Effect of the borax mass and pre-spray medium temperature on droplet size and velocity vector distributions of intermittently sprayed starchy solutions

Spray coating technology has demonstrated great potential in the slow release fertilizers industry. The better understanding of the key spray parameters benefits both the environment and low cost coating processes. The use of starch based materials to coat the slow release fertilizers is a new development. However, the hydraulic spray jet breakup of the non-Newtonian starchy solutions is a complex phenomenon and very little known. The aim of this research was to study the axial and radial distributions of the Sauter Mean Diameter (SMD) and velocity vectors in pulsing spray patterns of native and modified tapioca starch solutions. To meet the objective, high speed imaging and Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA) techniques were employed to characterize the four compositions of the starch–urea–borax complex namely S0, S1, S2 and S3. The unheated solutions exhibited very high viscosities ranging from 2035 to 3030 cP. No jet breakup was seen at any stage of the nozzle operation at an injection pressure of 1–5 bar. However, at 80 °C temperature and 5 bar pressure, the viscosity was reduced to 455 to 638 cP and dense spray patterns emerged from the nozzle obscuring the PDA signals. The axial size distribution revealed a significant decrease in SMD along the spray centreline. The smallest axial SMD (51 to 79 μm) was noticed in S0 spray followed by S1, S2 and S3. Unlikely, the radial SMD in S0 spray did not vary significantly at any stage of the spray injection. This trend was attributed to the continuous growth of the surface wave instabilities on the native starch sheet. However, SMD obtained with S1, S2 and S3 varied appreciably along the radial direction. The mean velocity vector profiles followed the non-Gaussian distribution. The constant vector distributions were seen in the near nozzle regions, where the spray was in the phase of development. In far regions, the velocity vectors were poly-dispersed and a series of ups and downs were seen in the respective radial distributions.