The Impact of Oil Viscosity on the Performance of Emulsion-Based Drift Reduction Agents

摘要

Oil-in-water emulsions are known to reduce the volume of driftable fines in many agricultural sprays. These types of drift control are thought to work by causing perforations in the spray close to the exit of the nozzle, where the spray sheet is thick. However, not all oil emulsions provide the same reduction of driftable fines in all situations. In this paper, the effect of oil viscosity on the drift reduction ability of an oil emulsion is examined using a series of mineral oils of varying viscosities and the same emulsifier. In addition to the mineral oils, studies have also been carried out using vegetable oils and methylated soybean oil to examine if the type of oil matters and if trends observed with oil viscosity hold true across oil types. The results obtained in this study are discussed in the context of previous studies where oil viscosity was changed using hydrophobic silica.