Crosswind-compensating spray nozzle system for reduced agricultural chemical drift
An actively or passively controlled spray nozzle system that adjusts geometry and injection angle to counteract crosswind during agrichemical application. This reduces spray drift by suppressing unwanted droplet breakup regimes, improving targeting accuracy and reducing environmental impact in agricultural spraying operations.
Overview
Agricultural spraying in crosswind conditions often leads to unwanted droplet breakup, producing smaller droplets that drift away from the target area. This solution proposes controlling nozzle geometry and injection angle to compensate for crosswind velocity, enabling more effective delivery of agrichemicals to intended targets. The approach addresses a critical challenge in precision agriculture by reducing chemical waste, environmental contamination, and off-target drift.
Technical specifications
Key features:
- Adjustable nozzle geometry that can be actively or passively controlled in response to crosswind conditions
- Deliberate nozzle injection angle orientation to counteract wind effects during spraying
- Targets the transition between sheet breakup and bag breakup regimes in liquid sheet atomization
- Validated using a subsonic wind tunnel with air velocities up to 60 m/s
- Instrumentation includes pitot static tube, inclined manometer, back-light illumination, and high-resolution camera
- Image analysis using ImageJ and proprietary software to characterize breakup regime transitions, droplet sizes, and droplet trajectories
- Potential for future automated nozzle inclination control
Technology readiness level
The concept is supported by preliminary work demonstrating that suitable nozzle characteristics and deliberate crosswind-pointing orientations can partially compensate for unwanted breakup mechanisms. Future validation will involve controlled wind tunnel testing with Dr. Khaled Sallam at Oklahoma State University. The technology is at an early-to-mid stage of development, with fundamental validation experiments planned but not yet executed. Further refinement and field testing would be needed before commercial deployment.
About Lincoln Agritech Ltd. - (Abbas Jafari)
Lincoln Agritech is a multidisciplinary research and development company, operating as a 100% subsidiary of Lincoln University, that delivers science and engineering technologies for primary industries and the environmental sector [3, 4]. Within this organization, Abdolabbas (Abbas) Jafari serves as a Precision Agriculture Scientist and Research Scientist [1, 2, 3]. His work focuses on integrating computer vision, machine learning, data modelling, and Raman spectroscopy to optimize farming practices, enhance crop production, and advance sustainable agriculture [1, 5]. By applying these advanced scientific tools, the team aims to solve complex challenges related to water, land-use, and bio-resources [1, 4].
These research efforts provide practical benefits to farmers, consultants, and veterinarians by improving agricultural efficiency and environmental sustainability [2, 6]. For example, Jafari has been involved in investigating the application of augmented reality in dairy farming to assess potential industry benefits [6]. By leading projects that bridge the gap between engineering and real-world agricultural problems, the team supports the development of innovative, evidence-based solutions that help crops thrive while reducing the environmental footprint of primary industry operations [1, 2, 6].
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