New Non-polluting and rechargeable spray

1992/11/01 Mujika, Alfontso - Elhuyar Fundazioa Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Industria
• Ingurumena

Do you have sprays or sprays at home? It is dangerous, damages the atmosphere, is expensive and once emptied this metal container can not be used again and must be thrown.

How many spray containers do you have at home? Have you ever counted them? To clean the oven, clean the furniture, kill insects, last the hairstyle, remove the smell of sweat from the armpits and feet, perfume the room environment, loosen locks, hinges and screws… Surely you have a nice collection of sprays of different colors and sizes.

Have you noticed the notes written in lowercase? I don’t mean “It doesn’t harm ozone”, “It doesn’t have hydrocarbon chlorofloride”, “Ecological product”, which appear with prominent letters. These are messages from last-minute marketing campaigns. Check the following items that appear at the bottom of the container (which must appear legally): Look! Pressure vessel. Do not expose to the sun or temperatures above 50ºC. Do not listen or throw it into the fire even if it is empty. Avoid the use of flames or raised bodies. This container is flammable. Empty completely before throwing away.

Therefore it is dangerous, damages the atmosphere, is expensive and once emptied this metal container can not be used again and must be thrown. Also, before using the spray you have to shake it well and keep the container standing, since if it twists a lot, it is buried or placed upside down does not expel the product well.

A French engineer named Yves Privas has just invented an electronically piloted spray. A microprocessor controls a solenoid that moves a recoil pump at a speed of 40 cycles per second. This pump breaks the liquid product into droplets between 40 and 80 microns in diameter. The necessary electrical power is supplied by a rechargeable battery. Once the push button is pressed, the spray capacity lasts 8 minutes and can be used in any position, upside down, tilted or lying. Do not shake the container as it does not use propeller gases. Therefore, it neither affects the atmosphere nor is it flammable. The product is stored in replaceable plastic (polyethylene) containers. When the product is exhausted, it is removed and replaced with another container.

The cosmetics factory L’Oreal in France aims to market the rechargeable spray at the end of this year and is in the testing phase in other companies. Sold at 4,000 pesetas (200 pounds). However, the inventor believes that “in the long term this system is cheaper than conventional gas propellant, since it should only be purchased once and the product is placed in polyethylene containers is quite cheap”.

What is the common spray?

Inside the spray is the product in liquid state and a propeller gas. The gas compresses the liquid to the bottom of the container. At the bottom of the container is the end of a tube that goes to the top mouth of the container. The compressed liquid ascends through the tube to the valve located in the mouth of the spray.

By pressing the top pushbutton, the valve opens and the liquid presses up the outlet tube. Because the outlet tube is very narrow, the liquid hits the wall of the tube, so the liquid breaks into microscopic drops. These nimin drops are mixed with air and suspended in the air.