The method of applying ultrasound to silica gel regeneration process has been proved to be able to improve regeneration efficiency and reduce regeneration temperature. The average regeneration rate can be increased by 10% and the benefits should owe to the special "vibration effect" and "heating effect" induced by ultrasound. In this article, a dynamic one-dimensional mathematical model, validated by experiments, has been developed. It is then used to investigate energy utilization efficiency of the ultrasonic regeneration and respective contribution ratio of the two ultrasonic effects. The results show that the contribution ratio of vibration effect dominates and the energy utilization efficiency of silica gel regeneration with ultrasound can be 1% higher. The ultrasonic regeneration is more energy-saving when the contribution ratio of vibration effect is greater. The results also show that the enhancement of regeneration brought by ultrasound is not a simple sum of their respective contribution. (c) 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 1843-1853, 2014