One of the goals of adding adjuvants to agricultural spray solutions is to enhance the droplet size characteristics of this spray. Droplet size, in turn, has an influence in the deposited spray quality, in addition to the drift and losses of spray to off-target places. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of adding adjuvants to two types of water from different sources on the droplet size characteristics. Two types of adjuvants were employed in the tests: the active substance content of the first adjuvant was a 50% aqueous solution of sodium salt of alkylbenzenesulfonic acid—10% (HY), whereas the second was from rapeseed oil (natural origin)—85% (OL). Both adjuvants were tested in two concentrations: the first was with the concentration recommended by the manufacturer (100%), whereas the second concentration was 50% of the recommended dose. Two types of water from different sources were used in the tests: the first was from a village in the eastern part of Poland (WS), whereas the second was tap water from the city of Lublin, Poland (WUP). D_v0.1, D_v0.5, or volume median diameter (VMD), D_v0.9, Sauter mean diameter (SMD), relative span (RS), and the droplet size distribution were measured and calculated as characteristics of the droplet size. Results showed that the source of water affected the influence of adding adjuvant to the spray solution. Water from the WS source with adjuvant resulted in a numerical decrease in the D_v0.5 values in the percentage of droplet size range below 150 µm, whereas water from the WUP source resulted in an increase in these values (except when adding the HY adjuvant at 50% concentration). Adjuvant concentration significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the features of D_v0.9, SMD, and RS. Adding the OL adjuvant type numerically decreased the percentage of droplet size below 150 µm, and the D_v0.5 values, but only when the WS water source was used.

This paper presents an analysis of selected qualitative characteristics of pellets produced from rape straw obtained from cultivations subjected to different fertilization treatments and from mixtures of straw selected for testing with crude glycerol obtained as a by-product from biodiesel production. The assessment focused on the following qualities of the obtained pellets: Moisture content, mechanical durability, heating value and main elements, that is, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur, chlorine and oxygen. The obtained results indicated that the different treatment regimens applied in spring rape cultivations had a significant impact on the physicochemical qualities of the straw. In terms of the heating value, traditional fertilization with multi-component fertilizer (NPK) yielded slightly lower chemical parameters (lower carbon content and heat of combustion) than in the case of straw obtained from the control sample and from the plot fertilized with digestate. Furthermore, in all of the analysed mixtures, the 10% addition of raw glycerol improved the mechanical characteristics of the produced straw pellets. After the 10% glycerol addition, in terms of the energetic use of these biofuels, the parameters of the fuel, such as heating value and net heating value, were slightly decreased.

The use of worn-out agricultural nozzles in pesticide application has a negative effect on the efficiency and cost of the application process. It also has an effect on environmental pollution due to an excessive amount of pesticide being applied when spraying with worn-out nozzles. In this paper, the resistance to wear of three different internal design hydraulic nozzles was ascertained. Changes in the flow rate and spray distribution as a result of this wear were also investigated. The wear test was done inside a closed system, and it was accelerated using an abrasive material to generate 100 h of wear. The tested nozzles were the Turbo TeeJet (TT)-twin chambered, Turbo Twinjet (TTj60)-dual outlet, and Drift Guard (DG)-pre-orifice. Wear rate, flow rate, and the virtual coefficient of variation (CV_v) were measured at different wear intervals. The results showed that the TTj60 type was the most resistant to wear, followed by the TT type and DG. The latter two types showed an increase in the flow rate only in the first 45 h of wear. Virtual coefficient of variation (CV_v) values were less than 10% after finishing the test (after 100 h of wear) for the three types of nozzles, which are acceptable values according to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 16122-2, 2015.

This study was aimed to compare two spreading agents (Tween 20 (T) and dishwashing detergent (D)) which are commonly used in agricultural researches in Iraq and sometimes are used by the local spray applicators. Moreover, the universalflat fan nozzle (UNI) was compared with the air induction nozzle (AI) concerning the quality of the spray produced. The treatments included three concentrations (1.0%; 0.1% and 0.01% vol /vol %) of each spreading material beside the control treatment (water only). Spray quality was evaluated by using the water sensitive papers (WSP), and DepositScan software was used to analyze the scanned photos of WSP. Theevaluated parameters related to the spray quality included: spray coverage (%); spray density (Deposits/cm²); average droplet diameter (DV.5) and deposition of droplets (µL/cm²). Moreover, the penetration rate was also calculated by comparing the deposition quantity between two levels of WSP on the plant canopy (upper and middle level) while the deposition which reached the ground was considered as losses rate. The results have shown that adding Tween 20 spreading agent to the spray solution has produced more deposits per square centimeter and more penetration rate of spray inside the plants canopy than the detergent and control. Moreover, the UNI type nozzle produced higher coverage percentage and number of deposits per square centimeter than AI nozzle.

Many of the Iraqi agricultural researches are used spraying technique to add chemical products including pesticides and growth regulators. Various studies were performed to study the effect of these substances at different concentrations to improve plant production. In order to adopt specific criteria of spraying researches and to replicate them easily, it is a necessary to mention all information related to the spraying processes and regulations for improving sprayer’s performance by increasing the amount of pesticide deposited on the target. The current study aims to survey Iraqi researches in details and analyse them randomly. Also, to highlight on the importance of information applied in spraying techniques and its relationship with improving of agricultural production. The survey showed most of these researches does not mention sufficiently the basic information, especially in the spraying or calibrating processes. These processes are important to ensure the best distribution of spraying in the field depending on type of sprayer, nozzle type, and operating pressure. Also, some of these researches do not show the application rate of pesticide and the factors affected on it, which may lead to imbalance in homogenization of the pesticide distribution. This study recommended using a power sprayer to avoid the misapplication in droplets distribution in comparison with packback sprayers, which have a complication in the operating pressure and nozzle height regulation. Another recommendation was a necessity to select the perfect nozzle type that agrees with the global publications.

The paper presents the results of the research on the influence of the adjuvant concentration on the size of the drops produced by the spray nozzles of agricultural sprayers. For the tests, adjuvant Normaton with the composition of total nitrogen, amide nitrogen (N-NH ₂ ) and phosphorus pentoxide (P ₂ O ₅ ) was used. The adjuvant was added to the water taken from the municipal water supply system of the city of Lublin. The tests were carried out for three concentrations, i.e. 75%, 100%, and 125% of the adjuvant concentration recommended by the manufacturer, and water without the adjuvant. The surface tension of water with adjuvant was examined for each nozzle. Then, the size of the obtained droplets was measured for each adjuvant concentration. Two types of nozzles were used for spraying, standard nozzle AP 120-03 and 6MSC injector nozzle, both with the same nozzle flow rate, but with a different design. The size of the droplets produced was measured on a HELOSVARIO laser diffractometer by Sympatec. The droplet measurement was performed at a pressure of 3 bar. The nozzle was placed 50 cm above the diffractometer laser light line. The droplet size was measured in three places of the sprayed liquid, i.e. in the position of the nozzle axis, 30 and 60 cm from the nozzle axis. It was shown that the addition of the adjuvant influenced the number of droplets produced in the indicated droplet size classes.