Applying Control Volume Finite Element for ModellingDirect Injection Boom Spraying Flow

摘要

Assessment of injection lag transport and uniformity of direct injection boom sprayer is an important issue for successful variable rate spraying technology. To estimate the boom lag transport and pressure loss, a numerical model is formulated on thebasis of fluid hydrodynamic conservation equations. The software is implemented in visual basic. To solve the pressure - velocities equations, control volume finite element method (CV) is used to delimit elementary volumes of the boom. Linearization of the conservation laws is ensured by considering discrete form of the equations and calculating velocity and pressure step by step throughout the whole boom. The flow behaviour is simulated into a boom section divided into N elementary volumes, each of them including one nozzle.To test the model, three boom diameters (5, 6 and 8 mm) and two chemical viscosities (10~(-6) and 10~(-5) m~2/s) were used. Experimental trials are carried out on boom having 2.5 m length (5 nozzles) for measuring pressure gradient and lag transport. Results showed that the model can predict the pressure losses and the lag transport accurately (error within 5%) to optimize boom designs.