Method for stabilizing bubbles within a cavitation chamber

Abstract

A method for achieving bubble stability within a cavitation chamber is provided. At least one impeller is located within the cavitation chamber. By rotating the impeller, bubbles within the cavitation chamber are stabilized at a location near, or along, the impeller's axis of rotation. Preferably the axis of rotation is positioned in a substantially horizontal plane, thus allowing the rotating impeller to counteract the tendency of the bubbles to drift upward and to accumulate on the upper, inner surfaces of the cavitation chamber. The impeller can be rotated continuously throughout the cavitation process or stopped prior to cavitating the bubbles within the cavitation chamber. In the latter scenario, the impeller can be stopped, and if desired locked, at a specific rotational position, thus minimizing possible interference between the impeller and the source of the cavitation energy.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 038,344, filed Jan. 18, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for any and all purposes.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to cavitation systems and, more particularly, to a method for stabilizing bubbles within a cavitation chamber via fluid rotation. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Sonoluminescence is a well-known phenomena discovered in the 1930's in which light is generated when a liquid is cavitated. Although a variety of techniques for cavitating the liquid are known (e.g., spark discharge, laser pulse, flowing the liquid through a Venturi tube), one of the most common techniques is through the application of high intensity sound waves. [0004] In essence, the cavitation process consists of three stages; bubble formation, growth and subsequent collapse. The bubble or bubbles cavitated during th...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013] The present invention provides a method for achieving bubble stability within a cavitation chamber. At least one impeller is located within the cavitation chamber. By rotating the impeller, bubbles within the cavitation chamber are stabilized at a location near, or along, the impeller's axis of rotation. In at least one embodiment the axis of rotation is positioned in a substantially horizontal plane, thus allowing the rotating impeller to counteract the tendency of the bubbles to drift upward and to accumulate on the upper, inner surfaces of the cavitation chamber.

[0014] In at least one embodiment of the invention the impeller is rotated continuously throughout the cavitation process. Alternately, impeller rotation can be stopped prior to cavitating the bubbles within the cavitation chamber. In this instance the impeller can be stopped, and if desired locked, at a specific rotational position, thus minimizing possible interference between the impeller and the source of the cavitation energy.

Problems solved by technology

Although it is generally recognized that during the collapse of a cavitating bubble extremely high temperature plasmas are developed, leading to the observed sonoluminescence effect, many aspects of the phenomena have not yet been characterized.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,173 does not disclose any means for stabilizing bubbles within the cavitation zone.

The application does not disclose any means of stabilizing the movement of the injected bubbles or positioning the bubbles within the pressure vessel.

Although a variety of sonoluminescence systems have been designed, typically these systems suffer from a variety of shortcomings due to the inherent instability of the cavitating bubbles.

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