Cavitation-Based Process Intensification for Chemical and Physical Processing

Dear Colleagues,

Cavitation offers significant potential for process intensification across a wide range of chemical and physical processing applications, including wastewater treatment, catalyst and material synthesis, crystallization, emulsification and homogenization, chemical synthesis, enzymatic reactions, extraction, and food processing. The Topic “Cavitation-based Process Intensification for Chemical and Physical Processing” aims to highlight recent advances in the fundamental understanding, reactor development, and application of cavitation for achieving more efficient and sustainable processing.

This Topic will cover both acoustic and hydrodynamic cavitation. Acoustic cavitation typically employs ultrasound to induce the formation, growth, and collapse of cavities, whereas hydrodynamic cavitation is generated through local pressure variations induced by fluid flow. Hydrodynamic cavitation devices may include Venturi tubes, orifice plates, valves, vortex-based devices, and high-speed or high-pressure homogenization systems.

Contributions addressing the fundamental mechanisms of cavitation, reactor and device design, operating parameters, energy efficiency, modelling, and cavitation characterization are welcome. Experimental studies demonstrating measurable process intensification benefits in chemical or physical processing are particularly encouraged. Studies introducing cavitation to new applications, developing hybrid or combined processing approaches, or advancing the understanding and scale-up of cavitational reactors are also within the scope of this Topic.

Particular attention will be given to studies addressing scale-up, energy consumption, process economics, sustainable resource utilization, and environmental protection, as these considerations are essential for translating laboratory-scale improvements into commercially viable processes. Contributions that critically compare acoustic and hydrodynamic cavitation or benchmark cavitation-based processes against conventional technologies are especially encouraged. 

Prof. Dr. Parag R. Gogate
Prof. Dr. Sivakumar Manickam
Prof. Dr. Levente Csóka
Topic Editors