Applications and Modelling of VoDCa

Applications and Modelling of VoDCa
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This is a past event

Vortex based Devices for Cavitation

Abstract:

Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) is being increasingly used for innumerable industrially relevant applications. The cavitation involves formation, growth and collapse of cavities or microbubbles. The  cavity implosion results in localized hot spots with very high temperature and pressure which generates hydroxyl radicals (●OH). This can be harnessed for a wide range of applications. Successful use of HC has been reported in effluent treatment and water dis-infection, bio-mass pre-treatment, advanced oxidation processes and in food and beverage production to name just a few. Despite intense research on identifying and developing new applications of cavitation, quantitative understanding of hydrodynamic cavitation reactors and therefore an ability to design and scale-up cavitation processes is severely limited. There is also a significant need for developing better cavitation devices/ reactors.

We have developed a novel vortex based device for hydrodynamic cavitation. Unlike conventional devices, it relies on tangential flow for generating cavitation. The unique design allows superior performance as a cavitation reactor for variety of applications. In this talk, I will discuss various applications of vortex based cavitation devices (VoDCa). Our group has also initiated efforts in developing multi-layer modelling of cavitation reactors. The approach involving cavity dynamics models, computational fluid dynamics models and overall reaction engineering models looks promising. The approach, models and early results are discussed in this presentation. The potential use of these models for optimisation and scale-up are briefly discussed as well.

We hope that the approach and results presented here will stimulate further research on this promising hydrodynamic cavitation technology and will open up new application horizons for it.

Short biography of Professor Vivek Ranade:

Vivek Ranade is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Queen’s University Belfast. His research focus is on developing insights, innovations & intensified solutions for sustainable energy, water and chemicals. He uses computational flow modelling, hydrodynamic cavitation and MAGIC (modular, agile, intensified & continuous) processes to achieve this. Before moving to Queen’s, he led chemical engineering at CSIR - National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India. Contributed significantly to chemical engineering science and practice. Developed performance enhancement solutions, software products and fluidic devices for variety of applications which are commercialized. Developed new insights and methodologies for process intensification. He is an Associate Editor of ‘Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research’ and serves on editorial boards of ‘Chemical Engineering Research & Design’ and ‘Indian Chemical Engineer’ journals. He is a recipient of numerous awards including highest Indian Scientific award Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award for scientists under 45 years. He is a fellow of Institute of Chemical Engineers, UK; Indian National Academy Sciences; Indian National Academy of Engineering and Indian Academy of Sciences. Published more than 150 papers and 6 books (> 6700 citations, h index=48: from Google Scholar). Co-inventor of more than 20 patents. Co-founded two technology companies: Tridiagonal Solutions and VIVIRA Process Technologies. More information may be found at http://go.qub.ac.uk/ranade and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivek_Ranade

Speaker
Professor Vivek Ranade
Hosted by
School of Engineering
Venue
FN2, Fraser Noble Building