Evaluation on Application and Spraying Effect of Air-Assisted Sprayer in Apple Orchard with Dwarfing Rootstocks

The application and spraying effect of 3 WG-1200 A air-assisted sprayer in dwarfing rootstock apple orchard were evaluated by investigating the droplet density, coverage and volume median diameter(VMD) in different canopy layers(2.0, 1.5, 1.0 m) and five directions(east, south, west, north and middle) of apple trees. The results showed that the droplet density was 166.99 per square centimeter, the coverage was 48.23%, and the VMD was 138.63 μm. The droplet density in different canopy layers of the trees had consistent trend with the coverage. The droplet density and coverage in the upper and middle canopy(2.0 m and 1.5 m) had no significant difference, but they were both higher than those in the lower canopy, while the VMD in different canopy layers showed an opposite trend. The change trends of the coverage and VMD in the five directions were consistent, and the values in the middle and east were the highest, followed by the north, south and west, respectively. The results indicated that droplet characteristics of the 3 WG-1200 A air-assisted sprayer met the basic requirements for pest and pathogen control. This study provides a theoretical basis and data support for the application and improvement of orchard application equipments in dwarfing rootstock apple orchard.

Nozzle test system for droplet deposition characteristics of orchard air-assisted sprayer and its application

In order to obtain nozzle droplet deposition characteristics for sprayer mechanical design and variable spraying control algorithms,a nozzle droplet deposition characteristics test system for air-assisted spraying was designed.The test system can supply a stable wind site with precisely controlled air speed whose speed control ranges from 2 m/s to 16 m/s with maximum relative error of 4.5%.It can spray out a certain amount of liquid pesticide with adjustable spraying pressure which can be controlled with high precision while the maximum relative error is only 1.33%.The distribution of droplet deposition can be collected and measured by using the acquisition device and a pesticide deposition optical measurement system.The experiment of two-dimensional nozzle flow measurement was carried out.The results show that nozzle flow distribution is uniform and symmetric with“double-hump”shape in the spray range.Multi-nozzle overlapped droplet deposition ranges from 85%to 116%relative to the average.The nozzle droplet deposition experiment was completed.The experiment results show that in air-assisted spraying,the higher the wind speed,the less droplet deposition is affected by gravity.When the wind speed is higher than 12 m/s and spraying distance is 0.80 m,droplet deposition is concentrated on the originally designated point and hardly affected by gravity.The horizontal spray width becomes smaller with higher wind speed.When the wind speed is high,it can be considered that nozzle deposition only focuses on the nozzle center,if the position requirement is not very high in orchard spraying.

Simple decision-making model for orchard air-assisted spraying airflow

Airflow speed is one of the three factors of air-assisted spraying.Optimizing the matching model between airflow speed and target canopy characteristics is an effective way to improve the orchard precision spraying technology,as airflow can significantly affect droplet deposition and drift loss.A simple model of airflow speed was established in this study.First,air-assisted spraying experiments were carried out on a standard simulation canopy to study the airflow speed depended on canopy width,leaf area index,and porosity rate.Second,determined by Ribbon Method and verified by droplet drift data,the airflow speed through the canopy was between 0.5 m/s and 0.7 m/s.Third,multiple tests were carried out under standard simulation canopy with different characteristics,and the airflow speed model was established ultimately:with a fixed leaf area index(LAI),the relationship between canopy upwind boundary airflow speed and canopy width satisfied the exponential model(y=ae^(bx)),and the coefficients a and b are well related to the density of branches and leaves in the canopy.When LAI=3.456,y=2.036e^(1.5887x),R^(2)=0.994;LAI=1.728,y=1.639e^(1.445x),R^(2)=0.972.Orchard growers can acquire needed airflow speed through this simple model,it is quick and precise and appropriate to most growth periods of a variety of fruit trees,such as apples,pears,and vines.

Effects of fan speed on spray deposition and drift for targeting air-assisted sprayer in pear orchard

In order to reduce the application dosage of pesticides,a targeting air-assisted(TAA)sprayer was developed and tested in this study.Fruit trees were assayed by an infrared detection system to determine if the canopy needs to be sprayed.This TAA sprayer was compared with conventional air-assisted(CAA)sprayers,and the impacts of various fan speeds(0,800 r/min,1300 r/min,and 1800 r/min)on spray deposition,coverage,and drift amount were tested.Ponceau 2R was used as tracer to measure spray deposition under each treatment.Droplet coverage and canopy deposition were best when the CAA application fan speed was increased to 1300 r/min,but at higher fan speeds,spray deposition and coverage in canopy did not increase because extra air flow blew droplets from the ground into the air.During TAA spraying,droplet sizes increased at opening and closing moments.Optimal spray effects were achieved when the auxiliary airflow velocity was increased at a fan speed of 1800 r/min.The research provides a useful reference for the design of TAA and parameters optimization method with respect to the relationship between droplets deposition into tree canopy,ground and drift in the air.

Spray Characteristics of Non-Circular Nozzle in Air-Assisted Injection System

In order to analyze the spray characteristics of non-circular nozzle holes based on the air-assisted spray system, the spray characteristics of circular and non-circular nozzles were studied under the pressure of 0.2-0.6 MPa and the spray volume of 1000-5000 mL/h. Elliptical nozzle and triangular nozzle are classified as non-circular geometries. The spray cone angle was measured by processing the spray image captured by a CCD camera. The measured spray cone angles of the circular nozzles were analyzed, and the axis switching phenomenon of minor plane of elliptical nozzle was found during the test. Among the three shapes of nozzles, the elliptical nozzle had the largest spray cone angle, and the triangular nozzle had the smallest. The velocity field obtained depended on the PIV system. The results show that for axial velocity, elliptical orifice spray has greater kinetic energy and smaller droplet size under the same working parameters. Compared with the circular and elliptical nozzles, triangular orifice reached maximum spray velocity the fastest, but its velocity decay was the fastest. For radial velocity, away from the axis, the spray velocity of the elliptical orifice was less affected by the injection parameters, and the velocity was less than that of circular orifice and triangle orifice. Increasing air pressure will weaken radial propagation. The increase of liquid spraying rate had no remarkable effect on the increase of spraying rate. The results of particle size analysis show that the particle size of the non-circular orifice is reduced compared with that of the circular orifice, which promotes the breakup of droplets to a certain extent and enhances the atomization effect.

Spray Characteristics of Air-Assisted Injector Under Different Ambient Pressures

Spray atomization of liquid fuel plays an important role in droplet evaporation,combustible mixture formation and subsequent combustion process.Well-atomized liquid spray contributes to high fuel efficiency and low pollutant emissions.Gasoline direct injection(GDI)has been recognized as one of the most effective ways to improve fuel atomization.As a special direct injection method,the air-assisted direct injection utilizes high-speed flow of high-pressure air at the injector exit to assist liquid fuel injection and promote spray atomization at a low injection pressure.This injection method has excellent application potential and advantages for high performance and lightweight engines.In this study,the hollow cone spray emerging from an air-assisted injector was studied in a constant volume chamber with the ambient pressures ranging from 5 kPa to 300 kPa.External macro characteristics of spray were obtained using high speed backlit imaging.Phase Doppler particle analyzer(PDPA)was utilized to study the microcosmic spray characteristics.The results show that under the flash boiling condition,the spray will generate a strong flash boiling point which causes the cone shape spray to expand both inwards and outwards.The axisymmetric inward expansion would converge together and form a lathy aggregation area below the nozzle and the axisymmetric outward expansion greatly increases the spray width.The sauter mean diameter(SMD)of flash boiling condition can be reduced to 5μm compared to the level close to 10μm in the non-flash boiling condition.

Tunnel-convective air-assisted spraying technology for improving droplet deposition on hedgerow vines

Given the impermeability,larger dosage,and higher drift of pesticides used in modern hedgerow vine canopies,a novel tunnel-convective air-assisted spraying technology was proposed.Mechanized spraying equipment with high penetration and low drift was developed.The air-assisted system of this equipment was centrosymmetric,and the fan type was cross-flow.The fan outlet width was 138 mm and the air duct’s main body followed a logarithmic spiral profile,based on parallel flow theory.The external diameter of the impeller was 157 mm,which was fixed into a barrel structure by 23 strong forward-curved blades,each being 1 mm thick.The central angle of the blades was 108°,and the ratio of the internal and external diameters was 0.81.The impeller and air duct served as guides to circulate and reciprocate airflow around the crown,forming a tunnel-convective air-assisted to the vine.Using MATLAB interpolation,the airflow trajectory of the air convection circulation in the door-shaped cover was obtained.The velocity field distribution test showed that,in the case of a canopy,there were tunnel-convective circulating airflows with high velocity on both sides and uniform velocity in the middle of the canopy.Due to the tunnel-convective air-assisted spraying technology,the vertical distribution uniformity of spray deposition has been significantly improved,spray penetration has been enhanced,penetrability has been effectively improved,and droplets on the ground and in the air have been significantly reduced.The results of this study can assist in providing further optimization and improvement of plant protection machinery.The new tunnel-convective air-assisted spraying technology may be a more favorable choice for future spray applications and the environment.

Efficacy of spray flushing in the reprocessing of flexible endoscopes

This article comments on the article by Du et al,who conducted a randomized controlled trial aiming at evaluating the effectiveness of a novel spray flushing system in cleaning flexible endoscopes while minimizing damage to the working channels.We share our perspective on the importance of improving endoscope reprocessing methods.The findings highlight the spray flushing system's capacity to improve cleaning efficacy while minimizing damage,suggesting that it might be important in enhancing endoscope reprocessing procedures.

Experimental Study and Numerical Simulation on Spray Characteristics of New-Type Air-Assist Nozzle

To investigate the spray characteristics of a new-type air-assist nozzle,three-dimensional laser phase Dopper analyzer( PDA) was used to measure the spray parameters. The external flow fields of the nozzle were simulated by means of computational fluid dynamics( CFD). The distributions of the diameter and the axial velocity for the droplets were analyzed respectively. The results indicate that,the mean diameter of the droplets fluctuates along the center axis. The distance between the measurement point and the nozzle increases,the axial velocity of the droplets decreases. The further the measurement point from the center axis is,the smaller the axial velocity of the droplets is. With the increase of the nozzle pressure drop,the axial velocity of the droplets improves while the mean diameter of the droplets is reduced,and the distribution uniformity of the droplets is better for the diameter. The simulation result agrees well with the experimental data. The average deviation ranges from 3.9% to 7.7%.

Spray pyrolysis feasibility of tungsten substitution for cobalt in nickel-rich cathode materials

Cobalt(Co)serves as a stabilizer in the lattice structure of high-capacity nickel(Ni)-rich cathode materials.However,its high cost and toxicity still limit its development.In general,it is possible to perform transition metal substitution to reduce the Co content.However,the traditional coprecipitation method cannot satisfy the requirements of multielement coprecipitation and uniform distribution of elements due to the differences between element concentration and deposition rate.In this work,spray pyrolysis was used to prepare LiNi_(0.9)Co_(0.1-x)W_(x)O_(2)(LNCW).In this regard,the pyrolysis behavior of ammonium metatungstate was analyzed,together with the substitu-tion of W for Co.With the possibility of spray pyrolysis,the Ni-Co-W-containing oxide precursor presents a homogeneous distribution of metal elements,which is beneficial for the uniform substitution of W in the final materials.It was observed that with W substitution,the size of primary particles decreased from 338.06 to 71.76 nm,and cation disordering was as low as 3.34%.As a consequence,the pre-pared LNCW exhibited significantly improved electrochemical performance.Under optimal conditions,the lithium-ion battery assembled with LiNi_(0.9)Co_(0.0925)W_(0.0075)O_(2)(LNCW-0.75mol%)had an improved capacity retention of 82.7%after 200 cycles,which provides insight in-to the development of Ni-rich low-Co materials.This work presents that W can compensate for the loss caused by Co deficiency to a cer-tain extent.

HVOF-sprayed HAp/S53P4 BG composite coatings on an AZ31 alloy for potential applications in temporary implants

Bioactive thermal spray coatings produced via high-velocity oxygen fuel spray(HVOF)from hydroxyapatite(HAp)and bioactive glasses(BG)have the potential to be employed on temporary implants due to the ability of both HAp and BG to dissolve and promote osseointegration,considering that both phases have different reaction and dissolution rates under in-vitro conditions.In the present work,75%wt.HAp-25%wt.S53P4 bioactive glass powders were HVOF-sprayed to obtain HAp/S53P4 BG composite coatings on a bioresorbable AZ31 alloy.The study is focused on exploring the effect of the stand-off distance and fuel/oxygen ratio variation as HVOF parameters to obtain stable structural coatings and to establish their effect on the phases and microstructure produced in those coatings.Different characterization techniques,such as scanning electron microscopy,X-ray diffraction,and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,were employed to characterize relevant structural and microstructural properties of the composite coatings.The results showed that thermal gradients during coating deposition must be managed to avoid delamination due to the high temperature achieved(max 550℃)and the differences in coefficients of thermal expansion.It was also found that both spraying distance and oxygen/fuel ratio allowed to keep the hydroxyapatite as the main phase in the coatings.In addition,in-vitro electrochemical studies were performed on the obtained HAp/S53P4 BG composite coatings and compared against the uncoated AZ31 alloy.The results showed a significant decrease in hydrogen evolution(at least 98%)when the bioactive coating was applied on the Mg alloy during evaluation in simulated body fluid(SBF).

Selective lithium recovery and regeneration of ternary cathode from spent lithium-ion batteries:Mixed HCl-H_(2)SO_(4) leaching-spray pyrolysis approach

The recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries(LIBs) is crucial for environmental protection and resource sustainability.However,the economic recovery of spent LIBs remains challenging due to low Li recovery efficiency and the need for multiple separation operations.Here,we propose a process involving mixed HCl-H_(2)SO_(4) leaching-spray pyrolysis for recycling spent ternary LIBs,achieving both selective Li recovery and the preparation of a ternary oxide precursor.Specifically,the process transforms spent ternary cathode(LiNi_(x)Co_yMn_(2)O_(2),NCM) powder into Li_(2)SO_(4) solution and ternary oxide,which can be directly used for synthesizing battery-grade Li_(2)CO_(3) and NCM cathode,respectively.Notably,SO_(4)^(2-) selectively precipitates with Li^(+) to form thermostable Li_(2)SO_(4) during the spray pyrolysis,which substantially improves the Li recovery efficiency by inhibiting Li evaporation and intercalation.Besides,SO_(2) emissions are avoided by controlling the molar ratio of Li^(+)/SO_(4)^(2-)(≥2:1),The mechanism of the preferential formation of Li_(2)SO_(4) is interpreted from its reverse solubility variation with temperature.During the recycling of spent NCM811,92% of Li is selectively recovered,and the regenerated NCM811 exhibits excellent cycling stability with a capacity retention of 81.7% after 300 cycles at 1 C.This work offers a simple and robust process for the recycling of spent NCM cathodes.

Experimental investigation on effective aerosol scavenging using different spray configurations with pre-injection of water mist for Fukushima Daiichi decommissioning

During the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant,it is important to consider the retrieval of resolidified debris both in air and underwater configurations.For the subsequent retrieval of debris from the reactor building,the resolidified debris must be cut into smaller pieces using various cutting methods.During the cutting process,aerosol particles are expected to be generated at the submicron scale.It has been noted that such aerosols sizing within the Greenfield gap(0.1-1μm)are difficult to remove effectively using traditional spraying methods.Therefore,to improve the aerosol removal efficiency of the spray system,a new aerosol agglomeration method was recently proposed,which involves injecting water mist to enlarge the sizes of the aerosol particles before removing them using water sprays.In this study,a series of experiments were performed to clarify the proper spray configurations for effective aerosol scavenging and to improve the performance of the water mist.The experimental results showed that the spray flow rate and droplet characteristics are important factors for the aerosol-scavenging efficiency and performance of the water mist.The results obtained from this study will be helpful for the optimization of the spray system design for effective aerosol scavenging during the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Structure and corrosion behavior of FeCoCrNiMo high-entropy alloy coatings prepared by mechanical alloying and plasma spraying

FeCoCrNiMox composite powders were prepared using the mechanical alloying technique and made into high-entropy alloy(HEA)coatings with the face-centered cubic phase using plasma spraying to address the element segregation problem in HEAs and pre-pare uniform HEA coatings.Scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscopy,and X-ray diffractometry were employed to characterize these coatings’microstructure and phase composition.The hardness,elastic modulus,and fracture toughness of coatings were tested,and the corrosion resistance was analyzed in simulated seawater.Results show that the hardness of the coating is HV0.1606.15,the modulus of elasticity is 128.42 GPa,and the fracture toughness is 43.98 MPa·m^(1/2).The corrosion potential of the coating in 3.5wt%NaCl solution is-0.49 V,and the corrosion current density is 1.2×10^(−6)A/cm^(2).The electrochemical system comprises three parts:the electrolyte,the adsorption and metallic oxide films produced during immersion,and the FeCoNiCrMo HEA coating.Over in-creasingly long periods,the corrosion reaction rate increases first and then decreases,the corrosion product film comprising metal oxides reaches a dynamic balance between formation and dissolution,and the internal reaction of the coating declines.

Simulation Study on the Heat Transfer Characteristics of a Spray-Cooled Single-Pipe Cooling Tower

The current study focuses on spray cooling applied to the heat exchange components of a cooling tower.An optimization of such processes is attempted by assessing different spray flow rates and droplet sizes.For simplicity,the heat exchanger of the cooling tower is modeled as a horizontal round tube and a cooling tower spray cooling model is developed accordingly using a computational fluid dynamics(CFD)software.The study examines the influence of varying spray flow rates and droplet sizes on the heat flow intensity between the liquid layer on the surface of the cylindrical tube and the surrounding air,taking into account the number of nozzles.It is observed that on increasing the spray flow strength,the heat flow intensity and extent of the liquid film in the system are enhanced accordingly.Moreover,the magnitude of droplet size significantly impacts heat transfer.A larger droplet size decreases evaporation in the air and enhances the deposition of droplets on the round tube.This facilitates the creation of the liquid film and enhances the passage of heat between the liquid film and air.Increasing the number of nozzles,while maintaining a constant spray flow rate,results in a decrease in the flow rate of each individual nozzle.This decrease is not favorable in terms of heat transfer.

Process Optimization of Cu-en/AP Composite Microspheres Preparation by Electrostatic Spray Method Based on ANSYS Simulation

To investigate the process optimizationof Cu-en/AP composite microspheres preparation via electrostatic spraying,and to reveal the effects of droplet properties and flow rate variations on the experimental results during the electrostatic spraying process,the prepared process parameters of Cu-en/AP composite microspheres by electrostatic spray method under the orthogonal experimental design simulated by ANSYS(Fluent).The influence of flow rate,solvent ratio,and solid mass on the experimental results is examined using a controlled variable method.The results indicate that under the conditions of a flow rate of 2.67×10^(-3)kg/s an acetone-to-deionized water ratio of 1.5∶1.0,and a solid mass of 200 mg,the theoretical particle size of the composite microspheres can reach e nanoscale.Droplet trajectories in the electric field remain stable without significant deviation.The simulation results show that particle diameter decreases with increasing flow rate,with the trend leveling off around a flow rate of 1×10^(-3)kg/s.As the solvent ratio increases(with higher acetone content),particle diameter initially decreases,reaching a minimum around a ratio of 1.5∶1.0 before gradually increasing.Increasing the solid mass also reduces the particle diameter,with a linear increase in diameter observed at around 220 mg.Cu-en/AP composite microspheres with nanoscale dimensions were confirmed under these conditions by the final SEM images.

Investigation of the Film Formation in Dynamic Air Spray Painting

To accurately predict the film thickness distribution during dynamic spraying performed with air guns and support accordingly the development of intelligent spray painting,the spray problem was analyzed numerically.In particular,the Eulerian-Eulerian approach was employed to calculate the paint atomization and film deposition process.Different spray heights,spray angles,spray gun movement speeds,spray trajectory curvature radii,and air pressure values were considered.Numerical simulation results indicate that the angle of spray painting significantly affects the velocity of droplets near the spray surface.With an increase in the spraying angle,spraying height and spray gun movement speed,the maximum film thickness decreases to varying degrees,and the uniformity of the film thickness also continuously worsens.When the spray gun moves along an arc trajectory,at smaller arc radii,the film thickness on the inside of the arc is slightly greater than that on the outside,but the impact on the maximum film thickness is minimal.Increasing air pressure expands the coating coverage area,results in finer atomization of paint droplets,and leads to a thinner and a more uniform paint film.However,if the pressure is too high,it can cause paint splattering.Using the orthogonal experimental method,multiple sets of simulation calculations were conducted,and the combined effects of spraying height,spray angle,and spray gun movement speed on the film thickness distribution were comprehensively analyzed to determine optimal configurations.Finally,the reliability of the numerical simulations was validated through dynamic spray painting experiments.

Effects of plasma spraying process on microstructure and mechanical properties of Cr_(2)AlC/410 composite coatings

To investigate the influences of Cr_(2)AlC mass fraction and supersonic plasma spraying process on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Cr_(2)AlC reinforced 410 stainless steel composite coatings,the coatings containing different mass fractions of Cr_(2)AlC were prepared and investigated.The composite coating exhibited low porosity and high adhesion strength.The addition of Cr_(2)AlC significantly enhanced the hardness of the composite coatings through particle strengthening.However,when the mass fraction of Cr_(2)AlC was 20%,the aggregation of Cr_(2)AlC resulted in a strong decrease in the coating preparation efficiency,as well as a decline in adhesion strength.In the supersonic plasma spraying process,the Ar flow rate mainly influenced the flight velocity of the particles,while the H_(2) flow rate and the current mainly affected the temperature of the plasma torch.Consequently,all of them influenced the melting degree of particles and the quality of the coating.The lowest porosity and the highest hardness and adhesion strength could be obtained when the Ar flow rate is 125 L/min,the H_(2) flow rate is 25 L/min,and the current is 385 A.

Effect of cold rolling deformation on microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of spray formed Al−Zn−Mg−Cu−Cr alloys

The impact of cold rolling deformation,which was introduced after solid solution and before aging treatment,on microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of the as-extruded spray formed Al−9.8Zn−2.3Mg−1.73Cu−0.13Cr(wt.%)alloy,was investigated.SEM,TEM,and EBSD were used to analyze the microstructures,and tensile tests were conducted to assess mechanical properties.The results indicate that the D1-T6 sample,subjected to 25%cold rolling deformation,exhibits finer grains(3.35μm)compared to the D0-T6 sample(grain size of 4.23μm)without cold rolling.Cold rolling refines the grains that grow in solution treatment.Due to the combined effects of finer and more dispersed precipitates,higher dislocation density and smaller grains,the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of the D1-T6 sample can reach 663 and 737 MPa,respectively.In comparison to the as-extruded and D0-T6 samples,the yield strength of the D1-T6 sample increases by 415 and 92 MPa,respectively.

Electrostatic spraying for fine-tuning particle dimensions to enhance oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs

While spray-drying has been widely utilized to improve the bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs,the outcomes often exhibit suboptimal particle size distribution and large particle sizes,limiting their effectiveness.In this study,we introduce electrostatic spraying as an advanced technology tailored for poorly water-soluble drugs,enabling the fabrication of nanoparticles with fine and uniform particle size distribution.Regorafenib(1 g),as a model drug,copovidone(5 g),and sodium dodecyl sulfate(0.1 g)were dissolved in 200 ml ethanol and subjected to conventional-spray-dryer and electrostatic spray dryer.The electrostatic spray-dried nanoparticles(ESDN)showed smaller particle sizes with better uniformity compared to conventional spray-dried nanoparticles(CSDN).ESDN demonstrated significantly enhanced solubility and rapid release in water.In vitro studies revealed that ESDN induced apoptosis in HCT-116 cells to a greater extent,exhibiting superior cytotoxicity compared to CSDN.Furthermore,ESDN substantially improved oral bioavailability and antitumor efficacy compared to CSDN.These findings suggest that ESD shows potential in developing enhanced drug delivery systems for poorly water-soluble drugs,effectively addressing the limitations associated with CSD methods.