SPRAY DROPLET SIZE FOR WATER AND PARAFFINIC OIL APPLIED AT ULTRALOW VOLUME

Spray droplet size of water and paraffinic oil was affected by air pre ssure, nozzle type, and liquid flow rate when applied with an ultralow volume (ULV), air-assist sprayer. Volume median diameters of water we re generally larger than oil at constant air pressure and liquid flow rate. Droplet size decreased as air pressure increased, but increased as liquid flow rate increased. Volume median diameters of water drople ts ranged from 41 to 838 mu m and from 16 to 457 mu m with oil when at omized at air pressures ranging from 14 to 84 kPa. Relative spans rang ed from 1.2 to 18.0 and 2.0 to 7.2 for water and oil, respectively.