Droplet Kinematic in Hollow Cone Polyacetal (POM) Sprayer Nozzles

This study is aimed to determine the effect of orifice diameter, swirl plate and spray pressure variables on the spray characteristics which define the droplet kinematics of hollow cone nozzle plates. In the trials, the nozzle plates with 1.0 mm, 1.2 mm, 1.6 mm, 2.0 mm and 2.4 mm orifice diameter made of polyacetal material and blue (2-slot), brown (3-slot), yellow (2-slot) and stainless steel (2- slot) swirl plates were used. All applications were made in the spray pressure range of 2-12 bar. In the combinations with the nozzle plate and the swirl plate, the droplet velocity varied in the range of 3.63-22.13 m/s and the droplet velocity increased as the spray pressure increased. The increase in spray pressure had no any effect on variation of the kinetic energy of the drop. However, as the diameter of the nozzle orifice increased, the kinetic energy of the droplet decreased. As the spray pressure increased, the terminal velocity of the droplet decreased. But, increasing the orifice diameter of nozzle plates resulted in an increase in terminal velocity of drop. When the spray pressure is 2 bar, the distance from which the droplet is released in the air from the orifice has increased. The average drift in the nozzle orifice groups ranged from 8.5% to 13.5% when the pressure was 2 bar, while the average increase in the pressure of 12 bar ranged from 15.3% to 19.9%. Correlation analysis was performed between the variables that define the droplet kinematic in hollow cone nozzles and the relations between the statistically significant variables were shown with equations