ARTICLE IN PRESS

Journal of Environmental Management 85 (2007) 801–815

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Review

Application of cavitational reactors for water disinfection:

Current status and path forward
Parag R. Gogate
Chemical Engineering Department, Institute of Chemical Technology, University of Mumbai (UICT), Matunga, Mumbai-400 019, India
Received 24 April 2007; accepted 4 July 2007
Available online 21 August 2007

Abstract

Cavitational reactors are a novel and promising form of multiphase reactors, based on the principle of release of large magnitude of
energy due to the violent collapse of the cavities. An overview of cavitational reactors in the specific area of water disinfection, in terms of
the basic mechanism, different reactor designs including recommendations for optimum operating parameters and applicability of the
cavitation phenomena for disinfection of different micro-organisms have been presented. A design of a pilot scale sonochemical reactor
has been presented, which forms the basis for development of industrial scale reactors. Economic analysis for comparison of cavitation
phenomena with other conventional techniques of disinfection has been discussed. It appears that though cavitation is quite successful in
treatment of water at laboratory scale operations, comparatively higher cost of treatment as compared to the conventional chemical
methods is a hindrance in its industrial scale application. Intensification of cavitational activity and efficient design of industrial scale
hydrodynamic cavitation reactors is required for ensuring successful application of cavitational reactors at industrial scale operation.
r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Cavitation; Water disinfection; Optimization; Novel reactors; Hybrid techniques

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801
2. Mechanism of water disinfection using cavitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 802
3. Reactor designs for cavitation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803
3.1. Sonochemical reactors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803
3.1.1. Design of a pilot scale reactor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 804
3.2. Hydrodynamic cavitation reactors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 804
4. Optimization of operating parameters in cavitational reactors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 806
5. Applicability of cavitation for inactivation of different microorganisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 807
5.1. Individual operation of cavitation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 807
5.2. Intensified cavitation phenomena for disinfection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 810
5.2.1. Use of solid additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 810
5.2.2. Cavitation in combination with other techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811
6. Efforts needed in the future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 812
7. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814

1. Introduction

Tel.: +91 22 2414 5616; fax: +91 22 2414 5614. Drinking water quality is of utmost importance today.
E-mail address: parag@udct.org Its quality has been declining over the years due to

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doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2007.07.001
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
802 P.R. Gogate / Journal of Environmental Management 85 (2007) 801–815
pollution from industries, agricultural activities and the
quantum of domestic wastes due to ever increasing
population. A major concern is the pollution of water
with sewage. This leads to the introduction of pathogenic
microorganisms, which can cause various water-borne
diseases, some of which could be fatal. This is particularly
true in developing countries where many people suffer
from the inadequacy or hazardous condition of public
water supplies. A wide variety of known waterborne
diseases, including those associated with diarrhea, is
rampant and contributes significantly to mortality rates
especially for children. The quality of drinking water can
be improved either by controlling pollution or by finding
effective methodologies for water treatment. Any water
treatment scheme consists of several steps to remove the
physical, chemical and the biological pollutants. Disinfec-
tion aims at the destruction of microbes and is, therefore,
an important step in any drinking water treatment scheme
in view of human health.
Over the years, disinfection of water has been achieved
by various chemical and physical means (Bitton, 1994;
Pontius, 1990; White, 1992). However, the drawbacks of all
these techniques outweigh their efficacy (Simpson and
Hayes, 1998; Cheremissinoff et al., 1981; Minear and Amy,
1996). For example, chlorine which is widely used as a
disinfectant, results in formation of mutagenic and
carcinogenic agents in water and wastewater effluent. In
addition to this formation of non-acceptable residual
components, chemical methods are also limited by severe
mass transfer limitations resulting into lower disinfection
rates. Also certain species of microorganisms produce
colonies and spores which agglomerate in spherical or large
clusters. Chemical treatment of such clusters may destroy
microorganisms on the surface leaving the innermost
organisms intact. Furthermore, the efficacy of any disin-
fection method is subject to a number of factors, including
solution conditions (i.e., temperature, turbidity) and
variable microorganism resistance to inactivation. The
potency of certain physical techniques, such as ultraviolet
light, is limited in highly light scattering (Parker and
Darby, 1995) or absorbing solutions (Harris et al., 1987),
or when microorganisms are capable of photoreactivation
(self-repair) (Harris et al., 1987). Fine particles such as
clays are normally removed by flocculation using chemicals
such as aluminium sulphate. The flocs can entrap bacteria
and their spores protecting them from chlorination. The
vast majority of floc particles are removed, but one or two
may pass through the system unaffected by the final
disinfection stage. Thus, there is a need for developing
some alternate techniques for water disinfection.
Cavitation, due to its spectacular effects in terms of
generation of hot spots, highly reactive free radicals and
turbulence associated with liquid circulation, offers poten-
tial as an effective tool for water disinfection. Cavitation
can be in general defined as the generation, subsequent
growth and collapse of the cavities releasing large
magnitudes of energy over a very small location resulting
in very high-energy densities (Mason, 1992). Cavitation
occurs at millions of locations in the reactor simultaneously
and generates conditions of very high temperatures and
pressures (few thousand atmospheres pressure and few
thousands K temperature) locally with overall ambient
conditions.
The method of energy efficiently producing cavities of a
desired quality (type of the dynamic behaviour) can be
taken as the main criterion in distinguishing among
different types of cavitation. The four principle types of
cavitation and their causes can be summarized as follows:
1. Acoustic cavitation: In this case, the pressure variations
in the liquid are effected using the sound waves, usually
ultrasound (16 KHz–100 MHz). The chemical changes
taking place due to the cavitation induced by the
passage of sound waves are commonly known as
sonochemistry (Mason, 1992).
2. Hydrodynamic cavitation: Cavitation is produced by
pressure variations, which is obtained using geometry of
the system creating velocity variation (Gogate and
Pandit, 2001). For example, based on the geometry of
the system, the interchange of pressure and kinetic
energy can be achieved resulting in the generation of
cavities as in the case of flow through orifice, venturi,
etc.
3. Optic cavitation: It is produced by photons of high-
intensity light (laser) rupturing the liquid continuum.
4. Particle cavitation: It is produced by the beam of the
elementary particles, e.g. a neutron beam rupturing a
liquid, as in the case of a bubble chamber.
Out of these four types of cavitation, only acoustic and
hydrodynamic cavitation generates desired intensity suita-
ble for water disinfection. The present work gives a detailed
overview of cavitation as a technology for water disinfec-
tion starting with the basic mechanism of action of
cavitation phenomena.
2. Mechanism of water disinfection using cavitation
Cavitation is mainly classified as transient and stable
cavitation. Transient cavitation connotes a relatively
violent bubble collapse in which localized hot spots of
high temperature and pressures occur in very short (in the
order of microseconds) bursts in the medium. These bursts
may be accompanied by localized shock waves and/or the
generation of highly reactive chemical species. In contrast,
the much less violent form of cavitation, stable cavitation is
associated with vibrating gaseous bodies. The nature of this
form of cavitation consists of a gaseous body that remains
spatially stabilized within, and pulsates due to the pressure
field fluctuations. When such volumetric oscillations are
established, the liquid like medium immediately adjacent to
the gas bubble flows or forms streams (termed micro-
streaming). Microstreaming resulting from stable cavita-
tion has been shown to produce shear stresses sufficient to
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P.R. Gogate / Journal of Environmental Management 85 (2007) 801–815
disrupt cell membranes. The exact mechanism by which
cavitation can result in inactivation of the microorganisms
leading to water disinfection has not been conclusively
established, though it is a combination of following
simultaneously acting mechanisms (Thacker, 1973; Dou-
lah, 1977; Mason et al., 2003):
1. Mechanical effects caused by the cavitation phenomena
viz. generation of turbulence, liquid circulation currents
and shear stresses.
2. Chemical effects of cavitation phenomena including
generation of active free radicals.
3. Heat effects, i.e. generation of local hot spots (condition
of very high temperature and pressure locally).
4. When used in combination with chemical treatment
(Cl, H2O2, O3), the intense pressure gradient improve
the penetration of the oxidizing chemicals through the
microbial cell membrane. Also cavitation can facilitate
the disagglomertion of microorganism clusters in solu-
tion and thus increase the efficacy of other chemical
disinfectants.
It has been generally observed that the mechanical
effects are more responsible for the microbial disinfection
and the chemical and heat effects play only a supporting
role (Mason et al., 2003). Microstreaming resulting from
stable cavitation has been shown to produce stresses
sufficient to disrupt cell membranes (Scherba et al.,
1991). The mechanism proposed is the onset of turbulence
which creates vortices near which there exists shear rates
higher than the shear rates throughout the bulk of the
liquid. Doulah (1977) have also confirmed that yeast cell
disintegration in ultrasonic cavitation occurs by shear
stresses developed by viscous dissipative eddies arising
from shock waves.
Apart from the various factors dependent on the
cavitation phenomena which affect the efficiency of
disruption and inactivation of microorganisms, following
factors relating to the cells have also been reported to affect
the extent of disinfection.
1. Size of the cell: In a study conducted on Klebsiella
pneumoniae NCTC 418, by Nesaratnam et al. (1982), it
was observed that the resistance to cavitational (induced
by ultrasonic irradiation) disintegration of cells de-
creased with increasing cell size. They related this
phenomenon to the cell wall content but no direct
relationship between the cell wall strength and the
rigidity conferring peptidiglycan was observed. Larger
cells such as the dividing cells will experience greater
tensile stresses than the smaller cells (Thacker, 1973).
2. Shape of the cell: It has been suggested that larger, more
elongated bacteria are more susceptible to cavitational
effects than smaller more compact bacteria (Thacker,
1973).
3. Stage of development: In a study on the mechanism of
killing cells in suspension by Thacker (1973), it was
803
found that dividing and diploid cells are more suscep-
tible to death than cells in the stationary phase. Thacker
(1973) ascribed this phenomenon to size, with diploid
yeast cells and dividing cells being as much as one and a
half times larger than haploid cells.
4. Species: Certain species (e.g. Pseudomonas spp.) exhi-
bit resistance to ultrasonic treatment (Scherba et al.,
1991).
3. Reactor designs for cavitation
3.1. Sonochemical reactors
Ultrasonic horns are the most commonly used reactor
designs amongst the sonochemical reactors. These are
typically immersion type of transducers and very high
intensities (pressures of the order of few thousands
atmosphere) are observed very near to the horn. The
intensity decreases exponentially as one moves away from
horn and vanishes at a distance of as low as 2–5 cm
depending on the maximum power input to the equipment
and also on the operating frequency (Chivate and Pandit,
1995). Thus the scale up possibility with these reactors is
very poor and they are more suitable for laboratory scale
characterization studies.
In another configuration commonly used, ultrasonic
bath, the bottom of the reactor is irradiated with a single or
multiple transducers. In this case, the active zone is
restricted to a vertical plane just above the transducers
with maximum intensity at the centre of the transducer.
Thus the area of irradiating surface should be increased
(maximum possible) so as to get better distribution/
dissipation of energy in the reactor. This also results in
added advantage in terms of the decreased ultrasonic
intensity (defined as power dissipation per unit area of the
irradiating surface), which will increase the magnitude of
the pressure pulse generated at the end of the cavitation
events (Gogate and Pandit, 2000a). Dahlem et al. (1998,
1999) have shown better local ultrasonic intensities and
iodine liberation rates for the radially vibrating horn
(1000 W dissipated through an area of 365 cm2) as
compared to conventional horn (longitudinal vibrations,
300 W dissipated through an area of 0.8 cm2).
To increase the active zones existing in the reactor,
one can easily modify the position of the transducers
(if multiple transducers have been used which is likely to be
the case at large-scale operation due to the fact that it is
quite difficult to successfully operate single transducer with
very high power and frequency due to limitations over the
material of construction for the transducers) so that the
wave patterns generated by the individual transducers will
overlap, also resulting into uniform and increased cavita-
tional activity. Arrangements such as triangular pitch for
positioning the transducers in the case of ultrasonic bath
(Dahlem et al., 1998; Soudagar and Samant, 1995), tubular
reactors with two ends either irradiated with transducers or
one end with transducer and the other with a reflector
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
804 P.R. Gogate / Journal of Environmental Management 85 (2007) 801–815

(Gonze et al., 1998), parallel plate reactors with each plate T1

T2 Quartz tube
irradiated with either the same or different frequencies T6
(Thoma et al., 1997; Gogate et al., 2001) and transducers
on all the sides of the hexagon (Romdhane et al., 1995) can
be constructed. It is of utmost importance to have uniform Eff luent
distribution of the ultrasonic activity in order to get
increased cavitational effects.
T5
Work of Keil and coworkers (Dahnke and Keil, 1998, T3
1999; Dahnke et al., 1999) appears to be pioneering in T4
terms of simulations of the pressure fields existing in the
reactor. Such a detailed analysis can be used to identify the
regions with maximum pressure fields in a large-scale
reactor and then may be small reactors can be placed U.V. tube
strategically at these locations in order to get maximum
benefits. It might happen that the threshold required for
certain application is obtained at these locations but if
Ultrasound
considered globally these effects will be marginalized Transducers
resulting into much lower yields from cavitation reactors.
Thus the location of the transducers on the irradiating
surface and the location of microreactors will also depend Quartz tube
on the type of application, which decides the required
cavitational intensity.
Romdhane et al. (1995) and Faid et al. (1998) have Fig. 1. Schematic representation of triple frequency hexagonal flow cell.
described a sonitube reactor, which can be operated in a
continuous manner. Mapping of this reactor shows some
lead from these basics, a pilot scale sonochemical reactor
cavitational activity even beyond the irradiation zone.
(Gogate et al., 2003) was designed with each side of the
Moreover as compared to various reactors studied in their
hexagon hosting multiple transducers. Schematic represen-
work (ultrasonic horn, ultrasonic cleaner [bath], hexagonal
tation of hexagonal flow cell has been given in Fig. 1.
reactor), sonitube gives a better homogeneity in terms of
Transducers (3 in number per side) having equal power
the cavitational activity; negligible variation in the radial
rating of 150 W per side have been mounted (thus the total
direction has been reported.
power dissipation is 900 W when all the transducers with
The design used by Dahlem et al. (1998, 1999) also needs
combination of 20+30+50 kHz frequencies are func-
a special mention here. Telsonic horn, which has radial
tional). The two opposite faces of the flow cell have the
vibrations as against conventional longitudinal vibrations
same irradiating frequency. The operating frequency of
for the immersion system gives dual advantages of higher
transducers is 20, 30 and 50 kHz and can be operated in
irradiating surface (lower intensity of irradiation resulting
different combinations (7 in total) either individually or in
in better yields) coupled with good distribution of the
combined mode. It should be also noted that there is
energy in the radial direction. Moreover even if the horn is
provision for simultaneous irradiation with UV light as
radially vibrating, local measurements just below horn also
photocatalytic oxidation has been reported to act in
give high cavitational activity, which will be again more
synergism with cavitation (Shirgaonkar and Pandit, 1998)
beneficial in enhancing the global cavitational effects.
and the results for combined irradiation are much better as
compared to the individual operation. The reactor was
3.1.1. Design of a pilot scale reactor
tested with different reactions (Gogate et al., 2003) and was
Scale up of sonochemical reactors and its efficient
found to be more efficient, in terms of distribution of the
operation has always been a daunting task ahead of all
supplied energy as well as net cavitational effects per unit
the sonochemical engineers. A triple frequency hexagonal
energy supplied, as compared to the conventional designs.
flow cell which operates at a capacity of 7.5 l in batch or
Thus, it can be said that the future for application of
continuous mode has been described, which can form the
sonochemical reactors lies in development of multiple
basis for design of industrial scale reactors. Use of multiple
frequency/multiple transducer reactors and the design
sound sources operating at similar and/or different
described here should serve as a useful starting point for
frequencies of irradiation and optimization of the power
this activity.
input to the systems, helps in achieving uniform and more
intense cavitating conditions as compared to the conven-
tional designs. Mapping studies (Gogate and Pandit, 2004) 3.2. Hydrodynamic cavitation reactors
have also indicated that placement of transducers on
parallel plates in a hexagonal configuration results in near Hydrodynamic cavitation can simply be generated by the
uniform distribution of the cavitational activity. Taking passage of the liquid through a constriction such as an
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
P.R. Gogate / Journal of Environmental Management 85 (2007) 801–815 805

orifice or a valve (Gogate and Pandit, 2001). When the

liquid passes through the constriction, the kinetic energy
P2
associated with the liquid increases at the expense of the
local pressure. If the throttling is sufficient, so that the local CW out
pressure falls below the threshold pressure for cavitation BYE PASS
ORIFICE
(usually vapour pressure of the medium at the operating LINE
PLATE
temperature), cavities will be generated. Subsequently as
the liquid jet expands, the pressure recovers and this results TANK P1
V2 V3
in the collapse of the cavities. During the passage of the
liquid through the constriction, boundary layer separation CW in
occurs and substantial amount of energy is lost in the form V1 CENTRIFUGAL
of permanent pressure drop. Very-high-intensity turbu- PUMP
lence is also present downstream of the constriction; its
intensity depends on the magnitude of the pressure drop, P1, P2 - PRESSURE GUAGES
which, in turn, depends on the geometry of the constriction V1,V2,V3 - CONTROL VALVES
and the flow conditions of the liquid, i.e. the scale of
turbulence. A dimensionless number known as cavitation Fig. 2. Hydrodynamic cavitation reactor setup using orifice plates.
number (Cv) has generally been used to relate the flow
conditions with the cavitation intensity. Cavitation number
can be mathematically represented as
P2  Pv
Cv ¼ ,
ð1=2Þrl v2o plate 1 plate 2
where P2 is the recovered pressure downstream of the
constriction, Pv is the vapour pressure of liquid, vo is
average velocity of liquid at the orifice and rl is the density
of liquid. The cavitation number at which the inception of
cavitation occurs is known as cavitation inception number
Cvi. Ideally, the cavitation inception occurs at Cvi ¼ 1 and
there are significant cavitational effects at Cv value of less plate 3 plate 4
than 1.
Hydrodynamic cavitation can also be generated in the
rotating machinery (e.g. high-speed homogenizer) by
adjusting the speed of rotation and the geometry of the
system so that the local pressure just near the rotor falls
below the vapour pressure. The flexibility of controlling the
intensity of cavitation is however much less in these types
plate 5 plate 6
of reactors as compared to the reactors based on the use of
a constriction (single or multiple orifice and venturi) in the
flow.
Orifice plate setup has been found to be more energy
efficient as compared to other hydrodynamic cavitation Fig. 3. Schematic representation of arrangement of different free areas on
reactors (Gogate et al., 2001). A typical setup consists of a the plates.
closed loop circuit comprising of a holding tank of variable
volume, a centrifugal pump (capacity will be adjusted
based on the circulation flow rates and pressures to be observation. Visual observations can aid in understanding
generated depending on the system under question), the type of cavitation occurring downstream of the orifice.
control valve and flanges to accommodate the orifice When the liquid passes through the orifice plates, due to
plates. A schematic representation of the setup has been sudden reduction in the area offered for the flow, the
shown in Fig. 2. The suction side of the pump is connected velocities at the orifice increase resulting in a decrease in
to the bottom of the tank. The discharge from the pump the pressure. If the velocities are such that the increase in
branches into two lines which help in control of the inlet velocity is sufficient to allow the local pressure to go below
pressure and the inlet flow rate into the main line housing the medium vapour pressure under the operating condi-
the orifice with the help of valves V2 and V3. The main line tions, cavities are formed. Such cavities are formed at
consists of a flange to accommodate the orifice plates number of locations in the reactor which also depends
(single or multiple holes as shown in Fig. 3), along with a strongly on the number of holes in the plates. At the
hard glass tube next to these plates to make a visual downstream of the orifice, however, due to increase in the

806 P.R. Gogate / Journal of Environmental Management 85 (2007) 801–815
area of cross-section the velocities change giving rise to
pressure fluctuations which controls the different stages of
cavitation, namely, growth and collapse. The holding tank
can be provided with cooling jacket to control the
temperature of the circulating liquid. The inlet pressure
and the fully recovered downstream pressure can be
measured with the pressure gauges P1 and P2, respectively.
4. Optimization of operating parameters in cavitational
reactors
The magnitudes of collapse pressures and temperatures
as well as the number of free radicals generated at the end
of cavitation events in the case of sonochemical reactors
are strongly dependent on the operating parameters of the
equipment namely, intensity and frequency of irradiation
along with the geometrical arrangement of the transducers
and the liquid phase physicochemical properties, which
Table 1
Optimum operating conditions for the cavitational reactors
No. Property
(A) Sonochemical reactors
1 Intensity of irradiation (range: 1–300 W/
cm2)
2 Frequency of irradiation (range:
20–200 kHz)
3. Liquid vapor pressure (range: 40–100 mm of
Hg at 30 1C)
4. Viscosity (range: 1–6 cP)
5. Surface tension (range: 0.03–0.072 N/m)
6. Bulk liquid temperature (range: 30–70 1C)
7. Dissolved gas
(A) Solubility
(B) Polytropic constant and thermal
conductivity
No. Property
(B) Hydrodynamic cavitation reactors
1 Inlet pressure into the system/rotor speed
depending on the type of equipment
2 Physicochemical properties of the liquid and
initial radius of the nuclei
3 Diameter of the constriction used for
generation of cavities, e.g. hole on the orifice
plate
4 Percentage free area offered for the flow
(ratio of the free area available for the flow,
i.e. cross-sectional area of holes on the
orifice plate to the total cross-sectional area
of the pipe)
ARTICLE IN PRESS
affect the initial size of the nuclei and the nucleation
process. The effect of these parameters on the collapse
pressure generated and the maximum size of the cavity
during the cavitation phenomena have been studied using
the bubble dynamics equation, which considers the
compressibility of the medium and a single bubble in
isolation (Gogate and Pandit, 2000a). In the present work
only important considerations regarding the selection of
operating parameters have been presented (Table 1A). This
study indicates the ways and means to manipulate
cavitating conditions for maximum effect.
In an earlier work (Gogate and Pandit, 2000b), detailed
theoretical analysis of the bubble dynamics in hydrody-
namic cavitation type of reactors have also been presented
and only important results have been presented here. The
numerical simulations are based on Rayleigh Plesset
equations similar to acoustic cavitation; the only difference
being the fact that surrounding fluctuating pressure field is
Affects Favorable conditions
Number of cavities, collapse pressure of Use power dissipation till an optimum value
single cavity and over a wider area of irradiation
Collapse time of the cavity as well as final Use enhanced frequencies till an optimum
pressure/temperature pulse value
Cavitation threshold, intensity of cavitation, Liquids with low vapor pressures
rate of chemical reaction
Transient threshold Low viscosity
Size of the nuclei (cavitation threshold) Low surface tension
Intensity of collapse, rate of the reaction, Optimum value exits, generally lower
threshold/nucleation, almost all physical temperatures are preferable
properties
Gas content, nucleation, collapse phase Low solubility
Intensity of cavitation events. Gases with higher polytropic constant and
lower thermal conductivity (monoatomic
gases)
Favorable conditions
Use increased pressures or rotor speed but
avoid super-cavitation by operating beyond
a certain optimum value
The guidelines for selecting the
physicochemical properties so as to achieve
lower initial sizes of the nuclei are similar to
those used for the sonochemical reactors
Optimisation needs to be carried out
depending on the application. Higher
diameters are recommended for applications
which require intense cavitation whereas
lower diameters with large number of holes
should be selected for applications with
reduced intensity
Lower free areas must be used for producing
high intensities of cavitation and hence the
desired beneficial effects
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
P.R. Gogate / Journal of Environmental Management 85 (2007) 801–815
driven by hydrodynamic conditions existing downstream
of the constriction whereas in the case of acoustic
cavitation, it is dependent on the time of irradiation
(sinusoidal variation). The optimum set of operating
parameters as obtained from these theoretical investiga-
tions with confirmation from experimental results has been
given in Table 1B.
5. Applicability of cavitation for inactivation of different
microorganisms
Cavitation has been applied for inactivation of different
types of microorganisms and in this section, aim has
been made to highlight different studies depicting in brief
the important findings of the work with in-depth analysis
for effect of various operating parameters for one
particular species of microorganisms. The initial discussion
has been concentrated on studies depicting the use
of cavitation alone while later effort has been made
to overview studies depicting the use of cavitation
in combination with other conventional techniques for
disinfection.
5.1. Individual operation of cavitation
Escherichia coli has been greatly publicized in recent
years due to a number of outbreaks that have resulted in
loss of life. Cavitation has been applied successfully in the
past for disinfection of E. coli. In one of the initial
applications of ultrasound for E. coli disinfection, Utsu-
nomiya and Kosaka (1979) investigated the effect of
different operating parameters such as initial temperature,
type of medium and pH using ultrasonic irradiation at
700 kHz. E. coli suspension in saline at an initial
temperature of 32 1C resulted in survival of only 0.83%
and 0.2% of the initial microorganisms after 10 and 30 min
of treatment. At an initial temperature of 17 1C, these
values increased to 37.86% and 8.1%, respectively under
similar treatment times indicating that a combination of
high temperature and cavitation effects generated by
ultrasound are more suitable for disinfection. A change
in liquid medium to milk resulted in no activation
indicating that cavitation is not generated in milk perhaps
due to unfeasible liquid physicochemical properties. This
was confirmed by addition of 10% orange juice to milk,
which resulted in only 0.3% survival in 30 min of treatment
time at an operating pH of 2.6. The study is important as it
depicts the way in which the operating parameters can be
adjusted so as to achieve maximum disinfection using
cavitation.
Scherba et al. (1991) undertook a quantitative assess-
ment of the germicidal efficacy of ultrasonic energy.
Ultrasonic energy at a frequency of 24 kHz was used to
expose aqueous suspensions of different bacteria (E. coli,
Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas
aeruginosa), fungi and viruses. Significant reduction of the
bacterial population (E. coli) was achieved which increased
807
with treatment time. Intensity did not affect the killing rate,
as it remained relatively similar for all intensities used
n the work (1–3 W/cm2). Scherba et al. (1991) also
investigated the effect of the nature of the cell wall on the
overall destruction of the bacteria. Gram-positive organ-
isms have a thicker and a more tightly adherent layer
of peptidoglycan than Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli and
P. aeruginosa). They concluded that this morphological
feature was not a factor in determining the sensitivity of the
bacteria to ultrasound. It was suggested that the target of
ultrasonic damage may be the inner cytoplasmic membrane
which consists of a lipoprotein by layer. The work suggests
that ultrasound in the low-kilohertz frequency range has
efficacy in inactivating some disease causing microbes
present in water. Most of the other microorganisms
investigated in the work were also affected by the
ultrasound with the bactericidal effect increasing with time
and intensity. The reduction of bacterial population
increased from 68% to 72% for P. aeruginosa, from 52%
to 76% for B. subtilis and from 42% to 43% for S. aureus
when the treatment time was increased from 2 to 30 min at
ultrasound power intensity of 3 W/cm2. The observed
results clearly indicate that initial rate of disinfection is
very high and only marginal rates of disinfection are
obtained at a later stage. The reduction of bacterial
population increased from 31% to 78% for P. aeruginosa,
from 11% to 100% for B. subtilis and from 22% to 39%
for S. aureus when the treatment intensity was increased
from 1 to 3 W/cm2 after 15 min of treatment. Fungal
growth was inhibited with ultrasonic treatment, and the
virus feline herpesvirus type 1 was significantly affected as
well, with reductions of 4.0  105 in 60 min related to
intensity. The virus feline calicivirus was not affected by
ultrasonic treatment.
Hua and Thompson (2000) have also investigated the
viability of ultrasonic irradiation as a disinfection techni-
que for E. coli in two different sonochemical reactors, one
operating at 20 kHz frequency of irradiation and other
operating at a variable frequency range of 205–1071 kHz.
The supplied power was varied in the range of 80–140 W. It
has been reported on the basis of statistical analysis that
the deactivation progressed more readily at higher ultra-
sonic power intensity, very similar to that observed for
other sonochemical reactions (Hua et al., 1995; Sivakumar
and Pandit, 2001) as well as for physical processing
applications (Mason, 1991). It should be also noted here
that the increase in the deactivation rate cannot be
achieved indefinitely and there always exist an optimum
power intensity (W/cm2) or density (W/ml) which needs to
be established using laboratory scale studies as it is always
dependent on the system under question. Studies with
different dissolved gases indicated that a combination of
argon and oxygen was optimum and yield maximum rates
of inactivation. The frequency of irradiation was found to
be optimum at 205 kHz and beyond this optimum
frequency, the extent of deactivation decreased with an
increase in the frequency of irradiation. The optimum
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
808 P.R. Gogate / Journal of Environmental Management 85 (2007) 801–815
frequency of irradiation is again dependent on the specific
system under question and cannot be generalized. Limaye
and Coakley (1998) have investigated E. coli disinfection
using MHz frequency range (1–3 MHz) and reported up to
95.5% removal in less than 5 min of treatment time. In
various other applications also, ultrasonic frequencies
greater than 200 kHz have been shown to enhance
sonochemical reaction rate constants (Hua and Hoffmann,
1997; Petrier et al., 1992, 1996).
Furuta et al. (2004) have investigated ultrasonic inacti-
vation of E. coli XL1-Blue using high-intensity ultrasonic
waves from horn-type sonicator operating at 27.5 kHz and
maximum power dissipation of 42 W/ml. The inactivation
rate of E. coli increased with an increase in the power
dissipation into the system and was observed to be in
correspondence with the rate of formation of hydrogen
peroxide which can be considered as a measure of the
intensity of cavitation. Using the squeeze-film-type system
used in the work, more than 99% of E. coli cells were
reported to be inactivated within 3 min of treatment at an
optimized film thickness of 2 mm. In another study by the
same group (Tsukamoto et al., 2004), it has been reported
that more than 99% of the Saccharomyces cereviseae cells
were inactivated after 40 s of ultrasonic irradiation at 7 mm
amplitude and 2 mm of the thickness of the squeeze film.
Moreover, almost 80% of the Cryptosporidium parvum
oocytes were morphologically damaged after 300-s treat-
ment at the amplitude of 4 mm. At the amplitude of 7 mm,
the same inactivation ratio was achieved after 60-s
treatment (Furuta et al., 2002). In comparison with these
results, inactivation of E. coli is more efficient even at the
lower amplitude of the vibration face because the cell
structure of E. coli might be disrupted more easily by
sonication than yeasts and C. parvum oocytes protected by
stronger cell walls. Thus this study clearly reflects the
dependency of the extent of deactivation on the type of the
microorganisms as discussed earlier.
Recently, Salleh-Mack and Roberts (2007) investigated
effect of different operating parameters on the inactivation
of E. coli using ultrasonic irradiation at 24 kHz frequency
of irradiation and maximum intensity of 85 W/cm2.
Ultrasonic irradiation was reported to be successful in
disinfection with achievement of 5 log reduction within
10 min of irradiation. Operating at higher temperatures
was found to be more effective as combined mechanisms of
heat effects and cavitational effects are responsible for the
inactivation in this mode of operation. Presence of soluble
solids (0–16 g/100 ml of solution) did not significantly
improve the disinfection. Acidic conditions (pH of 2.5
achieved using citric and malic acid) were found to improve
the inactivation significantly, which can be attributed to
higher cavitational effects.
In one of the very early studies on disinfection of
Salmonella species using cavitation, Munkacsi and Elhami
(1976) found that the treatment with ultrasound resulted
in the elimination of 93% of coliforms. Lee et al. (1989)
have also reported that ultrasonic treatment (10 min) of
Salmonella in peptone water produced up to 4 log10
reduction in viable counts and a 0.78 log10 (74% kill) in
milk chocolate treated for 30 min. Wrigley and Llorca
(1992) examined the use of ultrasonication to destroy
Salmonella Typhimurium in brain heart infusion broth,
skim milk and liquid whole egg. When S. Typhimurium was
treated for 30 min in brain heart infusion broth, cell
numbers decreased by more than 3 log at 40 1C, and by
1 log at 20 1C. In skim milk, a 30-min treatment at 50 and
40 1C resulted in 3.0- and 2.5-log reductions, respectively.
The microorganisms were more resistant in liquid whole
egg; a maximum of o1-log reduction was found with
30 min of treatment at 50 1C. Wrigley and Llorca (1992)
proposed that this was a result of the egg protecting the
microorganism from the inhibitory effects of cavitation.
This might be due to high viscosity of the liquid whole egg,
as cavitation is reduced with increased viscosity. Though
the study by Wrigley and Llorca (1992) is not directly to
the topic, it has been discussed to explain the dependency
of the inactivation efficiency on the viscosity of the liquid
medium. Alvarez et al. (2004) and Wuytack et al. (2002)
have also reported similar disinfection results due to the
effects of cavitation phenomena though the source for
generation of cavitation is high-voltage electric discharges
into water and high-pressure homogenization, respectively.
An effective antimicrobial action has also been observed
in a number of studies that involved B. subtilis. The earliest
study dates back to 1966, when Boucher and Pisano (1966)
reported the inactivation of B. subtilis using ultrasonic and
sonic waves. A more detailed investigation in terms of
effect of different operating parameters was done by
Garcia et al. (1989) and Raso et al. (1998a). Garcia et al.
(1989) investigated the effect of heat and ultrasonic waves
on B. subtilis in three different media (distilled water, milk
and glycerol). Garcia et al. (1989) reported that thermo-
sonication treatment resulted in significant decrease in
decimal reduction using heat treatment alone times for
both of the strains of B. subtilis (niger-40 and ATCC 6051)
in milk and glycerol: 63% (niger-40) and 74% (ATCC
6051) in glycerol and 79% (niger-40) and 40% (ATCC
6051) in milk. The effect of thermosonication with water as
the medium resulted in a reduction of the heat resistance of
the spores between 70% and 99.9% over the range of
70–95 1C, but diminished significantly as the temperature
approached 100 1C (due to boiling). Raso et al. (1998a)
reported that increasing the ultrasonic intensity resulted in
an increase in the lethality of the treatment. Increasing
pressure to 500 kPa also resulted in increasing microbial
inactivation; however, any further increase did not result in
greater spore inactivation. In fact, increasing pressure over
500 kPa actually inactivated fewer spores. Raso et al.
(1998a) noted that the maximum inactivation pressure of
500 kPa was different than that discovered by Neppiras
and Hughes (1964), which can be attributed due to
differences in ultrasonic fields, microorganism sensitivity
or medium characteristics such as pH or amount of total
solids present in the liquid.
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P.R. Gogate / Journal of Environmental Management 85 (2007) 801–815
Joyce et al. (2003a) investigated effect of ultrasonic
irradiation on inactivation of B. subtilis in different
sonochemical reactors varying in frequencies of irradiation
as well as extent of power dissipation and reported that
sonication has two effects on B. subtilis suspensions. The
first is bacterial declumping which breaks up bacterial
clumps into greater number of individual bacteria in a
suspension, and the second bacterial killing which results in
less individual viable bacteria present in a suspension. The
overall effect of applying ultrasound is thus the result of a
competition between killing and declumping bacteria in
solution. Comparison of different sonochemical reactors
indicated that high-frequency low-power ultrasound (512
and 850 kHz) used alone is not particularly effective for
disinfection but produces effective declumping of bacteria
wheras low-frequency power ultrasound (20 and 38 kHz) at
higher powers also produces declumping but the kill rate is
substantially higher. Thus, the use of low-frequency
ultrasound resulting into a combination of chemical and
physical effects is more suitable for disinfection of
microorganisms.
Palacios et al. (1991) found that the heat resistance of
spores of Bacillus stearothermophilus was reduced when
subjected to ultrasonic treatment. B. stearothermophilus
released calcium, nitrogen and dipicolinic acid into the
medium during ultrasonication. Palacios et al. (1991)
suggested that the high pressure due to sonication affected
the permeability of the spore protoplast membrane,
resulting in the release of dipicolinic acid, calcium and
other low molecular weight substances. It may also have
allowed the entrance of water from the external environ-
ment, which would have reduced the heat resistance. It was
concluded that the reduction in heat resistance was the
result of a modification of the hydration state of the spore.
A study on the influence of temperature, amplitude and
pressure on Yersinia entercolitica by Raso et al. (1998b)
showed that the increase in amplitude (at 30 1C and
200 kPa) from 21 to 150 mm reduced the D-value exponen-
tially (from 4 to 0.37 min). Increasing pressure at 30 1C and
150 mm from 0 to 600 kPa resulted in a D-value decrease
from 1.52 to 0.2 min. The magnitude of decrease in D-value
lessened as pressure increased. The D-value was greater as
the amplitude of the ultrasonic waves increased. Pressure,
when used exclusively, had no effect on heat resistance
of the bacteria. Also, above the temperature of 58 1C, the
heat and ultrasonic effects appeared to be unrelated, since
the D-values for heat and manothermosonic treatments
were equal. It was also shown that inactivation using
ultrasound was not a result of titanium particles eroded
from the sonication horn. These experiments showed that
inactivation by manosonication was only due to the
mechanical disruption of cells in the presence of cavita-
tional effects.
A general observation which can be made from an
overview of these studies is that though cavitation is highly
effective in disinfecting a variety of microorganisms,
majority of the work is on a laboratory scale and with
809
single simulated contaminants. The disinfection may or
may not be as effective as the depicted studies when
applied to real water streams containing a variety of
microorganisms. We now overview few studies reporting
the application of cavitation for disinfection of actual
water streams.
Jyoti and Pandit (2001) investigated the application of
cavitation for disinfection of bore well water in an
ultrasonic horn-type reactor (operating at 22 kHz and
power rating of 240 W) as well as in hydrodynamic
cavitation reactors (high-speed homogenizer, high-pressure
homogenizer and orifice plate setup). It has been reported
that cavitation is equally effective in disinfection of bore
well water samples and about 90% disinfection can be
achieved in less than 30 min of treatment for ultrasonic
horn and high-speed homogenizer. The extent of disinfec-
tion was lower in the orifice plate-type setup which was
attributed to higher volumes of operation and generation
of lower intensity cavitation. Comparison of all the
equipments in terms of extent of disinfection per unit
energy supplied, however, indicated that orifice plate setup
at higher operating pressures was the most efficient among
all the cavitational reactors. It should be also noted here
that hydrodynamic cavitation reactors offer more flex-
ibility of operation and also easier scale-up possibilities as
compared to the sonochemical reactors (Gogate and
Pandit, 2001).
Madge and Jensen (2002) explored the application of a
20-kHz ultrasound unit for the disinfection of domestic
wastewater. Experiments were conducted in batch with an
ultrasound probe. The disinfection efficiency of fecal
coliform increased with ultrasound power input from
0.003 log kill/min at 70 W/l to 1.8 log kill/min at 1250 W/l.
Disinfection data are well-described by the Chick-Watson
disinfection model (coefficient of dilution, n ¼ 2.0) using
ultrasound power in place of chemical concentration.
Water quality did not affect disinfection efficiency sig-
nificantly. Temperature increases experienced with ultra-
sonic treatment were significant. Attempts to control the
temperature resulted in a marked decrease in disinfection
efficiency. Experiments devised to quantify the role of
thermal mechanisms revealed that of the total kill
produced by ultrasound approximately 52% was attributed
to heat, 36% to mechanical stresses associated with
ultrasonically induced cavitation, and 12% to uncharacter-
ized synergistic effects. Successful scale-up was demon-
strated using a 9.3-l pilot-scale ultrasound unit, operated
under flow-through conditions.
Apart from making contaminated water into potable one
for drinking purpose cavitational reactors can also find
utility in a ship to treat ship’s ballast water that is being
transported from one region to another. Shipping is the
backbone of global economy and facilitates transportation
of 90% of the commodities. It is estimated that 2–3 billion
tonnes of ballast water is carried around the world
each year. Translocation of organisms through ships
(bio-invasion) is considered to be one of the important
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810 P.R. Gogate / Journal of Environmental Management 85 (2007) 801–815
issues that threaten the naturally evolved biodiversity, the
consequences of which are being realized increasingly in the
recent years. Although many treatment technologies such
as self-cleaning screen filtration systems, ozonation, de-
oxygenation, electro-ionization, gas supersaturation, che-
mical treatments are adopted, they cannot limit the
environmentally hazardous effects that may result from
such practices. Pandit (2006) reported the application of
cavitation for ballast water treatment and the design
methodology for incorporation of cavitational reactors in
actual ships. Experimental investigations indicated that
hydrodynamic cavitation (generated using multiple holes
sharp edge orifice plate of size 21.5 mm having circular hole
of diameter 2 mm; fractional open area ¼ 0.75, flow
rate ¼ 1.3 lps and pressure ¼ 3.2 kg/cm2) resulted in 99%
destruction of all the bacteria and also resulted in 80%
destruction of the zooplanktons. An increase in the
recirculation time as well as operating pressure, which
increases the intensity of generation cavitation, resulted in
a decrease of the treatment time. Use of multiple orifice
plates arranged sequentially in the system also resulted in
an increase in the extent of destruction. Aim of the
designers in this type of application should be to make the
process single pass as it is practically impossible to have
multiple passes in the ballast water treatment considering
the volume of the liquid to be treated.
The above studies with actual contaminated water
(possibly containing wide range of bacteria/microorgan-
isms) confirms the suitability of the cavitation phenomena
for water treatment. Cost of the treatment is another
important factor, which needs to be ascertained, before
cavitation can be recommended as a replacement technique
for the conventional methods of disinfection. Jyoti and
Pandit (2001) estimated the cost of treatment for different
types of cavitational reactors and compared with the costs
associated with conventional methods of using ozone
and chlorine. It has been reported that hydrodynamic
cavitation induced using high-speed homogenizer or
orifice plate setup is the most cost effective treatment
strategy (cost of treatment as Rs. 0.034 and 0.059/l) as
compared to sonochemical reactors or high-pressure
homogenizer (cost of treatment as Rs. 0.625 and 0.275 /l).
However, this cost of treatment is still an order of
magnitude higher as compared to chlorination (cost of
treatment as 0.0003 Rs/l) or ozonation (cost of treatment as
Rs. 0.001/l) estimated based on small-scale applications.
Thus, applicability of cavitation is more suited when bulk
treatment is required (e.g. ballast water treatment) or when
end use of treated water does not allow formation of
hazardous by products commonly associated with the
conventional treatment schemes. Ways of improving the
cavitational activity in the reactor and/or combining
cavitation with conventional techniques would be another
approach for reducing the cost of treatment. We will now
look into these aspects of intensifying the cavitational
activity in the reactor by way of using additives and also
combining cavitation with conventional techniques for
disinfection such as use of chlorine, ozone, hydrogen
peroxide, hypochlorite, etc.
5.2. Intensified cavitation phenomena for disinfection
5.2.1. Use of solid additives
The intensity of cavitation plays a crucial role in deciding
the extent of disinfection and hence any efforts in
increasing the same would lead to beneficial results.
Cavitational effects are dependent on the extent of
deformities present in the system so as to enable the
formation of the cavities. Presence of additives in the
system might ease the process of cavity generation and
hence intensify the cavitational activity in the reactor. The
additives can simply be inert solids or can have catalytic
action in terms of promoting the rates of dissociation of the
oxidants such as ozone or hydrogen peroxide, scavenging
the undesired radical species, etc. Presence of solid particles
provide additional nuclei for the cavitation phenomena
and hence the number of cavitation events occurring in the
reactor are enhanced resulting in a subsequent enhance-
ment in the cavitational activity and hence the net extent of
disinfection. In a biphasic solid–liquid medium irradiated
by power ultrasound, major mechanical effects are reduc-
tion of particles size leading to increased surface area and
the formation of liquid jets at solid surfaces by the
unsymmetrical inrush of the fluid into the collapsing voids.
These jets not only provide surface cleaning but also induce
pitting and surface activation effects and increase the rate
of phase mixing and mass transfer. Dadjour et al. (2005)
investigated the effect of presence of TiO2 particles on the
ultrasound-induced disinfection of E. coli in a sonicator
operating at 39 kHz frequency and 200 W of maximum
power dissipation. The concentration of viable cells were
reduced to 2% of the initial concentrations in the presence
of TiO2 (1 g/l concentration) after a 30 min period of
irradiation. However, only a 13% reduction was observed
over similar time of treatment, when an ordinary ultrasonic
irradiation system without TiO2 was used. A comparative
study for the efficacy of TiO2 and Al2O3 under similar
conditions indicated that the rate of cell killing was higher
in the case of TiO2 (about 3.5 times higher), indicating a
higher synergistic effect for TiO2. It is expected that the
enhancement in the extent of surface cavitation and
mechanical effects would be the same for both type of
solid particles. Excess intensification due to the presence of
TiO2 can be attributed to the excitation of TiO2 in an
ultrasonic system due to sonoluminescence caused by the
implosion of bubbles. It is known that the flashes of single
bubble sonoluminescence (SBSL) involve intense UV light,
which can activate a TiO2 photocatalyst. A recent study
indicated that the activation of a TiO2 photocatalyst by
SBSL resulted in the significant decomposition of phenol
and 2,4-dinitrophenol (Ogi et al., 2002). Thus the net
effects of TiO2 on enhancing the rate of cell killing may be
explained by the oxidizing characteristics of reactive
oxygen species that are produced, as well as the strong jet
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P.R. Gogate / Journal of Environmental Management 85 (2007) 801–815
stream induced in the irradiating solution, which can
significantly affect cell structure as well as the cell
membrane.
In another study, Ince and Belen (2001) observed that
the concentration of E. coli in deionized water decreased
with treatment time at 20 kHz of sonication, and that
added solids (ceramic granules, metallic zinc particles and
activated carbon) improved the inactivation of E. coli.
Activated carbon was the most effective material due to its
activated surface, which favored adsorption of the bacteria.
Thus, it is imperative that the additive should have some
catalytic action to promote the disinfection process in
addition to the surface effects which enhance the intensity
of cavitation in the system.
5.2.2. Cavitation in combination with other techniques
Phull et al. (1997) investigated the application of
ultrasound in combination with chlorine as a disinfection
technique for E. coli. Different configurations of ultrasonic
reactors varying in frequency of irradiation and power
dissipation were used for the study. It is expected that the
use of ultrasound should reduce the levels of chlorine
required for disinfection by one of three routes: (i) the
destruction of bacterial cells by ultrasonic lysis; (ii) the
removal of excess chlorine from water after chlorination by
ultrasonic degassing, thus allowing higher dose rates to be
used during the disinfection stage; and (iii) the de-
aggregation of clumps of bacteria or other material
trapping such bacteria to expose the ‘masked’ cells to
disinfection. Studies with individual sonication also in-
dicated that ultrasound was effective in E. coli destruction
and higher frequencies of irradiation and higher power
dissipation levels result in enhanced disinfection rates as
discussed earlier. As expected sonication was seen to
amplify the effect of normal chlorination and the
combination is significantly better than sonication or
chlorination alone. Also the amount of chlorine required
for disinfection is significantly reduced due to the applica-
tion of sonication. The turbulence induced by ultrasound
was also beneficial in disintegration of the particle
agglomerates and particle size generally found in sewage
effluent was reported to reduce from 40 to 1 mm.
Joyce et al. (2003b) investigated the effect of electrolysis
and power ultrasound as a disinfection treatment for
Klebsiella pneumonia. Individual operation of sonication
resulted in about 40% disinfection in 60 min of treatment
whereas individual electrolysis operation at 150 mA sup-
plied current resulted in complete disinfection in only
15 min of treatment. Among the different types of
electrodes investigated, it has been shown that carbon felt
is a suitable material for the anode in that it provides
efficient kill and does not appear to suffer from surface
pitting or erosion. A combination of ultrasound and
electrolysis reduced the current requirement from 150 to
100 mA and also the treatment time to less than 10 min for
total disinfection (only 2 min were required for the
optimum electrode material as carbon felt). The beneficial
811
effects for the combination technique can be attributed to
enhanced mixing of bacterial suspensions in the vicinity of
the electrode surface where the hypochlorite is being
generated. The mechanical action of cavitation on the
bacterial cells can render them more susceptible to attack
by hypochlorite either through direct damage or a
weakening of the cell wall. The cleaning action of
ultrasound on the electrode surface also prevents the build
up of fouling and thus maintains more efficient electrolysis.
Kraft et al. (2002) have confirmed the role of ultrasound in
continuous cleaning of the cathode surface.
Duckhouse et al. (2004) investigated effect of the timing
of the ultrasonic treatment at 20 and 850 kHz on the
biocidal efficiency of sodium hypochlorite solution towards
E. coli suspensions. It has been reported that at lower
frequency of 20 kHz, the improvement in biocidal activity
is greatest when the ultrasound is applied at the same time
as the hypochlorite. At the higher frequency of 850 kHz the
improvement is best when ultrasound is used as a pre-
treatment immediately followed by hypochlorite addition
under normal (silent) conditions. The kill rate achieved
for pre-treatment using 850 kHz and simultaneous treat-
ment using 20 kHz are very similar. However the former
involves less acoustic energy and so is considered to be
the more efficient. While the results are interesting, two
facts need to be considered. Using ultrasonic irradiation
only as a pre-treatment technique is not of much help
always as simultaneous application of ultrasound necessa-
rily helps in maintaining high mass transfer rates and
mixing in the reactor which essentially limit the application
of chemical treatment. Furthermore, ultrasound does
induce degassing effect which is higher at higher fre-
quencies of irradiation (this explains the not so beneficial
effects reported by Duckhouse et al. (2004) for 850 kHz
frequency of irradiation). Thus application of low-fre-
quency ultrasound is more suitable considering the fact
that mechanical effects (which are controlling mechanisms)
will be more pronounced and also operational problems
normally associated with high-frequency irradiations will
be avoided.
Blume and Neis (2004) investigated a combination of
ultrasonic irradiation and ultraviolet irradiation for treat-
ment of municipal wastewater. Use of low-frequency high-
power ultrasound was reported to be highly beneficial in
terms of breakage of flocs. Initially, 63% of the solids in
the wastewater sample were characterized by a size bigger
than 50 mm. After a sonication of 20 s at 30 W/l, this
fraction just accounts for 5% of the total counts.
Reduction in size leads to better effects of the UV
irradiation as there is good penetration of the incident
light into the wastewater. Use of ultrasound as a
pretreatment technique has been reported to increase the
efficacy of UV irradiations by more than 1 order of
magnitude. As said earlier also, simultaneous UV and
ultrasonic irradiations should even lead to better results
though this type of treatment has not been investigated by
Blume and Neis (2004). Our earlier work with wastewater
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
812 P.R. Gogate / Journal of Environmental Management 85 (2007) 801–815
treatment (Gogate and Pandit, 2004) has clearly demon-
strated this fact for industrial wastewater treatment
applications.
Jyoti and Pandit (2003, 2004) studied different combina-
tions of cavitation (acoustic and hydrodynamic cavitation)
and chemical methods (hydrogen peroxide and ozone) for
treatment of bore well water. It has been reported that the
efficacy of the ultrasonic horn as well as the ultrasonic bath
for the destruction of HPC bacteria, is increased when
hydrogen peroxide or ozone is combined with ultrasonica-
tion. The results are attributed to the increased perme-
ability of hydrogen peroxide/ozone through the cell wall
membrane, increased rates of mass transfer and production
of higher number of free radicals. The extent of increase in
the disinfection rates was higher for ozone as compared to
hydrogen peroxide due to disinfecting action of the
molecular ozone in addition to the free radicals. Again in
the case of hydrodynamic cavitation, the overall rate of
disinfection is increased when hydrogen peroxide or ozone
is added leading to better efficacy for the disinfection of the
HPC bacteria compared to only hydrodynamic cavitation.
Similarly, when the ultrasonic flow cell is used along with
hydrodynamic cavitation and hydrogen peroxide, the rate
of disinfection is further enhanced as the intensity of
cavitation in the hydrodynamic cavitation set-up is
increased by the presence of the ultrasonic flow cell which
in turn accelerates the decomposition of the hydrogen
peroxide or increases the probability of cell wall rupture,
coupled with enhanced H2O2 penetration leading to an
increase in the death rate of the microorganisms present in
the bore well water.
Blume and Neis (2005) investigated the role of ultra-
sound in intensification of the disinfection process using
chlorine. The presence of soluble organic material as well
as high concentrations of suspended matter in water and
wastewater affects the efficiency when chlorine is used as
disinfection agent. Use of ultrasound can facilitate waste-
water disinfection by way of increasing the mass transfer
rates and it can bring down doses of ecologically
questionable chlorine and also shorten contact times. In
the work of Blume and Neis (2005), sewage treatment plant
(STP) effluents with different concentrations of suspended
solids were exposed to sonication in combination with
chlorine dosage. Blume and Neis (2005) reported that
enhancement of chlorine efficiency is better for samples
with higher concentrations of suspended matter. For
samples with a TSS concentration of 50 mg/l chlorination
efficiency (2 mg/l) can be doubled from 0.7 to 1.4 log when
treated simultaneously with 20 kHz ultrasound for 5 min,
i.e. levels of indicator organisms can be brought down to
numbers that conventionally require far higher doses of
chemical disinfectants. As subsequent sonication/chlorina-
tion does not have the same significant effect as simulta-
neous application of these two means, ultrasound does not
just have a declumping effect; it seems that ultrasound
application provokes a better chlorine dispersion in the
aqueous media which improves the fast chemical and
bactericidal reaction. Thus again simultaneous application
of ultrasound and chlorine is better as compared to
sequential operation of the two modes of disinfection.
Chand et al. (2007) recently investigated the use of ozone
treatment assisted by a liquid whistle reactor (LWR),
which generates hydrodynamic cavitation, for water
disinfection using a simulated effluent containing E. coli.
A suspension having an E. coli concentration of approxi-
mately 108–109 CFU ml–1 was introduced into the LWR to
examine the effect of hydrodynamic cavitation alone and in
combination with ozone. Hydrodynamic cavitation gener-
ated using a liquid whistle reactor alone results in only 22%
disinfection but ozone-assisted operation with minimum
time of ozone treatment produces 75% disinfection. The
enhanced mass transfer rates achieved due to the recircu-
latory flows in the liquid whistle reactor increase the
effective utilization of ozone. The results indicate that an
optimum operating treatment protocol is introduction of
ozone in stages assisted by hydrodynamic cavitation at
lower operating temperatures. If maintaining lower oper-
ating temperatures is not feasible, which can be a reality on
an industrial scale, then the same extent of disinfection can
be achieved by using higher operating pressures in the
liquid whistle reactor (increased contribution from the
hydrodynamic cavitation). Higher pressures and similar
conditions of ozone doses are particularly recommended
for disinfecting wastewaters with some organic loads and
other contaminants. Optimization of ozone dose is
essential in conjunction with hydrodynamic cavitation in
order to develop a process, which will consume less energy
and at the same time be more cost effective. The
combination has been found to be a cost-effective
technique for achieving maximum disinfection com-
pared to the individual operation of hydrodynamic
cavitation (lower extent of disinfection) and ozonation
(higher costs of treatment usually due to higher cost of
ozone generation).
Overall, it can be said use of cavitation in combination
with conventional chemical methods is far more suitable as
compared to individual operations. It not only results in
substantially lower treatment times but also reduces the
requirement of the chemicals under optimized conditions.
To give a quantitative idea, Dahl and Lund (1980) have
reported that inactivation of 3 and 4 decades is obtained, at
10–95% lower ozone concentrations, and by 57–96% lower
gaseous ozone dosage by the sonozonation process as
compared to ozonation alone in similar treatment times.
Dahi (1976) also reported that ultrasonic treatment of
effluent from biological sewage plant resulted in a
reduction in the required sterilization dose of ozone
by 50%.
6. Efforts needed in the future
It should be noted that, in spite of extensive research on
laboratory scale and immense potential for water disinfec-
tion as discussed above, in general, there are only limited
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P.R. Gogate / Journal of Environmental Management 85 (2007) 801–815
illustrations of cavitational reactors on an industrial scale
of operation. The possible major problems in the design
and successful operation of cavitational reactors are:
1. Lack of suitable design strategies linking the theoreti-
cally available information with the experimental
results.
2. The existing information is available mainly on labora-
tory scale, which would give very large scale up ratios
and hence very high degree of uncertainty.
3. Local existence of the cavitation phenomena just near
the irradiating surface in the case of ultrasonic
transducers and wide distribution of the energy dissipa-
tion patterns in the reactor.
4. Design information is required from diverse fields such
as chemical engineering (gas-liquid hydrodynamics and
other reactor operations), material science (for con-
struction of transducers efficiently operating at condi-
tions of high-frequency and high-power dissipation) and
acoustics (for better understanding of the sound field
existing in the reactor).
Efforts are required in the following directions so as to
realize the dream of application of cavitational reactors in
actual practice:
1. Design and fabrication of different types of cavitational
reactors differing in flow field, turbulence characteristics
and geometry to study the effect of these on cavity/
bubble/cluster dynamics. Sophisticated measuring tech-
niques such as Laser Doppler Anemometry, hydro-
phones, Cavity luminescence spectral measurement need
to be adapted for fast flowing cavities/clusters to be able
to measure the magnitudes of cavity/cluster oscillations/
collapse pressure pulse and temperature generated and
the identification of the intermediate chemical species
along with their concentrations.
2. Combination of the hydrodynamic cavitation reactors
and sonochemical reactors where the cavity is generated
using the hydrodynamic means and the collapse of the
cavities occurs in the sonochemical reactor. The distance
between the two events (generation and collapse) will be
a crucial design aspect in the expected synergism and
should be established with theoretical simulations and/
or experimental validation for a particular application.
3. Experiments are needed on different scales of operation
to understand and address the scale up issues, such as
alteration in the flow field and turbulence characteristics
due to the scale of operation.
4. In the case of hydrodynamic cavitation reactors, realistic
modelling of the turbulence phenomena is required
which then can be used to model the cavity/bubble
dynamics either in isolation or in the form of cavity
clusters in high-velocity flow. The modern sophisticated
CFD codes can be employed to get the flow field
information, i.e., mean and fluctuating velocity compo-
nents, Reynolds stresses, turbulent pressure fluctuations,
813
which can be then used to understand the role of these
flow field parameters in altering cavity dynamics.
5. It is necessary to develop user-friendly computer codes
(similar to modern CFD codes) for the use of engineers,
which will allow them to input the geometrical and
operating parameters of the cavitational reactors, define
physico-chemical properties of the chemical system
under consideration. These codes, with the help of
bubble/cavity dynamics and the equilibrium chemistry
at cavity collapse conditions, will then predict the
expected chemical effects avoiding trial-and error-type
of experimentation for the engineers.
6. The effect of process intensifying parameters such as the
presence of solid particles, dissolved salts and gases
should be studied in details. Effect of scale of operation
and different designs of the cavitational reactors on the
expected intensification also needs to be evaluated.
7. Optimization of the operating parameters and study of
combination of cavitation with conventional treatment
techniques is required for minimizing the cost of
treatment.
7. Conclusions
Cavitational reactors show considerable promise for
efficient water disinfection and harnessing the spectacular
effects of cavitation, chemical as well as mechanical, for
water treatment can be very beneficial. The optimization
strategies on the basis of theoretical analysis reported
earlier should serve as a useful guideline to the design
engineers for selection of optimum set of operating
parameters and design configuration to achieve maximum
benefits. The future of sonochemical reactors lies in the
design of multiple frequency multiple transducer-based
reactors whereas for hydrodynamic cavitation reactors,
orifice plate-type configuration appears to be most suitable.
It can be said that the hydrodynamic cavitation reactors
offer immediate and realistic potential for industrial scale
applications as compared to the sonochemical reactors and
the scale up of these reactors is comparatively easier as vast
amount of information about the fluid dynamics down-
stream of the constriction is readily available and the
operating efficiency of the circulating pumps which is the
only energy dissipating device in the system is always
higher at large scales of operation.
The applicability of cavitation as a treatment technique
for microorganisms is exhaustive as seen from different
literature illustrations though the cost of treatment is
marginally higher as compared to conventional chemical
methods, which though have their own disadvantages.
Process intensification studies or combination of cavitation
with other treatment techniques can result in substantial
savings as well as quick treatment. Overall, it can be said
that, cavitation is a well-established technology at labora-
tory/pilot scale and combined efforts of chemists, chemical
engineers and physicists are required to effectively harness
this technology on an industrial scale of operation.
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