Spray Droplet Cooling for Drift Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Agricultural spraying systems face issues with drift of crop protection products due to wind and turbulence, leading to reduced effectiveness and unwanted deposition on adjacent areas, as a significant portion of the material does not reach the intended target.
Innovation Solution
The system employs a temperature differential between the ambient air and the liquid or granular materials to be sprayed, cooling the atomized particles below the dew point, causing them to absorb moisture and increase in size, thereby reducing drift by increasing mass and ensuring more droplets reach the ground.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If spray nozzles are used to distribute crop protection products, then the material can be applied to the field, but a significant portion of the material drifts away from the target due to wind and turbulence
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the temperature parameter of the spray droplets by cooling them below the dew point. This parameter change causes the droplets to absorb moisture from the air, increasing their mass and reducing drift, thereby resolving the contradiction between deposition efficiency and substance loss
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the phase transition of water vapor condensing onto cooled droplets. By cooling the spray droplets below the dew point, water vapor in the air condenses on the droplet surfaces, increasing droplet mass and reducing drift, thus improving deposition efficiency while minimizing substance loss
2Productivity
If the aircraft flies low to minimize drift, then spray deposition effectiveness improves, but the complexity of operation increases and safety risks arise
Solution Approach 1:
By changing the temperature parameter of the spray droplets (cooling below dew point), the system achieves drift reduction without requiring low-altitude flight. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining deposition effectiveness while simplifying operation and eliminating safety risks associated with low flying
3Quantity of substance
If more crop protection product is applied to compensate for drift, then target coverage improves, but unwanted deposition on adjacent areas increases
Solution Approach 1:
By cooling the spray droplets below the dew point to increase their mass through moisture absorption, the system achieves better target coverage with the same application rate. This resolves the contradiction by improving target coverage without increasing unwanted deposition, as the heavier droplets are less susceptible to wind drift
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach effectively reduces drift by ensuring that a larger proportion of the sprayed material reaches the target, enhancing the efficiency of crop spraying operations, especially in high-temperature and high-humidity conditions, and minimizing over-spraying and unwanted deposition.
Implementation Method 1
A heat exchanger is disposed to alter a temperature of the amount of the flow of fluid that is provided to the at least one spray nozzle. The heat exchanger operates to cool the flow of the fluid such that spray droplets of the fluid injected through the at least one spray nozzle into an atmosphere have a spray temperature at least temporarily after injection that is below a dew temperature of the atmosphere into which the spray droplets are injected.
Implementation Method 2
cooling the atomized particles below the dew point, causing them to absorb moisture from the surrounding air, thus becoming larger, with increased mass
Data Source
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AI summary
A method for reducing drift of sprayed droplets includes storing a fluid to be sprayed in a reservoir carried by a vehicle, and providing a metered flow of the first fluid to a spray nozzle, from where the fluid is injected into an atmosphere as sprayed droplets. A drift of the sprayed droplets is reduced by causing the sprayed droplets to absorb moisture from the atmosphere after they are sprayed from the spray nozzle, such that a mass of each of the sprayed droplets increases sufficiently to reduce a drift of the respective sprayed droplet in the wind.