Chemical Industry
Salus Aviation elevates agricultural spraying with IMI pneumatic technology
Collaboration delivers innovative solutions for efficient and reliable crop treatment across New Zealand and Australia, with plans in place to provide the AS350 spray system globally.
Text by IMI
Courtesy of Helisika Helicopters
IMI has completed a successful collaboration with New Zealand’ s Ardmore-based Salus Aviation, a provider of parts and services for helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft around the world. The partnership has seen IMI’ s Industrial Automation sector develop a bespoke agriculture spraying pneumatic technology solution to enable Salus Aviation to supply effective and high performing chemical spray units for attachment to the Airbus AS350 range of helicopters used by the agricultural sector. Salus Aviation required a high-performing solution to manage the dispersal of chemicals from the AS350 aerial spray units. A key challenge in agricultural spraying is ensuring that expensive chemicals are dispersed at a consistent flow rate, maximising crop coverage while minimising waste. The system needed to be robust enough to perform reliably in harsh, remote operating environments.
Precise flow
In response, IMI provided a comprehensive pneumatic technology solution. The system is built around a Kinetrol double-acting cylinder mounted on a ball valve, which precisely manages the flow of chemicals. A recent enhancement saw the addition of IMI Norgren V60 pneumatic control valves, which activate and control the opening and closing of the spray system. Designed for long-life performance, the V60 control valve delivers safe and reliable operation from the cockpit.
The resulting solution delivers significant benefits, including optimised chemical usage and enhanced cost-effectiveness for aerial spraying operations. The reliability of the IMI-controlled pneumatic system ensures that pilots can activate the spray system as needed, with the assurance it will work as required every time. This reduces time in the air and makes the entire process more efficient. Ed Ablan, Key Account Manager for IMI, comments:“ We are delighted to have supported the build of the effective AS350 spray system deployed by Salus Aviation. We worked in collaboration with the company to fully understand their specific needs and the challenges of field and crop spraying. Our robust IMI Norgren V60 valves offer reliability of performance so that pilots are assured that when they need to activate the opening and closing of the spraying system, it will work as required.“ Using aircraft to spray in often remote areas across New Zealand and Australia is an expensive undertaking but the IMI controlled pneumatic system means time in the air and chemical use is as cost effective as possible.” Philipp Antwerpen, EGM MRO Services from Salus Aviation, says:“ Our specialised spray system development team have worked closely with IMI to find a dependable and proven solution to support the spraying units we develop for customers. We now install the V60 control valve, alongside other IMI technologies such as quick exhaust valves, pressure switches, Pneufit C fittings and PA2 nylon tubes, to benefit from a holistic pneumatic control system we can trust.”
12 Valve World February 2026 www. valve-world. net