Effect of spraying height, pressure, and nozzle type on flow characteristics of a field sprayer

Abstract

Accurate pesticide application from sprayers, is essential in modern farming practice as it increased pest control, reduced pesticide costs and wastage, and greater environmental safety. Evenness of flow characteristics of liquid from a sprayer nozzle is one of the requirements of accurate pesticide application. Hence, a study was undertaken to evaluate the flow characteristics of liquid from four different spray nozzles (hollow cone ceramic nozzle (HCC)) 422HCC02, 422HCC025, 422HCC03, and 422HCC05 on a horizontal spray patternator. The discharge rate, spray distribution pattern, spray swath of all the types of nozzles were measured with a pressure range from 6.0 to 9.5 bar at three different nozzle heights (30, 40, and 50 cm). Considerable variations in pattern occurred between successive runs with individual nozzles: The maximum coefficient of variation (C.V.) for the average of nozzle discharges was within the permissible limits because it is less than 10%. It was observed that with the increment of operating pressure and spraying height, the swath width was found to be increased. The average discharge from hollow cone ceramic nozzles has been increased as a result of the increased operating pressure of the pump where the average discharge for 422HCC02 nozzle ranged between (0.98 to 1.35 L/min), for 422HCC025 nozzle ranged between (1.15 to 1.65 L/min), for 422HCC03 nozzle ranged between (1.23 to 1.76 L/min), for 422HCC05 nozzle ranged between (1.35 to 2.03 L/min) when the pump pressure increased from 6.0 bar to 9.5 bar.