Consistent performance across different sizes and pressure/volume combinations is helping users of a new air inclusion spray nozzle improve the quality and efficiency of pesticide applications, while also achieving effective drift control.
Operators who used Hypro EU’s Guardian Air during the past 12 months also say they like being able to use the same nozzle for a range of different spray applications on cereals, oilseed rape and other combinable crops.
“Users have had the confidence to trim water volumes for improved output and efficiency and adjust pressures to fine-tune drift control performance,” Hypro EU product manager Roger James said. “That’s all down to the consistent pattern that the nozzle produces across different flow rates and pressures, and the fact that it produces smaller droplets than other air inclusion designs.”
The Guardian Air nozzle tip is based on the same technology as the popular Amistar 025 design that Hypro EU developed in partnership with Syngenta Crop Protection.
Introducing the Guardian Air range – comprising seven sizes from 015 to 05 – extends the proven benefits of that technology, in terms of target coverage, pesticide efficacy and drift containment, to a bigger range of applications using different sprayers and preferred operating speeds.
“Each size is individually crafted so that operators can switch from one to another and get the same spray quality at a given pressure,” Mr James said. “The nozzles produce around twice as many droplets within a narrow size range as other air inclusion designs at a given pressure and there is excellent droplet distribution consistency across the generous operating pressure range of 1 to 5 bar.”
For growers keen to improve field work rates, like Andrew Myatt who farms near Cheltenham, Glos, a choice of nozzle sizes providing good target coverage at low water volumes is a welcome development.
“I use 100 lit/ha whenever possible to maximise work rate and my main consideration is to choose a nozzle that offers good spray coverage at this volume,” he said. “I’m very pleased with the results I’ve had with the Guardian Air.”
Mr Myatt uses the 035 size to operate his Bateman 24m self-propelled sprayer at a brisk 16km/hr on level ground before switching to a second line carrying 03 nozzles for steeper land. The 03 puts on the target volume at 14km/hr using the same 3 bar pressure, with no loss of spray pattern or appreciable change in droplet size if the speed falls to 12km/hr and pressure is adjusted to compensate.
Nozzle performance priorities for Somerset contractor Colin Brown include good drift control so he can take advantage of every spraying opportunity, and good spray performance to meet customer expectations.
“I first looked at Guardian Air because it was claimed to combine drift reduction with good spray coverage and my experience using the nozzles has been very positive,” he said. “The spray does not become too coarse at lower pressures and the spray pattern holds up well – you can see this clearly looking across the boom when spraying.”
The 025 is Mr Brown’s preferred choice to deliver high work rates at 100 lit/ha and a good pace with his Agribuggy of 12km/hr. But if clients want him to use a higher water volume, he is happy to oblige safe in the knowledge that with the same spray quality produced across all sizes of Guardian Air at a given pressure, the results will be consistently good.
“The comments and feedback we’ve had from these and other growers who’ve used the new nozzles have confirmed what we set out to achieve with Guardian Air,” Mr James said. “It delivers all the drift control advantages of the air inclusion concept but with few compromises in terms of performance and usability across a range of applications.”
Hypro EU Guardian Air specification
Type: One-piece air inclusion
Spray: 100-degree angled flat fan
Sizes: Seven, from 015 to 05
Pressures: 1 to 5 bar
Drift control: Performance equivalent to Lerap’s three-star rating
For more information visit: www.hypro-eu.com.
