Design and Evaluation of a Novel Efficient Air-Assisted Hollow-Cone Electrostatic Nozzle

Li Zhang, Zhi Li, Huaxing Chu, Qiaolin Chen, Yang Li () and Xinghua Liu
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Li Zhang: College of Resources, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Tai’an 271019, China
Zhi Li: College of Mechanical & Electronic Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an 271018, China
Huaxing Chu: College of Mechanical & Electronic Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an 271018, China
Qiaolin Chen: College of Mechanical & Electronic Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an 271018, China
Yang Li: College of Mechanical & Electronic Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an 271018, China
Xinghua Liu: College of Mechanical & Electronic Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an 271018, China

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-20

Abstract: For crop protection, electrostatic spraying technology significantly improves deposition uniformity and pesticide utilization through the “wraparound-adsorption” effect of charged droplets. However, existing electrostatic nozzles using hydraulic atomization suffer from low charge-to-mass ratios due to unclear principles for optimizing electrode parameters. To this end, this study designs and evaluates a novel air-assisted hydraulic-atomization hollow-cone electrostatic nozzle. First, the air-assisted hollow-cone nozzle was designed. High-speed imaging was then employed to obtain morphological parameters of the liquid film (length: 2.14 mm; width: 1.96 mm; and spray angle: 49.25°). Based on these parameters, an electric field simulation model of the electrostatic nozzle was established to analyze the influence of electrode parameters on the charging performance and identify the optimal parameter combination. Finally, feasibility and efficiency evaluation experiments were conducted on the designed electrostatic nozzle. The experimental results demonstrate that cross-sectional dimensions of the electrode exhibit a positive correlation with the surface charge density of the pesticide liquid film. In addition, optimal charging performance is obtained when the electrode plane coincides with the tangent plane of the liquid film leading edge. Based on these charging laws, the optimal electrode parameters were determined as follows: 2.0 × 2.0 mm cross-section with an electrode-to-nozzle tip distance of 3.8 mm. With these parameters, the nozzle achieved a droplet charge-to-mass ratio of 4.9 mC/kg at a charging voltage of 3.0 kV. These charged droplets achieved deposition coverages of 12.19%, 5.72%, and 5.91% on abaxial leaf surfaces in the upper, middle, and lower soybean canopies, respectively, which is a significant improvement in deposition uniformity. This study designed a novel air-assisted hollow-cone electrostatic nozzle, elucidated the optimization principles for annular induction electrodes, and achieved improved spraying performance. The findings contribute to enhanced pesticide application efficiency in crops, providing valuable theoretical guidance and technical references for electrostatic nozzle design and application.

Keywords: electrostatic spraying; hollow-cone nozzle; conductive liquid film; parameter optimization; charge-to-mass ratio (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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