Method and device for cavitationally treating a fluid

A method for cavitationally treating a fluid, comprising the steps of:

• a. providing a housing comprising a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, a chamber-forming portion which defines a cylindrical wall, and a longitudinal axis;
• b. providing a cylindrical insert mounted coaxially within said chamber-forming portion, the cylindrical insert comprising an internal channel with an inlet opening in fluid communication with the fluid inlet of the housing, the cylindrical insert comprising a closed end downstream of the inlet opening in the cylindrical insert and at least two slot openings in the cylindrical insert positioned between the inlet opening and the closed end, the at least two slot openings being in fluid communication with the internal channel of the cylindrical insert and an annular cavity positioned between an outer surface of the cylindrical insert and the chamber-forming portion of the housing;
• c. delivering the fluid to be treated into the internal channel of the cylindrical insert;
• d. supplying a flow of the fluid through the at least two slot openings into the annular cavity in the form of two primary fluid jets;
• e. deflecting each of the two primary fluid jets from the cylindrical wall of the housing to divide each primary fluid jet into two secondary fluid jets directed tangentially along the cylindrical wall of the housing in opposite directions and intersecting the two secondary fluid jets of each primary fluid jet and generating a high intensity vortex movement of the fluid within the annular cavity sufficient to reduce pressure in a zone of the vortex movement to form cavitation bubbles in the fluid in the annular cavity;
• and
• f. discharging the fluid from the annular cavity into the fluid outlet and collapsing the cavitation bubbles under static pressure.