Liquid atomization and spray drift measurement in a wind tunnel for a twin fluid system with a deflector nozzle

Authors: ZOLTÁN GULYÁS, LÁSZLÓ FENYVESI, SÁNDOR SZOBOSZLAY

Abstract: The objectives of this research were to inspect the drop production of a twin fluid system with the Floodjet TK SS 10 042 deflector nozzle and to identify the drift of the droplets produced by the nozzle in a wind tunnel when using the nozzle with the individual settings provided by the company that enlisted our institute to do the described research task. The results of the inspection of drop production, done using a particle sizer, showed that the values of volume diameter D_{v10} were low, the percentage of drops smaller than 100 µm in size was considerable, and the drop sizes varied widely in each setting. It was concluded that the risk of drift and, therefore, the risk of placing an unnecessary load on the environment existed when using the nozzle with the given settings. The application of the nozzle that was tested may cause problems in various aspects of practical spraying techniques. Based on the results of the drift measurements performed in a wind tunnel, the material deposition reported as relative coverage decreased significantly only when the recommended settings were changed at wind velocities of 2.0 m s^{-1} and 4.0 m s^{-1}. At wind velocities of 4.0 m s^{-1} and 6.0 m s^{-1}, detectable (>=1%) relative coverage values were recorded for each setting, even at the measurement limit. It was concluded that the inspected twin fluid system with the Floodjet TK SS 10 042 deflector nozzle does not provide the expected decrease in drift when using the given settings at wind velocities of 4.0 m s^{-1} and 6.0 m s^{-1}.

Keywords: Drift, drop production, droplet size, wind tunnel

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