Towards a reference ultrasonic cavitation vessel. Part 1: Preliminary investigation of the acoustic field distribution in a 25 kHz cylindrical cell

The acoustic field produced by a 25 kHz, 25 l cylindrical sonochemical processing cell has been characterised systematically using a sonar hydrophone, with the aim of establishing it as a reference test bed on which future investigations into acoustic cavitation activity may be based. Data acquired at sonication levels up to 500 W have shown that though significant cavitation activity is generated throughout the vessel, the acoustic field generated is reproducible, typically to ±12%. The increases in acoustic pressure are shown to be nonlinear with applied power, suggesting an intermediate optimum level for future study.