Ultrasonic Spray Nozzle Systems Sono-Tek Corporation

1 Ultrasonic Spray Nozzle Systems Sono-Tek Corporation Leadership through innovation since 1975. Serving an Entire When Spectrum of Industry Precision and R&D Needs Counts . 2 Ultrasonic Spray Nozzle Systems are Sono-Tek Ultrasonic For any application requiring the precise, Nozzles reduce: controllable Spray application of a liquid, replacing pressure nozzles in a wide Material consumption by up to 80% Sono-Tek Ultrasonic nozzles offer reliable, range of industrial and R&D repeatable performance. Typical applica- Wasteful overspray and atmospheric applications. Concerns over the contamination tions include: environment and unacceptable quan- Waste disposal Semiconductor/Electronics tities of waste have caused scientists, Servicing and downtime Dispensing photolithographic chemi- cals onto semiconductor wafers and flat engineers and designers to adopt Versatile, Reliable, Consistent panel displays Ultrasonic spraying Systems as a Spray patterns are easily shaped for Precision fluxing on SMT circuit precise coating applications boards and components using our technology that is more precise, more Highly controllable Spray produces Accu Mist system controllable, and more environmen- reliable, consistent results Fluxing through-hole circuit boards tally friendly.

2 Non-clogging using our SonoFlux 9500 Spray Fluxer Sono-Tek Ultrasonic nozzles, with No moving parts to wear out Lubricating computer hard disks their characteristic soft Spray , dramat- Corrosion-resistant titanium and Microsphere deposition on flat panel stainless steel construction displays ically reduce overspray, which saves Ultra-low flow rate capabilities, Superconductor substrate coatings money and reduces atmospheric intermittent or continuous contamination. They also open up a Medical/Biomedical Coatings for blood-collection tubes broad range of new application Microencapsulation of pharmaceuticals possibilities. They are ideal, for Pharmaceutical Spray drying example, when extremely low flow Coatings for diagnostic test kits rates are required. And since they Protein, enzyme and reagent coatings will not clog or wear out, they help reduce downtime in critical manufac- General/Industrial Fragrance, flavor, and oil coatings turing processes.

3 Ceramic Spray drying For substrate coatings, moisturizing, Slurry/suspension atomization Spray drying, web coating, fine-line Solvent and adhesive bonding spraying, and many other industrial Chemical reaction chambers and R&D applications, Sono-Tek Web Coatings Ultrasonic nozzles yield results far Float glass, paper, and textiles superior to other techniques. Ultrasonic Atomization M. B L Y. R & D. E D. with Sono-Tek Ultrasonic S. S. A. N. Spray Nozzles A. Y. R. D. O. R. T. A. A. O. R. B. O. T. B. I. A. U. L. C. R. I. C. The Process the atomizing surface through a large, guishes Ultrasonic nozzles from other ultra- 3. Ultrasonic nozzles employ high-frequency non-clogging feed channel running the sonic devices such as welders, emulsifiers, sound waves to produce atomization.

4 Disc- length of the Nozzle . Liquid emerging onto and Ultrasonic cleaners. Those devices rely shaped ceramic piezoelectric transducers the atomizing surface absorbs the vibra- on input power on the order of hundreds receive high frequency electrical energy tional energy, causing it to atomize. to thousands of watts. For Ultrasonic atom- from the Sono-Tek Broadband Ultrasonic Energy Control ization, power levels are generally from Generator, described on page 9, and con- The vibrational amplitude must be care- 1 to 15 watts. vert that energy into vibratory mechanical fully controlled. Below the so-called criti- Flow Rates motion at the same frequency. The trans- cal amplitude, there is insufficient energy Since the atomization mechanism relies ducers are coupled to two titanium cylin- ders that amplify the motion.

5 Atomized Liquid is generated Titanium Rear Horn The excitation created by the transducers as a soft, low velocity Spray Active Electrode produces standing waves along the length resulting in minimal overspray. Ground Electrode Rear Housing of the Nozzle , the amplitude of which is maximized at the atomizing surface, locat- Front Housing ed at the end of the small diameter portion of the Nozzle . The small diagram below Ground Lug O-Ring Seal shows how the amplitude varies along the axis. Both ends of the Nozzle are anti- Liquid Feed Channel nodes, planes of maximum amplitude. A. node, where the amplitude is zero, is locat- O-Ring Seal ed at the interface between the transduc- ers. The step transition from the large to the small diameter of the front horn pro- Atomizing Surface vides the required amplification at the Titanium Amplifying atomizing surface.

6 Section (Front Horn). Since both ends are anti-nodes, the noz- zle's length must be a half-wavelength or a Anti-Node Node Anti-Node Maximum O-Ring Seal Electrical Connector to the multiple of a half-wavelength. Wave- Vibrational Broadband Ultrasonic Generator Amplitude length is dependent upon operating fre- Piezoelectric Transducers quency, so Nozzle dimensions are governed by frequency. In general, high-frequency nozzles are smaller, create smaller drops, only on liquid being introduced onto the and have a lower flow capacity than noz- atomizing surface, and not pressure, the zles that operate at lower frequencies (see rate at which a liquid is atomized depends Flow Rate Capacities table on page 7). to produce atomization. If the amplitude is solely on the rate at which it is delivered Construction too high, the liquid is literally ripped to the surface.

7 Therefore, every Ultrasonic The Nozzle body is fabricated from titani- apart, and large chunks of fluid are eject- Nozzle has an inherently wide flow rate um because of its outstanding acoustical ed. Only within a narrow band of input range. In theory, the turn down ratio properties, high tensile strength, and power is the amplitude ideal for producing (ratio of maximum to minimum possible excellent corrosion resistance. The pro- the Nozzle 's characteristic fine, low-veloci- flow rate) is infinite. In practice, this ratio tective housing is fabricated from 316 ty Spray . is limited to approximately 5:1. stainless steel. Liquid is introduced onto The level of input energy is what distin- Spray Patterns Nozzle Specifications I C E S. V. E. D. L. A. I C. D. E. M. 4 The illustration on the left in the diagram The following product descriptions pro- Materials below indicates a cone-shaped Spray pat- vide basic information about standard Lead zirconate-titanate transducers tern resulting from the conically shaped Sono-Tek nozzles.

8 Other configurations Titanium alloy body (Ti-6Al-4V). atomizing surface. Typically, Spray enve- are available to accommodate specific 316 stainless steel housing Kalrez and Viton o-rings lope diameters from 2-3 inches can be requirements. Stainless steel SMA electrical connector achieved. All maximum flow rates quoted are The center illustration is characteristic of approximate and have been measured Liquid Inlet Sono-Tek MicroSpray nozzles. For this using water at room temperature and stan- 316 stainless steel Swagelok . type of Nozzle , the orifice size ranges from dard atmospheric pressure. Refer to the fitting (standard sizes for 1/4", 1/8", inches. It is usually recom- Flow Rate Capacities table on page 7 for and 1/16" tubing). mended for use in applications where flow further details about recommended con- Operating Temperature Range rates are very low and narrow Spray pat- figurations for specific flow rates.

9 - 20 C to 150 C (-4 F to 302 F). terns are needed. The illustration on the right depicts a External Pressure Range cylindrical Spray shape used in applica- Vacuum to 100 psi tions where the flow rate can be relatively high, but where the lateral extent of the Spray pattern must be limited. Conical MicroSpray Flat Specifications Operating Maximum Median Frequency Flow Rate* Drop Dia Weight Model (kHz) (gph or ml/s) (microns) (g). 8700-25 25 70 468. 8700-35 35 49 773. 8700-48 48 38 309. 8700-48H 48 38 258. 8700-60 60 31 195. 8600-6015 60 31 251. 8700-120 120 18 196. *Based on maximum orifice diameters for each model. MicroSpray series nozzles are limited to gph(ml/s) max. flow rate. Nozzle Styles Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3. D D D. E E E. C C C. F. F. B1. B1. A1 A1 B1.

10 B2. B2. A2. A2. B3. A1. B3. A3. A3 B2. Dimensions for Standard Nozzles inches(mm). Other configurations are available. Model Fig A1 B1 A2 B2 A3 B3 C D E F A2. 8700-25 1 . (12) (57) (9) (53) (3) (70) (63) (43) (25). 8700-35 1 . (17) (37) (53) (62) (38). 8700-48 1 . (12) (27) (12) (22) (3) (37) (38) (43) (25) B3. 8700-48H 1 . (12) (23) (12) (15) (2) (36) (38) (43) (19). 8700-60 1 . (9) (21) (9) (19) (2) (29) (33) (37) (19). 8600-6015 3 (6) (64) (6) (62) (2) (71) (36) (37) (19) (30) A3. 8700-120 2 (6) (11) (6) (10) (2) (14) (25) (37) (13) (9). Drop Size Distribution Spray Velocity and Flow Rate Range Capabilities 6 In an ultrasonically produced Spray , drop one-half of the number of drops in the Sono-Tek Ultrasonic nozzles produce a size is governed by the frequency at which Spray have diameters larger than this value soft, low-velocity Spray that eliminates the the Nozzle vibrates, and by the surface ten- while the other half have diameters small- overspray typically associated with pres- sion and density of the liquid being atom- er than this value.