TRIDENT ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY, BBSR

SEMINAR ON
CRYOGENIC GRINDING

PRESENTED BY
SUSHANT KUMAR SETHY
Regd. No.- 1301289396
BRANCH – MECHANICAL(B 2)
CONTENTS:
 Introduction
 Problems faced in Conventional Grinding
 Cryogenic Grinding
 Cryogen
 Cryogenic Grinding System
 Working Process Flow Chart Of Cryogenic Grinding
 Cryogenic Grinding Video
 Performance Data &Technical Data
 Merits & Demerits
 Field of applications
 Conclusion
INTRODUCTION:
 The word “ CRYOGENICS’ originates from the Greek word “cryo ”, which means creation
(or) production by means of cold.

 It deals with low temperatures as low as below −150 °C or 123 K to absolute zero.

 Cryogenics is the study of low temperatures and behavior of materials.

 Cryogenic Grinding technology can efficiently grind most tough materials & can also
facilitate Cryogenic recycling of tough composite materials & multi component scrap.

 It employs a cryogenic process to embrittle and grind materials to achieve consistent

particle size for a wide range of products.
PROBLEMS FACED IN CONVENTIONAL GRINDING PROCESS:

High heat generation.

Introduction of tensile residual stress.
Less tool life.
Clogging and Gumming of the mill.
Oxidation.
 Now….
elimination of all these problems are
required……..

Here comes the necessity

of
CRYOGENIC
GRINDING
CRYOGENIC GRINDING:
 Also known as freezer milling/ freezer grinding /
cryomilling.

 It is the act of cooling/chilling a material and then

reducing it to smaller particle size.

 It utilizes the cooling effect of liquid nitrogen to

embrittle materials during the grinding process.

 Cryogenic grinding process does not damage or

alter the chemical composition of the material in
any way.

 Materials which are elastic in nature, having low

melting points, low combustion temperatures ,
sensitive to oxygen can be ideally machined by
cryogenic grinding process
CRYOGEN:
 The extremely low temperature are produced by using
substances called “ cryogens” such as liquid nitrogen and
liquid helium.

 All cryogenic liquids are gases at normal temperatures and

pressures. So, these gases must be cooled below room
temperature to liquefy them.

 There are several cryogenic liquids such as Nitrogen,

helium, neon, argon, krypton, hydrogen, methane and
liquefied natural gas etc..

 Liquid Nitrogen are the most commonly used.

CRYOGENIC GRINDING SYSTEM:
• The cryogenic grinding system consists of two main units, namely…

1) Precooling unit and

2) Grinding unit.
1). Precooling unit

 The cryogenic precooler is a cooling device made up of a screw conveyor enclosed in a

properly insulated barrel and a system to introduce liquid nitrogen into the barrel,
thereby providing refrigeration (liquid and cold gas) within the system.

 The function of the cryogenic precooler is to remove the heat from the material before it
enters the grinder.
It consists of a screw conveyor assembly, an air
compressor, a liquid nitrogen (LN2) dewar , a power
transmission arrangement and control panels.

It reduce the temperature of the material below its brittle

point as well as the freezing point before it enters the grinder.

The temperature of the precooler and the feed rate to the

grinder are control to minimise the loss of quality of the
final powdered material.

Consumption of liquid nitrogen and the operating cost

are important considerations and matters of concern for a
cryogenic precooling system.

The liquid nitrogen losses can be minimized to a great

extent by proper consideration of the design and insulation of
the precooler.
The operation of grinding was performed by impact and attrition.

The grinder was operated by an electric motor.

The ground powder was collected in the collector pan from an outlet
and the nitrogen vapour let out.
WORKING PROCESS FLOW CHART OF CRYOGENIC GRINDING :

Cleaning of material

Loading in Hopper through Vacuum Conveyor

Feeding in cryogenic screw conveyor

Chilling of material with liquid nitrogen

Feeding of material in Grinders

Grinding of material at low temperature and inert atmosphere

Extracting low temperature from grounded material

Packing of Spices
CRYOGENIC GRINDING VIDEO:
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND CRYOGENIC GRINDING SYSTEM:

Traditional Grinding System Cryogenic Grinding System

• The heat is developed inside the grinding • Temperature below 0oC inside the grinding
mill mill
• This in turn can lead to the grinding • Not in Cryogenic process
elements become greasy (oily) and even
harms the machine by blocking it.

• High energy consumption • Low energy consumption

• High capacity motors are required to grind • Low capacity motors are required to grind
the material the material
• No control on particle size • Particle size are under controlled
*depending on feed material & instrument & configuration/setting.
MERITS & DE-MERITS:
 MERITS:
 Increased throughput & power saving.
 Finer particle size.
 More uniform particle distribution.
 Lower grinding cost.
 No heat generation.
 Prevent oxidation.

 DE-MERITS:
 High operation cost.
 Maintenance cost is above the range.
 Filtering of Screw Conveyer is Difficult.
FIELDS OF APPLICATION:
 Cryo Grinding of Steel;
The large amount of Heat is generated
during machining/grinding at high speed &
feed rate raises the temperature at the THERMOSETS
cutting zones excessively.
To overcome this problem liquid Nitrogen is
fed to the grinding spot.

 Thermoplastics & Thermo sets;

To which Nylon, PVC, Polyethylene,
synthetic rubber are commonly used in
TNT POWDER
powder form, but not limited to, a variety of
applications such as adhesives, powdered
coatings, fillers & plastic sintering & molding.

 Explosives;
To grind the explosive materials(TNT)
below their Ignition Temperature. SPICES

 Spices;
To overcome the volatility of Etheric Oils
(gives the taste & smell of spices).
CONCLUSION:
 Cryogenic grinding technology can efficiently grind most tough
materials and can also facilitate Cryogenic recycling of tough
composite materials.

It employs a cryogenic process to embrittle and grind materials to

achieve consistent particle size for a wide range of products.

The cryogenic process also has a unique capability for recycling

difficult to separate composite materials.
THANK YOU