The Effect of a Container’s Surface-Area-to-Volume Ratio on Cavitational Activity

Overview

Cavitation is the nucleation and rapid implosion of vapor bubbles in a liquid when the liquid is subject to pressures below vapor pressure. The collapse of these bubbles is a powerful physical phenomenon that scientists and engineers harness in multiple areas including water treatment, the food industry, the biomedical industry, and the pharmaceutical industry. In laboratory applications, sonication is a common method of producing cavitation because of its versatility and low cost compared to other methods. Despite its benefits, however, sonication is energy-inefficient. This project investigates how a container's surface-area-to-volume ratio could be used to improve the energy efficiency of cavitation generation. To test the hypothesis that higher surface-area-to-volume ratios result in higher levels of cavitational activity, two containers of equal volume but different internal surface areas were tested. The containers were filled with equal amounts of an oil and water mixture and sonicated inside an ultrasonic bath for twelve trials. The amount of cavitation that occurred within each container was determined by the turbidity of the oil-in-water emulsion produced during sonication. Turbidity was measured by a colorimeter, which reported the percent of light transmitted through samples of the oil-in-water emulsions from each container. The results of the experiment supported the hypothesis, showing that a container’s surface-area-to-volume ratio does significantly affect cavitational activity during indirect sonication.

Competition history

• AJAS 2020 Category not listed

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