Numerical and experimental studies of collapsing cavitation bubbles for ballast water treatment

In this paper, we report both experimental and computational studies of hydrodynamic cavitation generated by accelerating liquid through a series of constrictions. The detailed process of cavitation generation is visualized using a high-speed photography. The cavitation is initiated when a gas bubble moves towards the constrictions. The gas bubble initially accelerates, expands and then splits into smaller bubbles when it moves along the constriction. As these bubbles migrate into a large liquid compartment, they collapse violently to form a bubble cloud, owing to a sudden jump in liquid pressure in the compartment. The experimental observation is further confirmed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. We also present experimental evidence showing a significant reduction in gram-negative Escherichia coli concentration after it passes through the constrictions.

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ASME 2018: 37th International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering

7B Ocean Engineering

978-0-7918-5127-2

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