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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Wooster, Ohio » Application Technology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #154321
Title: Using CFD Methods to Predict Damage of a Biological Pest Control Agent During Passage Through a Hydraulic Nozzle

Author
item FIFE, J - OSU
item Derksen, Richard
item OZKAN, H - OSU
item GREWAL, P - OSU

Submitted to: ASABE Annual International Meeting
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/17/2003
Publication Date: 7/27/2003
Citation: Fife, J.P., Derksen, R.C., Ozkan, H.E., Grewal, P.S. 2003. Using CFD Methods to Predict Damage of a Biological Pest Control Agent During Passage Through a Hydraulic Nozzle. ASABE Annual International Meeting.Paper #03-3002.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Unlike conventional pesticides, biological organisms run the risk of being damage during passage through components of conventional sprayers. The number of sprayer components that are available in the marketplace make it impossible for producers of biological pest control agents to test the viability of their organisms through each component or device. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model approach was proposed as a means of determining the compatibility of different components with biological organisms. A CFD approach was used to model internal flow of spray solution through a small, conventional, flat fan nozzle with an elliptical orifice. Bench-top experiments were conducted to determine the viability of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) the nozzle modeled with the CFD programming. Viability was quantified by counts of living and dead EPNs. An empirical model was developed relating EPN damage as a function of the energy dissipation rate. CFD models and bench-top experiments were conducted at several different flow rates. Four different EPN species were tested in the bench-top experiments including Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, H. megidis, Steinemema carposcapsae, and S. glaseri. The empirical model was calibrated for each of the EPN species. In general, the model was able to predict EPN damage within 5% of actual observations. The results from this study show that the CFD approach could be used to identify flow field conditions within various sprayer components that might potentially damage biological organisms.