Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

Prof Bello notes on sieve etc.eve et al

Principle
A ball mill works on the principle of impact: size reduction is done by impact
as the balls drop from near the top of the shell.
Construction
A ball mill consists of a hollow cylindrical shell rotating about its axis. The
axis of the shell may be either horizontal or at a small angle to the
horizontal. it is partially filled with balls. The grinding media is the balls,
which may be made of steel (chrome steel), stainless steel or rubber. The
inner surface of the cylindrical shell is usually lined with an abrasion-resistant
material such as manganese steel or rubber. Less wear takes place in rubber
lined mills. The length of the mill is approximately equal to its diameter.
Working
In case of continuously operated ball mill, the material to be ground is fed
from the left through 60 cone and the product is discharged through a 30
cone to the right. As the shell rotates, the balls are lifted up on the rising side
of the shell and then they cascade down (or drop down on to the feed), from
near the top of the shell. In doing so, the solid particles in between the balls
are ground and reduced in size by impact.
Applications
The ball mill is used for grinding materials such as coal, pigments, and
felspar for pottery. Grinding can be carried out either wet or dry but the
former is carried at low speed.
Description

Bench top ball mill

Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

Laboratory scale ball mill

High-energy ball milling

A ball mill, a type of grinder, is a cylindrical device used in grinding (or
mixing) materials like ores, chemicals, ceramic raw materials and paints. Ball
mills rotate around a horizontal axis, partially filled with the material to be
ground plus the grinding medium. Different materials are used as media,
including ceramic balls, flint pebbles and stainless steel balls. An internal
cascading effect reduces the material to a fine powder. Industrial ball mills
can operate continuously, fed at one end and discharged at the other end.
Large to medium-sized ball mills are mechanically rotated on their axis, but
small ones normally consist of a cylindrical capped container that sits on two
drive shafts (pulleys and belts are used to transmit rotary motion). A rock
tumbler functions on the same principle. Ball mills are also used in
pyrotechnics and the manufacture of black powder, but cannot be used in
the preparation of some pyrotechnic mixtures such as flash powder because
of their sensitivity to impact. High-quality ball mills are potentially expensive
and can grind mixture particles to as small as 5 nm, enormously increasing
surface area and reaction rates. The grinding works on the principle of
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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

critical speed. The critical speed can be understood as that speed after which
the steel balls (which are responsible for the grinding of particles) start
rotating along the direction of the cylindrical device; thus causing no further
grinding.
Ball mills are used extensively in the mechanical alloying process[1] in which
they are not only used for grinding but for cold welding as well, with the
purpose of producing alloys from powders.[2]

Lead antimony grinding media with aluminium powder.

A ball mill inside the Mayflower Mill near Silverton, Colorado.

The ball mill is a key piece of equipment for grinding crushed materials, and
it is widely used in production lines for powders such as cement, silicates,
refractory material, fertilizer, glass ceramics, etc. as well as for ore dressing
of both ferrous and non-ferrous metals. The ball mill can grind various ores
and other materials either wet or dry. There are two kinds of ball mill, grate
type and overfall type due to different ways of discharging material. There
are many types of grinding media suitable for use in a ball mill, each

Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

material having its own specific properties and advantages. Key properties of
grinding media are size, density, hardness, and composition.

Size: The smaller the media particles, the smaller the particle
size of the final product. At the same time, the grinding media
particles should be substantially larger than the largest pieces of
material to be ground.

Density: The media should be denser than the material being

ground. It becomes a problem if the grinding media floats on top
of the material to be ground.

Hardness: The grinding media needs to be durable enough to

grind the material, but where possible should not be so tough
that it also wears down the tumbler at a fast pace.

Composition: Various grinding applications have special

requirements. Some of these requirements are based on the fact
that some of the grinding media will be in the finished product.
Others are based in how the media will react with the material
being ground.
o Where the color of the finished product is important, the
color and material of the grinding media must be
considered.
o Where low contamination is important, the grinding media
may be selected for ease of separation from the finished
product (i.e.: steel dust produced from stainless steel
media can be magnetically separated from non-ferrous
products). An alternative to separation is to use media of
the same material as the product being ground.
o Flammable products have a tendency to become explosive
in powder form. Steel media may spark, becoming an
ignition source for these products. Either wet-grinding, or
non-sparking media such as ceramic or lead must be
selected.
o Some media, such as iron, may react with corrosive
materials. For this reason, stainless steel, ceramic, and flint
grinding media may each be used when corrosive
substances are present during grinding.

Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

The grinding chamber can also be filled with an inert shield gas that does not
react with the material being ground, to prevent oxidation or explosive
reactions that could occur with ambient air inside the mill.
Advantages of the ball mill
Ball milling boasts of several advantages over other systems:
the cost of installation, power and grinding medium is low;
it is suitable for both batch and continuous operation, similarly

it is suitable for open as well as closed circuit grinding and

is applicable for materials of all degrees of hardness.

Varieties
Aside from common ball mills there is a second type of ball mill called a
planetary ball mill. Planetary ball mills are smaller than common ball mills
and mainly used in laboratories for grinding sample material down to very
small sizes. A planetary ball mill consists of at least one grinding jar which is
arranged eccentrically on a so-called sun wheel. The direction of movement
of the sun wheel is opposite to that of the grinding jars (ratio: 1:-2 or 1:-1 or
else). The grinding balls in the grinding jars are subjected to superimposed
rotational movements, the so-called Coriolis forces. The difference in speeds
between the balls and grinding jars produces an interaction between
frictional and impact forces, which releases high dynamic energies. The
interplay between these forces produces the high and very effective degree
of size reduction of the planetary ball mill.
History
Devices for shaking materials along with hard balls might be old, but it was
not until the industrial revolution and the invention of steam power that a
machine could be built. It is reported to have been used for grinding flint for
pottery in 1870.[3]
Also available
Cement mill
Vertical roller mill
Tumble finishing.
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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

References:
1.

2.
3.

Florez-Zamora, M. I. et al. (2008). "Comparative study of Al-Ni-Mo

alloys obtained by mechanical alloying in different ball mills". Rev. Adv.
Mater. Sci. 18: 301.
Mechanical Alloying Technology, Institute of Materials Processing
Lynch, A., Rowland C (2005). The history of grinding. SME.
ISBN 0-87335-238-6.

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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

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Particle Size Reduction Machines

Size reduction equipment
The principal types of size-reduction machines are as follows:
A. Crushers (coarse and fine)
1. Jaw crushers( Stag or Dodge)
2. Gyratory crushers
3. Crushing rolls
B. Intermediate Crushers/Grinders (intermediate and fine)
1. Disc Crusher

Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

2. Edge Runner Mill
3. Hammer mills; impactors
4. Rolling-compression mills
5. Pin Mill
6. Attrition mills
7. Tumbling mills
C. Ultrafine Crushers ( grinders )
1. Hammer mills with internal classification
2. Buhrstone Mill
3. Roller Mill
4. Griffin Mill
5. Ring roller Mill
6. Ball Mill
7. Tube Mill
8. Hardinge Mill
9. Babcock Muill
D. Cutting machines
Knife cutters; dicers; slitters

What is Size Reduction?

"Adding energy to a material to make large pieces smaller"
Energy + Material = Size Reduction
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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

Different types of size reduction equipment are available and each has its
own method of reduction. The right machine for the task is the one that can
add energy most efficiently for the application.
From the beginning of time, humans have found it necessary to make little
pieces out of big ones stone, ore, ice, grain and more. It was a slow,
laborious process for many centuries. Then in the Stone Age came the
first breakthrough we call it a hammer and it worked better than
ever. It worked so well, in fact, that it's still one of the most widely used tools
in the world.
Today, there are many different size reduction machines available to make
little pieces out of big ones. Particle size-reduction equipment includes
i.
ii.
iii.

primary impact crushers and

secondary crushers as well as
milling machines - cage mills, hammer mills, pulverizers
and grinders.

Hammer Mill Crushers

What is a Hammer Mill?
A hammer mill is a crusher that can grind, pulverize, and crush a wide range
of materials. This crusher employs a rain of hammer blows to shatter and
disintegrate the material. Hammer mills produce a finish product size that is
dependent upon the following:
1. Openings in perforated screens or grate bars
2. Number, size and type of hammers
3. Grinding plate setting
4. Rotor speed

The servicability of a Stedman Machine is second to none. Standard service

can be performed with common hand tools. Their product contact points is
available in carbon and stainless steel. Their machines can also be rebuilt
over and over, saving money. The special combination of features in a
Stedman Hammer mill is the result of over 90 years' experience in the
field.

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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

Wood hammer mills, also called wood hogs are special heavy duty Stedman
Hammer mills specifically designed to process wood and fibrous waste
without the use of high maintenance knives. Their machines have simple
designs with rugged construction that makes them easy to operate and
maintain.
Stedman Hammer mill Features

Large opening for flexibility

Fully lined crushing chamber for longevity

Liners are bolted for easy change out

Grate bars and screens for accurate product sizing that are easily replaceable

Hammers or rings allowing flexibility

Forged alloy steel and extreme duty shaft allowing reduced vibration and
longer bearing life

Positive lock housing for extra security from blow outs and dusting

Adjustable grinding plate for process control

Multiple rotor configurations to suit any material

Large discharge opening

Hammer mill Applications

Animal Tankage

Crab, Clam & Oyster Shells

Coal

Fish Meal

Limestone

Gelatin

Biomass & Biofuels

Gypsum

Bagasse

Meat Scraps

Wood

Oats

Corn Stalks

Salt Cake

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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

Barley Shorts

Corn

Bran

Soy Bean Expeller Cake

Cocoa Shells

Steamed Bone

Feed

Hops

Grains

Wheat

Impact Crushers

What is an Impact Crusher?

Impact size reduction incorporates striking to pulverize material. The primary
types of impact crushers include:
horizontal shaft impactors (HSI),
cage mill pulverizers, and
vertical shaft impactors (VSI).
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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

Each impactor can be further designated as primary and secondary rotor
crusher as well as tertiary and quaternary crushers. This particular
designation is dependent on which processing stage the equipment is being
utilized.
Every Stedman crusher is engineered for a maximum feed size, target
output size, and total capacity, but selecting a crusher on these criteria alone
is merely half the task. Every size reduction project requires evaluation of the
complete process to maximize production and keep operating costs low.
From start to finish Stedman provides the information to make the correct
choices for your processing needs.

Crusher Throughput Production

Feed enters the crushing chamber and meets the breaker bars or plates
propelling feed against the breaker plates resulting in impact reduction.
There are no screens or grates holding material inside impact crushers, so
material is efficiently processed at high rates for low costs.

What Industries Use Crusher?

The following are of useful importance:

Aggregate

Coal, Energy & Biomass

Minerals & Mining

Brick, Clay & Ceramics

Industrial Applications

and many more

Industrial Fine Grinding Mills

What is a Fine Grinder?

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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

The number and kind of grinders are as diverse as the materials they are
designed to reduce. The earliest examples are as simple as a mortar and
pestle and have evolved to include the horse mill, windmill and watermill.
Today, Stedman fine grind products include modern air swept material
handling and classification methods to efficiently produce consistent finely
ground powder products.

Fine Grinding Applications

A wide variety of industries that rely on fine grinders includes:

Agricultural Processing

Chemical Processing

Feed Processing

Food Processing

Mineral Processing

Pharmaceutical

Rendering

Soap & Detergent

Fine Grinding Mill Equipment

The range of fine grinders assists in the production of materials from A-to-Z
making efficient work of breaking down particles to the required or desired
product gradations.

LUMP BREAKER
What is a Lump Breaker?
Lump-breaking equipment is able to reduce lumps created in the production,
storage or transportation of bulk solids and powders - without generating
excessive dust and fines. The rotation of specially shaped blades through a
fixed comb gives an efficient lump breaking action.
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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

Where to find Lump Crushing Applications

Soda Ash

Coal

Sodium Bicarbonate

Pet Coke

Fertilizer

Salt

Herbicide

Gypsum

Filter Cake

Detergent

Sugar

Frozen Vegetables

Crushing efficiency
Empirical relationships: Rittingers and Kicks law
The work required in crushing is proportional to the new surface created. This
is equivalent to the statement that the crushing efficiency is constant and,
for a giving machine and material, is independent of the sizes of feed and
product.
If the sphericities a (before size reduction) and b (after size reduction)
are equal and the machine efficiency is constant, the Rittingers law can be
written as

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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

where P is the power required,

is the feed rate to crusher,

is the

average particle diameter before crushing,

is the average particle
diameter after crushing, and Kr is Rittingers coefficient.
Kicks law: the work required for crushing a given mass of material is
constant for the same reduction ratio, that is the ratio of the initial particle
size to the finial particle size

where Kk is Kicks coefficient.

Bond crushing law and work index
The work required to form particles of size Dp from very large feed is
proportional to the square root of the surface-to-volume ratio of the product,
sp/vp. Since s = 6/Dp, it follows that

where Kb is a constant that depends on the type of machine and on the

material being crushed.
The work index, wi, is defined as the gross energy required in KWH per ton of
feed to reduce a very large feed to such a size that 80% of the product
passes a 100 m screen. If Dp is in millimetres, P in KW, and in tons per
hour, then

If 80% of the feed passes a mesh size of Dpa millimetres and 80% of the
product a mesh of Dpb millimetres, it follows that

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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

Example: What is the power required to crush 100 ton/h of limestone if 80%
of the feed pass a 2-in screen and 80% of the product a 1/8 in screen? The
work index for limestone is 12.74.
Solution: =100 ton/h, wi =12.74, Dpa =2 25.4=50.8 mm, Dpb
=25.4/8=3.175 mm

Screening
Screening is a method of separating particles according to size alone.
Undersize: fines, pass through the screen openings
Oversize: tails, do not pass
A single screen can make but a single separation into two fractions. These
are called unsized fractions, because although either the upper or lower limit
of the particle sizes they contain is known, the other limit is unknown.
Material passed through a series of screens of different sizes is separated
into sized fractions, i.e. fractions in which both the maximum and minimum
particle sizes are known.
4.1.1 Screening equipment
Stationary screens and grizzlies; Gyrating screens; Vibrating screens;
Centrifugal sitter.
Cutting diameter Dpc: marks the point of separation, usually Dpc is chosen to
be the mesh opening of the screen.
Actual screens do not give a perfect separation about the cutting diameter.
The undersize can contain certain amount of material coarser than Dpc, and
the oversize can contain certain amount of material that is smaller than Dpc.
4.1.2 Material balances over a screen
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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

Let F, D, and B be the mass flow rates of feed, overflow, and underflow,
respectively, and xF, xD, and xB be the mass fractions of material A in the
streams. The mass fractions of material B in the feed, overflow, and
underflow are 1- xF, 1- xD, and 1- xB.
F=D+B
FxF = DxD + BxB
Elimination of B from the above equations gives

Elimination of D gives

4.1.3 Screen effectiveness

A common measure of screen effectiveness is the ratio of oversize material A
that is actually in the overflow to the amount of A entering with the feed.
These quantities are DxD and FxF respectively. Thus

where EA is the screen effectiveness based on the oversize. Similarly, an

effectiveness EB based on the undersize materials is given by

A combined overall effectiveness can be defined as the product of the two

individual ratios.

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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

Filtration
Filtration is the removal of solid particles from a fluid by passing the fluid
through a filtering medium, or septum, on which the solids are deposited.
The fluid may be liquid or gas, the valuable stream from the filter may be
fluid, or the solid, or both. Sometimes it is neither, as when waste solid must
be separated from waste liquid prior to disposal.
Filters are divided into three main groups: cake filters, clarifying filters, and
crossflow filters. Cake filters separate relatively large amount of solids as a
cake of crystals or sludge. Often they include provisions for washing the cake
and for removing some of the liquid from the solids before discharge. At the
start of filtration in a cake filter, some solid particles enter the pores of the
medium and are immobilised, but soon others begin to collect on the septum
surface. After this brief period the cake of solids does the filtration, not the
septum; a visible cake of appreciable thickness builds up on the surface and
must be periodically removed. Clarifying filters remove small amount of
solids to produce a clean gas or a sparkling clear liquid such as beverage.
The solid particles are trapped inside the filter medium or on its external
surfaces. Clarifying filters differ from screens in that the pores of the filter
medium are much larger in diameter than the particles to be removed. In a
crossflow filter, the feed suspension flows under pressure at a fairly high
velocity across the filter medium. A thin layer of solids may form on the
surface of the medium, but the high liquid velocity keeps the layer from
building up. The filter medium is a ceramic, metal, or polymer membrane
with pores small enough to exclude most of suspended particles. Some of the
liquid passes through the medium as clear filtrate, leaving a more
concentrated suspension behind.

The theory of filtration

In cake filters, the particles forming the cake are small and the flow through
the bed is slow. Streamline conditions are invariably obtained. From Kozeny
equation,

(1)
where u is the velocity of the filtrate, L is the cake thickness, S is the specific
surface of the particles, is the porosity of cake, is the viscosity of the
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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

filtrate, and P is the applied pressure difference. The filtrate velocity can
also be written as

(2)
where V is the volume of filtrate which has passed in time t and A is the total
cross-sectional area of the filter cake.
For incompressible cakes can be taken as constant and the quantity 3/
[5(1- )2S2] is then a property of the particles forming the cake and should
be constant for a given material. Therefore

(3)
where

(4)
Eq(3) is the basic filtration equation and r is termed the specific resistance. It
is seen to depend on and S. For incompressible cakes it is taken as
constant, but it will depend on the rate of deposition, nature of particles, and
on forces between the particles.
In Eq(3), the variables V and L are connected, and the relation between them
can be obtained by making a material balance between the solids in the
slurry and in the cake.
Mass in the filter cake is (1- )AL s, where s is the density of the solids.
Mass of liquid retained in the filter cake is AL , where is the density of
the filtrate.
If J is the mass fractions of solids in the original suspension

(5)

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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

That is
(6)
Therefore

(7)
and

(8)
If v is the volume of cake deposited by unit volume of filtrate then:

or

(9)

and from Eq(8):

(10)
Substituting for L in Eq(3)

or

(11)
Eq(11) can be regarded as the basic relation between P, V, and t. Two
important types of operation will be considered: 1). where the pressure
difference is maintained constant and, 2). where the rate of filtration is
maintained constant.

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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

Constant pressure difference
Eq(11) can be re-written as

(12)
Integrating Eq(12) gives

or

(13)

Thus for a constant pressure filtration, there is a linear relation between V2

and t. Filtration at constant pressure is more frequently adopted in practical
conditions.
Constant rate filtration

constant (14)
Therefore

or

(15)

In this case, P is directly proportional to V.

Flow of filtrate through the septum and cake combined
Suppose that the filter septum to be equivalent to a thickness Ls of cake,
then if P is the pressure drop across the cake and septum combined Eq(3)
can be written as:

(16)
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Professor Bellos notes on grinding, sieve analysis and filtration

i.e.

(17)
For constant rate filtration we have

(18)
For constant pressure filtration we have

(19)

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