Electrostatic Induction Spray-charging System (Embedded Electrode) for Knapsack Mist-blower

Abstract

The introduction of electrically charged sprays in agricultural application has become inevitable for better control on droplet transference with reduced drift with less spray chemical requirements. The study was under taken to develop an electrostatic induction spray charging system as attachment to knapsack mist-blower. A high voltage generator was fabricated on the basis of Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier principle with input of 6 V DC battery. A self-atomizing hydraulic nozzle was developed to deliver the droplet spectrum required for effective electrostatic charge induction. The prototype was evaluated for charge to mass ratio (mC. kg-1) at five electrode potentials (1 kV, 2 kV, 3 kV, 4 kV and 5 kV) at four electrode placement positions from atomization zone (0, 5, 10 and 15 mm). The charge mass ratio (CMR) value of spray cloud was measured using Faradays Cage at five positions from nozle tip (50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 cm). The electrode voltage potential at 5 kV at its position 5 mm from the atomization zone shown the maximum CMR value of 1.088 mC.kg-1. Khatawkar et al.; CJAST, 39(5): 80-91, 2020; Article no.CJAST.55756 Original Research Article 81In contrast with commercial system (ESS-MBP90) it was observed that except at 50 cm distance, the developed charging system, at 4 kV and 5 kV, surpassed commercial system in CMR from 100 cm to 250 cm distances. The droplet spectrum of the developed system was analysed and observed that the size of droplets were 100 to 200 µm. The developed system found to be cost effective and significantly consistent over the commercial one.

Design and Experimental Testing of an Overhead Rail Automatic Variable-Distance Targeted Spray System for Solar Greenhouses

“…This generates paths based on a virtual environment and on probabilistic road maps; these paths are then optimized with the NSGA-III algorithm. Dipak S. Khatawkar et al [17] designed an electrostatic-induction spray-charging device for backpack sprayers and found that the charge-to-mass ratio was highest at 5 kV voltage, 5 mm away from the atomization zone. Zhang Yueshun [18] designed an inter-row sprayer for solar greenhouses, which includes an additional working mode for spray bar lifting and spray bar fixation, producing inter-row spray and ordinary spray, respectively.…”