Determination of Selection Criteria for Spray Drift Reduction from Atomization Data
Abstract
In the testing and evaluation of drift reduction technologies there are different metrics that can be used to determine whether a technology reduces drift relative to a reference system. These metrics can include a reduction in the percentage of fine drops, measured spray drift from a field trial, or computer modeling of spray drift based on the application system and the droplet spectrum resulting from the specified operational conditions. The percentage of the spray volume constituted by droplets with diameters of less than 141 lm provided the most consistent and robust separation of droplet sizes and drift potential across all the nozzle, adjuvant, and active ingredient combinations tested. This study illustrates that adjuvants alter the spray distribution in different ways for different spray nozzles. The oil concentrate in this study uniformly narrowed the entire spray distribution, whereas in contrast the polymers widened the spray distribution because there was a greater increase in the spray volume made up of large droplets and only a modest increase in the spray volume made up of smaller droplets. When evaluating different spray technologies, it is critical that one consider the overall spray distribution and use it as a comparative measure of multiple technologies, particularly with active formulations and spray solution modifiers.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA578926
Entities
People
- Bradley K. Fritz
- Curt E. Elsik
- Greg R. Kruger
- Joe Gednalske
- W. C> Hoffmann
- William E. Bagley
Organizations
- United States Department of Agriculture