Since the typical horn-type ultrasonic equipment induces a reaction at the probe tip, the sonochemical reaction has a limitation that it occurs only in a specific area. As one of the ways to overcome this limitation, an ultrasonic device with multi-stepped horn equipped with several oscillators has been developed. The objective of this study was to investigate the sonochemical effects induced by acoustic cavitation system in 20 kHz multi-stepped ultrasonic horn using calorimetry, KI dosimetry and the luminol test. The sonochemical effects of multi-stepped ultrasonic horn were compared with that of the typical horn-type 20 kHz ultrasonic device. The effect of immersion depth and power on the sonochemical reaction was investigated in the ultrasonic system with multi-stepped ultrasonic horn. Higher calorimetric energy was obtained at higher immersion depth and power conditions. Sonochemical effects increased significantly when using the high immersion depth and input power. However, as the input power increased, the cavitation reaction zone concentrated around the ultrasonic horn. Additionally, the experiments to examine the effect of liquid temperature was conducted. The smaller sonochemical reaction was obtained for the higher liquid temperature. The effect on temperature seems to be closely related to liquid conditions such as viscosity and vapor pressure of water.

Keywords: Calorimetry, Cavitation, Multi-stepped ultrasonic horn, Sonochemical effects, Sonochemiluminescence