Effect of Nozzle Type and Adjuvants on Spray Coverage on Apple Leaves

Three non-ionic adjuvants, Agral, Silwet, and Greemax, at three concentrations, were applied on apple leaves with the use of hollow cone nozzles (TR) and air-induction nozzles (ID) to verify the assumption that adjuvants may improve spray coverage obtained by coarse droplets, and thereby ensure both satisfactory application quality and an environmental advantage. Spray coverage and droplet density were measured on both sides of the leaves. The adjuvants enhanced the spray coverage when applied at a certain concentration level. In general, the adjuvant coverage produced by the ID nozzles equaled the pure water coverage produced by the TR nozzles, thereby showing the adjuvants’ potential to compensate for the lower spray coverage usually obtained by coarse spray. A higher spray coverage was obtained on the lower side of leaves, which is discussed in terms of leaf surface properties. In the experiment with the mixture of Silwet and the fungicide Delan (dithianon), the product interacted with the adjuvant, resulting in the reversed picture of spray coverage and droplet density on the upper and lower leaf sides compared to the results obtained for the adjuvant alone. The combination of coarse spray nozzles with adjuvants may reduce environmental pollution without compromising the quality of spray applications in fruit growing.

On-Farm Evaluation of Nozzle Types for Peanut Pest Management Using Commercial Sprayers

Growers have rapidly adopted auxin-resistant cotton and soybean technologies. In Georgia, growers who plant auxin-resistant cotton/soybean are required to utilize nozzles that produce larger (coarser) droplets when spraying auxin herbicides to minimize potential off-target movement of pesticides. Consequently, these nozzles are also used in peanut (an important rotational crop with cotton) since changing nozzles between crops is uncommon for growers. However, larger droplets can result in reduced spray coverage which may lead to less effective pest control. Therefore, seven on-farm trials were conducted in commercial peanut fields using commercial sprayers from 2018 to 2020 across four different locations in Georgia to compare the spray performance of air-induction (AI) nozzles that produce very coarse to ultra coarse droplets (VMD50 ≥ 404 microns) with non-AI (conventional flat fan) nozzles that produce medium to coarse droplets (403≥VMD50≥236 microns) for pest management in peanuts. For each trial, test treatments were implemented in large replicated strips where each strip represented a nozzle type. For nozzle comparison, XR and XRC represented non-AI nozzles while TADF, TDXL, TTI, and TTI60 represented the commonly used AI nozzles in these trials. Spray deposition data for each nozzle along with disease ratings, weed and insect control ratings were collected in all on-farm trials. Peanut yield was collected at harvest. Results indicated that the AI nozzles produced larger droplets than the non-AI nozzles in all nozzle tests; however, the spray coverage varied among the nozzle types. Nozzle type did not influence pest (weed, disease and insect) control, or peanut yield (p≤0.10) in any of the on-farm trials. These results suggested that peanut growers can utilize these coarser droplet nozzles for pest management in fields with low to average pest pressure during the season. Future research on nozzle evaluation needs to investigate the influence of droplet size, carrier volume, and pressure on coverage and canopy penetration.

Nozzle Type and Driving Speed Effects on Spray Density of Aerial Application According to the Wind Tunnel Measurements

Spray density (Number of droplets/cm2) is an important component of agricultural spraying processes. In the field, assessment of the spray density under effect of a number of variables such as nozzle type and driving speed without take in account the effect of cross wind speed is insufficient. In this study, to simulate field spray operation, tests were carried out in wind tunnel using automatic spraying mechanism to investigate and to clarify effect of three types of flat fan nozzle tip spray at three driving speeds under effect three cross wind speeds on spray density. Water sensitive papers (WSPs) were used to collect spray density data. Spray density was calculated through image processing program software. Performance of spray nozzles was validated relative to experimental data of a TP11003 reference nozzle. Results indicated that XR11003 nozzle behavior was to some extent similar to that TP11003 nozzle under effect slow wind speed. It is also noticed that the spray density value decreased with increasing driving speed and wind speed, the spray density value with driving speed of 2.2 m/s and wind speed of 1 m/s was the best, reaching 64.3 droplet /cm2. While the spray density value with driving speed of 5.5 m/s and wind speed of 3 m/s was the least, reaching 3.8 droplet /cm2. The current study presents that the use of DG11003 nozzle gives the best control spray density data under effect very windy conditions to the reference nozzle.

Investigation of Oil Droplet Breakup during Atomization of Emulsions: Comparison of Pressure Swirl and Twin-Fluid Atomizers

The goal of this study was to investigate oil droplet breakup in food emulsions during atomization with pressure swirl (PS), internal mixing (IM), and external mixing (EM) twin-fluid atomizers. By this, new knowledge is provided that facilitates the design of atomization processes, taking into account atomization performance as well as product characteristics (oil droplet size). Atomization experiments were performed in pilot plant scale at liquid volume flow rates of 21.8, 28.0, and 33.3 L/h. Corresponding liquid pressures in the range of 50–200 bar and air-to-liquid ratios in the range of 0.03–0.5 were applied. Two approaches were followed: oil droplet breakup was initially compared for conditions by which the same spray droplet sizes were achieved at constant liquid throughput. For all volume flow rates, the strongest oil droplet breakup was obtained with the PS nozzle, followed by the IM and the EM twin-fluid atomizer. In a second approach, the concept of energy density EV was used to characterize the sizes of resulting spray droplets and of the dispersed oil droplets in the spray. For all nozzles, Sauter mean diameters of spray and oil droplets showed a power-law dependency on EV. PS nozzles achieved the smallest spray droplet sizes and the strongest oil droplet breakup for a constant EV. In twin-fluid atomizers, the nozzle type (IM or EM) has a significant influence on the resulting oil droplet size, even when the resulting spray droplet size is independent of this nozzle type. Overall, it was shown that the proposed concept of EV allows formulating process functions that simplify the design of atomization processes regarding both spray and oil droplet sizes.

Spray Coverage and Biological Efficacy of Single, Twin Symmetrical, and Twin Asymmetrical Flat Fan Nozzles

Proper selection of nozzle type and spray volume is essential to optimize herbicide dose, reducing its adverse environmental effects. It has not been sufficiently evaluated which nozzle type (twin symmetrical flat fan nozzle or the twin asymmetrical one) is more efficient and whether pinoxaden application is more efficient at a low or high spray volume. The spray coverage of a single, twin symmetrical, and twin asymmetrical flat fan nozzles, each in the sizes of 110015, 11002, 110025, 11003, 11004, and 11005 on the moisture-sensitive papers (MSPs) was investigated. The biological efficacy of treatments using pinoxaden against wild oat was investigated. Unlike other nozzle types, the single flat fan nozzle could not cover MSP placed vertically behind the nozzle trajectory. Except for the latter, each nozzle type could cover the MSPs more efficiently with increase in nozzle size. Generally, the nozzles’ performance was twin symmetrical > single = twin asymmetrical flat fan nozzles. A larger nozzle size improved the coverage of MSPs but increased the effective dose (ED50; dose that gives a 50% reduction in dry weight), indicating a decrease in the efficacy of pinoxaden. Among all treatments, the lowest ED50 value was obtained by the twin symmetrical flat fan nozzle 110015 (5.2 g a.i. ha−1). The smaller, more concentrated droplets are required to achieve optimal pinoxaden efficacy against wild oat, which can be provided by a twin symmetrical flat fan nozzle with a smaller size.

Average Degree of Coverage and Coverage Unevenness Coefficient as Parameters for Spraying Quality Assessment

The purpose of the research was to determine the influence of selected factors on the average degree of coverage and uniformity of liquid spray coverage using selected single and dual flat fan nozzles. The impact of nozzle type, spray pressure, driving speed, and spray angle on the average degree of coverage and coverage unevenness coefficient were studied. The research was conducted with special spray track machinery designed and constructed to control and change the boom height, spray angle, driving speed, and spray pressure. Based on the research results, it was found that the highest average coverage was obtained for single standard flat fan nozzles and dual anti-drift flat fan nozzles. At the same time, the highest values of unevenness were observed for these nozzles. Inverse relationships were obtained for air-induction nozzles. Maximization of coverage with simultaneous minimization of unevenness can be achieved by using a medium droplet size for single flat fan nozzles (volume median diameter (VMD) = 300 μm) and coarse droplet size for dual flat fan nozzles (VMD = 352 μm), with low driving speed (respectively 1.1 m∙s−1 and 1.6 m∙s−1) and angling of the nozzle by 20° in the opposite direction to the direction of travel.