Ultrasound-assisted bleaching: Mathematical and 3D computational fluid dynamics simulation of ultrasound parameters on microbubble formation and cavitation structures

Abstract The implementation of ultrasound-assisted bleaching (UAB) is gaining interest in commercial oil refining, as an alternative to the current bleaching procedure (BP), because this technique has several advantages compared to the conventional BP. The mathematical and 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of the influence of ultrasound power, frequency and temperature for predicting microbubble formation and heat transfer in the ultrasonic treatment of soybean oil was assessed in order to optimize the UAB process. The fluctuation frequency and wave speed showed opposite effects on system response to the imposed pressure pulse. As the bubble radius shrinks to zero (after bubb…