A Rapid Method for Estimating the Atomization of Oil-Base Aerial Sprays1

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Abstract
The size of aerial spray drops is an important factor influencing spray coverage, distribution, evaporation, and drift. The degree of spray atomization is commonly expressed as mass median diameter (mmd). Present methods for determining mmd require the sampling and measurement of the entire drop spectrum. A simple method has been developed for estimating mass median diameter from the largest drop in the continuous spectrum (D-max). This method saves more than 90% in time with-out loss of accuracy. Drop D-max is selected from the five largest drops collected across the spray swath. It is the drop diameter with not more than 32m difference between it and the one next largest to it going from the smallest drop size up. The mmd is obtained by dividing spherical drop D-max by a conversion factor. This conversion factor is 2.2 ±.07 for slow speed (80 mph) planes and about 2.5 for medium speed (170 mph) planes.

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