A Comparative Study of Drop Sizing Equipment for Agricultural Fan-Spray Atomizers

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Abstract
In an attempt to standardize the classification of agricultural fan-spray atomizers by spray quality, the British Crop Protection Council formulated a standard test procedure for 110° fan-spray atomizers to be carried out by as many different drop-size analyzers as possible. The methods used ranged from in-flight laser and optical imaging systems to analysis of spray samples on collecting surfaces. Almost all systems showed a consistent increase in Dv.0.5 with increasing atomizer size for a given pressure and all showed a decrease in the percentage volume of spray below 100 μm. Although there were some variations between results given by analyzers of the same type but different models or operating systems, in general, the variability of results for specific machine types was not significant. However, except for the results from the Malvern equipment analyzed using two different programmes, the results from the other analyzers showed no consistent agreement. By aggregating data from similar equipment, a difference between spatially and temporally derived data was observed.

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