Simulation Of The Process Of Cavitation Treatment Of Liquid Feed

Abstract

The same fractional composition and uniformity of distribution of raw material components of plant origin in the mixture are the main criteria for the liquid feed quality. This is ensured by the homogenisation and dispersion of feed components using cavitation treatment. The purpose of the study is to simulate the process of cavitation treatment of liquid feed with a rotary cavitation disperser-homogeniser and substantiate its rational design and technological parameters. The task is to create such a rotary cavitation disperser-homogeniser, which allows simultaneously performing technological processes of dispersion, emulsification, and homogenisation of mixture components in a liquid medium with higher productivity, quality, and lower energy consumption. As a result of modelling the action of a rotary cavitation disperser-homogeniser in the Star CCM+ software, the distributions and dynamics of velocities of the liquid phase of the mixture and the pressure and concentration of the gaseous phase of liquid in the diffuser are established, which indicates the presence of cavitation. This confirms the operability of the developed design and technological facilities for the preparation of liquid feed and indicates the expediency of further research to substantiate its technological parameters. As a result of numerical modelling of the operation process of a rotary cavitation disperser-homogeniser, the dependences of the maximum (max) and minimum (min) movement speed of the liquid phase of the mixture in the inlet Vin and in the diffuser Vrot on the rotor speed n, inlet diameter Din and the number of resonators Nhole are determined. The qualitative criterion for evaluating the cavitation phenomenon in the developed equipment is the maximum and minimum cavitation number Xmax and Xmin, which depends on the rotation speed of the rotor n, the inlet diameter Din and the number of resonators Nhole. The value of the cavitation number Xmin=0.08 and Xmax=0.57 is achieved at n=2725 rpm, Din=0.049 m, Nhole=48, which corresponds to a film flow of liquid with a stable separation of the cavitation cavity from the rest of the continuous flow (film cavitation)