How can plastic aerosol nozzles break through performance bottlenecks?

Atomization effect is not ideal? ——The influence of key structure and material selection

Atomization uniformity is an important indicator for measuring the performance of plastic aerosol nozzles, and the nozzle aperture and internal flow channel design play a decisive role in it. Relevant studies have shown that when the nozzle aperture is reduced from 0.3mm to 0.1mm, the average droplet size can be reduced from 50μm to 15μm, but the injection pressure will surge by 3 times. Taking a certain brand of cosmetic spray as an example, the early product had a large aperture design and the droplet size reached 80μm, which caused users to feel that the liquid was "sprayed directly" when using it, which was a poor experience; after optimization, the aperture was adjusted to 0.2mm, and the droplet size was reduced to 30μm, the spray became delicate and uniform, and user satisfaction was greatly improved. ​

The shape and roughness of the internal flow channel are also critical. Smooth and reasonable flow channel design can reduce fluid turbulence and ensure uniform dispersion of droplets. A German company uses bionic design to imitate the microstructure of the surface of insect wings, reducing the roughness of the inner wall of the flow channel to Ra0.2μm, reducing fluid flow resistance by 40% and improving atomization uniformity by 25%. If the flow channel has sharp corners or a rough surface, it will disrupt the flow of the fluid and cause uneven atomization. In actual production, it is common for the droplet concentration in some areas to be too high and in other areas to be insufficient due to unreasonable design of flow channel corners. ​

The choice of plastic material also directly affects the corrosion resistance and wear resistance of the nozzle, which in turn affects the atomization performance. Taking PP (polypropylene) and ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer) as examples, PP has good chemical stability and corrosion resistance, but relatively weak wear resistance. When continuously spraying cleaning products containing abrasive particles, the internal flow channel of the PP nozzle wears 0.1mm after 2,000 uses, resulting in changes in the fluid flow characteristics and a significant decrease in the atomization effect. Although ABS has good overall performance, when it comes into contact with highly corrosive media such as chlorine-containing disinfectants, surface corrosion occurs in only 30 days, the structure is destroyed, and the atomization performance is greatly reduced. Therefore, when designing, it is necessary to reasonably select plastic materials according to the specific usage scenarios and media characteristics, and optimize the aperture and flow channel design to improve the atomization effect.

Easy to clog and short life? ——Causes of common failures and optimization paths

Plastic aerosol nozzles are prone to clogging and have a short lifespan, mainly due to sediment accumulation and fluid compatibility issues. In the field of pesticide spraying, since pesticides often contain insoluble original drug particles, adjuvant impurities, etc., these substances will gradually accumulate inside the nozzle during the spraying process and block the flow channel. According to statistics, the probability of clogging of ordinary plastic aerosol nozzles is as high as 60% after continuous use of pesticides containing suspending agents for 3 hours. At the same time, if there are compatibility issues between the plastic material and the fluid, such as the plastic being dissolved and swollen by the fluid, the structural dimensions of the nozzle will change, resulting in abnormal spraying and shortening the service life. A certain brand of air freshener, because the selected plastic material is incompatible with the essence ingredients, after one month of use, the nozzle mouth swelled and deformed, the spray angle shifted, and it could not be used normally.

To solve these problems, self-cleaning design and detachable structure have become innovative directions. For example, after each spraying, the self-cleaning nozzle uses a spring or elastic component to push the internal cleaning component to clean the flow channel inside the nozzle to prevent sediment from remaining. The nozzle can complete the flow channel cleaning within 0.5 seconds through a specially designed scraper. After 5,000 continuous tests, the clogging rate is almost zero. Some nozzles are designed with a detachable structure, and users can easily disassemble the nozzle for thorough cleaning and maintenance. The modular spray nozzle launched by an American company only requires users to rotate 3 times to separate the nozzle, flow channel and liquid storage chamber, and can be restored to its original state by rinsing with ordinary water, effectively extending the service life of the nozzle.

Is it difficult to strike a balance between cost and performance? ——Balance between injection molding process and cost reduction and efficiency improvement

Precision injection molding is a key process for producing high-quality plastic aerosol nozzles. Its technical points include mold design and injection molding parameter control. Accurate mold design can ensure the dimensional accuracy and structural integrity of the nozzle. The mold precision error must be controlled within ±0.01mm to meet the production needs of high-end aerosol nozzles. Improper control of parameters such as temperature, pressure, and injection speed during the injection molding process will cause problems such as dimensional deviation and internal defects in the nozzle, affecting performance. For example, when the injection molding temperature is too high, the plastic will degrade, resulting in a decrease in nozzle strength; if the injection speed is too fast, bubbles and weld marks are likely to occur. A certain company introduced an intelligent injection molding system, using sensors to monitor mold temperature, pressure and other parameters in real time, and automatically adjusted the injection molding parameters through algorithms, reducing the product defective rate from 12% to 3%. ​

Modular design is an effective means to reduce production complexity and balance cost and performance. By decomposing the nozzle into multiple functional modules, such as nozzle module, connection module, control module, etc., different modules can be produced and optimized separately during the production process, improving production efficiency and reducing production costs. Taking a certain automobile interior cleaner nozzle as an example, after adopting modular design, the production cycle was shortened from the original 7 days to 3 days, and the production cost was reduced by 25%. At the same time, modular design also facilitates product upgrades and repairs. When a module has a problem, only the corresponding module needs to be replaced, without replacing the nozzle as a whole, which saves costs and ensures performance.