• 8 out of 10 operations we inspect are using worn nozzles and the plant personnel doesn’t realize it
• Most nozzles appear to be performing satisfactorily even when worn
• Using nozzles that are just slightly worn can waste hundreds of thousands of gallons of chemicals or water annually
• Using slightly worn nozzles will also drive up electricity and wastewater disposal costs

Most customers are shocked to find out the cost of using nozzles that are just 10% worn often ranges from $50,000 to $100,000 per year. If an application uses a lot of nozzles, requires high flow rates or if wear is greater than 10%, the costs escalate rapidly.

Review the charts that follow with your system flow in mind to get a feel for just how wasteful using worn nozzles can be in your operations. (Larger views will appear when you click on the chart graphics.)

The Cost of Using Nozzles That Are 15% Worn

Click on the following links to view graphs illustrating the cost of nozzles that are 15% worn.

• Wasted Water Cost
• Wasted Chemical/Coating Cost
• Wasted Electricity Cost

Inspecting and maintaining your nozzles on a regular basis will help identify wear and extend service life. However, wear will invariably occur over time and the only solution is to replace your nozzles. The challenging part is determining when to replace them. Here are a few guidelines:

Are worn nozzles affecting product or process quality? If so, replace nozzles as soon as any wear is evident.

Is water conservation a priority? If so, replace nozzles as soon as wear is evident.

How much are you spending by continuing to use worn nozzles? That is, what are the additional costs for water, chemicals, electricity and wastewater disposal?

Is precise spray performance important to your overall process? If so, you may want to set pre-determined dates for nozzle replacement. Many companies change spray nozzles during annual or semi-annual maintenance shutdowns.

The best way to pre-empt a significant profit drain due to nozzle wear is to take action before it becomes problematic. You may end up saving tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

Which Nozzle Is 15% Worn?

More often than not, wear is not visible. Despite looking the same, the nozzle on the right is 15% worn. Even when in use, the spray patterns from these nozzles will look very similar and a visual inspection is unlikely to reveal which nozzle is spraying 15% over capacity.

So, how do you determine if your nozzles are worn? Monitoring flow rate and pressure is probably the easiest evaluation technique for most users.

Check flow rate if using centrifugal pumps: Monitor flow meter readings or collect and measure the flow from the spray nozzle for a given period of time at a specified pressure. Compare these readings to the flow rates listed in the manufacturer’s catalog or compare them to readings from new, unused spray nozzles.

Check pressure if using positive displacement pumps: Monitor the liquid line pressure for decreases. The flow rate will remain constant.

More Ways to Detect Nozzle Wear

Three Ways to Reduce Wear

• Change nozzle material: Spray nozzles made of harder materials offer greater abrasion-resistance and generally provide longer wear life. Some materials offer better corrosion-resistance than others although it depends on the corrosive properties of the liquid being sprayed, the temperature of the liquid and the nozzle material. Click here for a table of approximate abrasion-resistance ratios.
• Add line strainers or change to spray nozzles with built-in strainers: Orifice deterioration is usually caused by solid dirt particles in the sprayed solution and is very common in systems using continuous water recirculation. The use of strainers is highly recommended to trap particles and prevent debris from entering the orifice or vane.
• Decrease spraying pressure: In some applications, it may be possible to decrease pressure without compromising quality. A decrease in pressure will slow the liquid velocity through the orifice and help reduce wear.

The devices that supply liquid and air to nozzles are critical to good performance. Spray manifolds prevent bends in tubing that can restrict flow, protect nozzles from debris, speed installation and maintenance and more. Manifolds are readily available and ordering from the same source that provides your nozzles eliminates integration and coordination problems and ensures optimum spray performance.

• Channel Manifold: Basic spray nozzle manifold incorporated in a C-channel for easy mounting
• Pipe-in-Pipe Manifold: Conventional spray manifold mounted inside a slotted pipe to protect nozzles from the external environment
• 53500 Modular Manifold: Lightweight, easy-to-assemble and available in standard- and large-capacity versions
• 58800 Manifold: Lightweight, compact manifold allows ability to service spray nozzles while keeping piping in place

For more information see Bulletin 607, Air Atomizing Spray Manifolds

Conditions that can be monitored include:

• Liquid pressure, atomizing air pressure, fan air pressure
• Flow rates
• Cycle times and duty cycles
• Conveyor speed
• System Integrity Checking for detection of worn or plugged nozzles
• Temperature and humidity

Depending on the operation, other conditions can also be monitored. If the controller cannot maintain the desired system performance, alarms are activated to prompt human intervention and/or shut down the system before quality suffers.

Click here for more information on automated spray systems.

• Low, medium and high pressure options
• Removable bottom plug for easy withdrawal of the screen assembly
• Drain cocks for quick-flush cleaning
• Top outlet for pressure gauge installation
• Self-cleaning versions

See our complete line of strainers in Catalog 35

Spray Injectors: Critical but Often Overlooked Components
At the heart of any spray application is the spray nozzle. But equally important in a spray system is the spray injector (also known as a spray lance or quill) that delivers the liquid and/or gas to the spray nozzle.

Like spray nozzles, spray injecto rs must also meet exacting standards to ensure optimal performance and to prevent costly inefficiencies. Relatively simple operations can often use a standard injector. Applications like gas conditioning, chemical injection, secondary fuel injection, emergency quench, and lime slurry injection often require a custom solution. Here’s why:

• Spray injectors used in these applications typically require sophisticated designs. Integrating the injector into the available space can be complicated and a standard solution, available in pre-determined designs, may be too simplistic
• Special materials and coatings are required to withstand high-temperature, erosive and/or corrosive environments
• Insulated, water- or steam-jacketed injectors often prove to be more effective in high-temperature applications
• Extreme engineering and safety issues require compliance with ASME® codes such as B31.1, B31.3 and others
• Retractable and flexible designs are frequently needed to minimize or eliminate process interruption and/or maintenance downtime. In most applications, standard hydraulic or gas atomizing nozzles are used in conjunction with a custom injector to achieve the desired spray performance

If you have a sophisticated application, give some thought to the equipment upstream of your spray nozzles. You may find that an integrated solution - spray nozzles and injectors - can help improve spray performance.

Achieve Effective, Efficient Gas Cooling with an AutoJet® Gas Conditioning System

For paper mills, steel mills, power plants, waste incineration facilities and cement plants with gases to cool or condition, spray technology remains the most effective solution. Cooling prior to baghouse or ESP, NOx control and SO2 removal are areas where evaporative cooling via spray technology is ideally suited.

In recent years, evaporative cooling utilizing air atomization has become the preferred solution for a variety of reasons:

• More efficient reduction of gas volume results in lower energy costs
• Maintenance is minimized
• Wet deposits and wet walls are eliminated
• Precise control of humidity prior to electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) improves dust collection efficiency and opacity correction
• Significant reductions in the creation and emission of toxic dioxins and furans are also possible, making compliance with government regulations less costly

The patented three-stage atomization process used by FloMax® air atomizing nozzles is extremely air efficient and is the primary reason why it is the preferred nozzle for gas conditioning

Solutions that Have Worked for Your Peers and That May Help You Boost Performance, Too

Efficient Gas Cooling Improves Production

Small droplet sizes produced by FloMax air atomizing nozzles allow greater volumes of gas to be cooled without wetting and maintenance headaches.

Induct Gas Cooling Prior to ESP

High-efficiency FloMax air atomizing nozzles reduce gas temperature and correct opacity to improve ESP performance.

• Speeds up to 10,000 cycles per minute
• Hydraulic or air atomizing spray tips, including selected quick-connect tips
• Flow rates up to 15.8 gpm (59.8 l/min)
• Fluid pressures up to 350 psi (24 bar)
• Intrinsically safe versions

Using an AutoJet® spray controller in conjunction with PulsaJet nozzles will maximize cycle speed, enable Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) flow control, allow spray operation validation and provide other advanced control options.
PulsaJet nozzles can help increase productivity and lower costs in many ways:

• High speed cycling means faster line speeds
• Accurate spray placement ensures the sprayed solution is delivered to the target with minimal waste
• Reduced overspray and misting improves worker safety
• High turndown ratio allows a wide range of flow rates without having to change spray tips
• Compact design allows smooth integration to most work environments
• Operating at low flow rates using clog-resistant larger tips can result in reduced maintenance time.

Compact WindJet® Air Control Nozzles: Designed for Use When Space is Tight

Standard Air Atomizing Spray Manifolds Help Ensure Proper Nozzle Placement and Optimal Performance

We offer a wide range of spray manifolds to simplify nozzle positioning, installation, and maintenance, and contribute to trouble-free operation.  Options include:

• Channel Manifold: Basic spray nozzle manifold incorporated in a C-channel for easy mounting. Nozzles can be spaced as needed for precise spray placement
• Pipe-in-Pipe Manifold: Conventional spray manifold mounted inside a slotted pipe to protect nozzles from the external environment and minimize maintenance time
• 53500 Manifold: Modular design manifold for industrial applications is lightweight, easy to assemble, and keeps tubes and fittings organized for easy service
• 54000 Manifold: Fully integrated manifold designed specifically for tablet coating applications offers the same benefits as the 53500 Manifold with mechanically polished and electro-polished surface finish, including internal flow passageways
• 58800 Manifold: Lightweight, compact manifold allows ability to service spray nozzles while keeping piping in place

Manifolds are available in a variety of lengths, nozzle spacing options, mounting options and are suitable for use with several types of air atomizing nozzles.

Custom Lances / Injectors

Not every application can be satisfied by a standard spray header or lance. Special requirements are quite common and can range from special materials/coatings, unique connections, larger size/length or special shapes due to physical limitations.

When a standard lance or header is not available, there are basically three options: 1) build it yourself, 2) find a local fabricator to implement your design, or, 3) have the manufacturer of your spray nozzle design and fabricate a custom solution.

The last option is usually your best option for a variety of reasons. Obtaining a complete solution — spray nozzles and headers or lances — from a single source ensures optimal nozzle performance. It also ensures your headers or lances are designed by a company with expertise in spray technology. And, you have the convenience of working with a single supplier.

Not all nozzle manufacturers offer this service. But, custom fabrication is one of our core offerings. We have the engineers, manufacturing/testing facilities and certifications required for almost every project, along with a proven track record.

In addition to high quality headers and lances, you can expect quality project management from us as well. For projects requiring thorough documentation, we develop a written project plan, handle coordination between all the departments in your plant as needed and provide a comprehensive Data Book so you have all the documentation you need.

So the next time your application requires a new way to connect the nozzle to the spray system, be sure to give us a call. Given our extensive experience, it is likely we’ve completed a project similar to yours. This translates into design and fabrication time savings as well as cost savings. We’re confident you will find our custom design and fabrication services to be a high quality, high value solution.

Visit our Custom Lances/Injectors page for more information.

Our new dedicated spray controllers save on programming time with pre-defined, pre-tested control modules that are application specific. Spray controllers are able to optimize the performance of air atomizing nozzles and automatic spray nozzles because they provide very fast response times — up to 10 times faster than PLCs — and have nozzle performance data built in.

If product quality is affected by spraying, or high-cost fluids are being sprayed, the benefits of precision spray control can be significant. The following spray control strategies may help you increase efficiency and improve product quality:

• Closed loop temperature control (constant temperature, fluid pressure varies).
• Closed loop flow control (constant flow rate, fluid pressure varies).
• Open loop pressure control (constant fluid pressure).
• Open loop flow control (constant flow rate with tight tolerances).
• Open loop flow pulse width modulation (constant flow rate and constant fluid pressure).
• Open loop batch control (variable spray parameter for multiple spray applications on a single line).
• Open loop speed control (constant application rate, variable fluid pressure).
• Open loop speed pulse width modulation (constant application rate, constant fluid pressure).

Visit our Automated spray control systems page for more information on how automated spray control systems often pay for themselves quickly through productivity gains and lowering of costs such as labor and production consumables.

• Lower spray system operating costs by reducing consumption of compressed air, water, chemicals and/or electricity.
• Test new concepts to keep pace with regulatory/environmental issues and process changes.
• Reduce maintenance time by identifying alternate spray nozzles or header configurations.
• Enhance quality control and quality assurance to reduce waste.

Our innovative problem solving takes place in our fully-equipped spray laboratories. The largest in the world, our labs are filled with specialized instrumentation for characterizing sprays. If we can’t meet your requirements using a standard solution, our engineers will develop a custom solution. We handle it all — design, prototyping, fabrication and testing to validate performance.

Even if you don’t have an immediate need, you may benefit from an initial meeting. We’ll take a look at your current spraying operation, discuss new applications and offer recommendations/ideas. You and your colleagues may prefer to take advantage of our educational presentation on the latest advancements in spray technology or one of our customized “lunch and learn” sessions. There’s no obligation with any of these options. Consider it a way to learn more about spray technology and ways you may be able to improve spray performance in your application.

Visit www.spray.co.za for more information on spray nozzles and nozzle applications.