How to design silent control experiments for ultrasound-assisted oil sands extraction and upgrading: A computational study

The major concern in estimating sonochemical yield and efficiency in ultrasound-assisted processes is in defining a silent control experiment, without cavitation effects. To estimate the potential benefit of the ultrasonic treatment as compared to conventional heating, we propose that the effects should be compared at the same power input, when the energy in a silent experiment is dissipated as heat. Our calculations of possible temperature increase under the silent conditions for oil sands extraction and upgrading showed necessity of such approach. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.