Abstract
The separation of an azeotropic mixture such as ethanol/ethyl acetate in distillation process can be enhanced by ultrasound wave. The application of ultrasound wave creates bubble cavitation in the mixture and shifts the vapour-liquid equilibrium favouring the separation of the azeotropic mixture. This study investigates the formation of bubbles in the mixture through modelling and simulation. The results obtained show that bubble formation at low ultrasound frequency is favoured by the increase in intensity, which has a direct relation to sonic pressure. The optimal sonic pressure for bubble formation at equilibrium is 5 atm and conforms to the model for small bubble formation with radius of 0.14 /<m. Furthermore, the maximum possible number of bubbles at equilibrium in the ethanol/ethyl acetate azeotropic mixture of 1 L is 91 × 1015. The developed model can be used to determine the optimal sonic pressure, sound intensity, size of bubble, and possible number of bubbles formed at equilibrium.
Highlights
The formation of bubbles in liquid when subjected to ultrasound wave is an important application in the field of sonochemistry
The simulation result shows that the general (RE) bubble profile at equilibrium is closely similar to the small bubble profile, RE(SB)
The type of bubbles expected to be formed in an ethanol/ethyl acetate azeotropic mixture in ultrasonic medium of 25 kHz is small bubbles
Summary
The formation of bubbles in liquid when subjected to ultrasound wave is an important application in the field of sonochemistry. Mahdi et al [7] worked on the intensification of distillation process for the separation of ethanol/ethyl acetate azeotropic mixture using ultrasound wave. The formation of bubbles in relation to the quantity of bubbles formed during acoustic cavitation is missing in the literature. This study investigates modelling and simulation of bubble formation, bubble type, and the number of bubbles in an azeotropic mixture of ethanol/ethyl acetate. The separation of azeotropic mixtures using ultrasound wave can be optimised by understanding the science of bubble formation in relation to the type of bubble and the number of bubbles expected and subsequently, the rise and collapse of the bubbles
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