Q:how to calculate ball mill balls filling percentage

There are various methods: (i) by measuring the free height above the media in the chambers of the
mill, (ii) from the kW drawn by the mill main motor,

Q:Mill Reject from Clinker VRM

We have Loesche mill for clinker grinding and we produce mainly fly ash PPC cement, we have removed
the damring fitted on the top of mill table, it has observed that there is zero mill reject at mill reject
conveyor. Is it normal or do we have any further cushion to optimize mill performance in terms of energy
consumption, production rate. if yes please let us know how?

It sounds as if all the material pasing over the table is sufficiently fine to be lifted the separator. The only
remaining opportunity would be to reduce the grinding pressure.

Q:EPS dust emission problem

Hi sir. how we can omit or reduce EPS dust emission without water injection system in ball mill unit? our
water injection disable 15 years ego and we cant able it now. Regards Hamedi

An electrostatic precipitator relies on the condition (temperature and humidity) of the gas passing
through for its collection efficiency. If you cannot properly condition the gases then the only option is to
reduce the flow of the gas and the throughput of the mil l.Back to

Q:Dr. More blaine means more weight?

If my blaine is 2800 and packing bag is 50 kg, if my blaine 4400 and same packing bag will use?

Maybe not. The higher the Blaine the more air is likely to be entrained with the cement powder, so you
might need a bigger bag to get 50kg into it.

TopQ:Water spray on cement ball mill shell

Is water spray is advisable on cement grinding ball mill with the aim to reduce cement temperature? 1- If
advisable how much quantity is required to be sprayed? & will reducer the temperature how much?

It is not advisable. Much better is to ensure sufficient air flow through the mill and if necessary to inject
water into the mill for evaporative cooling.

Back to TopQ:High blaine impact short term & long term strength

What the rule of high blaine & low blaine on short term & long term cement strength

High Blaine will boost the short-term strength of cement. Longer-term strength will be less affected. The
Blaine has an impact on the rate of strength growth of the cement.

Q:Sir,How to Calculate the Velocity of VRM in Nozzle area.. ?Pls explain

You would need to measure the total gas flow into the mill and the total cross sectional area of the ports
in the nozzle ring. One divided by the other will give you the gas velocity.
Elaboration Blaine to kwh

Will you please elaborate Blaine to kWh relationship that you mentioned earlier that is 1.5.??

The energy consumption is related to the surface area to which the material is ground raised to the
power 1.5. Please send an email to admin@whitehopleman.com is you need further explanation.

Q:OPC density and Sp. gravity

OPC density is in the range of 1.3 to 1.45 kg/m3 and specific gravity is 3.15. If specific gravity is a ratio of
the density of a particular material with that of a reference/standard material, in this case OPC density
and specific gravity should be more or less the same.

But it is not a ratio. The bulk density is the dnesity of a powder including the air entrained in the powder.
The specific gravity will be higher as there is no air involved .

Q:Blaine to Kwh relationship

Is there is any relationship between Blaine, residue with kWh for a ball mill

Certainly. The energy consumption in kWh/t of cement produced is reckoned to be proportional to the
surface area of the cement raised to the power 1.5.

Q:How do i calculate circulation factor in roller press.

How do i calculate circulation factor in roller press. We are having closed circuit cement mill ,roller press
as a pre-grinding system and single chamber ball mill. clinker is being added in roller press while gypsum
and fly ash is being added in ball mill directly.

You are going to have to take samples around the roll press and measure sieve residues. You should
then be able to estimate using the principles of a mass balance. Often there circulation around a roll
press is simply estimate by recirculating the outer edge product from the press, in which caset you
should be able to estiimate by inspection and calculation .Back to

Q:325 improvement by adding water

We have an open circuit ball mill, we notice that when we take off the cooling water that the 325
increase by 2.5-3%. What would be the scientific explanation for this

You need to explain what the "325"

TopQ:GRINDING MEDIA PATTERN

We want to use ordinary portland cement grinding mill as portland slag grinding mill. What changes we
are required to make for this requirement in terms of grinding media pattern. Slag usedis blast furnace
slag and granulometry is 2-4 mms. Slag % used in cement is 40 %

nant(India)
As the slag is finer than the clinker you do not need the crushing effect of the largerballs in the first
chamber of the mill. However, as you are going to grind the clinker andslag together you must still be
sure to sufficiently crush the clinker. Much better would beto separately grind the slag and clinker in
different mills configured for each material andthen to blend the fine products in the required
proportions.

Q:What is difference of cement PSD at same blain of different grinding machines - VRM,RP+BALL MILL &
BALL MILL.

A vertical rooler mill will have the narrowest particle size distribution, a rool press & ballmill
combination a wider psd and a ball mill thye widest psd.

Q:What's the ideal clinker size both for clinker production & cement grinding?

What would be impact of oversized Clinker in cement grinding & what the normal range of Clinker size?
(2)If two independent cement grinding units (a) ball mill (b) roller press. Doeshard grinding would same
effect on these two grinding units efficiency?

Over size clinker requires more grinding work to reach a target fineness. Therefore theeffect will be raise
the energy consumption in grinding or reduce the production rate fromthe mill. The effect is likely to be
more pronounced on the ball mill. With the roll press theremight be the need to adjust the recirculation
around the roll press.Back to

Q:OPC Grades

What are the Apple to Apple difference in OPC grade 32.5,42.5 & 52.5?

The 32.5, 42.5 and 52.5 grades relate to the 28-day compressive strength attained by as tandard mortar
mix made with the cement. If they are OPC cements then they are composed of at least 95% clinker and
gypsum with a maximum of 5% of other additions in the cement (flyash, limestone, etc.) As the
composition is fixed the question is how arethese different strength grades achieved from a fixed
composition? There are 2 ways: (i) bythe fineness of grinding of the cement, and (ii) by the hydraulic
reactivity of clinker in thecement.Back to

Q:cement ball mill grindability

How we can measure the grindingbility of cement ball mill? & from chemical composition?

A ball mill does not have a "grindability". It is the material, i.e. clinker, that has agrindability. That is
normally measured in a laboratory mill and is the electrical energyrequired to produce a given fineness
of grinding. Grindability of clinker can be directlyrelated to the C2S content of the clinker. That can be
calculated by the Bogue methodologyfrom the chemical composition. However, Bogue minera;logy is
not the same as actualmineralogy. Better to measure c;linker grindability in a laboratory ball mill.A ball
mill has a"grinding capability". Bond's 3rd law nof comminution can be used to assess that
grindingcapability. This relies on a Bond "Work Index" of 13 kWh/ton for clinker. This equates to
theclinker grindability.Back to
TopQ:what type/model of osepa required for mill size(dia-3.8*13 meter)

need a osepa becoz of wear rate is so high, now we r using osepa N-1500

You need to calculate the specific loading on the separator in terms of the tonnes perhour per m2 of the
separator and also the specific air load in terms of the kgs of feed tothe separator per m3 of air. You will
then be able to assess whether the separator isoverloaded and whether you need a larger
separator.Back to TopQ:

High residue

What could be the possible reason behind high cement residue (greater then 5% on 90 microns) even our
rest of the noms are with in range ( feed rate, blaine & kWh)

I presume there is no problem with the 90 micron sieve? If that is OK then there must bea change in the
grindability of the feed to the mill.Back to TopQ

:Ball mill piece weight

What is meant by piece weight of grinding media, why calculating for ball mill and how to calculate piece
weight of grinding media.

It is common to calculate the average ball, or piece, weight of the media in the different chambers of a
ball mill. Also the total surface area of the charge in chambers. Higher piece weights are required in the
first chamber for crushing the clinker. In the second chamber ahigh charge surface area is required to
achieve the fine grinding of cement. How highdepends on the required fineness of the cement. Back to
Q:I want to ask about the reasons of oil leakage?

Dear Dr. clark There is Chronically oil leakage at gearbox and vibration I want to ask about the reasons of
oil leakage?

Well, it sounds as if the seals of the gearbox are broken.Back to

Q:IDEAL BLAINE & RESIDUE

What should be ideal blaine & residue (@ 90 microns) for a ball mill with multicyclone)

There is no "ideal". It depends on the fineness that you need in the mill product. However, the fineness
that can be achieved will be dependent on the cut size of the separator. You need to construct a Tromp
Curve for the separator.

Q:What is difference between circulating factor and circulating load?

What is difference between circulating factor and circulating load?if circulating factor is higher side what
is effect on separator efficiency and what is ideal circulating factor?

Circulation factor and circulating load are the same thing. The load is expressed in total tonnes while the
factor is the load relative to the fresh feed rate to the mill. Ideal circulatingload or factor depends on the
separator to some extent. A factor around 2 is typical. If too high the separator can become overloaded
and cease to cut the feed as requured.
Q:Is possible to produce microcement in a closed circuit ball mill?

Finesses < 20 microns

A ball mill can grind very finely. More important will be the separator and cut size of that separator. Do
you have a Tromp curve for the separator?

TopQ:HOW TO MAINTAIN SURFACE IN OPEN CIRCUIT CEMENT GRINDING IN A TWO CHAMBER MILL.WE
HAVE HI CH-ROME BALLS

Our clinker is having 45 % C3S, 30% liquid content. We are grinding cement in open circuit miils & two
chamber. We maintain 3200 cm2/gm fineness. We are maintaining full grinding media as per
recommendations. Of late we are not able to maintain fineness of cement .Mill vent volume is
maintained constant. Dr Clarke pl suggest for improvement of the fineness of cement and reasons for the
same . Anant(India)

Two chambers is short for an open circuit mill. Perhaps the grinding path length isinsufficient to achieve
the required cement fineness. You must ensure that the lining of thesecond chamber of the mill is
classifying the grinding media. if that is the case then theonly possibility to control the fineness of the
product is to vary the feed rate to the mill.Back to

TopQ:1-Effect of high clinker temperture & its control through excess water injection. 2- Flushingof
clinker from pregrinding roller ?

Q1-To get maximum benefit of WHR our clinker temperature inter cement ball mill at 150C,but we are
reduce the same by multi water spray before ball mill. What it's disadvantages. Q2-Our has a bin of
30tons above roller whom one discharge is for ball mill through belt conveyor while the other line
recalculate Clinker back to roller bin when we consume mix clinker ( silo & yard) we face flushing of
Clinker from roller resulting sudden drop in it bin might be due to difference in bulk densities or fine
clinker recirculation, this flushing normally chock our feed belt to mill. How can this flushing can be
minimized or eliminate.Advice, please.

It seems the cooler efficiency is being sacrificed to improve the electricity generation from the waste
heat recovery system. The hot clinker potentially results in safety issues .There should be no problems
with water injection rates up to 5% of the total mill through put in tonnes per hour. However, you must
ensure that the temperature of the mill

exit air remains above the dew point. It is normal practice to have some slab recirculation tothe roll
press feed bin to avoid vibration problems. However, the amount of slabre circulation required will be
dependent on the particle size distribution of the pressed slabs. My suggestion is to direct the yard
clinker directly to the ball mill rather than the rollpress feed bin.

TopQ:Please Sir, i want to know the function of grinding aid for cement mill

Grinding aids in cement grinding in ball mills allow the production rate of the mill to be increased at a
constant fineness of grinding of the cement product. This is achieved byreducing inter-particle attraction
forces of the material in the mill.
Q:how to minimize the LOI of cement

The loss on ignition of cement will normally arise from the additions other than clinker to the cement
such as gypsum or limestone. Therefore the way to minimize LOI is to minimize those additions to the
cement.

Q:grinding aid

what is the better grinding aid for up our production & is this additive - grinding aid has effects for the
erosion of balls in the mill

There are many proprietory suppliers of grinding aids such as Grace, Sika, Chryso, Mapei,BASF, etc.
Grinding aids will have no effect on the erosiion of the grinding balls in the mill.Back to

Q:Can we install injection system over Pan conveyors ( Clinker outlet from cooler)

Dr, Clark . we have the clinker with high temperature over 250 deg. C from Clinker cooler the clinker feed
belt conveyors which has bad result on the belt . Can we install water injection system over the Pan
Conveyors , what is your advice ?

I would not install water injection over the pan conveyor. There are likely to be problems of rusting and
damage to the pan conveyor. I would suggest water injection above the cooler bed and increasing the
flow of air into the cooler through the under-grate fans.

Q:When increase mill outlet temp of vrm cm , what affect on vrm cm

The pressure drop across the mill is normally used to adjust the feed rate to the mill. That will also be
affected by the mill outlet temperature.

Q:Central Drive Vs Side Drive for Modern Ball Mills

Which is better to use Central or side drive system for a ball mill with 60 tph cement production capacity,
we know that in terms of efficiency Central is better, but in terms of investment Side is more economical.
Is there is any other advantages or disadvantages for both.

You also need to take into consideration the reliability and maintenance implications. Again there are
pros and cons.

TopQ:Blaine goes down every day in night shift

We have a small ball mill for grinding GBFS and we observe every day a drop in the product Blaine from
4000 cm2/gm to about 3850 cm2/gm. We think the weather impacts the air flow and the moisture of the
feed material, what could be other reasons or solution

Certainly ambient temperature and humidity conditions could be the explanation. I presume there is no
variation in the incoming voltage and electricity quality between day sand nights
Q:What will be the number of bricks of ISO shapes 320 and 620 for kiln dia 3.8 m ?119 x B320 and 38 x
B620.Back to

Q:What is the correlation between blaines and sieve residue of cement?

Dear Sir, Please tell me whether it is possible when the sieve residue of cement is high the blaines will
also be high?Under what mill circuit we can maintain this?

It is possible. That phenomena is observed when clinker has been stored outside and

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TopQ:Setting time & Strength

We produce CEM II 32.5N.The setting time average 140mins while 2-day strength is 14MPa.Our
competitor has initial setting time of about 190-220mins but 2-day strength of above 20MPa. The
customers (especially block makers) always complain that our cement do not set as fast as that of the
competitor but I think they are confusing the early strength with setting time. All attempts to convince
the sales team team about this is abortive. What do you think is the problem? Is setting time not more of
theory than reality?

Setting time is different to early strength development and not necessarily related to early strength
development. Block makers need early strength development rather than quick setting. It is not
surprising that they prefer your competitor's cement as it has high erearly strength. Back to

Q:Slag Cement Vs Portland cement

Dear sir, Please explaine me that, Why there is higher limit(Aprox 10%) of MgO in Slag Cement, while in
Ordinary Portland Cement MgO limit is 6% only.

I have never heard of that difference in the MgO specifications for OPC and slag cement .I presume it is
because the slag contains more MgO and that MgO is combined in a mineral with silicate rather than
being present as free MgO (periclase).

Q:Cement is not setting

Hi, Dr. Clark, we always 'the cement is not setting' comment from our clients. In our lab process the
setting time shows 100 minutes initial setting time by the addition of 3% gypsum. Let me know how to
control the cement setting time and what are the factors involved in the setting time other than gypsum.

Hmmm. That is a difficult one. You have an initial setting time of 100 minutes using the Vicat needle
penetration test? In that case there should be no problem unless the temperature is very low. Which
country are you in?Back to

:what is the throughput in a ball mill if i feeding say 170tph

what is the throughput in a ball mill if i feeding say 170tph

The output of a ball mill equals the feeding rate. We cannot create mass in a ball mill (orany other
process). So conservation mass means that what goes in must come out.

Q:cement temprature is high 135 maximum what effect in cement. gie me reasonAt this temperature
the gypsum in the cement will be fully dehydrated to an hydraite and there is likely to be coating of the
grinding media and loss of grinding efficiency in the mill. The reason is inadequate cooling in the mill.
That cooling should be provided by ambientair sweeping the mill but is also likely to require water
injection dependent on the dimension of the mill.

Q:What is Residue and blaines?

what is the difference between them?

They are both used as a measurement of the fineness of powders. Blaine is the surface area of the grains
of the powder in cm2/g. The higher the Blaine the finer is the powder. Residue is the amount of the
powder retained on a sieve of a particular mesh size. The higher the residue the coarser is the powder.

Q:sir, how to reduce opc cement temperature ?There are lots of ways: (i) ventilation of the mill by
ambient air and control of that, (ii)water injection into the mill, (iii) clinker stock control to not feed the
mill with hot clinker,(iv) ventilation of the separator with ambient air and control of that, (iv) installation
of acement cooler on the fines from the separator, (v) installation of a cooler on the rejects from the
separator.

TopQ:Stone adding at finish grinding

Sir, Presently we are adding 15% of Silicious stone (CaO 25-30%) in Cement Mill along with

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Clinker. We found strength (3d,7d &28d) is very satisfactory and setting time of cement ismaintained as
require. Is there any possibility to increase it further as present comp. strength is much above than
minimum requirement. Presently Stone is crushed and screened before adding. Regards

That sounds as if it is working very well.Back to

TopQ:what are techniques used for removing heat in cement grinding?

how to prevent cement setting in grinding process of cement?

The temperature of cement grinding mills is controlled by a combination of ventilation of the mill by
ambient air and water injection into the mill to achieve evaporative cooling. The requirement for water
injection depends on the dimensions of the mill and the temperature of the clinker ground in the mill,
among other factors. There should be no tendency for the cement to set in the grinding process of
cement.
Q:how to calculate gypsum requirement / feed rate n cement mill?

how to calculate gypsum requirement / feed rate n cement mill?

This cannot be caalculated. It is dependent on the C3A content of the clinker and the hydraulic reactivity
of that C3A. You need to conduct optimum sulphate trials to determine the optimum gypsum addition
rate to cement.

Q:Cement mill seperator

Hi sir We have a closed circuit cement mill and documentary of the seperator is SKS-Z-3500/290/4*3200 .
The seperator included of dynamic and static separator The static seperator have 100 blades (50blades
in up and50blade in down). The rotation of the seperator is between 43 to 170 and it work always in 115-
120 RPM and the blaine is 2900-3100 in opc.The efficiency of the seperator is between 65-70% .(over
screen 90mic) AT first: 1.The efficiency of this seperator is good or Bad? 2.How I can improve the
efficiency By the change of the distance between the blades in statitcs seperator?(in now The distance is
8-16 cm) Best regard M.Bahrampour

65-70% separator efficiency is mid-range, neither good not bad. How are you assessingseparator
efficiency? You will have to conduct trials with different setting of the separatorblades and remeasuring
the separator efficiency.Back to

TopQ:Dr. What is concrete workability and what is the best way to measure workability inlaboratory
beside slump test?

Workability is a combination of the ease of placing concrete in a mould and the consistency of the
concrete, i.e. the tendency of the concrete to segregate into its constituent fractions. It is related with
the quantity and the reactivity of the C3A component of the clinker and the amount and mineral form of
the calcium sulphate in the cement .Besides slump you can get some indication of workability from the
flow of standard mortar measured on a flow table and the water demand of the mortar to achieve a
certain flow. This is one of the most difficult quality parameters to control requiring that the gypsum
addition to cement be matched to the amount and reactivity of the C3A in clinker and the temperature
regime in the cement be closely controlled.

Q:What is the difference between fineness in blaine and in residue? Can we correlate bothtogether?

You can expect there to be an inverse relationship between Blaine and residue. As Blaine rises so
residue at a particular sieve size should fall. The relationship will not be perfect as other factors such as
the cement mill configuration and clinker grindability will affect both Blaine and residue. That is why
both should ideally be monitored and controlled.

TopQ:Dr. If we substitute natural gypsum with synthetic gypsum and the only difference is the pHof the
synthetic gypsum is very low (between 1 - 3), will it affect the quality of cementproduced? Purity
content is almost similar for both.

Yes, I would expect this synthetic gypsum to affect the quality of the cement produced. The hydration of
cement produces calcium hydroxide as one of the reaction products. The
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acidity of the gypsum will react with that calcium hydroxide. Back to

Q:If we stored clinker at open stockpile where it was vulnerable to prehydration due to rainand
humidity,can we still used the clinker for cement grinding?If can, what is the best control parameter to
monitor its addition so that cement quality is maintain

You can still use the clinker with a controlled addition rate to the cement mill. Perhaps10 or 15%
maximum. You should control the fineness of grinding to a residue target rather than a surface area
target.

Q:Relationship between Fineness (Blaines) and TPH

Sir, I want to ask precisely if there is any formula to Calculate the relationship between fineness and Ton
per hour of Cement production. All I assumed is the Higher the Blaine's or Fineness the likelihood of the
drop in production ( Is this theory correct?). What techniques can be applied to Increase the fineness
without corresponding reduction in Production Output?. I will appreciate your prompt response to these
questions. Thank you .

Yes, there is an inverse relationship between increasing Blaine and the mill throughput in tonnes per
hour. To achieve greater fineness you need to complete more grinding work per unit of product so the
output of the mill goes down. The best way to increase fineness with no loss of output would be use
grinding aids. If these are already being used then some pre crushing of the feed to the mill in a hammer
mill or roll press. The amount of grinding work and the throughput rate of the mill are related to the
change in fineness that must be achieved. If you have a finer feed to the mill then less grinding work is
required.

Q:What is the difference in particle size distribution and strength between product from opencircuit
grinding (product coming out from mill will straight away drive into silo without gothrough separator for
material separation) and closed circuit grinding The particle size distribution will be wider with open
circuit grinding than with closed circuit grinding at equivalent Blaine. The separator has the effect of
sending coarse grains back to the mill for regrinding. This means there will also be less super-fines at the
equivalent Blaine. Whether the strength will be higher or lower depends on the Blaine. At low Blaine
(3000 cm2/g) I expect that the strength from an open circuit mill would be as high or even higher as a
closed circuit mill. At higher Blaine (4000 cm2/g) I expect that the strength from a closed circuit mill
would be higher.

Q:why the cement stick on the silo wall and the bulk trucks wall

why the cement stick on the silo wall and the bulk trucks wall.. our cement analysis is SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3
CaO MgO SO3 K2O Na2O 20.49 5.04 3.67 64.34 2.05 2.48 0.13 0.23 LSF SM AM C3S C2S C3A C4AF 97.95
2.35 1.38 55.01 11.92 7.17 11.14 Sieve Blain F.l 9 2950 1
The analysis of your cement is probably irrelevant. The alkalis are not high. The problem is most likely
delayed hydration of the gypsum in the cement. I will post my article" Horn blower's first command".
Read that for further explanation.

Q:effect of high L.O.I cement of concrete

Sir, We got one customer in need of cement of class 42.5N, the customer also wants the L.O.I of the
cement to be less than 5%, our limestone cement (Class 42.5N) have L.O.I of 7.5%. what do you think is
the effect of the high L.O.I value to concrete strength.

There will be no effect if your cement complies with class 42.5N. The EN197 standard makes the
composition of the cement irrelevant. It is performance based, i.e. you areguaranteeing that it will meet
42.5N.Back to

Q:Info: cement is getting lump in bags within two months; what is the remedy to be adoptedin the
manufacturing plant

Many cement companies use cement sacks including a plastic membrane between the layers of paper.
Sometimes lumps are formed due to the presence of syngenite in the cement. This can only be reduced
by control of the alkali cycle in the cement kiln.

Q:Dear Sir, please let me know in cement mill (ball mill/tube mill)the length of 1st chamber is

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A:A:less than 2nd chamber.. Awaiting for your valuable reply? (Ali)

Normally the length of the first chamber of ball mill is designed such that around 10kWof the mill motor
is drawn by the media in the first chamber of the mill. Normally about 1/3of the total mill length.

Q:Can the rate of quenching of the clinker affect the LOI of the cement? Will the LOI of the cement be
affected by the milling stage due to the temperature? Could there be re carbonation?

Certainly the cement milling temperature can affect the loss on ignition as the degree of gypsum
dehydration will be affected by the milling temperature. Re carbonation can occur to some extent by
long-term storage of the clinker