Investigation on different time-harmonic models using FEM for the prediction of acoustic pressure fields in a pilot-scale sonoreactor

•Linear Helmholtz model for pure liquid risks overpredicting the pressure magnitude.•Monodisperse Commander and Prosperetti model is dependant on bubble fraction.•Nonlinear Helmholtz model gives the best overall prediction for the studied system.•Method of tuning simulations using empirical wavelength data showed promising results. In this study, the performance of three different acoustic pressure models were evaluated by comparing the predicted pressure field with sonochemiluminescence data. The nonlinear Helmholtz model showed the best agreement in terms of antinode and pressure magnitude predictions. The linear Helmholtz model was found to overpredict the antinodes and acoustic pressure magnitudes in the reactor due to the lack of attenuation mechanisms. Results showed that the antinode locations predicted by the monodisperse Commander and Prosperetti model at constant bubble density was highly dependant on the specified bubble fraction. A new approach was proposed, which involved tuning the bubble fraction of the model using wavelength measurements from sonochemiluminescence results. Simulation results using this new approach showed promising agreement to experimental observations. The proposed method can be a simple and efficient way to tune acoustic pressure simulations for systems that forms uniform standing waves, which can then be useful for sonoreactor design.