Grinding & Dispersing

Optimization of wet dispersing and comminution processes for

pigmented systems
Dr. Stefan Mende (Manager of Technical and Scientific Communication)
Agenda

1. Laboratory Mills
2. Pilot Phase & Production Mills
3. Construction Materials
4. Process Optimization

Coatino Campus - NETZSCH Grinding & Dispersing | May 2023 1

NETZSCH Agitator Bead Mill for specific Applications

Production KE, DISCUS®

ZETA®, NEOS®

ZETA® RS

MINIZETA
Laboratory

LABSTAR

MINI- / MICROSERIES

1,000 100 10 1 0.1 0.01 µm

1,000 100 10 nm

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 1 Laboratory Mills

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DELTAVITA® 1

Feasibility Studies, Process

Development and Formulation
Screening with minimal
sample amounts < 1 ml

DELTAVITA® 1 Processing of up to 40
samples at the same time
Coolable Process Chamber
down to - 20°C

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DELTAVITA® 1

Universal Applications:
 Grinding, dispersing or
homogenization of organic or
inorganic solid like minerals, ceramics,
pigments, catalysts, battery slurries,
electrolytes ….
 Micronization of Active
Pharmaceutical Ingredients
 Analytics of food stuff (Extraction, de-
aerating, quick dissolving
 Mixing of highly viscous or pasty
products like inks, creams and
ointments
 Dry grinding
 Tissue digestion and extractions

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Dual Centrifuge - Motions

Secondary rotation
(up to 900 rpm)
Fixed gear
ratio
< 40°

Primary rotation
(up to 2.500 rpm)

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Grinding Media Motion – Cloud Milling

Motion of grinding media in Long distance

Motion in the
a planetary ball mill DELTAVITA® 1
Short distance

Primary rotation
(up to 2.500 rpm)

Source:Stefan Rosenkranz: Größeneinfluss der Secondary rotation

Mahlkörper in Planetenkugelmühlen. (up to 900 rpm)
Fachausschuss Zerkleinern / Klassieren,
2008

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DELTAVITA® 1 – Mixing of high viscose Components

 Vertical mixing position

 150 ml cup (PP)
 Number of rotation of the primary rotor: 2.000 min-1

Wight silicone Black silicone 20 Seconds 60 Seconds

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 MICROSERIE / MINISERIE

Reproducible results with

smallest batch sizes

Easy handling and

cleaning
MICROSERIES
MINISERIES

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MICROSERIE / MINISERIE

 ZETA®- grinding system

 Machines of the MICRO- and MINISERIES are available in
different materials:
- stainless steel
- NETZSCH CERAM Z
- NETZSCH CERAM N / NETZSCH CERAM C
- NELAST
 Flexible mode of operation
 1,5 kW installed drive power
 The use of smallest grinding media for grinding as far as
the nanometer range is possible due to the established
centrifugal separation system

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MICROSERIE / MINISERIE
 Lowest product waste due to minimization of the scheduled
quantity
 Both machine series can be changed over to the smaller
MICROSERIE or bigger volume MINISERIE and therefore become
extremely flexible for the product batch quantities to be
processed
 Swiveling grinding chamber for easy handling

Filling position Processing or operation position Discharging position

(additional small switch cabinet)

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LABSTAR

The universal Laboratory Agitator Bead Mill

for Maximum Flexibility and Reproducibility

LABSTAR

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LABSTAR

 ZETA® und DISCUS® ZETA® and DISCUS® grinding

systems with variable geometry and materials
(ceramic, synthetic materials or steel)

 Variable grinding chamber volume

 Swiveling grinding tank for easy handling and

working

 Easy cleaning

 Controlling of the agitator speed as well as the

pump speed via frequency converter

 Displaying and collecting of procedural operating

parameters

 High reproducibility

 Exact scale-up

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LABSTAR Technical Data
LABSTAR ZETA® DISCUS® NEOS® MICROSERIE MINISERIE
Agitator speed in min-1 1 000 - 4 500
Grinding media diameter in mm 0.1 – 2.0 0.3 – 2.4 0.1 – 0.8 0.05 – 0.8 0.05 – 2.0
Necessary grinding media volume in ml 540 900 - 930 540 - 590 100 200
Grinding media volume (100%) in ml 640 980 640 120 240
Batch size in recirculation mode in l 1.2 - 7.0 (15) 1.5 - 7.0 (15) 1.2 – 7.0 (15) 0.4 - 7.0 0.5 - 7.0
Batch size in batch mode in ml (*) 410 430 410 74 148

(*) at 85% grinding media volume

Filling position Processing or operation position Discharging position

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LABSTAR

Different grinding systems and  LABSTAR Weight app. 150 kg

combinations of construction  Pump Weight app. 45 kg
materials are available and can be  Agitator shaft drive 3.0 kW
 400 V / 50 Hz / 3 phase
used on the same platform  Pump motor 0.37 kW / 400 V / 50 Hz / 3 phase
 Control box (not shown) for separate installation
Grinding Chamber Agitator and Ginding  (1 000 x 1 200 x 350 mm)
Chamber Lid
Cr-Ni-Steel
Depth: app. 820 mm
NELAST

max. 1210 mm
Polyamide
NETZSCH CERAM Z
NETZSCH CERAM Z NELAST
NETZSCH CERAM Z Polyamide
NETZSCH CERAM C NETZSCH CERAM N
NETZSCH CERAM N NELAST

max. 2060 mm

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 2 Pilot Phase & Production Mills

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DISCUS®INTENSIVE ROTOR the new Standard

 DISCUS® - grinding system with TETRANEX® and TETRANEX®

Plus grinding discs
 Preferably operation in single-pass or multi-pass operation,
but even recirculation mode operation is possible.
 Length / diameter – proportion of the grinding chamber >
2.5
 New geometry of the spacers between grinding discs
 New classifier system
DISCUS®  Grinding media diameters 0.6 (0.3) – 6.0 mm

Coatino Campus - NETZSCH Grinding & Dispersing | May

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Sizes of Agitator Bead Mill DISCUS®

LABSTAR
DISCUS® 30 DISCUS® 150
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Grinding System ZETA®

 Recirculation mode operation and

multi-pass operation
 Length / diameter – proportion of
the grinding chamber < 1,5
 Higher energy density compared to
a disc milling system
ZETA®  Peg grinding system (horizontal)
 Activation of grinding media mainly
caused by impact
 Grinding media diameters ZETA®
0.3 – 2.5 mm

ALPHA ® ZETA 10

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Sizes of the Agitator Bead Mill ZETA®

1.5

MICROSERIE/
MINISERIE LABSTAR ZETA® 10 ZETA® 400

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Influence of the Grinding Media Size to the Transparency

Example: Transparency of a pigment preparation

 By using smaller
grinding media
extreme savings in
specific energy
demand are possible

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System NEOS®

Features
1. Increased diameter of screen
2. Optimized gap between agitator and screen
3. Reduced gap between agitator and stator
(inner liner)
4. New agitator design leading to advanced
internal media circulation
5. Highest cooling efficiency on stator due to
the use of ceramic.
6. Maximum agitator cooling

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Comparison ZETA® (LMZ) and NEOS®

H.-H. Stender First industry test results of packaging ink production with NETZSCH Neos technology, presentation, Dispersion Days,
May 15th -17th 2017, Selb

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System NEOS Example - Production data (NC solvent based Flexo Printing Ink)

Machine ZETA® 25 NEOS 20

Grinding media 0.9 mm zirconia 0.8 mm zirconia

Power input (net) 23 kW 38 kW + 65 %
Temperature 48°C 43°C
Flow rate 1500 - 2000 kg/h 3500 - 4500 kg/h
Specific energy to fineness 260 kWh/t 175 kWh/t - 35 %
Net productivity 90 kg/h 220 kg/h
Productivity 100% 240% + 140 %

 Increase of the production capacity because of higher power draw and lower specific energy
demand
 Decrease of the specific energy demand due to the use of smaller grinding media and higher
throughput rate
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System NEOS®

NEOS® series NEOS® LAB NEOS® 2 NEOS® 10 NEOS® 20 NEOS® 50 NEOS® 120

Volume in liter 0.64 1.4 8.0 18.2 40.2 101

Motor power in kW 3 7.5 22 / 30 45 / 55 90 / 110 200 / 250

Liner from NETZSCH-CERAMC      

Liner with Counter Elements

     
(CE)
Cooling on Rotor      
10 – 200 – 1 000 – 2 000 – 4 000 – 6 000 –
Throughput Rate in kg/h
100 600 2 500 6 000 10 000 16 000
Scale up factor 0.1 0.3 1 1.9 3.5 7
300 – 1 000 –
Batch size in l 1.5 – 5 < 300 > 2 000 > 4 000
1 000 2 000

The NEOS® is also available as a conversion kit for an ZETA ® !

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3 Construction Materials
What is NETZSCH CERAM C

NETZSCH CERAM C belongs to the group of non-oxid ceramics and is one of the hardest industrially
used materials

Characteristics of NETZSCH CERAM C:

 Very high hardness and wear
resistance
 Great thermal conductivity
 Chemical resistance against most
liquid media

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Wear resistance in the field

Machine: ZETA® 60
Grinding chamber: NETZSCH CERAM C
Product: Highly abrasive ceramic suspension
Operating hours: 50.720 h
Comment: Machine was closed after
maintenance and started again,
grinding chamber was not
changed. The wear is only on the
surface, wear deepness is
approx.1 – 2 mm

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4 Process Optimization
Newest Product Launch of NETZSCH
PROPHI Pre-dispersing and Pre-grinding with Grinding Media

 Recirculation grinding with high flow rate

10m³/h – 20m³/h
 High flow rate is avoiding sedimentation in the
pipe lines
 Provides the necessary numbers of recirculation
for the batch
at low specific energy supply to the product

 Grinding media from 2 mm to 4 mm diameter

PROPHI
 NETZSCH CERAM C liner for maximum
cooling efficiency

 Independent pump for the product supply

 The right pump selection for the product
 Pumping rate independent from the rotor speed

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Pregrinding of Flexo Printing Ink

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Product Launch of NETZSCH PROPHI
Test Results - Parameter Study Printing Ink

Equipment Pnet in kW Duration in min vt in m/s dGM in mm Temperature in °C Espec. in kWh/t Capacity in kg/h
Trail 1 High Speed Mixer 22 30 50 36.67 600.00
High Performance Mill 11 210 12 1.2 - 1.4 50 128.33 85.71
ZETA® total: 165.00 75.00
Trail 2 Stirrer 2.3 20 37 2.56
Inline Disperser EPSILON 17 20 37 18.89 900.00
High Performance Mill 11 180 12 1.2 - 1.4 50 110 100.00
ZETA® total: 131.44 90.00
Trail 3 Stirrer 2.3 15 37 1.92
Inline Disperser EPSILON 17 15 37 14.17 1200.00
Premilling System PROPHI 9.4 15 11.5 2.5 - 2.8 37 7.83 1200.00
High Performance Mill 12.6 90 13 0.5 45 63.00 200.00
ZETA® total: 86.92 171.43
Trail 4 Stirrer 2.3 15 37 1.92
Inline Disperser EPSILON 17 15 37 14.17 1200.00
Premilling System PROPHI 9.4 15 11.5 2.5 - 2.8 37 7.83 1200.00
High Performance Mill 16.7 70 14.5 0.5 50 64.94 257.14
NEOS® total: 88.86 211.76
Trail 5 Stirrer 5.5 30 25 9.17
Premilling System PROPHI 9.4 30 11.5 2.5 - 2.8 25 15.67 600.00
High Performance Mill 16.7 70 14.5 0.5 50 64.94 257.14
NEOS® total: 89.78 180.00
Trail 6 Stirrer 2.3 15 37 1.92
Inline Disperser EPSILON 17 15 37 14.17 1200.00
Premilling System PROPHI 9.4 15 11.5 2.5 - 2.8 37 7.83 1200.00
High Performance Mill 16.8 60 15 0.3 50 56.00 300.00
NEOS® total: 79.92 240.00

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Parameter Study Printing Ink
Test Results - Parameter Study Printing Ink

 In a Dissolver the particle size after the pre-dispersion

Production line according to trial 6 with:
is still above 100 µm. This is the reason why in the
ZETA® relatively large media has to be used
 highest productivity
 lowest energy requirement
 When using the inline Disperser EPSILON the  highest reproducibility
productivity is increased by 20% and the use of smaller  emission free automatic powder feeding
media would be possible (not shown here)
 When adding the PROPHI to the line the ZETA® can be
run with 0.5 mm beads and thus this line capacity is
increased by more than factor 2
 By replacing the ZETA® with NEOS ®, the line capacity is
increased by factor 2.8 to the standard process
 Taking out the EPSILON, means direct dispersion in a
mixer, followed by pre-grinding in PROPHI is possible
and still the capacity factor is 2.4
 The highest capacity factor of 3.2 at the lowest energy
requirement is reached by using the EPSILON followed
by PROPHI and using 0.3 mm beads in the final
grinding step

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Please visit our webpage:
https://future-days.netzsch.com/en

Save the date, submit your abstract and register now!

Coatino Campus - NETZSCH Grinding & Dispersing | May 2023 34

You can rely on NETZSCH.

Dr.-Ing. Stefan Mende

Manager of Technical and Scientific Communication

NETZSCH-Feinmahltechnik GmbH
Sedanstraße 70, 95100 Selb
Tel.: 09287 / 797215
E-mail: stefan.mende@netzsch.com

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