Comminution and Sieve Analysis

Lu, Andrea Allen L.

CHE131L – Chemical Engineering Laboratory 1 / A02

3rd term of A.Y. 2017-2018

Mapúa Institute of Technology at Laguna

Malayan Colleges Laguna

ABSTRACT

This experiment involves mechanical method

specifically crushing/impact was used in order to
reduce the size of the chalk. After that it was
subjected to sieving where different Tyler mesh
sizes was used in order to separate particles into
their respective sizes. Different mean diameters
were calculated in order to determine their Figure 1. Mechanical forces

respective uses.
According to Patel et al. (2008), there are various
INTRODUCTION
elements that are needed to consider in order to use
Refining or reducing the size of a particle into the right process for size reduction. The factors that
powders and fine granules is necessary because it are needed to consider are the following: hardness,
increases the surface area available for chemical toughness, stickiness, slipperiness, moisture
reaction and free important minerals that is inside content, melting point, and abrasiveness.
the particulates (Rhodes, 2008). Size reduction may
There are various size reduction equipment such as
be achieved using two methods namely,
ball mill, jaw crusher, hammer mill and others, which
precipitation and mechanical process (Patel et al.,
are used in the industry in order to reduce the size of
2008). In Precipitation method, solvents are used to
the desired material. After reducing the size of the
reduce the size of the desired material. This method
material, they are not automatically in a uniform size.
is usually used for inorganic chemicals. In
In order to attain size uniformity, screening or sieving
mechanical process, the materials are subjected into
is done. Figure 2 illustrates how sieving is done.
mechanical forces such as impact, compression,
shear or attrition. Figure 1 showed the mechanism of
the said mechanical forces.

Experiment 4. Comminution and Sieve Analysis By: Lu, Andrea Allen L.

CHE131L – A02 BS in Chemical Engineering
 Volume mean diameter is computed for the
determination of distribution of mass in a spray.

𝟐 ∑(𝑋𝑖/𝐷𝑝)
𝑆𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 = √
∑(𝑋𝑖/𝐷𝑝3 )

Eqn. 3 Surface volume diameter

Surface mean diameter is calculated for the

adsorption, crushing and light diffusion.

𝟏
𝑆𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 =
∑ 𝑿𝒊/𝑫𝒑

Eqn. 4 Sauter mean diameter

Sauter mean diameter is calculated in order to

determine the efficiency, mass transfer and catalytic
Figure 2. Sieving reactions.

Sieving or screening is a physical separation where,

process that divides particulates according to their
sizes. The sieves are arranged from larger mesh to Xi – mass fraction

smaller mesh allowing smaller particles to pass

through the aperture larger than their size. Rapid
vibrations are the mechanical force that allows
separation to happen. The following are the formulas
that are used for the calculations in sieve analysis.
∑ 𝑿𝒊/𝑫𝒑𝟐
𝐿𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 =
∑ 𝑿𝒊/𝑫𝒑𝟑
Eqn. 1 Length mean diameter
Length mean diameter is computed for the
comparison of droplet evaporation between
particles.
𝟑 𝟏
𝑉𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 = √
∑ 𝑿𝒊/𝑫𝒑𝟑
Eqn. 2 Volume mean diameter
Dp – Mesh diameter
EXPERIMENT OBJECTIVES
1. Familiarization in the use of a Wiley Mill and
Sieve shaker equipment to perform size
reduction and screening analysis of a chalk
sample.
2. Calculate the constants using Bond’s Law,
Kick’s Law, and Rittinger’s Law inherent to
size reduction.
3. Properly identify the standard sieve sizes
basing on the Tyler standard screening
equipment that needs to be used in a given
chalk particle size analysis setup.
4. Compute for the length mean diameter, the
volume mean diameter, the surface mean
diameter, the volume surface mean
diameter and the screen efficiency and plot

2
 the Particle Size Distribution based on the 13. Get the weight of the powdered chalk retained
data gathered. on each screen by subtracting the weight of the
screen from the weight of the screen after
METHODOLOGY
shaking.
14. Compute the mass fraction of the chalk on each
Materials:
screen.
 Ball Mill
 Tyler Standard Screens 15. Compute the average diameter of the particles
 Sieve Shakers for each fraction.
 Digital Balance
 Stop Watch 16. Make a graph of mass fraction versus average
 Brush diameter.
 Chalk
17. Calculate the length mean diameter, volume
1. Get 10 pieces of chalk and break them to mean diameter, surface mean diameter and
smaller pieces. Sauter mean diameter.
2. Grind the chalk in the Wiley mill.
3. Measure 50 grams of the powdered chalk. DATA AND RESULTS
4. Prepare the Tyler standard screens and the Table 1. Screen Analysis
bottom pan to be used. Brush them to remove Mesh D Dp Mi Xi
any adhering particles that block the screen (mm) (mm) (g)

holes. 18 1.00 0.606 9 0.18

5. Weigh each the clean screen and the bottom 70 0.212 0.181 9 0.18

pan. 100 0.150 0.150 4 0.08

6. Nest the screens together with the lowest mesh Bottom pan 28 0.56

number at the top and the highest mesh number Total ∑𝒎𝒊 = 𝟓𝟎 ∑𝑿𝒊 = 𝟏

at the bottom. Place the bottom pan.

7. Put the powdered chalk on the top screen and
Table 2. Summation of required data for calculation
place the cover.
of various diameters
8. Mount the screens on the sieve shaker and
shake the assembly for 15 minutes.
Ʃ mi , g Ʃ xi/Dp Ʃ xi/Dp2 Ʃ xi/Dp3 Ʃ xi

9. Get the weight of the bottom pan,

50 1.8248 9.5400 54.8680 1

10. Shake the assembly again for 5 minutes.

Table 3. Mean Diameters
11. Weigh again the bottom pan, If the weight of the
bottom pan equals the weight of the deadpan
Length mean diamter 0.1920
from previous reading, continue the next step. (𝑳𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 ),mm
However, if there is an increase in the weight of Volume mean diameter 0.3178
(𝑽𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 ), mm
the bottom pan. Procedure nos. 9 to no. 11 after Surface Mean Diameter 0.2036
shaking again the particles for 5 minutes. (𝑺𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 ),mm
Sauter mean Diameter 0.7743
12. Determine the weight of each screen with the (𝑺𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 ),mm
retained powdered chalk after shaking.

3
 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑
𝑋𝑖 =
ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION, & CONCLUSION 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑘
9𝑔
=
50 𝑔
The results in table 1 after placing the pan with chalk
particles in the sieve showed that after the 𝑿𝒊 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟖
experiment the pan have the highest amount of
𝑋𝑖 0.18 0.18
chalk indicating that the particles of the chalk that = =
𝐷𝑝 1.00 𝑚𝑚
was crushed were much smaller than the mesh that
it passed through with.
𝑋𝑖 0.18 0.18
2
= 2
=
For table 2, the results obtained in table 1 were used
𝐷𝑝 1.00 𝑚𝑚2
in order to calculate the ratio between mass fraction 𝑋𝑖 0.18 0.18
3
= 3
=
and average particle diameter. 𝐷𝑝 1.00 𝑚𝑚3
In table 3, the length mean diameter, volume mean
diameter, surface diameter and Sauter mean
diameter was computed by using their respective For Table 2
formula which the values for each of it was based on
∑ 𝒎𝒊 = 𝒎𝒊 𝟏 + 𝒎 𝒊 𝟐 + 𝒎𝒊 𝟑
the result in table 2.
The experiment was able to exercise the concept
∑ 𝒎𝒊 = 𝟗 + 𝟗 + 𝟒 + 𝟐𝟖
behind size reduction and sieving analysis. For
recommendation, in order to lessen the amount of = 50 g
the particle in the bottom pan, smaller mesh
∑ 𝑿𝒊 = 𝑿𝒊𝟏 + 𝑿𝒊𝟐 + 𝑿𝒊𝟑
diameter should be used.

= 0.18 + 0.18 + 0.08 + 0.56

REFERENCES
1. Rhodes, M. (2008). Introduction to Particle ∑ 𝑿𝒊 = 𝟏

Technology.
2. Patel, R., Baria, A. & Patel, N. (2008). An
𝑿𝒊 𝑿𝒊 𝑿𝒊 𝑿𝒊
overview of size reduction technologies in the ∑ = ( )𝟏 + ( )𝟐 + ( )𝟑
𝑫𝒑 𝑫𝒑 𝑫𝒑 𝑫𝒑
field of pharmaceutical manufacturing. Asian
Journal of Pharmaceutics. = 0.2970 + 0.9945 +0.5333

𝑿𝒊
∑ = 𝟏. 𝟖𝟐𝟒𝟖
APPENDICES 𝑫𝒑

𝑿𝒊 𝑿𝒊 𝑿𝒊 𝑿𝒊
∑ 𝟐
= ( 𝟐 )𝟏 + ( 𝟐 )𝟐 + ( 𝟐 )𝟑
Sample Calculation for 1 mm aperture 𝑫𝒑 𝑫𝒑 𝑫𝒑 𝑫𝒑
For Table 1
= 0.4901 + 5.4943 + 3.5556
𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 = 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 − 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏
𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 = 502 𝑔 − 493 𝑔 𝑿𝒊
∑ = 𝟗. 𝟓𝟒𝟎𝟎
𝑫𝒑𝟐
=9g

4
 𝑿𝒊 𝑿𝒊 𝑿𝒊 𝑿𝒊
∑ 𝟑
= ( 𝟑 )𝟏 + ( 𝟑 )𝟐 + ( 𝟑 )𝟑
𝑫𝒑 𝑫𝒑 𝑫𝒑 𝑫𝒑

= 0.8088 + 30.3555 + 23.7037

𝑿𝒊
∑ = 𝟓𝟒. 𝟖𝟔𝟖𝟎
𝑫𝒑𝟑

For Table 3

∑ 𝑿𝒊/𝑫𝒑𝟐
𝑳𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 =
∑ 𝑿𝒊/𝑫𝒑𝟑

𝟒.𝟖𝟑𝟖
=
𝟏.𝟐𝟓𝟖

𝑳𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟎 𝒎𝒎

𝟑 𝟏
𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 = √
∑ 𝑿𝒊/𝑫𝒑𝟑

𝟑 𝟏
= √
𝟐𝟎.𝟗𝟑𝟕

𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒕𝒆𝒓 = 𝟎. 𝟑𝟏𝟕𝟖 𝒎𝒎

𝟐 ∑(𝑋𝑖/𝐷𝑝)
𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 = √
∑(𝑋𝑖/𝐷𝑝3 )

𝟐 𝟏.𝟐𝟓𝟖
= √
𝟐𝟎.𝟗𝟑𝟕

𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 = 𝟎. 𝟐𝟎𝟑𝟔 𝒎𝒎

𝟏
𝑺𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 =
∑ 𝑿𝒊/𝑫𝒑
𝟏
=
𝟏.𝟐𝟓𝟖
𝑺𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 = 𝟎. 𝟕𝟕𝟒𝟑 𝒎𝒎