Cavitation characteristics analysis of a novel rotor-radial groove hydrodynamic cavitation reactor

Hydrodynamic cavitation was widely used in sterilization, emulsion preparation and other industrial fields. Cavitation intensity is the key performance index of hydrodynamic cavitation reactor. In this study, a novel rotor-radial groove (RRG) hydrodynamic cavitation reactor was proposed with good cavitation intensity and energy utilization. The cavitation performances of RRG hydrodynamic cavitation reactor was analyzed by utilizing computational fluid dynamics method. The cavitation intensity and the cavitation energy efficiency were used as evaluation indicators for RRG hydrodynamic cavitation reactor with different internal structures. The amount of generated cavitation for various shapes of the CGU, interaction distances and rotor speed were analyzed. The evolution cycle of cavitation morphology is periodicity (0.46 ms) in the CGU of RRG hydrodynamic cavitation reactor. The main cavitation regions of CGU were the outflow and inflow separation zones. The cavitation performance of rectangular-shaped CGU was better than the cylindrical-shaped CGU. In addition, the cavitation performance could be improved more effectively by increasing the rotor speed and decreasing the interaction distance. The research results could provide theoretical support for the research of cavitation mechanism of cavitation equipment.