Abstract
For greater efficiency in aerial applications of pesticides it is essential to get a greater fraction of the emitted formulation to the true biological target To achieve this and at the same time ensure that environmental pollution is a minimum requires the use of a narrow droplet spectrum of the correct mean size. The best atomisers currently made for aircraft use produce at best only about 40 % of the emitted volume in sizes within 25 % of the desired size and in many cases the percentage is far smaller. A simple spinning disc atomiser has been designed at Cranfield which operates in the filament mode of droplet formation at flow rates many times greater than the usual maxima for these devices. This improvement is achieved by using a high velocity radial airflow in the region of atomisation. This same air, arising from the forward speed of the aircraft, is used to rotate the disc by shaping it to be a high solidity windmill. Test results show that a 5 cm diameter disc will atomise up to 11/min into droplet sizes from 80 μm to 300 μm VMD, depending upon the chosen blade setting, and that, for any given blade setting, up to 80 % of the emission will be within ± 25 % of the mean size. It is anticipated that mass production of the atomiser will commence in 1983.
Published Version
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