Applied Acoustics, Fluids, Physics

D. Felipe Gaitan

Cavitation Physicist/Engineer, Consultant at Equinoxplanet LLC

*******@***.***

Summary

Dr. Gaitan is an experimental physicist with a 25-year history in acoustic cavitation and cavitation physics. He

received his doctorate in physics from the National Center for Physical Acoustics at University of Mississippi

under the direction of Professor Lawrence Crum. In 1989, while still a graduate student at University of

Mississippi, Dr. Gaitan discovered Single Bubble Sonoluminescence, creating a new field of study in physics.

His discovery and research in this area are internationally recognized and he is widely published. Dr. Gaitan

was elected as a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) in 1996. Following a PostDoc at the Naval

Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, Dr. Gaitan has held research positions at the National Center for

Physical Acoustics at the University of Mississippi and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

In 1999, Dr. Gaitan joined Impulse Devices, Inc. in Grass Valley, California to pioneer research into Acoustic

Inertial Confinement Fusion (acoustic ICF). During his tenure as the Chief Scientist, he developed the

revolutionary technology of High Pressure Acoustic Cavitation (Extreme Cavitation). In addition, he cofounded

the Acoustic Fusion Technology Energy Consortium (AFTEC), which funded the program via a $40M contract

with the US ARMY. He is currently the Chief Scientific Officer for Quantum Vortex, Inc., a startup company in

State College, PA, developing proprietary hydrodynamic cavitation technology for the new energy economy.

Experience

Cavitation Physicist/Engineer, Consultant at Globe Protect, Inc

October 2012 - Present (6 months)

Develop company's technology for applications in advanced biofuels, water remediation, and upgrading of

conventional fuels

1 recommendation available upon request

Cavitation Physicist/Engineer, Consultant at Equinoxplanet LLC

July 2012 - Present (9 months)

Implement technology for applications in clean energy and water, including advanced biofuels, waste to

energy, coal to liquid, and water remediation.

Cavitation Physicist/Engineer, Consultant at Quantum Vortex, Inc.

March 2012 - Present (1 year 1 month)

* Technical consulting in applications of Cavitation Technology to the Conventional and Renewable Energy

Industry

* Application areas: Sonochemistry, Crude Oil Upgrading, Fermentation Enhancement, Ballast Water

Treatment, Water Remediation, Novel Compounds

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Chief Scientific Officer, VP Business Dev. (Latin America) at Quantum Vortex Inc.

2012 - 2012 (less than a year)

Chief Scientist, Radiation Safety Officer at Impulse Devices

December 1999 - March 2012 (12 years 4 months)

* Pioneered work and was responsible for early-stage R&D and feasibility of Extreme Cavitation Technology

for the manufacture of nano-diamonds

* Directed scientific and engineering team of 5 and a $3M budget for R&D ($40M US ARMY contract over

4 years)

* Invented (coauthored 24 patents) novel techniques for manufacturing new chemical compounds using

Extreme Cavitation Technology

* Designed and directed interactive software for evaluating acoustic resonators.

* Directed code optimization and executed computer simulations of Acoustic Inertial Confinement Fusion

using HYADES® Hydrocode designed for Laser Fusion Research

4 recommendations available upon request

Assistant Research Professor of Physics at University of Mississippi

September 1996 - December 1999 (3 years 4 months)

* Investigated heat transport enhancement in thermoacoustic stacks via diffusion-limited evaporation and

condensation at low ambient pressures.

* Developed mathematical model and performed measurements of acoustic propagation in capillary tubes.

* Investigated acoustically induced implosion of small (~ 5 µm) gas-filled cavities in different liquids and

ambient temperatures.

* Investigated the use of resonant cavities in a Scramjet to enhance turbulence-induced air/fuel mixing.

Research Scientist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Microgravity Group

September 1994 - September 1996 (2 years 1 month)

* Investigated the effect of gravity on the nonlinear dynamics of an acoustically driven bubble due to shape

deformation.

* Captured images of bubbles using long-range microscope, CCD camera, and back illumination with a

pulsed, frequency-doubled YAG laser

Assistant Research Professor of Physics at Physics Department, Naval Postgraduate School

1991 - September 1994 (3 years)

* Chief Scientist of the ThermoAcoustic Life Sciences Refrigerator (TALSR) project funded by NASA

Patents

Cavitation fluid circulatory system for a cavitation chamber

United States Patent 7448790 Issued November 11, 2008

Inventors: D. Felipe Gaitan, Ross Alan Tessien,, David G Beck

Degassing procedure for a cavitation chamber

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United States Patent 7381241 Issued June 3, 2008

Inventors: D. Felipe Gaitan, Ross Alan Tessien

Acoustical Treatment of Polymeric Fibers and Small Particles

United States Patent 201******** Issued January 27, 2011

Inventors: D. Felipe Gaitan, Robert Hiller, Lawrence A Crum

Acousto-Optical Test and Analysis Cavitation Chamber

United States Patent 201******** Issued June 3, 2010

Inventors: D. Felipe Gaitan, Robert Hiller

An apparatus for cavitation and sonoluminescence is provided. In some embodiments the apparatus provides

high-intensity shock waves that modify the properties of the liquid medium in the resonator and thereby alter

the optical and electrical properties of the liquid. Methods for studying the acoustical and optical

characteristics of the liquid and the sound fields in such scenarios are enabled and thereby testing and analysis

of the same are made possible.

Acoustic driver assembly for a spherical cavitation chamber

United States Patent 7148606 Issued December 12, 2006

Inventors: D. Felipe Gaitan, Ross Alan Tessien, Daniel A Phillips

Publications

Transient cavitation in high-quality-factor resonators at high static pressures

Journal of the Acoustical Society of America June 2010

Authors: D. Felipe Gaitan, Ross A. Tessien, Robert A. Hiller, Joel Gutierrez, Corey Scott, Henry Tardif, Brant

Callahan, Thomas J. Matula, Lawrence A. Crum, R. Glynn Holt, Charles C. Church

Seminal paper describing the new field of Cavitation Technology: "Extreme Cavitation".

This study describes a high-quality factor, spherical resonator capable of achieving acoustic cavitation at

ambient pressures in excess of 30 MPa (300 bars). This system generates bursts of violent inertial cavitation

events lasting only a few milliseconds (hundreds of acoustic cycles), in contrast with the repetitive cavitation

events (lasting several minutes) observed in SBSL; accordingly, these events are described as “inertial

transient cavitation.” Cavitation observed in this high pressure resonator is characterized by flashes of light

with intensities up to 1000 times brighter than SBSL flashes, as well as spherical shock waves with

amplitudes exceeding 30 MPa at the resonator wall. Both SL and shock amplitudes increase with static

pressure.

Optical nucleation of bubble clouds in a high pressure spherical resonator

Journal of the Acoustical Society of America November 2011

Authors: D. Felipe Gaitan, Phillip A. Anderson, Ashwin Sampathkumar, Todd W. Murray, R. Glynn Holt

An experimental setup for nucleating clouds of bubbles in a high-pressure spherical resonator is described.

Using nanosecond laser pulses and multiple phase gratings, bubble clouds are optically nucleated in an

acoustic field. Dynamics of the clouds are captured using a high-speed CCD camera. The images reveal cloud

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nucleation, growth, and collapse and the resulting emission of radially expanding shockwaves. These

shockwaves are reflected at the interior surface of the resonator and then reconverge to the center of the

resonator. As the shocks reconverge upon the center of the resonator, they renucleate and grow the bubble

cloud. This process is repeated over many acoustic cycles and with each successive shock reconvergence

Suppression of an acoustic mode by an elastic mode of a liquid-filled spherical shell resonator

Journal of the Acoustical Society of America February 2011

Authors: D. Felipe Gaitan, Joel B. Lonzaga, Jason L. Raymond, Joel Mobley

Observation of Stability Boundaries in the Parameter Space of Single Bubble Sonoluminescence

Physical Review Letters October 1996

Authors: D. Felipe Gaitan, R. Glynn Holt

Sonoluminescence and bubble dynamics for a single, stable, cavitation bubble

Journal of the Acoustical Society of America June 1992

Authors: D. Felipe Gaitan, Lawrence A. Crum, Ron A. Roy, Charles C. Church

Seminal paper describing the discovery of Single Bubble Sonoluminescence (SBSL).

Chaotic Sonoluminescence

Physical Review Letters February 1994

Authors: D. Felipe Gaitan, R. Glynn Holt, Anthony A. Atchley, Joachim Holzfuss

Direct Observations of Single Sonoluminescence Pulses

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 1995

Authors: D. Felipe Gaitan, M. J. Moran, R. E. Haigh, M. E. Lowry, D. R. Sweider, G. R. Abel, J. T. Carlson, S.

D. Lewia, A.A. Atchley, X. K. Maruyama

Mie scattering from a Sonoluminescing Air Bubble in Water

Applied Optics May 1995

Authors: D. Felipe Gaitan, W. J. Lentz, A. A. Atchley

This paper appeared on the cover of the journal.

Theory and current experimental data regarding the possibility of acoustic inertial confinement fusion

Proceedings of the International Symposium on Sustainability in Acoustics August 2010

Authors: D. Felipe Gaitan

In this study, both theoretical implications for Acoustic Inertial Confinement Fusion (Acoustic ICF) and

current experimental data are described relating the use of a high quality factor, spherical resonator capable of

achieving acoustic cavitation at ambient pressure in excess of 30 MPa (300 bars). While it is clear the

increased pressure strengthens the collapse and increases temperatures at implosion, the jury is still out on

whether fusion-level conditions are obtainable

Sonoluminescence and Bubble Stability

Physics World March 1999

Authors: D. Felipe Gaitan

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Most of the interest in sonoluminescence has focused on explaining how the light is produced, but to some

scientists the remarkable stability of the bubble has been just as fascinating. How can the bubble expand to a

size of up to 50 microns and then collapse to a radius of less than a micron, all within 50 us or so, without

dissolving or disintegrating? Recent experiments by Jeffrey Ketterling and Robert Apfel of Yale University in

the US seem to confirm that chemical reactions are responsible for the remarkable stability of the bubble, a

hypothesis first postulated by Detlef Lohse et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett. V78, p.1359)

Languages

English (Native or bilingual proficiency)

Spanish (Native or bilingual proficiency)

Skills & Expertise

Physical Acoustics (Expert, 18 years experience)

Sonochemistry (Expert, 18 years experience)

High Pressure Cavitation in liquid-filled resonators (Expert, 5 years experience)

Application of High Pressure Acoustics to chemical (Expert, 5 years experience)

processes

Shock waves, fluid dynamics

Physics

Fluid Dynamics

Acoustics

R&D

Hydrodynamic Cavitation

Cavitation

Education

University of Mississippi

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Physical Sciences, 1984 - 1989

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Physics, 1979 - 1984

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Honors and Awards

* Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America

* Chief Scientist of the ThermoAcoustic Life Sciences Refrigerator (TALSR) project, winner of the R&D100

Award in 1993 as one of the most technologically significant new products of the year

* Keynote Speaker at the International Symposium on Sustainability in Acoustics, ISSA 2010, Auckland, New

Zealand (Aug 2010)

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D. Felipe Gaitan

Cavitation Physicist/Engineer, Consultant at Equinoxplanet LLC

*******@***.***

5 people have recommended D. Felipe

"Speaking as a science editor, I can attest that Dr. Gaitan recognizes the value of effective communication

among scientists and stakeholders: rare among his peers, he makes the effort to convey complex ideas in

approachable terms, eliciting buy-in, curiosity, and productive dialogue. He also understands and accepts the

inherent risks of doing good science---his approach is to push the boundaries of knowledge patiently but

relentlessly, all the while cultivating an atmosphere of teamwork and collaboration with colleagues."

Heather Ogston, Contract Technical Editor, *******.*.******@*****.***, was with another company

when working with D. Felipe at Globe Protect, Inc

"Felipe's discovery of single-bubble sonoluminescence transformed an entire field of research that dated back

some 60 years and created a new "gold rush" in cavitation science. He is a highly-regarded expert in

hydrodynamic and acoustic cavitation, acoustical physics, and high-pressure resonator design. In addition to

being a world-class scientist and engineer, Felipe is an outstanding colleague. I am delighted to give him my

unqualified recommendation."

David Flannigan, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of

Minnesota, worked with D. Felipe at Impulse Devices

"Felipe Gaitan is one of truly great scientists, hard working, possessing impressive knowledge and intuition in

physics. His work and discovery of single bubble sonoluminescence made him a living legend in the field of

cavitation and physical acoustics."

Yuri Pishchalnikov, Assistant Research Professor, Indiana University School of Medicine, reported to D.

Felipe at Impulse Devices

"I've known Dr. Gaitan for 20 years as a colleague and worked with him at Impulse Devices. Felipe is a great

scientist and project manager with superb leadership abilities in addition to his technical excellence in physics

and engineering. His creativity and drive have led to multiple scientific innovations and successful

completion of large engineering projects."

Robert Hiller, Sr. Scientist, Impulse Devices, Inc., reported to D. Felipe at Impulse Devices

"Felipe was co-discoverer of single bubble sonoluminescence and this has had tremendous impact on the field

of physical acoustics. Felipe has been a clear leader in this field."

Ken Suslick, was D. Felipe's client

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