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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Wooster, Ohio » Application Technology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #296799
Title: Development of a real-time chemical injection system for air-assisted variable-rate sprayers

Author
item SHEN, YUE - The Ohio State University
item Zhu, Heping
item LIU, HUI - The Ohio State University
item CHEN, YU - The Ohio State University
item OZKAN, ERDAL - The Ohio State University

Submitted to: Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/10/2013
Publication Date: 8/20/2013
Citation: Shen, Y., Zhu, H., Liu, H., Chen, Y., Ozkan, E. 2013. Development of a real-time chemical injection system for air-assisted variable-rate sprayers. Symposium Proceedings. In: Proceedings of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Annual Meeting,July 21-24, 2013, Kansas City, Missouri. ASABE Paper No. 131594669.http://dx.doi.org/10.13031/aim.20131594669.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: A chemical injection system is an effective method to minimize chemical waste and reduce the environmental pollution in pesticide spray applications. A microprocessor controlled injection system implementing a ceramic piston metering pump was developed to accurately dispense chemicals to be mixed with water proportionally in real time for air-assisted variable-rate sprayers used in nurseries and orchards. Differently from conventional direct in-line injection systems, the new system mixed water and chemicals in an injection chamber first and then transferred the spray mixture into two small transition tanks for the sprayer pump to discharge. The mixture concentration in the transition tanks was maintained as a constant for simplifying chemical pumping process when the sprayer was providing variable-rate outputs. A touch screen integrated with an embedded computer was used to allow the operator to interface with the injection system. Experiments were conducted with various viscous fluids to verify the system accuracy and reliability.