Measuring the Aerosol Characteristics of the Optimum Insecticide Spray

Abstract Spray characteristics were investigated to determine the optimum aerosol spray for insecticides while considering volatile organic carbon (VOC) reduction. Our ultimate goal is to improve the efficiency of killing insects while using less aerosol spray, which contains chemicals, oil, and dimethyl ether (DME). The chemical content of the aerosol is greatly reduced in the attachment region 1-2 m from the nozzle. Most of the oil and propellant fail to reach the target, and fall on the ground. The propellant is used to break droplets into smaller droplets and to carry them to the target. Most of the propellant’s energy is used for carrying these droplets, although the remaining droplets are very small compared to those produced at the nozzle. We investigated the droplet characteristics over the entire distance from the nozzle to the target. Here, we tested different nozzle dimensions and compared single- and double-hole nozzles. Furthermore, the effect of surfactant on the agglomeration and break-up of spray were investigated. We measured the spray characteristics near the nozzle to evaluate the droplet-forming process by examining droplet separation, agglomeration, collision, and size to elucidate the spray behavior and determine the dominant factors involved in designing and developing a nozzle for spraying insecticides most effectively. With a single-hole nozzle, the droplet velocity at 30 mm from the nozzle was 25 m/s, and this decreased with distance to almost 10 m/s at 110 mm from the nozzle, indicating that the droplets lost momentum. Most of the droplets wer