Spray Area Planning Tool

Engineering Tools โ€” Manifold Design

Spray Area
Planning Tool

Calculate nozzle spacing, individual coverage width, and nozzle count for a manifold or header pipe installation. Enter your spray angle, mounting height, target coverage width, and overlap percentage to get a complete manifold layout.

Nozzle Geometry
Full included angle of the spray pattern โ€” from nozzle datasheet
degrees
65ยฐ 80ยฐ 95ยฐ 110ยฐ 120ยฐ
Vertical distance from nozzle tip to target surface
Coverage Target
Width of the surface, conveyor, product, or area to be covered
Percentage of adjacent spray bands that overlap โ€” 10โ€“15% for cleaning, 10โ€“20% for coating
10%
Output Units

Enter spray angle, mounting height, total width to cover, and overlap โ€” then tap Calculate.

Manifold Layout โ€”
Nozzles Required โ€” nozzles
Spacing C-to-C โ€” in
Coverage per Nozzle โ€” in
Total Covered Width โ€” in
Spray angle (ฮธ) โ€”
Mounting height (D) โ€”
Target coverage width โ€”
Overlap used โ€”
Effective spacing (S) โ€”
Manifold pipe length โ€”
Coverage Diagram
How It Works

The Coverage Width Formula

A flat fan nozzle's coverage width at the target surface depends on two things: the spray angle and the distance from nozzle to surface. This tool uses the standard trigonometric relationship to calculate coverage width, then derives nozzle spacing and nozzle count from the overlap target.

Coverage Width W = 2 ร— D ร— tan(ฮธ รท 2)

W = coverage width at surface ย |ย  D = nozzle-to-surface distance ย |ย  ฮธ = full spray angle

Example: 80ยฐ nozzle at 12 inches โ†’ W = 2 ร— 12 ร— tan(40ยฐ) = 2 ร— 12 ร— 0.839 = 20.1 inches

Nozzle Spacing S = W ร— (1 โˆ’ overlap fraction)

S = center-to-center spacing ย |ย  overlap fraction = overlap% รท 100

Example: W = 20.1 in, 15% overlap โ†’ S = 20.1 ร— (1 โˆ’ 0.15) = 20.1 ร— 0.85 = 17.1 inches C-to-C

Nozzle Count N = ceil(Wtotal รท S)

N = number of nozzles ย |ย  Wtotal = total target width ย |ย  S = center-to-center spacing ย |ย  ceil = round up to the next whole nozzle

The tool always rounds up โ€” half-covered zones are not acceptable. Total covered width = N ร— S. If the actual covered width exceeds the target by more than one spacing, the tool flags this so you can consider whether the nozzle count can be reduced.

Choosing the Right Overlap

5 โ€“ 10% Minimum โ€” General Cleaning Ensures no dry gap between adjacent spray bands. Appropriate for washdown and rinsing where modest non-uniformity is acceptable. Any lower risks uncovered zones between nozzles.
10 โ€“ 15% Standard โ€” Most Applications โ˜… The correct default for most cleaning, cooling, and general coverage applications. Fills the low-intensity band edge zone without significant double-coverage in the overlap zone. Use this when in doubt.
15 โ€“ 20% Precision โ€” Coating & Thin Film For coating uniformity applications where thin-film consistency matters. The additional overlap compensates for any nozzle-to-nozzle flow variation. Above 20%, the overlap zone receives notably more liquid than the band center โ€” verify uniformity with a test application.

Coverage Width at Common Angles & Heights

Single-nozzle coverage width (W) in inches at standard mounting heights and flat fan spray angles.

Spray Angle 6" height 12" height 18" height 24" height 36" height 48" height
50ยฐ 5.5" 10.9" 16.4" 21.8" 32.8" 43.7"
65ยฐ 7.3" 14.6" 21.9" 29.2" 43.8" 58.4"
80ยฐ 10.1" 20.1" 30.2" 40.2" 60.3" 80.4"
95ยฐ 13.7" 27.3" 41.0" 54.7" 82.0" 109.4"
110ยฐ 19.1" 38.2" 57.4" 76.5" 114.7" 152.9"
120ยฐ 24.0" 48.0" 72.0" 96.0" 144.0" 192.0"

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