Why is electrostatic spraying so effective?
Before answering this question, we will provide you with some data and you will be able to answer it yourself.
How important is the diameter of the droplet?
- Let´s compare two drop sizes, being 220 microns and 80 microns.
- With the volume of a 220 micron droplet, we can get 21 droplets of 80 microns.
- With 21 microns droplets, 2.75 times more area is covered than with a 220 micron .
- In 1 litre of water, we can achieve 180 million droplets with a diameter of 220 microns or 3.8 billion droplet with 80 microns, with approximately 22 times more droplets being generated with a smaller diameter, allowing to reach the target in more places.
- If we were to spray a flat area with only 1 litre of water, covering 100% of that area, using 220 micron drops, we would cover an area of 6.8m² and with 80 microns drops, we would cover 18.7m². In this way, we get almost 3 times more coverage with fine droplets.
How important is the diameter of the droplet?
Everything we know is made up of molecules. These, in turn, are formed of atoms, which are composed of three elementary particles: protons, neutrons and electrons.
Electrons are the only particles that can be donated or absorbed by the atom. The neutrals and protons remain unchanged in the bodies.
A neutral body has the same number of electrons and protons. If charged negatively, it will have more electrons than protons. If positively charged, it will have more protons than electrons.
Basically, when we electrify a body, we make the number of protons different from the number of electrons, thus making the body negatively or positively charged.
Attraction of bodies
Positively charged bodies attract neutral bodies or negatively charged bodies and repel positively charged bodies.
Negatively charged bodies attract neutral bodies or positively charged bodies and repel negatively charged bodies.
Planet Earth is a huge body in balance, that is, it can be compared to a neutral body, it aracts both positively charged bodies and negatively charged bodies.
Conclusion regarding the effectiveness of electrostatic spraying.
Then, after all these statements, it is possible to understand what Electrostatic spraying is. We simply bundle thin droplets with a diameter ranging between 80 and 120 microns with the fantastic power of electrostatics.
Planet Earth is a huge body in balance, that is, it can be compared to a neutral body, it attracts both positively charged bodies and negatively charged bodies.
Why cannot we work with fine drops in conventional application?
Fine drops evaporate, are easily carried by the wind, suffer from thermal inversion, among other factors. To these losses, we call drift. Studies show that up to 75% of conventional spraying is lost by drift or to the ground.
Why can we work with fine droplets in an electrostatic application?
Fine droplets charged with electric charge take a huge velocity towards the target, this causes the loss by evaporation does not happen. The force of attraction is so great that the gout can even overcome the turbulence of the winds.
Why is Electrostatic spray coverage more uniform than conventional spraying?
All drops are charged with the same charge. Remembering that bodies loaded with the same charge repel each other, we can have drops that do not collide during the course to the target, causing us to have one droplet next to the other and not drop upon drop as in conventional applications. Also, we must not forget that charged droplets have such a force of attraction that even a after passing through a leaf or fruit, they are able to return and deposit in the back of that target.
