Screening

Particle Size Analysis and

Industrial Applications
Particle Size Analysis
 Control of quality of grinding
 Measure of degree of liberation
 Determining the optimum feed size
 Establishing the grinding limit to reduce
losses

“the particle sizing technique should

duplicate the process to be controlled”
Methods of Particle Size Analysis
Method Useful Range(μm)
 Test Sieves 100000 – 10
 Elutriation 40 – 5
 Microscopy 50 – 0.25
 Sedimentation (Gravity) 40 – 1
 Sedimentation (Centrifuge) 5 – 0.05
 Electron Microscopy 1 – 0.005
Sieve Analysis
 One of the oldest methods
 Most widely used due to effective
size range
 Done by passing a known weight
of sample through successively
finer apertures to determine the
weight for each fraction
 Wet or dry
 Agitated
Complications in Sieving
 Irregularly shaped Particles

D2
D1

 Near-size Particles
 “Blinding”
Effectiveness of Sieving
 2-stage process
 Elimination of undersize (rapid)
 Re-orientation and separation of near-size
(slower)
 Dependent on feed mass
 May not be too deep a bed of material
Test Sieves
 Designated by nominal aperture sizes
 Sides of square or diameter of circle aperture
 Mesh no. ≈ # of square apertures/inch2

 Standards
 German, DIN 4188, ASTM, E11, American
Tyler, French, ANFOR, British BSS 410
Types of Mesh, by construction
Types of Mesh, by wire weave
 Nominal aperture > 75μm

 Nominal aperture < 63μm

Types of Mesh, by plate
perforations
 Microplates (<37μm)
Sieve Sizing

 Factor of 21/2 or 21/4 (next sieve size

doubles or 4x in aperture area!)
Test Methods
 Machine Sieving using the Ro-tap
 Sieves are stacked in increasing mesh
no.
 Sample is placed on topmost, coarsest
sieve
 Agitated vertically and horizontally
 Fraction retained per sieve is weighed
Presentation of Results
 Weight per fraction / % Weight
 Cumulative passing / Cumulative retained
Presentation of Results
Gates-Gaudin-Schuhmann Plot
 Cumulative Passing vs.
LOG(particle size)
 Generates a straight line
 Interpolation for Cumulative 80%
Passing is easier
 Disadvantage: Expands the region
below the 50% cumulative passing,
contracts the region above 50%
Rosin-Rammler Plot

 Log  Log  100 
 vs. Log(Particle
  100  CumPass 
Size)
 Generally used for coal products
 Expands the <30% and >60%
cumulative passing size
 Interpolation-friendly
 Disadvantage: Tedious to plot
Industrial Screening
 Prevent entry of undersize into crushing
machines
 Prevent oversize from moving onto the
next stage in closed circuit grinding
 Prepare a closely sized end product
Performance of Screens
 Degree of perfection
of separation of
materials into size
fractions +/- the
governing aperture
Factors affecting Performance
 High Capacity vs. High Efficiency
 Economics
 Probability of Passage: # of times the
particle strikes a screen per contact
 Vibration frequency (↑f ~ bouncy)
 Closer to †, the ↑chance of passage
 Wire / Grizzly Diameter: limiting factor!
 Screening is for coarse only!
 Finer size ~ finer, more fragile wires
Probability of Passage
Stationary Screens
 Grizzly
 20mm – 300mm, 1000tph max
 20 – 500 deck angle
 Uses heavy parallel bars
Stationary Screens
 Sieve Bend
 >50μm, 180m3/hr
 Curved screen w/ horizontal
wedge bars
 Slurry enters tangentially to
the bend
 Peeling action of the slurry
bed
Stationary Screens
 Hukki Screen
 Classification +
Screening
 Cylindrical Screen of
wedge bars
 Water is fed from below
 Distribution by low-
speed rotation
Moving Screens
 Revolving Screens / Trommels
 6 – 55mm
 Slightly inclined, rotating
cylindrical screen
 May be made in series, or with
concentric cylinders of increasing
aperture sizes (compound
trommel)
Moving Screens
 Reciprocating Screens
 40μm – 10mm
 Horizontal gyratory motion @ 1
end (1000rpm)
 May have ball treys below
(anti-blinding)
 Spreads and stratifies material
Moving Screens
 Gyratory Screens
 Gyratory motion for the
entire screen
 >40 μm
 Nest of spring-mounted
sieves with eccentric
weights to impart
gyrating motion
 May also have ball treys
Moving Screens
 Vibrating Screens
 250μm – 25cm
 Most important screens
 Multi-decks
Moving Screens
 Mogensen Sizer
 There is a definite and
quantifiable probability
that a particle will pass
through an aperture
larger than the max
diameter of the particle
 Apertures are larger
than max diameter
particles treated
Moving Screens
 Rotating Probability Screens
 4 – 19mm, 100tph
 Prevents blinding due to slurry feeds
Moving Screens
 Delkor Linear Screen
 No vibrating motion (↓noise)
 Multi-filament screen cloth on rollers
 For removing wood chips, carbon from slurries