Droplet dynamics from sprays with and without additives

Sufficient food is essential for our planet, but obtaining this is not always obvious. In many parts of the world, harvests fail due to drought, but also due to diseases and pests. With good crop protection, we can combat these diseases and pests, and thus increase yields, which is a requirement in view of the growing world population. The droplet sizes are very important for a successful arrival of the protection products to the crops. Too small droplets created during the spraying of pesticides drift away with the wind ('spray drift'), and end up in the surface waters, causing environmental pollution. Droplets that are too large can easily bounce off the leaves that are often hydrophobic and thus repel water: these end up on the ground and pollute the ground water. This thesis describes how we can control and influence the droplet sizes using additives and how we can prevent the bounce-off from a leaf.