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A CFD-based approach to study cavitation in high-pressure homogenizer valves. Part 2. Cavitation intensity

Håkansson, Andreas LU orcid ; Rütten, Eva LU and Ranade, Vivek V. (2025) In Chemical Engineering Science 316.
Abstract

Hydrodynamic cavitation take place in high-pressure homogenizer (HPH) valves. Cavitation wear, free radical formation and ultrasonic emissions are linked to the cavitation intensity. Cavitation intensity is also a key factor to understand any effect cavitation might have on particle breakup. Based on an approach used in previous studies on other devices, this contribution applies and tests a modelling framework for predicting and understanding cavitation intensity in a HPH valve. Effects of homogenizing pressure and backpressure are studied. Results show an increase in cavitation intensity with homogenizing pressure. The cavitation implosion induced dissipation rate of energy in a HPH is substantially lower than the dissipation rate of... (More)

Hydrodynamic cavitation take place in high-pressure homogenizer (HPH) valves. Cavitation wear, free radical formation and ultrasonic emissions are linked to the cavitation intensity. Cavitation intensity is also a key factor to understand any effect cavitation might have on particle breakup. Based on an approach used in previous studies on other devices, this contribution applies and tests a modelling framework for predicting and understanding cavitation intensity in a HPH valve. Effects of homogenizing pressure and backpressure are studied. Results show an increase in cavitation intensity with homogenizing pressure. The cavitation implosion induced dissipation rate of energy in a HPH is substantially lower than the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy, which helps to explain previously reported empirical findings showing that cavitation does not break emulsion drops in HPHs. This contribution shows the importance of distinguishing between extent and intensity when discussing cavitation in HPH valves.

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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cavitation, Cavity implosion, CFD, High-pressure homogenization, Rayleight-Plesset model
in
Chemical Engineering Science
volume
316
article number
121896
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:105009503281
ISSN
0009-2509
DOI
10.1016/j.ces.2025.121896
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Authors
id
3606fecf-dfc4-40e7-9cd4-4bb0e39a5178
date added to LUP
2025-08-04 05:50:24
date last changed
2025-08-12 13:04:12
@article{3606fecf-dfc4-40e7-9cd4-4bb0e39a5178,
  abstract     = {{<p>Hydrodynamic cavitation take place in high-pressure homogenizer (HPH) valves. Cavitation wear, free radical formation and ultrasonic emissions are linked to the cavitation intensity. Cavitation intensity is also a key factor to understand any effect cavitation might have on particle breakup. Based on an approach used in previous studies on other devices, this contribution applies and tests a modelling framework for predicting and understanding cavitation intensity in a HPH valve. Effects of homogenizing pressure and backpressure are studied. Results show an increase in cavitation intensity with homogenizing pressure. The cavitation implosion induced dissipation rate of energy in a HPH is substantially lower than the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy, which helps to explain previously reported empirical findings showing that cavitation does not break emulsion drops in HPHs. This contribution shows the importance of distinguishing between extent and intensity when discussing cavitation in HPH valves.</p>}},
  author       = {{Håkansson, Andreas and Rütten, Eva and Ranade, Vivek V.}},
  issn         = {{0009-2509}},
  keywords     = {{Cavitation; Cavity implosion; CFD; High-pressure homogenization; Rayleight-Plesset model}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Chemical Engineering Science}},
  title        = {{A CFD-based approach to study cavitation in high-pressure homogenizer valves. Part 2. Cavitation intensity}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2025.121896}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ces.2025.121896}},
  volume       = {{316}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}