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Atomization and Sprays

Journal of the International Institutes for Liquid Atomization and Spray Systems

ISSN for PRINT: 1045-5110

Institutional price:	$787.00
Issues per year:	8

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

1995, Volume5

115 pages

Issue price - $75.00

FLUID VELOCITY AND SHEAR IN ELLIPTIC-ORIFICE SPRAY NOZZLES

H. Zhu
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Ohio State University, OARDC, Wooster, OH 44691, USA

R. D. Brazee
Application Technology Research Unit, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Wooster, OH, 44691, USA

D. L. Reichard
Deceased, formerly, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Wooster, Ohio, USA

R. D. Fox
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Wooster, Ohio, USA

C. R. Krause
Application Technology Research Unit, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Wooster, OH, 44691, USA

Andrew C. Chapple
c/o Koyntoypiotoy 13, Tpiandria 55337, Thessaloniki, Greece

ABSTRACT

With new pest control and bioregulating formulations under development and coming into use to improve spray retention and coverage, concerns have arisen about possible adverse effects on spray solutions due to fluid shear occurring in nozzles. Mathematical models were developed for velocity and shear-rate distributions for incompressible liquid flow through fan-pattern spray nozzles having approximately elliptic outlet orifices. The velocity distribution model was verified with phase/Doppler particle analyzer measurements and computational fluid dynamic simulations. A mean fluid velocity section of the model predicted the axial flow velocity to be 29.03 m/s for an 8002 brass fan-pattern nozzle with 276 kPa operating pressure, compared with a mean measured value of 29.85 m/s. With the shear rate model, it was found that use of an older equivalent-circle model resulted in significant underestimates of shear rates for fan-pattern nozzles. Liquid shear rates at the orifice wall varied with position, and were estimated to fall in the range 1.2 × 10⁵ to 7 × 10⁵ s⁻¹ for the spray nozzles studied, depending on nozzle characteristics and operating pressure over a range of 138 to 414 kPa.