Influence of some Operational Parameters on Boom Spray Drift.

Reduction in nozzle drift can be considered as one of the main factors in preventing the risk of environmental pollution because of using pesticides. For this aim, three types of air-assisted nozzles, namely, air-liquid-air(ALA), liquidair(LA), liquid-air-liquid(LAL), and at four levels of air-assisted velocity (0, 2, 4, and 7.5 m/s-1)were used; They were also examined at four levels of wind velocity (0, 2, 3, and 4 m/s-1). A spectrophotometry device, MATLAB, SAS 9.1, and IBM SPSS statistical software were used for measurement. The results showed that the effects of the nozzle type, air-assisted velocity, and wind velocity on the drift, deposition, unified spraying, volume median diameters of 50% and 90%, and spraying quality indicators were significant (a=0.01). Also in this study, the third nozzle (LAL) with wind and air-assisted velocity of 4 m/s-1 as the best nozzle was obtained in order to the maximum of the deposition, the minimum of the drift, and the highest spraying uniformity. Therefore, it is recommended to use the third nozzle (air-liquid-air) for better deposition and less drift to protect the solution against different environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]