1.1 Position the sprayer, mounted on or attached to the tractor in the normal work position, on a firm level standing.
1.2 Before commencing the test, thoroughly clean the outer surfaces of the sprayer, paying particular attention to the areas around joints and pipe connections.
1.3 Fit blanking nozzle components to all nozzle positions except the position furthest downstream on each boom section where a nozzle with a mid range flow rate shall be fitted.
1.4 Fit a tube over each of the end downstream nozzles to allow liquid to be collected from the nozzles during the test to avoid contaminating the area.
1.5 Fill the sprayer to its nominal (maximum recommended working) capacity with a suitable tracer dye solution, e.g. Orange G (i.e. one which is stable and quantifiable to better than 0.1% in solution) to which should be added a nonionic surfactant at 0.1%.
1.6. Carefully clean from the surface of the sprayer any tracer solution which spills during filling.
1.7 Carefully position under the sprayer and boom, clean absorbent material which will permit recovery of the tracer dye, e.g. cotton padding or chromatography paper.
1.8 Run the sprayer in its normal working position at its maximum rated pressure for a period of 15 minutes such that there is a flow through all the sprayer circuit including the boom. .
1.9 At the end of the 15 minute test period, inspect the machine for evidence of leaks. Where leakage is noted or suspected, thoroughly clean the leaking parts of the machine and the catchment surfaces around the leak point with additional clean absorbent swabs.
1.10 Separate the absorbent material from the catchment surfaces under any leak point and keep this together with the extra swabs which were used to clean the area of the machine around the same leak point.
1.11 From the absorbent material and swabs and taking the contents of the tank as a reference, determine by spectrophotometry or fluorimetry, the quantity of leaked tracer dye solution at each leak point.
To comply:
This test applies to components which come into constant direct contact with the concentrated or diluted pesticide formulation.
2.1 Weigh and measure the individual components or samples of components, where not practical e.g. tanks.
2.2 Immerse the components in a solution for 40% v/v kerosene, 20% v/v toluene and 40% v/v xylene for 12 hours at 20°C.
2.3 Rinse the components in clean water, dry them and store them for 24 hours in air at 20 o C.
2.4 Reweigh and remeasure the individual components.
To comply:
3.1 Support the sprayer in a safe test area so that the tank can be struck by a rounded weight of 30 kg suspended on a 3 m line released from 45 degrees from the vertical with the pivot point vertically above the face to be struck.
3.2 Where the sprayer has its own wheels it should be raised so that the wheels do not touch the ground.
3.3 Allow the weight to strike the tank five times on each of three faces i.e.:
To comply, after the 15 impacts, the tank should continue to meet the requirements of the leakage test in TR TEST 1.
4.1 For this test, use a suspension of copper oxychloride of approximately 1% i.e. a rate equivalent to 1.0 kg for every 100 l of water in the tank (for composition see Appendix 1).
4.2 Add the copper oxychloride to the tank in the form of a slurry prepared by adding 1 kg of copper oxychloride to 2.5 l water. Add the appropriate amount of copper oxychloride in this slurry form to the almostfull sprayer tank through the inlet strainer and/or induction hopper, then top up the tank to its nominal capacity.
4.3 Agitate the contents of the tank using the normal sprayer agitation system operating at a normal working speed for a period of 10 minutes.
4.4 Immediately after this initial mixing period, take reference samples at three levels in the tank: at the top approximately 50 mm below the surface of the liquid; at the mid point of the tank section and 50 mm above the bottom of the tank.
4.5 Allow the suspension in the tank to remain undisturbed for 16 hours.
4.6 Recommence the mixing in the same way as in 4.3. Sample at the same three levels and using the same procedure as in 4.4.
4.7 Dry the samples at a temperature of 105°C to 110°C, then determine gravimetrically, the quantity of copper oxychloride in each sample.
4.8 Safely dispose of the copper oxychloride suspension at the end of the test.
To comply, the concentration of copper oxychloride from any of the samples (i.e. taken either before or after the settling period ref. 4.5) should be within ± 10% of the calculated concentration based on the original amount of copper oxychloride added and the volume of water in the sprayer.
This test covers the performance of devices on a sprayer which enable it to :
Measurements
5.1 To measure boom and boom section output
5.1.1 Install flow meters in the boom section liquid supply lines to monitor the total flow to each section.
5.1.2 Fit all nozzle positions with nozzles of a size recommended by the sprayer manufacturer to give an approximate output of :-
Other specific output volumes within normal practical ranges are acceptable.
5.1.3 Run the sprayer for 2 minutes with the liquid supply to the boom switched off.
5.1.4 Switch on the supply to the boom and record the time taken for the flow rate to reach a steady state.
This measurement should be carried out for:
5.1.5 Follow the above procedure. Once a steady state has been reached, switch off the supply to the boom section (s), wait 10s then switch the liquid supply back on again and measure the time taken for the flow to reach a steady state.
5.1.6 Repeat the above process three times and take the average of the three results to determine compliance.
To comply, in all cases, the time taken to reach steady state should be no more than 10 s
5.2 To measure output adjustment systems for changes in forward speed
5.2.1 Operate the sprayer with the full boom fitted with medium sized nozzles to a steady state at the following settings:
Forward speed - 1.6 , 2.0, 2.4 m/s
power take off (p.t.o.) speed - 400 rev/min
volume application rate - 300 l/ha
5.2.2 In each of the above forward speeds, record the time taken for the flow to the boom (all sections) to reach a new steady state.
5.2.3 Repeat the test for each setting and take the average of the two test results as the value to determine compliance.
To comply, the time between the steady states should be no more than 10 s.
6.1 Position the nominally "empty" sprayer (i.e. after routine draining procedures) securely on a firm level surface with the boom and all liquid lines in their normal working positions.
6.2 Remove the nozzles and fit blanks in all except the most downstream position on each boom section. Fit tubes to these open positions to enable the spray liquid to be returned to the spray tank while the sprayer is operating.
6.3 Top up the sprayer to half full or add 250 l of water plus a tracer dye as specified in 1.5. No surfactant is required in this case.
6.4 Thoroughly mix the tracer dye with the total sprayer contents by operating the sprayer for 2 minutes with the liquid supply to all boom sections open. This is to ensure that the tank contents circulate freely through the supply lines and back into the spray tank therefore allowing thorough mixing of the water in the spray circuit lines and pump with the tank contents.
6.5 Take a reference sample of the liquid in the tank.
6.6 Fit all nozzle positions with nozzles of a size recommended by the sprayer manufacturer to give an approximate output of :-
Other specific output volumes within normal practical ranges are acceptable.
6.7 Operate the sprayer until it is nominally "empty" i.e. until the first pressure drop of 25% for one second is noted.
6.8 Once this is noted, switch off the sprayer and determine the amount of liquid remaining in the sprayer by making up the spray tank liquid level to what it was in 6.3 carefully noting the exact volume of water added.
6.9 Refit the blanks and the recirculation tubes as in 6.3 and operate the sprayer for 2 minutes.
6.10 Sample the liquid in the tank and determine using fluorimetry or spectrophotometry the amount of liquid which remained in the sprayer by comparing the final sample reading with the original reference sample taken in 6.5.
6.11 Repeat the test and take the average of the two test results as the value to determine compliance.
To comply, there should be no more than 2% of the tank volume or 30 litres of liquid remaining in the complete sprayer.
7.1 Determination of spray quality
For this test, the spray quality of a candidate nozzle(s) is defined in terms of droplet size distribution compared to the droplet size distribution of the series of conventional flat fan reference nozzles in Table 1. Samples for testing should be taken from a batch of at least 25 nozzles and detailed measurements made with at least three nozzles
Reference nozzles for defining spray quality categories
| nozzle types | flow rates l/min | pressures bar | category boundaries |
| 110 flat fan | 0.48 | 4.5 | very fine and fine |
| 110 flat fan | 1.20 | 3.0 | fine and medium |
| 110 flat fan | 1.96 | 2.0 | medium and coarse |
| 80 flat fan | 2.92 | 2.5 | coarse and v. coarse |
7.2 To evaluate the candidate nozzle(s)
The spray quality of the candidate nozzle(s), is assessed using the same procedure as was
used to calibrate the above reference nozzles to produce Figure 1, which was as follows:
7.2.1 Spray clean water plus 0.1% nonionic surfactant through the candidate nozzle(s) at the flow rates achieved for the nozzle(s) at 2, 3 and 4 bar.
7.2.2 Determine the droplet size distribution at each of the above flow rates, by sampling the droplets using an appropriate laser beam instrument or other measurement method (eg based on capturing surfaces and image analysis).
The sampling protocol should enable the whole of the spray cloud created by the candidate
nozzle to be effectively sampled.
Measurements should be made at a distance of between 350 and 500mm from the nozzle(s).
7.2.3 Plot the results from the candidate nozzle(s) as the cumulative spray volume (x axis) and
the measured drop sizes (y axis) as shown in Figure 1.
7.2.4 The plots obtained for the candidate nozzle(s) should then be compared to the distribution ranges for the reference nozzles in Figure 1.
To comply, the candidate nozzle(s) drop distribution plot should match the spray quality category claimed for that nozzle(s) by the sprayer manufacturer. Compliance is achieved where >50% of the cumulative volume, at a given flow /pressure rating, falls in the appropriate category within the range 10-90%.
Figure 7: Spray quality determination based on cumulative
volume/droplet size plots
This test is designed to determine the spray distribution across a multi-nozzle boom. It should be carried out with water plus 0.1% nonionic surfactant at a temperature of between 10 and 25°C and a relative humidity above 50%. Actual temperatures and humidity during the test should be recorded and included in the test report.
8.1 Install a single candidate nozzle on a standard patternator bench with 100 mm collecting columns - see Figure 2. The height of the nozzle above the sampling table, should comply with the manufacturer's recommendation on the height of the nozzle above the target.
8.2 Spray the surfactant solution through the nozzle at a constant pressure which should not deviate by more than 2.5% at the nozzle throughout the test.
8.3 Record the distribution of the spray liquid in the patternator when the height of the liquid in the fullest column reaches 90%. Take recordings at 2, 3, and 4 bar.
8.4 By computer analysis, from the levels recorded in the patternator
tubes for the single candidate nozzle, calculate the distribution
for a 3 metre width (i.e. 30 columns) excluding the ends where
there is no overlap. Calculate the coefficient of variation using
the following formula.:-
where
and xi is the height of liquid in the ith tube.
To comply, the 30 values derived from the patternator columns should show a coefficient of variation of not more than 10% when calculated for the region of overlapping spray.
9.1 Operate the sprayer with a vehicle with the wheel track set at 2.0 m (or nearest setting).
9.2 Select a test area which is firm and level and which will allow the sprayer to be driven in a straight line for a distance of 100 m.
9.3 Position 3 rigid 0.2 m wide blocks alternatively in each wheel track at a spacing of 25 m down the track so that the blocks protrude above the surface of the track by 100 mm.
9.4 Drive the sprayer down the length of the track at a speed of 2.5 m/s with the boom height set at 0.5 m above the ground level.
To comply, the boom should not contact the ground during the test.
Figure 8: Diagram of the patternation system
