CARACTERIZACIÓN DEL FLUJO DE AIRE GENERADO POR PULVERIZADORES HIDRONEUMÁTICOS MEDIANTE DINÁMICA DE FLUIDOS COMPUTACIONAL (CFD)

Abstract

The air-assisted sprayers are commonly used to apply chemical products in orchards. The sprayer generates small droplets (around 200 m diameter) which are transported to the crop in an air flow generated by a fan powered mechanically. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models can be used to simulate the flow generated by the sprayers and its interaction with the crop, analyzing the theoretical trajectory of the droplets. This tool supplies interesting information to improve the design of the machine in relation to the effects of the configuration of the fan in the air flow generated. In this research the air flow generated by an air-assisted sprayer has been measured according to the standard ISO 9898:2000 and a CFD model has been developed which has been validated with the experimental tests. Keywords: air-assisted sprayer; modeling; air flow