Lesson 3

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Department of Chemical, Metallurgical & Materials Engineering

 Chapter 12: Particle Size Reduction
12.1. Introduction
– Size reduction, or comminution, is an important
step in the processing of many solid materials.

– Comminution – the breakdown of solid

materials by the application of mechanical
force.

This chapter is intended as an introductory to

the topic of size reduction covering the
concepts and models involved and including a
broad survey of practical equipment and system.
Objectives of this lesson:

– Particle fracture mechanism

– Models for prediction of energy
requirements
– Crushing laws
– Equipment: matching machine to
material and duty
 Why comminution

To create particles in a certain

size and shape

? To increase the surface area

available for next process

To liberate valuable minerals held

within particles
Major purposes of comminution:

• Liberate one or more economically important

minerals from the gangue components in an ore
matrix.
• Exposure of a large surface area per unit mass
of material to facilitate some specific chemical
reaction(s), e.g. leaching, dissolution, catalytic
effect.
• Reduction of raw material to the desired size
and shape for subsequent processing and
handling.
• Satisfaction of market requirements concerning
particle size specification.
12.2. Particle Fracture Mechanisms
• Fracture of materials
Fracture – fragmentation of a solid body into two or more bodies under
the action of stress.
• Types of fractures:
– Ductile fracture – failure of a material after it has
undergone a considerable amount of plastic
deformation.
– Brittle – failure of a material without undergoing
practically any plastic deformation.
• Cleavage fracture - occurs when the
energy applied is just sufficient to
cause fracture at the weakest flaw
• Types of particle mechanical failure depend
on the following:

– Nature and condition of the material

– Type of stressing
– Rate of application of stress
– Temperature
– Environment
• Fracture Mechanism

– As a force is applied to a substance, it begins to deform. Unless

the stress (force per unit area) exceeds the elastic limit or yield
point the substance will return to its original shape when the
force is removed, and the stored energy is released.
– If stress is increased beyond elastic limit, permanent
deformation occurs until the breaking stress exceeds. At this
point the material fractures and breaks along a line of weakness.

– As the size of a piece is reduced, there are fewer lines of

weakness available, and the breaking stress which must be
exceeded increases.

– There is, therefore:

• A substantial increase in energy requirement as the size of particles is
reduced.
• As little as 1% of the applied energy may be used for size reduction.
• The amount of energy absorbed by a material before it fractures is
determined by its hardness and tendency crack (friability), which depends on
the structure of the material.
• Compression forces are used to fracture friable or crystalline material,
combined impact and shearing forces are used for fine and grinding of softer
materials.
• Griffith theory of fracture
– Is the one behind the phenomenon of fracture of materials.
– A body under tension stores strain energy.
– The strain energy is not evenly distributed but concentrated
around holes, corners, and cracks.
– Stress concentration factor is given by the following:
 L
K  1  2 
 R 

where: L: half the length of the crack

R: radius of crack tip or hole
– For a crack in the surface of a body to propagate the following
criteria must be satisfied:
• The strain energy that would be released must be greater than the surface
energy released.
• There must be a crack propagation mechanism available.
• Mechanism of comminution
– The method of application of the force of the particles may affect the
breakage pattern. Prasher (1987) suggests that four basic patterns
may be identified, though it is sometimes difficult to identify the
dominant mode in any given machine. The four basic patterns are:

a) Impact – particle concussion by a single rigid

force.
b)Compression – particle disintegration by two
rigid forces.
c) Shear – produced by a fluid or by particle –
particle interaction.
d)Attrition – arising from particles scraping
against one another or against a rigid surface.
12.3. Model Predicting Energy Requirement

• Energy requirement
– There are three well-known postulates predicting energy
requirements for particle size reduction.

1)Rittinger’s Law
2)Kick’s Law
3)Bond’s Law

– The empiricals are based on the premise that the

energy, dE, required to affect a small change in size,
dx, for unit mass of solids is a simple power function
of the size.
• These three laws may all be derived from the basic
differential equation:

dE
 Cx N

dx

With:
N = -2 C = CR for Rittinger
N = -1 C = CK for Kick
N = -1.5 C = CB for Bond
– It has been suggested that the three approaches to
prediction of energy requirements mentioned above are
each more applicable in certain areas of product size. i.e:

• Kick’s law is applicable for large particle size (coarse

crushing and crushing);

• Rittinger’s law is applicable for very small particle

size (ultra fine grinding); and

• Bond’s law is suitable for intermediate particle size –

the most common range for many industrial grinding
processes.
• Rittinger’s Law

– Rittinger (1967) proposed that the energy required for particle

size reduction was directly proportional to the area of new
surface created.

Putting N = -2 (relating the energy to the surface area)

dE
 Cx N
dx
dE
 C R x 2
dx
x2

dE  C R  x 2  dx
x1

1 x2
E  CR x
x1

1 1
 E  C R   
 x2 x1 
• Kick’s Law

– Kick (1885) proposed that the energy required in any

comminution process was directly proportional to the ratio of the
volume of the feed particle to the product particle.

dE
Putting N = -1  Cx N
dx
dE
 C K x 1
dx
x2

dE  C K  x 1  dx
x1

dE  C K  ln x2  ln x1 
dE  C K  ln x1  ln x2 

 E  C K ln  x1 
 x2 
• Bond’s Law

– Bond (1952) proposed that the work required to form particles of

size xp from very large feed was proportional to the square root
of the surface-to-volume ratio of the product.

Putting N = -1.5 dE
 Cx N
dx
dE 3
 C B x 2
dx
x2
3
dE  C B  x 2
 dx
x1
x2
 x  12 
E  C B  
 1 
 2  x1
 1 1 
 E  2C B  
 x x 
 2 1 
 Wi, the work index is the amount of energy required to reduce unit
mass of material from an infinite size to a size x2 of 100µm (i.e. q
= infinite) is defined by:
 1  1 
E  2C B 
  1 
 q 
 x2 

with CB = 5Wi
 100  1 
E  Wi  
 1 
 q 
 x2 

Do worked example 12.2 on page 331 of

TEXT BOOK!!!
• Summary of the Laws
Terminology used in Crushing

Page 326 TEXT BOOK!

 Worked Example
A material consisting originally of 25 mm particles is crushed to an
average size of 7 mm and requires 20 kJ/kg for this size reduction.
Determine the energy required to crush the material from 25 mm to
3.5 mm assuming:
(a) Rittinger’s law, (b) Kick’s law and (c) Bond’s law.
Solution:
(a) Applying Rittinger’s law as expressed by Equation (12.4):

Hence CR = 194.4 and so with x2 = 3.5 mm

b) Applying Kick’s Law as expressed by eqn 12.7:

Hence CK = 15.7 and so with X2 = 3.5 mm

c) Applying Bonds Law as expressed by eqn 12.8a:

Hence CB = 112.4 and with x2 = 3.5 mm, we get:

12.2. Types of Comminution Equipment

Page 327 of text book!

Factors affecting choice of machine:

− Stressing mechanism;
− Size of feed and product;
− Material properties;
− Carrier medium;
− Mode of operation;
− Capacity; and
− Combination with other unit operations
• Stressing mechanism
− There are three stress mechanisms responsible for particle size
reduction in mills:
1) Stress applied between two surfaces (either surface – particle or
particle – particle) at low velocity, 0.1 – 10 m/s. Crushing plus attrition.
2) Stress applied at a single solid surface (surface – particle or particle –
particle) – high velocity impact.

3) Stress applied by carrier medium – usually in wet grinding to bring about

disagglomeration.
• Machines using mainly mechanism 1, Crusher
− Jaw Crusher
• Behaves like a pair of giant nutcrackers.
• One jaw is fixed and the other, which is hinged at its upper end, is moved
towards and away from the fixed jaw by means of toggles driven by an
eccentric.
• The lumps of the material are crushed between the jaws and leave the
crusher when they are able to pass through a grid at the bottom.
− Gyratory Crusher
• Has a fixed jaw in the form of a truncated cone.
• The other jaw is a cone which rotates inside the fixed jaw on an eccentric
mounting.
• Material is discharged when it is small enough to pass through the gap
between the jaws.
− Crushing Roll
• Two cylindrical rolls rotate in opposite directions, horizontally and side by
side with an adjustable gap between them.
• As the rolls rotate, they drag in material which is choke-fed by gravity so
that particle fracture occurs as the material passes through the gap
between the rolls.
• The rolls may be ribbed to give improved purchase between material and
rolls.
− Horizontal Table Mill
• The feed material falls on to the centre of a circular rotating table and is
thrown out by centrifugal force.
• In moving outwards the material passes under a roller and is crushed.
 Machines using mainly mechanism 2, high velocity impact

Vertical roller mill

Ribbed Rolls
− Pin Mill
• Consists of two parallel circular discs each carrying a set of projecting pins.
• One disc is fixed and the other rotates at high speed so that its pins pass
close to those on the fixed disc.
• Particles are carried in air into the centre and as they move radially
outwards are fractured by impact or by attrition.
− Fluid Energy Mill
• Relies on the turbulence created in high velocity jets of air or steam in order
to produce conditions for interparticle collisions which bring about particle
fracture.
• A common form of fluid energy mill is the loop or oval jet mill.
• Material is conveyed from the grinding area near the jets at the base of the
loop to the classifier and exit situated at the top of the loop.
• These mills have a very high specific energy consumption and are subject
to extreme wear when handling abrasive materials.
• These problems have been overcome to a certain extent in the fluidized
bed jet mill in which the bed is used to absorb the energy from the high-
speed particles ejected from the grinding zone.
• Machines using a combination of mechanisms 1 and 2,
Crushing and Impact with attrition
− Sand Mill
• Is a vertical cylinder containing a stirred bed of sand, glass beads or shot.
• The feed, in the form of slurry, is pumped into the bottom of the bed and the
product passes out at the top through a screen which retains the bed
material.
−Hammer Mill
• Consists of a rotating shaft to which are attached fixed or
pivoted hammers.
• This device rotates inside a cylinder.
• The particles are fed into the cylinder either by gravity or by
gas stream.
• In the gravity-fed version the particles leave the chamber
when they are small enough to pass through a grid at the
bottom.
− Colloid Mill
• The feed in the form of slurry passes through the gap between a male,
ribbed cone rotating at high speed and a female static cone.
− Ball Mill
• Is a rotating cylindrical or cylindrical-conical shell about half-filled with balls
of steel or ceramic.
• The speed of rotation of the cylinder is such that the balls are caused to
tumble over one another without causing cascading.
• This speed is usually less than 80% of the critical speed which would just
cause the charge of balls and feed material to centrifuged.
• In continuous milling the carrier medium is air, which may be heated to
avoid moisture which tends to cause clogging.
• Ball mills may also be used for wet grinding with water being used as the
carrier medium.
• The size of balls is chosen to suit the desired product size.
• The conical section of the mill causes the smaller balls to move towards the
discharge end and accomplish the fine grinding.
The most important coarse, intermediate and fine crushers may be
classified as follows:
C. Fine Crushers
A. Coarse Crushers • Buhrstone mill
• Stag jaw crusher • Roller mill
• Dodge jaw crusher • NEI pendulum mill
• Gyratory crusher • Griffin mill
• Other coarse crushers • Ring roller mill (Lopulco)
• Ball mill
• Tube mill
B. Intermediate Crushers • Hardinge mill
• Crushing rolls • Babcock mill
• Disc crusher
• Edge runner mill D. Cutting Machines
• Knife cutters
• Hammer mill
• Dicers
• Single roll crusher • Slitters
• Pin mill
• Symons disc crusher
Criteria for size reduction

An ideal crusher machine would:

• have a large capacity;

• require a small power input per unit
product; and
• yield a desired product of the single size
distribution.
• Material Properties
Material properties affect the selection of mill type, but to a lesser extent
than feed and product particle size. The following material properties may
need to be considered when selecting a mill:

1) Hardness – very hard materials are better in low speed or low contact
machines (Moh’s scale).
2) Abrasiveness – linked to hardness. Mills operated at very low speeds are
needed for very abrasive materials.
3) Structure – fibrous materials need tearing or cutting action.
4) Moisture content – materials 5-50% moisture do not flow easily and can
be difficult to process.
5) Stickiness – sticky materials need easily cleaned machines.
6) Soapiness – if coefficient of friction is low, crushing may be difficult.
7) Explosives – need inert atmosphere.
8) Low melting point – heat generated from milling may be enough to cause
material to melt, causing problems of increased cohesivity & adhesivity.
9) Hazardous to health – need good confinement.