Simulation of the spatial distribution of the acoustic pressure in sonochemical reactors with numerical methods: A review

• Last 15 years on the simulation of the acoustic field inside sonoreactors by numerical methods are briefly summarised.
• Pros and cons of the different models reviewed in the manuscript are explained.
• Recent works on novel topics (vibration of the reactor walls, nonlinear phenomena) are illustrated.
• Challenges that must be addressed in the next years are also briefly discussed.

Numerical methods for the calculation of the acoustic field inside sonoreactors have rapidly emerged in the last 15 years. This paper summarizes some of the most important works on this topic presented in the past, along with the diverse numerical works that have been published since then, reviewing the state of the art from a qualitative point of view. In this sense, we illustrate and discuss some of the models recently developed by the scientific community to deal with some of the complex events that take place in a sonochemical reactor such as the vibration of the reactor walls and the nonlinear phenomena inherent to the presence of ultrasonic cavitation. In addition, we point out some of the upcoming challenges that must be addressed in order to develop a reliable tool for the proper designing of efficient sonoreactors and the scale-up of sonochemical processes.