Heping Zhu 
Adjunct Assistant Professor

(United States Department of Agriculture)

Areas of Expertise:

·         Pesticide application technology for horticultural, landscape and field crop protection

·         Spray droplet impaction, retention and coverage on target plants, soil and other solid surfaces

·         Computer simulation of spray droplet displacement and evaporation in turbulent air

·         Atomization of agricultural spray nozzles and advanced technology to measure droplet size and velocity

·         Interaction of drip irrigation, rainfall and pesticide application with water use efficiency and drainage water quality in nursery container production systems  

• Mechanics, fluid dynamics, hydraulics,  electronics, electrostatics and mathematical modeling

Education:

• Ph. D., Agricultural and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University, 1996.
  

Research Interests:

• Development of innovative concepts, strategies and methodologies that improve efficiencies of highly complex interactions in applications of pesticide sprays and drip irrigation to produce healthy horticultural and field crops, enhance the environment, and conserve water

• Development of a comprehensive body of knowledge on how to improve retention and coverage of spray droplets on target plants, soil and other solid surfaces and reduce off-target loss

• Development of new knowledge on how to improve water quality and irrigation water use efficiency with optimal management of irrigation and pesticide application strategies for horticultural nursery crops

2. Brazee, R.D., M.J. Bukovac, J.A. Cooper, H. Zhu, D.L. Reichard and R.D. Fox. 1994. Surfactant diffusion and dynamic surface tension. Transactions of the ASAE, 37(1): 51 58.

3. Zhu, H., D.L. Reichard, H.E. Ozkan, R.D. Brazee, and R.D. Fox. 1995. A mathematical model to predict nozzle wear rate of nozzles with elliptical orifices. Transactions of the ASAE, 38(5): 1297 1303.

4. Zhu, H., D.L. Reichard, R.D. Fox, H.E. Ozkan, and R.D. Brazee. 1995. DRIFTSIM, a program to estimate drift distances of spray droplets. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 11 (3): 365 369.

5. Zhu, H., R.D. Brazee, D.L. Reichard, R.D. Fox, C.R. Krause, and A.C. Chapple. 1995. Fluid velocity and shear in elliptic orifice spray nozzles. Atomization and Sprays, 5(3): 343 356.

6. Reichard, D.L., H. Zhu, R.A. Downer, R.D. Fox, R.D. Brazee, and H.E. Ozkan. 1996. A laboratory system to evaluate effects of shear on spray drift retardants. Transactions of the ASAE, 39(6): 1993 1999.

7. Reichard, D.L., and H. Zhu. 1996. A system to measure viscosities of spray mixtures at high shear rates. Pesticide Science, 47:137 143.

8. Zhu, H., D.L. Reichard, R.D. Fox, R.D. Brazee, and H.E. Ozkan. 1996. Collection efficiency of spray droplets on vertical targets. Transactions of the ASAE, 39(2): 415 422.

9. Krause, C.R., R.D. Brazee, R.C. Derksen, H. Zhu, and R.D. Fox. 1997. Penetration of Cu(OH)2 spray into hemlock canopies. Phytopathology. 87 (6):S545 S555.

10. Ozkan, H.E., A. Miralles, C. Sinfort, H. Zhu, D.L. Reichard, and R.D. Fox. 1997. Effect of shielding spray boom on spray deposition. Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research, 67: 311 322.

11. Zhu, H., R.W. Dexter, R.D. Fox, D.L. Reichard, R.D. Brazee, and H.E. Ozkan. 1997. Droplet size and viscosity effects in recirculated polymer spray solutions. Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research, 67: 35 45.

12. Zhu, H., R.D. Fox, H.E. Ozkan, R.D. Brazee, and R.C. Derksen. 1998. A system to determine lag time and mixture uniformity for inline injection sprayers. Applied Engineering in Agriculture 14(2): 103 110.

13. Zhu, H., H.E. Ozkan, R.D. Fox, R.D. Brazee, and R.C. Derksen. 1998. Mixture uniformity in supply line and spray patterns of a laboratory injection sprayer. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 14(3): 223 230.

14. Zhu, H., R.D. Fox, H.E. Ozkan, R.D. Brazee, and R.C. Derksen. 1998. Time delay for injection sprayers. Transactions of the ASAE, 41(3): 525 530.

15. Zhu, H., D. L. Rowland, J.W. Dorner, R.C. Derksen, and R.B. Sorensen. 2002. Influence of Plant Structure, Orifice Size and Nozzle Inclination on Spray Penetration into Peanut Canopy. Transactions of the ASAE, 45(5):1295 1301.

16. Zhu, H., R. B. Sorensen, C. L. Butts, M. C. Lamb, and P. D. Blankenship. 2002. A Pressure Regulating System for Variable Irrigation Flow Controls. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 18(5): 533 540.

17. Krause, C.R., D.L. Reichard, H. Zhu, R.D. Brazee, H.E. Ozkan, R.D. Fox. 2003. Evaluation of fan-pattern spray nozzle wear using scanning electron microscopy. Scanning, 25: 8-11.

18. Zhu, H., C. L. Butts, M.C. Lamb, and P. D. Blankenship. 2004. An Implement to Install and Retrieve Surface Drip Irrigation Laterals. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 20(1): 17-23.

19. Zhu, H., M.C. Lamb, C. L. Butts, and P. D. Blankenship. 2004. Improving peanut yield and grade with surface drip irrigation in undulating fields. Transactions of the ASAE, Vol. 47(1): 99-106.

20. Zhu, H., J.W. Dorner, D. L. Rowland, R.C. Derksen, and H. E. Ozkan. 2004. Spray penetration into peanut canopies with hydraulic nozzle tips. Biosystems Engineering, 87(3): 9-17.

21. Fox, R.D., R.C. Derksen, H. Zhu, R.A. Downer, R.D. Brazee. 2004. Airborne spray collection efficiency of nylon screens. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 20(2): 147-152.

22. Krause, C.R., H. Zhu, R.C. Derksen, R.D. Brazee, R.D. Fox, L.E. Horst, and R.H. Zondag. 2004. Detection and Quantification of Nursery Spray Penetration and Off-Target Loss with Electron Beam and Conductivity Analysis. Transactions of the ASAE, Vol. 47(2): 371-381.

23. Brazee, R.D., M.J. Bukovac, and H. Zhu. 2004. Diffusion model for plant cuticular penetration by a spray-applied weak organic acid bioregulator in presence or absence of ammonium nitrate. Transactions of the ASAE Vol. 47(3): 629-635.

24. Zhu, H., C. R. Krause, R.C. Derksen, R.D. Brazee, R. Zondag and N. R. Fausey. 2004. Real-time measurement of drainage from pot-in-pot container nurseries. Transactions of the ASAE Vol. 47(6): 1973-1979.

25. Zhu, H., H. Johnson, S. Plager and D. Pemberton. 2004. HVLP spray gun. U.S. patent No. 6,708,900.