Gyratory Crusher

A gyratory crusher includes a solid cone set on a revolving shaft and placed within a
hollow body, which has conical or vertical sloping sides.

From: Handbook of Non-Ferrous Metal Powders, 2009

Related terms:

Crushers, Friction, Cone Crusher, Jaw Crusher, Primary Crusher, Reduction Ratio

View all Topics

Gyratory and Cone Crusher

In Mineral Processing Design and Operations (Second Edition), 2016

5.1 Introduction
Gyratory crushers were invented by Charles Brown in 1877 and developed by Gates
around 1881 and were referred to as a Gates crusher [1]. The smaller form is
described as a cone crusher. The larger crushers are normally known as primary
crushers as they are designed to receive run-on-mine (ROM) rocks directly from
the mines. The gyratory crushers crush to reduce the size by a maximum of about
one-tenth its size. Usually, metallurgical operations require greater size reduction;
hence, the products from the primary crushers are conveyed to secondary or cone
crushers where further reduction in size takes place. Here, the maximum reduction
ratio is about 8:1. In some cases, installation of a tertiary crusher is required where
the maximum reduction is about 10:1. The secondary crushers are also designed on
the principle of gyratory crushing, but the construction details vary.

Similar to jaw crushers, the mechanism of size reduction in gyratory crushers is

primarily by the compressive action of two pieces of steel against the rock. As the
distance between the two plates decreases continuous size reduction takes place.
Gyratory crushers tolerate a variety of shapes of feed particles, including slabby rock,
which are not readily accepted in jaw crushers because of the shape of the feed
opening.
> Read full chapter

Crushers and Grinders Except Ball

Mills and Rod Mills
Jean-Paul Duroudier, in Size Reduction of Divided Solids, 2016

4.1.9 Gyratory crusher performance

– The gyratory crusher can, just like a jaw crusher, accept boulder sizes close to
1.5 m (for the largest equipment).
– This crusher can handle products with a Mohs hardness that is not necessarily
less than 5.
– As is the case for jaw crushers, there is not any mutual sliding on grinding
surfaces, but simply rolling of the nut on concaves. Wear is then uniform and
minimum.
– However, the gyratory crusher is sensitive to jamming if it is fed with a
sticky or moist product loaded with fines. This inconvenience is less sensitive
with a single-effect jaw crusher because mutual sliding of grinding surfaces
promotes the release of a product that adheres to surfaces.
– Wear is maximum at the lower part, because at this location compression
forces are exerted on the entirety of grinding surfaces.
– The profile of active surfaces could be curved and studied as a function of
the product in a way to allow for work performed at a constant volume and,
as a result, a higher reduction ratio that could reach 20. Inversely, at a given
reduction ratio, effective streamlining could increase the capacity by 30%.
– The typical reduction ratio is bound to be between 6 and 8 and is similar that
of jaw equipment.
– Applying the crushing force by rolling the nut breaks flats and gives a product
that is more “cubic” than the jaw crusher.
– The largest-scale equipment can treat a flow with the magnitude of 4,000
tonne.h− 1.
– With a production rate and flow that are equal, the power consumed by a
gyratory crusher is similar to a jaw crusher.

4.1.9.1 Cone crusher

It functions according to the same kinetic principles as a gyratory crusher, but
instead of being suspended, the nut is supported at its base.

Compared to the gyratory crusher:

– its size and capacity are much smaller;

– its rotation speed is clearly much higher;

– the product fineness is much greater (up to 2 cm for a secondary crusher and
up to 3 mm for a tertiary crusher);
– the reduction ratio varies between 6 and 8.

Profiles of the chamber and the nut are adjusted to the desired fineness.

> Read full chapter

Mechanical Crushing and Grinding

Oleg D. Neikov, in Handbook of Non-Ferrous Metal Powders (Second Edition), 2019

Crushers
Crushers are widely used as a primary stage to produce the particulate product finer
than about 50–100 mm. They are classified as jaw, gyratory, and cone crushers based
on compression, cutter mill based on shear, and hammer crusher based on impact.

A jaw crusher consists essentially of two crushing plates, inclined to each other
forming a horizontal opening by their lower borders. Material is crushed between
a fixed and a movable plate by reciprocating pressure until the crushed product
becomes small enough to pass through the gap between the crushing plates. Jaw
crushers find a wide application for brittle materials. For example, they are used for
comminution of porous copper cake. A Fritsch jaw crusher with maximal feed size
95 mm, final fineness (depends on gap setting) 0.3–15 mm, and maximal continuous
throughput 250 Kg/h is shown in Fig. 2.8.
Fig. 2.8. Jaw crusher.

A gyratory crusher includes a solid cone set on a revolving shaft and placed within
a hollow body, which has conical or vertical sloping sides. Material is crushed when
the crushing surfaces approach each other and the crushed products fall through
the discharging opening.

Hammer crushers are used either as a one-step primary crusher or as a secondary

crusher for products from a primary crusher. They are widely used for crushing
hard metal scrap for different hard metal recycling processes. Pivoted hammers
are pendulous, mounted on the horizontal axes symmetrically located along the
perimeter of a rotor. Crushing takes place by the impact of material pieces with the
high speed moving hammers and by contact with breaker plates. A cylindrical grating
or screen is placed beneath the rotor. Materials are reduced to a size small enough
to pass through the openings of the grating or screen. The size of the product can
be regulated by changing the spacing of the grate bars or the opening of the screen.

The feature of the hammer crushers is the appearance of elevated pressure of air in
the discharging unit of the crusher and underpressure in the zone around the shaft
close to the inside surface of the body side walls. Thus, the hammer crushers also
act as high-pressure, forced-draught fans. This may lead to environmental pollution
and product losses in fine powder fractions. A design for a hammer crusher (Fig. 2.9)
essentially allows a decrease of the elevated pressure of air in the crusher discharging
unit [5]. The A-zone beneath the screen is communicated through the hollow ribs
and openings in the body side walls with the B-zone around the shaft close to the
inside surface of body side walls. As a result, the circulation of suspended matter
in the gas between A and B zones is established and the high pressure of air in the
discharging unit of crusher is reduced.
Fig. 2.9. Hammer crusher.

> Read full chapter

Mechanical Crushing and Grinding

Oleg D. Neikov, in Handbook of Non-Ferrous Metal Powders, 2009

Crushers
Crushers are widely used as a primary stage to produce the particulate product finer
than about 50–100 mm in size. They are classified as jaw, gyratory and cone crushers
based on compression, cutter mill based on shear and hammer crusher based on
impact.

A jaw crusher consists essentially of two crushing plates, inclined to each other
forming a horizontal opening by their lower borders. Material is crushed between
a fixed and a movable plate by reciprocating pressure until the crushed product
becomes small enough to pass through the gap between the crushing plates. Jaw
crushers find a wide application for brittle materials. For example, they are used for
comminution of porous copper cake.

A gyratory crusher includes a solid cone set on a revolving shaft and placed within
a hollow body, which has conical or vertical sloping sides. Material is crushed when
the crushing surfaces approach each other and the crushed products fall through
the discharging opening.

Hammer crushers are used either as a one-step primary crusher or as a secondary

crusher for products from a primary crusher. They are widely used for crushing of
hard metal scrap for different hard metal recycling processes.
Pivoted hammers are pendulous, mounted on the horizontal axes symmetrically
located along the perimeter of a rotor and crushing takes place by the impact of
material pieces with the high speed moving hammers and by contact with breaker
plates. A cylindrical grating or screen is placed beneath the rotor. Materials are
reduced to a size small enough pass through the openings of the grating or screen.
The size of product can be regulated by changing the spacing of the grate bars or
the opening of the screen.

The feature of the hammer crushers is the appearance of elevated pressure of air in
the discharging unit of the crusher and underpressure in the zone around of the
shaft close to the inside surface of the body side walls. Thus, the hammer crushers
also act as high-pressure forced-draught fans. This may lead to environmental
pollution and product losses in fine powder fractions.

A design for a hammer crusher (Figure 2.6) allows essentially a decrease of the
elevated pressure of air in the crusher discharging unit [5]. The A-zone beneath the
screen is communicated through the hollow ribs and openings in the body side
walls with the B-zone around the shaft close to the inside surface of body side walls.
As a result, circulation of suspended matter in the gas between A- and B-zones is
established and high pressure of air in the discharging unit of crusher is reduced.

Figure 2.6. Hammer crusher.

> Read full chapter

Developments in iron ore comminu-

tion and classification technologies
A. Jankovic, in Iron Ore, 2015

8.2.1 Crushers
Crushers are machines that use a rigid surface to compress and break large rocks
into smaller rocks. They come in many varieties, and a summary of different crusher
types is provided in Table 8.1.

Table 8.1. Comparison of different crusher types

Crusher type Typical process Maximum feed Typical maximum Typical capacities
stage size (mm) product size (mm) (t/h)
Gyratory crusher Primary 1500 200–300 1200-over 5000
Jaw crusher Primary 1400 200–300 Up to 1600
Horizontal impact Primary/sec- 1300 200–300 Up to 1800
crusher ondary
Cone crusher Secondary  450  60–80 Up to 1200
Cone crusher Tertiary  150     < 30 Up to 1000

Jaw crushers are mainly used as primary crushers to produce material that can be
transported by belt conveyors to the next crushing stages. The crushing process takes
place between a fixed jaw and a moving jaw. The moving jaw dies are mounted on
a pitman that has a reciprocating motion. The jaw dies must be replaced regularly
due to wear. Figure 8.1 shows two basic types of jaw crushers: single toggle and
double toggle. In the single toggle jaw crusher, an eccentric shaft is installed on the
top of the crusher. Shaft rotation causes, along with the toggle plate, a compressive
action of the moving jaw. A double toggle crusher has, basically, two shafts and two
toggle plates. The first shaft is a pivoting shaft on the top of the crusher, while the
other is an eccentric shaft that drives both toggle plates. The moving jaw has a pure
reciprocating motion toward the fixed jaw. The crushing force is doubled compared
to single toggle crushers and it can crush very hard ores. The jaw crusher is reliable
and robust and therefore quite popular in primary crushing plants. The capacity of
jaw crushers is limited, so they are typically used for small or medium projects up to
approximately 1600 t/h. Vibrating screens are often placed ahead of the jaw crushers
to remove undersize material, or scalp the feed, and thereby increase the capacity of
the primary crushing operation.
Figure 8.1. Jaw crusher schematics(Courtesy of Metso) (single toggle crusher and
double toggle crusher).

Both cone and gyratory crushers, as shown in Figure 8.2, have an oscillating shaft.
The material is crushed in a crushing cavity, between an external fixed element (bowl
liner) and an internal moving element (mantle) mounted on the oscillating shaft
assembly. An eccentric shaft rotated by a gear and pinion produces the oscillating
movement of the main shaft. The eccentricity causes the cone head to oscillate
between the open side setting (o.s.s.) and closed side setting (c.s.s.). In addition to
c.s.s., eccentricity is one of the major factors that determine the capacity of gyratory
and cone crushers. The fragmentation of the material results from the continuous
compression that takes place between the mantle and bowl liners. An additional
crushing effect occurs between the compressed particles, resulting in less wear
of the liners. This is also called interparticle crushing. The gyratory crushers are
equipped with a hydraulic setting adjustment system, which adjusts c.s.s. and thus
affects product size distribution. Depending on cone type, the c.s.s. setting can be
adjusted in two ways. The first way is by rotating the bowl against the threads so
that the vertical position of the outer wear part (concave) is changed. One advantage
of this adjustment type is that the liners wear more evenly. Another principle of
setting adjustment is by lifting/lowering the main shaft. An advantage of this is that
adjustment can be done continuously under load. To optimize operating costs and
improve the product shape, as a rule of thumb, it is recommended that cones always
be choke-fed, meaning that the cavity should be as full of rock material as possible.
This can be easily achieved by using a stockpile or a silo to regulate the inevitable
fluctuation of feed material flow. Level monitoring devices that detect the maximum
and minimum levels of the material are used to start and stop the feed of material
to the crusher as needed.
Figure 8.2. Gyratory and cone crusher schematics(Courtesy of Metso) (gyratory
crusher and cone crusher).

Primary gyratory crushers are used in the primary crushing stage. Compared to the
cone type crusher, a gyratory crusher has a crushing chamber designed to accept
feed material of a relatively large size in relation to the mantle diameter. The primary
gyratory crusher offers high capacity thanks to its generously dimensioned circular
discharge opening (which provides a much larger area than that of the jaw crusher)
and the continuous operation principle (while the reciprocating motion of the jaw
crusher produces a batch crushing action). The gyratory crusher has capacities
starting from 1200 to above 5000 t/h. To have a feed opening corresponding to that
of a jaw crusher, the primary gyratory crusher must be much taller and heavier.
Therefore, primary gyratories require quite a massive foundation.

The cone crusher is a modified gyratory crusher. The essential difference is that
the shorter spindle of the cone crusher is not suspended, as in the gyratory, but
is supported in a curved, universal bearing below the gyratory head or cone (Figure
8.2). Power is transmitted from the source to the countershaft to a V-belt or direct
drive. The countershaft has a bevel pinion pressed and keyed to it and drives the
gear on the eccentric assembly. The eccentric assembly has a tapered, offset bore
and provides the means whereby the head and main shaft follow an eccentric path
during each cycle of rotation. Cone crushers are used for intermediate and fine
crushing after primary crushing. The key factor for the performance of a cone type
secondary crusher is the profile of the crushing chamber or cavity. Therefore, there
is normally a range of standard cavities available for each crusher, to allow selection
of the appropriate cavity for the feed material in question.

> Read full chapter

Processing of Recycled Aggregates

Ravindra K. Dhir OBE, ... Chao Qun Lye, in Sustainable Construction Materials, 2019

4.5.2 Crushers
Depending on the size of the debris, it may either be ready to enter the recycling
process or need to be broken down to obtain a product with workable particle sizes,
in which case hydraulic breakers mounted on tracked or wheeled excavators are used.
In either case, manual sorting of large pieces of steel, wood, plastics and paper may
be required, to minimise the degree of contamination of the final product.
The three types of crushers most commonly used for crushing CDW materials are
the jaw crusher, the impact crusher and the gyratory crusher (Figure 4.4). A jaw
crusher consists of two plates, with one oscillating back and forth against the other at
a fixed angle (Figure 4.4(a)) and it is the most widely used in primary crushing stages
(Behera et al., 2014). The jaw crusher can withstand large and hard-to-break pieces
of reinforced concrete, which would probably cause the other crushing machines to
break down. Therefore, the material is initially reduced in jaw crushers before going
through any other crushing operation. The particle size reduction depends on the
maximum and minimum size of the gap at the plates (Hansen, 2004).

Figure 4.4. Examples of: (a) a jaw crusher, (b) an impact crusher and (c) a cone crusher
(Nordberg, 1994).

An impact crusher breaks the CDW materials by striking them with a high-speed
rotating impact, which imparts a shearing force on the debris (Figure 4.4(b)). Upon
reaching the rotor, the debris is caught by steel teeth or hard blades attached to
the rotor. These hurl the materials against the breaker plate, smashing them into
smaller particle sizes. Impact crushers provide better grain-size distribution of RA
for road construction purposes, and they are less sensitive to material that cannot
be crushed, such as steel reinforcement.

Generally, jaw and impact crushers exhibit a large reduction factor, defined as the
ratio of the particle size of the input to that of the output material. A jaw crusher
crushes only a small proportion of the original aggregate particles but an impact
crusher crushes mortar and aggregate particles alike and thus generates a higher
amount of fine material (O’Mahony, 1990).

Gyratory crushers work on the same principle as cone crushers (Figure 4.4(c)). These
have a gyratory motion driven by an eccentric wheel. These machines will not accept
materials with a large particle size and therefore only jaw or impact crushers should
be considered as primary crushers. Gyratory and cone crushers are likely to become
jammed by fragments that are too large or too heavy. It is recommended that
wood and steel be removed as much as possible before dumping CDW into these
crushers. Gyratory and cone crushers have advantages such as relatively low energy
consumption, a reasonable amount of control over the particle size of the material
and production of low amounts of fine particles (Hansen, 2004).

For better control of the aggregate particle size distribution, it is recommended that
the CDW should be processed in at least two crushing stages. First, the demolition
methodologies used on-site should be able to reduce individual pieces of debris to a
size that the primary crusher in the recycling plant can take. This size depends on the
opening feed of the primary crusher, which is normally bigger for large stationary
plants than for mobile plants. Therefore, the recycling of CDW materials requires
careful planning and communication between all parties involved.

A large proportion of the product from the primary crusher can result in small
granules with a particle size distribution that may not satisfy the requirements
laid down by the customer after having gone through the other crushing stages.
Therefore, it should be possible to adjust the opening feed size of the primary
crusher, implying that the secondary crusher should have a relatively large capacity.
This will allow maximisation of coarse RA production (e.g., the feed size of the
primary crusher should be set to reduce material to the largest size that will fit the
secondary crusher).

The choice of using multiple crushing stages mainly depends on the desired quality
of the final product and the ratio of the amounts of coarse and fine fractions (Yanagi
et al., 1998; Nagataki and Iida, 2001; Nagataki et al., 2004; Dosho et al., 1998; Gokce
et al., 2011). When recycling concrete, a greater number of crushing processes
produces a more spherical material with lower adhered mortar content (Pedro et al.,
2015), thus providing a superior quality of material to work with (Lotfi et al., 2017).
However, the use of several crushing stages has some negative consequences as
well; in addition to costing more, the final product may contain a greater proportion
of finer fractions, which may not always be a suitable material.

> Read full chapter

The Direct Reduction of Iron

Thomas Battle, ... James McClelland, in Treatise on Process Metallurgy: Industrial
Processes, 2014
1.2.2.1.2.1 Liberation Size
The first step of physical beneficiation is crushing and grinding the iron ore to its
liberation size, the maximum size where individual particles of gangue are separated
from the iron minerals. A flow sheet of a typical iron ore crushing and grinding
circuit is shown in Figure 1.2.2 (based on Ref. [4]). This type of flow sheet is usually
followed when the crude ore contains below 30% iron. The number of steps involved
in crushing and grinding depends on various factors such as the hardness of the ore
and the level of impurities present [5].

Figure 1.2.2. Flow sheet of typical iron ore crushing and grinding circuit.

Jaw and gyratory crushers are used for initial size reduction to convert big rocks into
small stones. This is generally followed by a cone crusher. A combination of rod mill
and ball mills are then used if the ore must be ground below 325 mesh (45 μm).
Instead of grinding the ore dry, slurry is used as feed for rod or ball mills, to avoid
dusting. Oversize and undersize materials are separated using a screen; oversize
material goes back for further grinding.

Typically, silica is the main gangue mineral that needs to be separated. Iron ore with
high-silica content (more than about 2%) is not considered an acceptable feed for
most DR processes. This is due to limitations not in the DR process itself, but the
usual customer, an EAF steelmaking shop. EAFs are not designed to handle the large
amounts of slag that result from using low-grade iron ores, which makes the BF a
better choice in this situation. Besides silica, phosphorus, sulfur, and manganese
are other impurities that are not desirable in the product and are removed from the
crude ore, if economically and technically feasible.

> Read full chapter

Coal conveying
G.L. James, in The Coal Handbook: Towards Cleaner Production: Coal Production,
2013

19.4.2 Mobile and semi-mobile systems

The movement of large digging, crushing and conveying machines was not new
to German and American designers. The Germans have been building large dig-
ging and transporting systems since the 1800 s. The power station in the Latrobe
Valley, Victoria, Australia, used bucket-wheel excavator and track-shiftable conveyor
technology to move overburden and lignite. The Heritage Victoria National Trust
Database notes that LubeckerMaschinenbauGesellschaft (LMG), Lubeck, Germany,
supplied the first dredger to Morwell open-cut. It began operation in 1955. The
machine weighed 750 tonnes. The design of this machine originated in the German
coal mines in the 1930s. The first German bucket chain excavators were used at
Yallourn in 1928.

Haddock (2002) notes that a French contractor, Alphonse Couvreux, used a bucket
chain excavator in 1859 on the Ardennes railway. In the period 1863–1868, seven
Couvreux machines excavated 8 million yards of earth in the construction of the
Suez Canal.

Haddock (2002) also notes that the American engineers were good at moving huge
machines on crawlers. This reference describes stripping shovels as the ‘kings of
the mobile machine world’. The early machines dating back to 1899 were mounted
on rails. The book includes the details of many outstanding machines built in the
twentieth century. One of the most impressive was the Marion 6360 stripping shovel,
built in 1965. Mounted on an eight crawler undercarriage, the machine had a 180
cubic yard bucket. It weighed in at 15 000 t and had an operating radius of 220 ft.

In summary, the world’s engineers have moved huge items of equipment and there
is now a real need to just do it!

It is interesting to ponder the question of why the systems have not been used more
widely. One would speculate that in open pit mines the mine planners are reluctant
to give up the flexibility of trucks. Conveyor systems quarantine parts of the pit,
require extra planning, and reduce flexibility.

As we move forward, economic and environmental issues will challenge this view.

Considering the history of moving large equipment, moving ROM hoppers, jaw and
gyratory crushers, sizers, apron feeders, electrical rooms, etc. is not a problem.

Kahrger (1987) described a new mobile conveying system to link in-pit crushers
to the process plant. Track-shiftable and crawler-mounted bridge systems are also
available. Caterpillar manufactures ‘out of the brochure’ crawler assemblies. Placing
the typical conveyor truss/bridge on crawlers is not difficult.

Pagels (2008) describes the mobile crawler-mounted conveyors, stackers and re-
claimers that have been used in heap leach operations for many years. Neagle (1983)
described the moveable face conveyors used at the Loy Yang power station located
in Latrobe Valley, Victoria Australia. Mitchell (1983) provided a 20-year history and a
detailed tabulation of the 150–2440 kw drive-heads used at Morwell, Yallourn and
Loy Yang lignite power stations Latrobe Valley, Victoria, Australia. The belt widths
ranged from 1220 to 2000 mm, mass 35 to 400 t, and belts speeds from 4.85 to
5.3 m/s.

If we think about the reluctance of mine planners and the need for flexibility, it is
also interesting to note that the writer had patents issued in 1988 for the invention
of a mobile elevator conveyor. This could be described as the missing link. The unit
is described in James (1985). The mobile machine overcomes the issue of the large
earth ramps and fixed conveyors that could upset the mine plan. The strategy would
be to have crawler-mounted or track-shiftable conveyors running along the benches,
and the mobile elevator unit would then lift the material out of the pit.

The machine has a flexible boom to support a steep-angle conveyor. A number

of steep-angle conveyors are possible. The bench height targeted at the time was
55 m. The USA patent number 4765461 describes the machine as follows – refer to
Fig. 19.9:
19.9. Mobile elevator conveyor.

‘A mobile elevator conveyor, comprising a main support structure (10) mounted on

tracks (11), for mobility along an upper level (14) when in use, an elevating conveyor
(13) supported on a boom (12) adapted to be extended from a retracted position
within the main frame to an extended position outwardly of said main frame. The
boom supporting the conveyor is formed from a plurality of boom segments (22),
and is adapted, during extension and retraction, to pass over an outwardly and
downwardly curving guide frame (29) mounted on said main support structure. The
boom segments are hingedly connected at their lower edges such that the boom
structure bends downwardly along its bottom chord at the hinges (23) between the
boom segments as it moves over the guide frame, and down to a lower level (15).
The interaction of the boom segments is such that bending in the opposite direction
is resisted so as to form a rigid boom structure. A collecting conveyor (38) extends
along the length of the main support structure and receives material from said
elevating conveyor and conveys it to a discharge point.

> Read full chapter

Concrete Aggregates
Ian Sims, Bev Brown, in Lea's Chemistry of Cement and Concrete (Fourth Edition),
1998
Design of processing plants

The objective of any concrete aggregate processing operation should be the pro-
duction of good-quality, ‘clean’ coarse and fine materials in the normal range of
sizes. The types of equipment used and the flow design of the plant is more or less
completely dependent upon the nature and properties of the source raw material.
Even after basic design, any plant will require commissioning trials, after which the
experience gained will dictate both major and minor modifications to the process.
The technology of aggregate processing is complicated and continually developing,
and is more comprehensively covered elsewhere.25,26 In general terms, however,
processing consists of a reduction stage (always with crushed rock and sometimes
with sand a gravel), a washing and beneficiation stage (as required) and a sizing
stage.

Crushing and milling

Reduction of the broken rock material, or oversized gravel material, to an ag-

gregate-sized product is achieved by various types of mechanical crusher. These
operations may involve primary, secondary and even sometimes tertiary phases of
crushing. There are many different types of crusher, such as jaw, gyratory, cone (or
disc) and impact crushers (Figure 16.8), each of which has various advantages and
disadvantages according to the properties of the material being crushed and the
required shape of the aggregate particles produced.
Fig. 16.8. Diagrams to illustrate the basic actions of some types of crusher: solid
shading highlights the hardened wear-resistant elements (redrawn, adapted and
modified from Ref. 39). (a) Single-toggle jaw crusher, (b) disc or gyrosphere crusher,
(c) gyratory crusher, and (d) impact crusher.

It is common, but not invariable, for jaw or gyratory crushers to be utilised for pri-
mary crushing of large raw feed, and for cone crushers or impact breakers to be used
for secondary reduction to the final aggregate sizes. The impact crushing machines
can be particularly useful for producing acceptable particle shapes (section 16.5.3)
from difficult materials, which might otherwise produce unduly flaky or elongated
particles, but they may be vulnerable to abrasive wear and have traditionally been
used mostly for crushing limestone.

Significance of quartz (free silica)

In any crushing operation, the raw material flow rate and the reduction ratio (ratio
of feed size to product size) have obvious influences on the wear of crushing equip-
ment. However, the hardness and fracture toughness of the rocks being crushed are
unavoidable parameters in allowing for the wear of crushing plant. Traditionally, the
assessment of hardness has been used as a crude guide to abrasiveness, although
hardness alone is not in fact a reliable wear criterion.40 Of the common rock-forming
minerals, quartz alone is harder than normal steel, so that the average content of
quartz (or ‘free-silica’) in the raw feed is some guide to the ‘sliding’ abrasiveness to
be expected (fracture toughness is important to the ‘impact’ abrasiveness).

Quantitative criteria for the relationship between quartz and wear are not easily
available, but obviously the liability to high wear rates tends to increase with quartz
content. Orchard41 has suggested that free silica contents of less than 5 per cent will
not cause trouble, whereas amounts above 20 per cent might become a problem. At
a quarry in western Kenya a secondary impact crusher was included in the aggregate
processing design on the basis of the incorrect information that the raw material
was a quartz andesite, perhaps with a maximum quartz content of 10 per cent. In
fact the material was mostly a dacite with quartz contents of up to 70 per cent and
the machine's blow bars had to be replaced every third day during production, with
obvious financial and contractual implications (in the limestone industry a set of
blow bars will last for several months).

Washing and scrubbing

Sand and gravel materials, and more rarely crushed rock materials, are washed
to remove clay or excessive proportions of silt. In more recent years, concrete
aggregates have also been washed specifically to remove soluble salts (especially
sodium chloride) which otherwise might induce or exacerbate the corrosion of steel
reinforcement and other embedded metal or increase the risk of ASR.

Washing may be carried out by water jets during screening or by passing the raw
feed through a washer barrel.26 If the material contains less dispersive clay or more
resistant clay lumps it may be necessary to employ more vigorous washing using
a ‘scrubber’ or ‘log washer’. Where it is important to minimise the sodium chloride
content as well as removing fines, washing must be done using and regularly re-
plenishing fresh water. Simple dewatering of marine aggregates or other aggregates
washed using sea water will appreciably reduce the level of salt contamination,
though not necessarily to a level which will avoid the need for any further washing.

Beneficiation

Additional processing to improve the quality of a product by selective removal of

less desirable constituents is termed ‘beneficiation’ and is quite common in the
metallic minerals industry. Beneficiation is employed only on a limited basis in
the production of aggregates because of the relatively high plant and operating
costs. Gravity and centrifugal separation plants are capable of successfully removing
notably lightweight materials, such as coal, or notably heavyweight materials, such
as iron ore particles. Some success has been claimed for the removal of unsound
low-density chert from a crushed gravel aggregate.42

Discrete flakes of mica are frequently detrimental in fine aggregates for concrete
(section 16.4.4) and could usefully be removed by beneficiation where unconta-
minated sands are not available. Mica was formerly removed from some Cornish
china clay sands, but principally to recover the mica for commercial sale rather than
deliberately to beneficiate the sand aggregate.43 Fookes and Marsh44 have described
some modified washing procedures for the reduction of mica content in Nepalese
fine aggregates.

Screening and sorting

The separation of crushed aggregates, or sand and gravel, into different sizes is
achieved by large sieves or industrial screens. Coarse screens known as ‘grizzlies’ or
‘scalpers’ are used to separate oversized or undersized materials from the raw feed as
part of the crushing operation. Static, horizontal and cylindrical screens have been
used, but today most plants are designed with inclined vibrating screens (Figure
16.9), some of which are primarily intended to discard undersized material and
others of which are primarily intended to discard oversized material. A good overall
design of a screening plant achieves clear and reliable separation of sizes (Figure
16.10). The further sizing of sand material, with particle sizes of 5 mm or less, is
achieved by a process of ‘classification’ which is based upon the principle that coarse
particles settle out from a water-sand slurry at a faster rate than fine particles.45 Sand
classification is more inefficient than coarse aggregate screening and differently
graded products result which can be used for different purposes.
Fig. 16.9. Inclined vibrating screen, part of a coarse aggregate processing system.

Fig. 16.10. Diagram to illustrate the action of a horizontal vibrating screen plant(from
Ref. 39).

> Read full chapter

Concrete Aggregates
Ian Sims, ... James Ferrari, in Lea's Chemistry of Cement and Concrete (Fifth Edition),
2019

15.3.4 Processing of Aggregates

15.3.4.1 Design of Processing Plants

The objective of any concrete aggregate processing operation should be the pro-
duction of good-quality, ‘clean’ coarse and fine materials in the normal range of
sizes. The types of equipment used and the flow design of the plant are more or less
completely dependent upon the nature and properties of the source raw material.
Even after basic design, any plant will require commissioning trials, after which the
experience gained will dictate both major and minor modifications to the process.
The technology of aggregate processing is complicated and continually developing
and is more comprehensively covered elsewhere.25,26,40,41 In general terms, however,
processing consists of a reduction stage (always with crushed rock and sometimes
with sand a gravel), a washing and beneficiation stage (as required) and a sizing
stage.

15.3.4.2 Crushing and Milling

Reduction of the broken rock material, or oversized gravel material, to an ag-
gregate-sized product is achieved by various types of mechanical crusher. These
operations may involve primary, secondary and even sometimes tertiary phases of
crushing. There are many different types of crusher, such as jaw, gyratory, cone (or
disc) and impact crushers (Fig. 15.9), each of which has various advantages and
disadvantages according to the properties of the material being crushed and the
required shape of the aggregate particles produced.
Fig. 15.9. Diagrams to illustrate the basic actions of some types of crusher: solid
shading highlights the hardened wear-resistant elements. (A) Single-toggle jaw
crusher, (B) disc or gyrosphere crusher, (C) gyratory crusher and (D) impact crush-
er.(Modified from Murdock LJ, Brook KM. Concrete materials and practice. 5th ed.
London, UK: Edward Arnold; 1979.)

It is common, but not invariable, for jaw or gyratory crushers to be utilised for pri-
mary crushing of large raw feed, and for cone crushers or impact breakers to be used
for secondary reduction to the final aggregate sizes. The impact crushing machines
can be particularly useful for producing acceptable particle shapes (Section 15.5.3)
from difficult materials, which might otherwise produce unduly flaky or elongated
particles, but they may be vulnerable to abrasive wear and have traditionally been
used mostly for crushing limestone.

15.3.4.3 Significance of Quartz (Free Silica)

In any crushing operation, the raw material flow rate and the reduction ratio (ratio
of feed size to product size) have obvious influences on the wear of crushing equip-
ment. However, the hardness and fracture toughness of the rocks being crushed are
unavoidable parameters in allowing for the wear of crushing plant. Traditionally, the
assessment of hardness has been used as a crude guide to abrasiveness, although
hardness alone is not in fact a reliable wear criterion.42 Of the common rock-forming
minerals, quartz alone is harder than normal steel so that the average content of
quartz (or ‘free-silica’) in the raw feed is some guide to the ‘sliding’ abrasiveness to
be expected (fracture toughness is important to the ‘impact’ abrasiveness).

Quantitative criteria for the relationship between quartz and wear are not easily
available, but obviously the liability to high wear rates tends to increase with quartz
content. Orchard42a has suggested that free silica contents of < 5% will not cause
trouble, whereas amounts above 20% might become a problem. At a quarry in
western Kenya, a secondary impact crusher was included in the aggregate processing
design on the basis of the incorrect information that the raw material was a quartz
andesite, perhaps with a maximum quartz content of 10%. In fact, the material was
mostly a dacite with quartz contents of up to 70% and the machine’s blow bars
had to be replaced every third day during production, with obvious financial and
contractual implications (in the limestone industry a set of blow bars will last for
several months).

15.3.4.4 Washing and Scrubbing

Sand and gravel materials, and more rarely crushed rock materials, are washed
to remove clay or excessive proportions of silt. In more recent years, concrete
aggregates have also been washed specifically to remove soluble salts (especially
sodium chloride) which otherwise might induce or exacerbate the corrosion of steel
reinforcement and other embedded metal or increase the risk of ASR.

Washing may be carried out by water jets during screening or by passing the raw
feed through a washer barrel.25 If the material contains less dispersive clay or more
resistant clay lumps, it may be necessary to employ more vigorous washing using
a ‘scrubber’ or ‘log washer’. Where it is important to minimise the sodium chloride
content as well as removing fines, washing must be done using, and regularly re-
plenishing, fresh water. Simple dewatering of marine aggregates or other aggregates
washed using sea water will appreciably reduce the level of salt contamination,
though not necessarily to a level which will avoid the need for any further washing.

15.3.4.5 Beneficiation
Additional processing to improve the quality of a product by selective removal of
less desirable constituents is termed ‘beneficiation’ and is quite common in the
metallic minerals industry. Beneficiation is employed only on a limited basis in
the production of aggregates because of the relatively high plant and operating
costs. Gravity and centrifugal separation plants are capable of successfully removing
notably lightweight materials, such as coal, or notably heavyweight materials, such
as iron ore particles. Some success has been claimed for the removal of unsound
low-density chert from a crushed gravel aggregate.43

Discrete flakes of mica are frequently detrimental in fine aggregates for concrete
(Section 15.4.4) and could usefully be removed by beneficiation where unconta-
minated sands are not available. Mica was formerly removed from some Cornish
China clay sands but principally to recover the mica for commercial sale rather than
deliberately to beneficiate the sand aggregate.44 Fookes and Marsh45 have described
some modified washing procedures for the reduction of mica content in Nepalese
fine aggregates.

15.3.4.6 Screening and Sorting

The separation of crushed aggregates, or sand and gravel, into different sizes is
achieved by large sieves or industrial screens. Coarse screens known as ‘grizzlies’ or
‘scalpers’ are used to separate oversized or undersized materials from the raw feed as
part of the crushing operation. Static, horizontal and cylindrical screens have been
used, but today most plants are designed with inclined vibrating screens (Fig. 15.10),
some of which are primarily intended to discard undersized material and others of
which are primarily intended to discard oversized material. A good overall design of a
screening plant achieves clear and reliable separation of sizes (Fig. 15.11). The further
sizing of sand material, with particle sizes of 4 mm or less, is achieved by a process
of ‘classification’ which is based upon the principle that coarse particles settle out
from a water–sand slurry at a faster rate than fine particles.46 Sand classification is
more inefficient than coarse aggregate screening and differently graded products
result which can be used for different purposes.
Fig. 15.10. Inclined vibrating screen, part of a coarse aggregate-processing system.

Fig. 15.11. Diagram to illustrate the action of a horizontal vibrating screen plant.-
(From Murdock LJ, Brook KM. Concrete materials and practice. 5th ed. London, UK:
Edward Arnold; 1979.)

> Read full chapter

ScienceDirect is Elsevier’s leading information solution for researchers.
Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. or its licensors or contributors. ScienceDirect ® is a registered trademark of Elsevier B.V. Terms and conditions apply.