Choice of material for nozzle
The choice of nozzle material can have a significant impact on the efficienct and the lifespan of your nozzle, depending on the application. Some nozzles material is highly resistant to chemicals while other material is highly heat resistant. Therefore it is important to inform yourself about the different options before choosing a nozzle.
The types of materials that are used for the manufacturing of Ikeuchi’s nozzles are:
- Stainless steel
- Plastic
- Ceramics
Moreover, some parts from which the nozzles are composed of, are manufactured from the following materials:
- Stainless steel
- Rubber
- Plastic
- Ceramics
Types of Nozzles currently present in Ikeuchi’s portfolio:
The standard and optional materials available for our nozzles are shown in the material table below. Ikeuchi, has been developing nozzles from a variety of materials that meet the desires and applications of our customers. Listed below are the materials of nozzles and parts, and resistance characteristics of each material against common chemicals.
Materials
The table of materials emphasizes the optimal conditions of usage of each material, while spraying drops of chemical substances under a recommended temperature. The selection of a material will determine the type of resistance and endurance. The following four types of resistance are the most common ones that you can encounter when utilizing the nozzle in operating conditions:
- Wear resistance
- Chemical resistance
- Heat resistance
- Pressure resistance
Wear Resistance
Nozzle orifices are always subject to abrasion because they are constantly exposed to the flow of liquid at high speed. If a circulated liquid containing slurry is used, they will wear out faster.
Nozzles with a high wear resistance
The ceramic orifice of CERJET® spray nozzles has an outstanding wear-resistance, with a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale.Moreover, the Alumina Ceramics has a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale, which is quite close to the hardness of a diamond (10). It can last 20–30 times longer than stainless steel nozzles and several hundred times longer than brass ones.
Consequences of a worn out nozzle
The sketch shows the increase in flow of each nozzle due to a worn orifice. The shaded area shows the excess spray flow from a stainless-steel nozzle relative to the CERJET® during total spray time (t). To understand the damages of an excess spray flow, here are a few examples:
Examples
- If the spray liquid is agricultural chemicals, it could cause crop injury due to an overflow of liquid.
- In high-pressure cleaning, worn nozzles cause pump pressure to drop and the cleaning effect is rapidly degraded.
- As for flat spray nozzle, increased wear makes its spray angle narrower, while the spraying distribution of liquid becomes uneven.
Please consider the viscosity of a liquid before selecting the material of a nozzle. A certain material can be more adequate into handling a specific level of viscosity, which assists into maintaining and prolonging the lifetime of the nozzle.
Chemical Resistance
In spraying chemicals or using spray nozzles in a corrosive environment, chemical-resistant materials must be used. Otherwise the spray nozzles will corrode at a quicker rate. The ceramic orifice has a high chemical resistance and is unaffected by almost all acids and highly corrosive chemicals, except hydrofluoric acid and alkali liquids of pH12 and over.
Chemical resistant nozzles
For the applications where adhesives or metal nozzle body materials (stainless steel) may corrode, we recommend our CERTIIM® nozzle with ceramic orifice inserted into injection-molded engineering plastic body. In addition to spray nozzles made of optional materials shown in this catalog, nozzles in other special materials are available on request.
Heat Resistance
The temperature that the spray nozzles can withstand varies depending on the liquid and ambient environmental conditions. Nozzles made of special materials are available for use at high temperature. CERJET® (nozzles with ceramic orifice inserted) may crack if abruptly cooled down from high temperatures (200°C). Nozzles made out of silicon carbide can withstand higher temperature than other types of material due to their application and type of liquid that is being selected. Please also consider the heat resistance of any adhesives in spray nozzle assemblies.
Pressure Resistance
Nozzles are thoroughly designed so that they can withstand the pressures shown in each table. However, depending on the system operation, water hammering may result in pressure increases of three to five times the spray pressure. Three important aspects which need to be taken into account when it comes to pressure and selecting the nozzle material are:
- the relationship between the droplet size,
- the surface tension,
- and the viscosity of the sprayed liquid.
For use under high pressure, metal nozzles are recommened over plastic nozzles.
More information
If you would like more information, there is a general description on each product page. Here you can find the specific characteristics of each product, and also the applications that are optimal for a particular type of nozzle.
However, our experts are always at your disposal, so do not hesitate to contact them in case of requesting for additional information over the product.
Please contact is if you have technical questions about nozzles, need advice to choose, or request a quote,