The Sonophysics and Sonochemistry of Liquid Waste Quantification and Remediation

This research is being conducted to (a) perform an in-depth and comprehensive study of the fundamentals of acoustic cavitation and nonlinear bubble dynamics, (b) elucidate the fundamental physics of sonochemical reactions, (c) examine the potential of sonoluminescence to quantify and monitor the presence of alkali metals and other elements in waste liquids, (d) design and evaluate more effective sonochemical reactors for waste remediation, and (e) determine the optimal acoustical parameters in the use of sonochemistry for liquid-waste-contaminant remediation. So far cells have been designed for multibubble sonoluminescence (MBSL) and single-bubble sonoluminescence (SBSL) spectroscopy experiments. Positive results have been obtained in both systems using a Raman system which covers the wavelength range from 790 to 1,070 nm. Further progress from year-1 involved the use of the newly discovered technique of changing the pressure head above the cavitation field to increase the light emission from MBSL. A second method for changing the pressure head involves pressure-jumping, whereby the pressure in the head space above the solution is quickly increased to a new steady value