| Author | Trinh Xuan Duc |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no. AE-95-04 |
| Subject(s) | Spraying equipment
|
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of requirement
for the degree of Master of Engineering |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Serious environmental and worker safety problems caused by overuse and off-target movement of toxic pesticides have led to the pressures to replace synthetic toxic pesticides with natural non toxic alternatives. However, these alternative materials are weak pesticides unless they are placed directly at the site of insect or disease activity. They are also often very expensive. In order to achieve desirable controlled levels and economic thresholds with environmentally "soft" pesticides, present application methods need to be improved, particularly regarding distribution of spray to leaf underside surfaces. In this conjunction, the development of air assisted electrostatic sprayer was conducted. Air delivery increases spray penetration and turbulence within the plant canopy. Electrostatic charging increases spray deposit level, reduces waste, and greatly improves spray distribution for better insect and disease control. The air assisted electrostatic spinning disc sprayer was tested in laboratory with soybean plants. When electrode voltage was maintained at 2.5 kV, the results indicated that ratio of deposition density of air assisted and non air assisted application at top, middle, bottom levels were 1.38, 1.37 and 1.5 fold respectively. Mean deposition on plant target increased 1.44 fold due to air assistance. The leaf underside deposition occupied 27% of the total deposition (increased 7% because of air assistance).The optimum tilt angle between disc plane and air stream direction found to be 105 degree. The improvement of structure brought about the reduction of 1.93 to 2.37 fold on power consumption. In spite of extra cost of battery and fan unit, break-even area for air assisted electrostatic sprayer was 0.43 ha as compared to the electrostatic sprayer. |
| Year | 1995 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (Former title: Department of Food Agriculture, and BioResources (DFAB)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Agricultural and Food Engineering (AE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Gupta, C.P.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Stevens, Willem Frans;Salokhe, Vilas M.;Upasena, S.H.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | SIDA; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1995 |