响，为该领域的研究工作提供参考。     

Comparison between the use of polyether ether ketone and stainless steel columns for ultrasonic-assisted extraction under various ultrasonic conditions

The ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) was conducted using the stainless steel (SS) and polyether ether ketone (PEEK) columns and analyzed with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to understand the mechanism of ultrasound-assisted chromatography (UAC). Empty SS and PEEK columns were used to extract dyes from a fabric under identical conditions with several parameters including the initial ultrasonic bath temperatures (30 °C and 40 °C), ultrasound power intensities (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 %), ultrasound operation modes (normal and sweep), and ultrasound frequencies (25 kHz, 40 kHz, and 132 kHz) to compare their extraction capabilities. After 30 min of extraction, the amount of extract was determined by HPLC. The PEEK material was significantly affected by ultrasonic radiation compared to the SS material, especially at a higher temperature (40 °C), power intensity (100 %), and frequency (132 kHz) with sweep mode. At a maximum power density of 45 W/L, the extraction effectiveness ratio of PEEK to SS was in the range of 1.8 - 3.9 depending on the specific frequency, initial temperature, and with or without temperature control. The most optimal ultrasound frequencies, in terms of enhancing extraction effectiveness, are in the order of 132 kHz, 40 kHz, and 25 kHz. Unlike the SS material, the PEEK material was more affected by temperature and acoustic effects under identical conditions, especially at 132 kHz ultrasound frequency. In contrast, at lower frequencies of 40 kHz and 25 kHz, no significant differences in the acoustic effects were observed between the PEEK and SS materials. The findings of this study contribute to elucidating the roles of column materials in UAE and UAC.     

Regeneration of granular activated carbon using ultrasound

To evaluate the feasibility of ultrasonic regeneration of granular activated carbon (GAC), desorption of trichloroethylene (TCE) from GAC by ultrasound was investigated at 20 kHz. About 64% of TCE was desorbed from 5 g of GAC loaded with 6.5 mg TCE for 1 h in ultrasonic field and TCE desorbed to liquid phase were rapidly degraded by ultrasound. 34-43% of stoichiometrically calculated chloride, final degradation product of TCE, was observed in liquid phase during ultrasonic treatment. However, there was desorption limitation at 20 kHz ultrasound. Despite of prolonged ultrasonic irradiation, desorption efficiency of TCE did not exceed critical value. And also, the higher percentage of TCE was desorbed when a sample of 2 mg TCE/4 g GAC was treated ultrasonically than that of 2 mg TCE/g GAC under the same experimental conditions. These results indicate that desorption of TCE by 20 kHz ultrasound occurred mainly at a nearby surface of GAC. In conclusion, the ultrasonic regeneration showed a possibility as an alternative to chemical and thermal regenerations of GAC.     

宽光谱AOTF匹配网络对光谱衍射效率影响的研究

基于声光可调滤波器(acousto-optic tunable filter,AOTF)光谱成像分析仪在可见至红外光谱的多个谱区内广泛应用,对AOTF的光谱带宽及衍射效率提出了更高的要求。超声换能器作为AOTF的核心部件,其3 dB工作带宽决定AOTF的光谱衍射范围,故在同一声光介质上制作两片厚度不同的换能器来提高AOTF光谱带宽。由于超声换能器在不同频率下具有不同的输入阻抗,当驱动信号源输出阻抗与超声换能器输入阻抗失配时会产生能量损耗,导致无法把功率最大限度的传递给超声换能器,从而使AOTF光谱衍射效率降低,影响光谱成像清晰度。通过射频电路先进设计系统(ADS)仿真及实验测试,设计了一种新型宽带阻抗匹配网络,在60～200 MHz带宽范围内,阻抗匹配网络功率效率达到90％以上,光谱衍射效率最高达90％,提高了在420～1 150 nm波段内的光谱灵敏度。     

Effects of ultrasonic irradiation on the properties of coatings obtained by electroless plating and electro plating

This paper deals with the effects of ultrasonic irradiation on electroless copper coating i.e. metallic deposition on non-conductive substrates and on electroplating on metallic substrates. Ultrasonic irradiation was both applied during activation (surface preparation for the electroless coating) and during plating steps in both cases. Several parameters were monitored, such as plating rates, practical adhesion, hardness, internal stress versus varying acoustic powers and frequencies. Optimum conditions for irradiation time, frequency and power were determined for each step. It appears clearly that ultrasound use affects deposit properties. Then, changes in the coating mechanisms can be discussed, and several parameters will be explored in this paper, to explain enhancement of deposit properties: increase in catalyst specific area, stirring dependence, surface energy evolution, dihydrogen desorption, structure of coating.     

Enhancing sonochemical activity in aqueous media using power-modulated pulsed ultrasound: an initial study

Relatively little is known about the effects of pulsed ultrasound on the facilitation of chemical reactivity. Previous studies have indicated that sonochemistry using pulses is generally less effective than continuous ultrasonic irradiation. However, the pulse trains employed were such that the peak power of the pulses was the same as the maximum power used in continuous irradiation. As a result, less acoustic energy was transmitted to the solutions over the same period of time. The effectiveness of ultrasound when the pulse is adjusted so that the same amount of acoustic energy is input compared to continuous irradiation over a given time has not been previously explored. In this study we have embarked on an examination of the efficacy of power-modulated pulsed (PMP) sonochemistry. Specifically, we have explored the effects of pulse type and pulse frequency on the oxidation of potassium iodide and the degradation of acid orange, a common industrial colorant. A rate increase by a factor of three was observed compared with continuous irradiation under conditions of equivalent acoustic input power.     

Direct sonication of acetic acid in aqueous solutions

Sonochemical oxidation has a promising future in the area of waste water treatment as one of the advanced oxidation methods. In this study, direct ultrasonic degradation of acetic acid was investigated in low powers (0.1-0.4 W) and in a frequency range of 30-100 kHz. An ultrasonic transducer was used for sonication. The results showed that there was an optimum frequency at 60 kHz for direct sonication of acetic acid and degradation rate increased up to a power of 0.2 W and then it decreased. Sonochemistry is associated with the bubble of cavitation which depends on the sound pressure field and nature of molecule. Therefore, the frequency and intensity have to be optimized for the minimization of energy requirement during waste water treatment with ultrasound.     

The effect of sonication on microbial disinfection using hypochlorite

Ultrasound alone is capable of killing bacteria when sufficient power is applied but ultrasound at low powers can also be used to improve the effectiveness biocides. In this paper, we explore the effect of the timing of the ultrasonic treatment at 20 and 850 kHz on the biocidal efficiency of sodium hypochlorite solution towards Escherchia coli suspensions. A remarkable frequency effect has been noted. At the lower frequency of 20 kHz the improvement in biocidal activity is greatest when the ultrasound is applied at the same time as the hypochlorite. At the higher frequency of 850 kHz the improvement is best when ultrasound is used as a pre-treatment immediately followed by hypochlorite addition under normal (silent) conditions. The kill rate achieved for pre-treatment using 850 kHz and simultaneous treatment using 20 kHz are very similar. However the former involves less acoustic energy and so is considered to be the more efficient.     

Ultrasound assisted method to increase soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) of sewage sludge for digestion

The aim of this study was to clarify the possibilities to increase the amount of soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) and methane production of sludge using ultrasound technologies with and without oxidising agents. The study was done using multivariate data analyses. The most important factors affected were discovered. Ultrasonically assisted disintegration increased clearly the amount of SCOD of sludge. Also more methane was produced from treated sludge in anaerobic batch assays compared to the sludge with no ultrasonic treatment. Multivariate data analysis showed that ultrasonic power, dry solid content of sludge (DS), sludge temperature and ultrasonic treatment time have the most significant effect on the disintegration. It was also observed that in the reactor studied energy efficiency with high ultrasound power together with short treatment time was higher than with low ultrasound power with long treatment time. When oxidising agents were used together with ultrasound no increase in SCOD was achieved compared the ultrasonic treatment alone and only a slight increase in total organic carbon of sludge was observed. However, no enhancement in methane production was observed when using oxidising agents together with ultrasound compared the ultrasonic treatment alone. Ultrasound propagation is an important factor in ultrasonic reactor scale up. Ultrasound efficiency rose linearly with input power in sludge at small distances from the transducer. Instead, ultrasound efficiency started even to decrease with input power at long distances from the transducer.     

Investigation of acoustic and geometric effects on the sonoreactor performance

In this work, three design configurations of a sonoreactor are considered under various operating conditions, and the acoustic characteristics during water sonication are investigated while using an immersed-type ultrasonic flat transducer probe in a sonoreactor model. Numerical models are also developed to simulate the sonication process, and they are successfully validated and compared with available data in the literature. Several sets of numerical investigations are conducted using the finite-element method and solved by the computational acoustics module in the COMSOL Multiphysics. The effects of the acoustical and geometrical parameters are investigated, analyzed, and reported, including the ultrasonic frequency, acoustic intensity, and scaling-up the reactor. The present study includes a parametric investigation examining the change of the ultrasonic frequency, intensity, and probe immersion depth on the performance. The results of the parametric study show that the highest cavitation energy corresponds to the maximum magnitude of negative pressure that takes place in the range of 60–80 kHz. The cavitation energy analyses are conducted under the conditions of 20 kHz of frequency and at 36 W input power. It is found that the cavitation energy of 15.87 W could produce 2.98 × 10⁻¹⁰ mol/J of sonochemical efficiency. In addition, the effect of altering the transducer probe depth changes the acoustic pressure field insignificantly. Furthermore, a recommendation is made to improve the sonochemical efficiency by introducing more considerable ultrasound input power while operating the sonoreactor at an ultrasonic frequency lower than 60 kHz. The results presented in this paper provide a comprehensive assessment of different sonoreactors and the feasibility of scaling-up their production rate.     

静电场协同超声提取甘草中甘草酸的研究

本文以甘草中甘草酸为研究对象,采用静电场协同超声方法提取,对其影响因素和强化效果进行了研究。通过一系列的单因素实验和响应曲面方法,本项目考察了浸泡时间,液固比,超声电功率,提取时间,超声频率和静电压对甘草酸提取率的影响。运用曲面响应法得出甘草中甘草酸的最优化反应条件为:液固比为30 mL/g,提取时间为29 min,超声电功率为100 W,静电压为9 kV;在该条件下甘草酸的提取率为11.02%。影响提取率最显著的因素是液固比,其次是超声电功率。实验结果表明超声与静电场存在协同作用。     

Intensification of leaching process by dual-frequency ultrasound

Ultrasound is gaining importance in metal extraction process. In the previous laboratory scale investigation the authors have established the positive influence of ultrasound on copper recovery from oxide ores of Malanjkhand, Madhya Pradesh, India in an ammonical media. The process parameters in a conventional agitation method were optimized and a maximum recovery of ≈32% in 20 min was obtained without sonication. The recovery was increased to ≈78% by the application of ultrasound over the same period with several advantages like decrease in leaching time and the reagent consumption. In the present study the leaching process is intensified by studying the metal recovery variation at different ultrasonic frequencies (20, 40, 43 and 720 kHz) and intensities (up to 8 W cm⁻²) with sonication time. The results show that sinusoidal ultrasound even at larger intensity has some limitations with single frequency. However, simultaneous application of dual frequency 20 and 40 kHz ultrasound enhanced extraction rates along with increased yield. While conventional single frequency exposure at either one of the two frequencies at the same acoustic power level did not yield similar results, application of two wave sources, as used in the study revealed that it is possible to save energy through lowering of time of operation process.     

Quantification of surface area and intrinsic mass transfer coefficient for ultrasound-assisted dissolution process of a sparingly soluble solid dispersed in aqueous solutions

The efficacy of power ultrasound of 20 kHz in enhancing the volumetric mass transfer coefficient was investigated in this study. Breakage and dissolution of sparingly soluble benzoic acid dispersed in either water or 24% aqueous glycerol was monitored as a function of time and ultrasound power input. Particle size measurements were carried out at intermediate times during the experiment to estimate the mean particle size and surface area. Linear combination of lognormal distributions was found to fit the experimental particle size distribution data. The De Brouckere mean diameters (d₄₃) obtained from the particle size distributions decreased with increase in the ultrasonic power level. Empirical correlations were developed for the evolution of surface area as a function of ultrasonic energy input per unit mass. The effect of ultrasound on the intrinsic mass transfer coefficient (k_c) could be decoupled from the volumetric mass transfer coefficient (k_ca) as the surface area was also estimated. Different approaches involving either constant or variable intrinsic mass transfer coefficients were employed when carrying out the delineation. Mass transfer rates were enhanced due to both higher ultrasound induced intrinsic convective mass transfer coefficient and additional surface area created from particle breakage. To delineate the effects of particle breakage from solid dissolution, experiments were also carried out under non-mass transfer conditions by pre-saturating the solvents with benzoic acid. Both the solid-liquid systems examined in the present study attained saturation concentration when the ultrasonic energy input per unit mass was approximately 60 kJ/kg, irrespective of the ultrasonic power level setting.     

Intensification of alkaline delignification of sugarcane bagasse using ultrasound assisted approach

Ultrasound-assisted approach has been investigated for delignification so as to develop green and sustainable technology. Combination of NaOH with ultrasound has been applied with detailed study into effect of various parameters such as time (operating range of 15–90 min), alkali concentration (0.25 M−2.5 M), solvent loading (1:15–1:30 w/v), temperature (50–90 ˚C), power (40–140 W) and duty cycle (40–70 %) at fixed frequency of 20 kHz. The optimized operating conditions established for the ultrasonic horn were 1 M as the NaOH concentration, 1 h as treatment time, 70˚C as the operating temperature, 1:20 as the biomass loading ratio, 100 W as the ultrasonic power and 70% duty cycle yielding 67.30% as the delignification extent. Comparative study performed using conventional and ultrasonic bath assisted alkaline treatment revealed lower delignification as 48.09% and 61.55% respectively. The biomass samples were characterized by SEM, XRD, FTIR and BET techniques to establish the role of ultrasound during the treatment. The morphological changes based on the ultrasound treatment demonstrated by SEM were favorable for enhanced delignification and also the crystallinity index was more in the case of ultrasound treated material than that obtained by conventional method. Specific surface area and pore size determinations based on BET analysis also confirmed beneficial role of ultrasound. The overall results clearly demonstrated the intensification obtained due to the use of ultrasonic reactors.     

超声功率对电化学沉积铜过程速率的影响

测定了H2SO4-CuSO4溶液中，超声频率为24kHz时，超声功率对铜电化学阴极沉积过程速率的影响。实验结果表明，在超声作用下铜电化学阴极沉积过程的电流密度明显提高，即超声作用能提高过程的沉积速率。超声对铜电化学沉积过程速率强化程度随超声功率的增加而增大；在相同温度和超声功率下，超声强化速率的效果从反应控制区域（低操作过电位）向传质控制区（高操作过电位）过渡时而更加显著；在其它条件相同的情况下，超声对铜电化学沉积过程速率的强化程度随温度的升高而减小：超声强化速率的效果与溶液中铜离子的浓度基本无关。     

双泡模型共振频率的超声空化动力学研究

该研究旨在研究双泡模型的自然共振频率对超声空化的影响,通过理论计算研究了自然共振频率的影响因素,以及单频超声和双频超声与自然共振频率的关系。研究结果表明：气泡初始半径是影响自然共振频率的主要因素;低频驱动下的非线性波动程度会比高频的更加剧烈,当驱动频率等于气泡自然共振频率时,超声空化的效果更好;双频超声取气泡自然共振频率时超声空化效果远远优于单频超声驱动。该研究在超声医学和理解超声空化特性方面有着重要的意义。     

Effects of ultrasound on adsorption-desorption of p-chlorophenol on granular activated carbon

The aim of this work is the evaluation of the effects of ultrasound on p-chlorophenol adsorption-desorption on granular activated carbon. Adsorption equilibrium experiments and batch kinetics studies were carried out in the presence and the absence of ultrasound at 21 kHz. Results indicate that the adsorption of p-chlorophenol determined in the presence of ultrasound is lower than the adsorption observed in the absence of ultrasound. Desorption of p-chlorophenol from activated carbon with and without the application of ultrasound was studied. The desorption rates were favoured by increased ultrasound intensity. This rise is more noticeable as temperature increases. The addition of ethanol or NaOH to the system causes an enhancement of the amount of p-chlorophenol desorbed, especially in the presence of ultrasound. A synergetic enhancement of the desorption rate was observed when ultrasonic irradiation was coupled with ethanol chemical regeneration.