Assessment of Nozzle Spray Characteristics for Agriculture Spraying

Abstract

The studies on the operational parameters of selected nozzles were conducted in the laboratory using a patternator with the operational parameters of four types of nozzles (hollow cone, 3-way discharge nozzle (3D), flood type, and solid cone nozzle), five operating pressures (400, 500, 600, 800, and 1000 kPa), and five nozzle heights (0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6 m). The effects of independent variables on spray discharge, droplet size, uniformity coefficient, droplet density, and spray angle were studied. It was observed that the discharge rate increased by increasing the operating pressure, and discharge varied for different types of nozzles. The Hallow cone nozzle exhibited a minimum discharge rate of 0.515 l/min, and the maximum discharge rate recorded was 1.546 l/min for the 3D nozzle. The droplet size decreases with increasing operating pressure. As the operating pressure increased, the size of the droplets formed into fine particles. The maximum droplet size of 251 µm was produced by the 3D nozzle, and the minimum was 117 µm by the Hallow cone nozzle. The spray uniformity increased with an increase in operating pressure. Spray uniformity was minimal in cases of low operating pressure because of the size of the droplets. Droplet density increased with an increase in operating pressure. Spray angle increases with increasing operating pressure. The spray angle is decreased by increasing the nozzle height because of gravity. Spray angles are different for different nozzles.