Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) is finding ever increasing applications in water, energy, chemicals, and materials sectors. HC generates intense shear, localized hot spots, and hydroxyl radicals, which are harnessed for realizing desired physicochemical transformations. Despite identification of HC as one of the most promising technology platforms, its potential is not yet adequately translated in practice. Lack of appropriate models for design, optimization, and scale-up of HC reactors is one of the primary reasons for this. In this work, the current status of modeling of HC reactors is presented. Various prevailing approaches covering empirical, phenomenological, and multiscale models are critically reviewed in light of personal experience of their application. Use of these approaches for different applications such as biomass pretreatment and wastewater treatment is briefly discussed. Some comments on extending these models for other applications like emulsions and crystallization are included. The presented models and discussion will be useful for practicing engineers and scientists interested in applying HC for a variety of applications. Some thoughts on further advances in modeling of HC reactors and outlook are shared, which may stimulate further research on improving the fidelity of computational models of HC reactors.

中文翻译：

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水力空化反应器建模：对现状和前进道路的思考


水动力空化 (HC) 在水、能源、化学品和材料领域的应用不断增加。 HC 产生强烈的剪切力、局部热点和羟基自由基，可用于实现所需的物理化学转化。尽管 HC 被认为是最有前途的技术平台之一，但其潜力尚未充分转化为实践。缺乏合适的 HC 反应器设计、优化和放大模型是造成这种情况的主要原因之一。在这项工作中，介绍了 HC 反应器建模的现状。根据个人的应用经验，对涵盖经验、现象学和多尺度模型的各种流行方法进行了严格的审查。简要讨论了这些方法在生物质预处理和废水处理等不同应用中的使用。其中包括一些关于将这些模型扩展到乳液和结晶等其他应用的评论。所提出的模型和讨论对于有兴趣将 HC 应用于各种应用的实践工程师和科学家很有用。分享了关于 HC 反应堆建模进一步进展的一些想法和展望，这可能会激发关于提高 HC 反应堆计算模型保真度的进一步研究。