AN ATTEMPT TO REDUCE SPRAY DRIFT IN WIND TUNNEL EXPERIMENTAL USING SUBSTITUTION NOZZLES ON THE BOOM

Abstract

Spray drift is defined as the movement of small spray droplets as particles or vapour at the time of application or soon thereafter out of the target zone by the action of air or incorrect nozzle mounted on boom. Several factors are known to affect spray drift with significant differences such as physical parameters, technological parameters, and meteorological parameters. The mitigation of spray drift from agricultural application is an important issue that concerns many researchers and authors working with field tests. Wind tunnel technique is considered as an alternative method to assess spray drift that move away from the target site intended under different settings as boom heights and wind speeds. In 2015, IRSTEA Montpellier wind tunnel was fitted with a new setup using different nozzle types mounted on nozzle boom in a lateral position towards wind direction to study how nozzle combination has influenced on spray drift. The main goal of this present work aims for studying the effect of substitution nozzles on spray drift mitigation performance. The main results of this study showed significant differences in spray drift when one or two of air induction nozzles were placed before or after standard flat fan nozzles for different parameters setting. Results showed that the best combination of nozzles leading to reduce spray drift ratio is when air induction nozzles are placed at the end of the boom especially the combination of 2AXI+2CVI compared to other combinations and fill reference nozzle on boom.