Experimental study of a new liquid mixing method using acoustic streaming

The acoustic mixer presented in this paper is a cylindrical vessel placed into an acoustic field. Ultrasound was generated in a water vessel by transducers placed outside of the cylinder either perpendicularly or parallel to its axis. The system was used to circulate the water on an axis of the vessel, which we called "spin", similar to traditional mixing methods and to generate three-dimensional flow patterns. To visualize the process, iodine solution with sodium thiosulfate was mixed and the degree of the mixing was measured using a laser-photodiode system. The optimal mixer configurations have been determined for a thin walled cylinder surrounded by transducers. Best results were obtained when two transducers were placed at different heights of the glass vessel and at 90 degrees with each other with generation of streaming in the same direction.