Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) is useful for intensifying a wide variety of industrial applications including biofuel production, emulsion preparation, and wastewater treatment. Venturi is one of the most widely used devices for HC. Despite the wide spread use, the role and interactions among various design and operating parameters on generated cavitation is not yet adequately understood. This article presents results of computational investigation into the cavitation characteristics of different venturi designs over a range of operating conditions. Influence of the key geometric parameters such as the length of venturi throat and diffuser angle on the inception and extent of cavitation is discussed quantitatively. Formulation and solution of multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models are presented. Appropriate turbulence and cavitation models are selected and solved using a commercial CFD code. Care was taken to eliminate the influence of numerical parameters like mesh density, discretization scheme, and convergence criteria. The computational model was validated by comparing simulated results with three published data sets. The simulated results in terms of velocity and pressure gradients, vapor volume fractions and turbulence quantities, and so on, are critically analyzed and discussed. Diffuser angle was found to have a significant influence on cavitation inception and evolution. The length of the venturi throat has relatively less impact on cavitation inception and evolution compared to the diffuser angle. The models and simulated flow field were used to simulate detailed time–pressure histories for individual vapor cavities, including turbulent fluctuations. This in turn can be used to simulate cavity collapse and overall performance of HC device as a reactor. The presented results offer useful guidance to the designer of HC devices, identifying key operating and design parameters that can be manipulated to achieve the desired level of cavitational activity. The presented approach and results also offer a useful means to compare and to evaluate different designs of cavitation devices and operating parameters. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 65: 421–433, 2019

中文翻译：

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在文氏管中对水动力空化进行建模：文氏管构型对空化开始和空化程度的影响

水力空化（HC）可用于增强各种工业应用，包括生物燃料生产，乳液制备和废水处理。文丘里管是使用最广泛的HC设备之一。尽管用途广泛，但尚未充分理解各种设计和操作参数之间对产生的气蚀的作用和相互作用。本文介绍了在各种运行条件下对不同文丘里管设计的空化特性进行计算研究的结果。定量讨论了关键几何参数（如文丘里管喉管的长度和扩散器角度）对气蚀的开始和程度的影响。介绍了多相计算流体动力学（CFD）模型的公式化和求解。使用商业CFD代码选择并求解适当的湍流和空化模型。注意消除数值参数的影响，例如网格密度，离散化方案和收敛准则。通过将模拟结果与三个已发布的数据集进行比较来验证计算模型。对速度和压力梯度，蒸气体积分数和湍流量等方面的模拟结果进行了严格的分析和讨论。发现散流器角度对空化的开始和演化有重大影响。与扩散角相比，文丘里喉管的长度对空化开始和演变的影响相对较小。该模型和模拟流场用于模拟各个蒸气腔的详细时间-压力历史记录，包括动荡的波动。反过来，这可用于模拟腔体塌陷和作为反应堆的HC装置的整体性能。提出的结果为HC设备的设计人员提供了有用的指导，确定了关键的操作和设计参数，可以对这些参数进行操纵，以实现所需的空化活性水平。提出的方法和结果还提供了一种有用的手段，用于比较和评估气蚀装置和工作参数的不同设计。©2018美国化学工程师学会 确定关键的操作和设计参数，可以对这些参数进行操纵以达到理想水平的空化活动。提出的方法和结果还提供了一种有用的手段，用于比较和评估气蚀装置和工作参数的不同设计。©2018美国化学工程师学会 确定关键的操作和设计参数，可以对这些参数进行操纵以达到理想水平的空化活动。提出的方法和结果还提供了一种有用的手段，用于比较和评估气蚀装置和工作参数的不同设计。©2018美国化学工程师学会AIChE J，65：421–433，2019