TIME DELAY FOR INJECTION SPRAYERS

Abstract

Lag times were measured for one boom section of an inline injection sprayer system. Lag time is defined as thetime period between when an injected pesticide rate changed and when the new pesticide rate reached nozzles on theboom. Lag time factors investigated were: number of active nozzles, boom size, travel speed changes, and pesticideviscosity. Three water-soluble and one non-water-soluble simulated pesticide liquids (water, Prime Oil, Prime Oil II, andSilicon Oil) with viscosities that ranged from 0.9 to 97.7 mPas were used. An equation was developed to predict the lagtime at the nozzles at the end of the spray boom. Lag time was greatly reduced by reducing the boom diameter, but was notreduced substantially by decreasing the number of active nozzles on the boom. Lag times were not affected by viscosity ofthe simulated pesticide.