Calculating Power Draw when sizing Ball Mills

Im interested to know when sizing a new ball mill, as to why recirculating load has no
effect on the power calculation, although it will have effect on volumetric capacity
naturally.
For instance a mill of 300tph with a 300% recirculating load would have 1200tph going
through effectively, but if we reduce the recirculating load to 200% at 900tph it will not
change the power calculation.
However if we increase the fresh feed by 100 tph the power calculation goes up as does
the size of mill required.
Not being a commination expert by any means, I wonder if we engineer too much risk
into capital equipment these days, or am I just working with the wrong calculations.
See previous comments

ARABINDA BANDYOPADHYAY ( Bandyo)

I am not a designer but had been in operation for more than 20 years. In my experience the
mill size calculated from Bond's index is not sacrosanct as per as capacity is concerned.
Significant increase in new feed capacity can be effected by control of classification
efficiency. This increase can be as high as 30% in smaller mills. The consideration should be
mill & the classification system together and not mill alone in isolation.250% circulating load
is not to be treated as something "holy" but it should be managed for the best or to say
loosely the optimum output. And output is not grind size alone but also the % solids of the
mill circuit output. Many times optimum % solids required in the beneficiation circuit dictates
the requirement from the grinding circuit. Selection from Bond's law is the starting point for
mill sizing but needs to be corrected with many factors as the law holds for 8' by 8' mill only.
Of course no one, including myself, have addressed the original question posed by Mr. Keith
and what we are writing are the actual observations in operation. I guess the answer would
require a population balance of each fraction and how that changes with increase or
decrease of circulating load or increase of fresh feed. Difficult to put the details here but
may be someone could do it.
June 11, 2014

Tadimety Rao
Very good dimension ; as said, do not try to analyse a ball mill performance in isolation; the
hydro cyclone which looks so small in size in comparison to the mill and which does not
make much noise nor heat has a major say in understanding griding circuits.
Dr.T.C.Rao
June 12, 2014


Venu Gopal
Hi, I am not an expert but am into basic sizing of mills. I agree to the answer given by Peter
above hold good because mill power is calculated for power drawn by the cylinder (mill)
considering media and slurry loading. Any excess feed in terms of fresh or recirculating for
that particular mill power drawn will not affect. however, lesser feed will definitely draw
lesser power.
June 12, 2014

Kenneth Armstrong
If you run a ball mill in open circuit the chance of large particles surviving the trip is low but
they do break into medium sized particles. At the discharge end the outflow is a sample of
the slurry there. There will be way too many oversize particles for most intended
applications. The solution is to classify the discharge by size and return the oversize to the
feed. Bonds work assumed a circulating load of 250% so that a reference set of conditions
could be met for testing. By removing particles that were already smaller than the desired
size this both prevents overgrinding (grinding too small) and frees up volume for the larger
particles that are returned.
Bond says that a work index is the measure of the energy to reduce from a feed to a product
size under these conditions. This is energy per tonne of raw feed, the higher the recirculation
the lower the residence time, but the power draw of a mill is a fixed number. It is,
simplistically, the energy required to lift/tumble a ball charge that occupies 40% of the
volume.
Efficiency is another story. Bond's equation has several factors related to the physics of the
mill and the desired reduction. These are used with the Work Index to estimate the capacity
of a given mill. Another factor that, IIRC, Bond did not investigate is the percent circulating
load. Studies have demonstrated what is intuitively obvious, that the higher the CL the more
efficient the circuit. This is because particles of acceptable size are being removed faster,
preventing the wastage of energy to make them even smaller and freeing up energy to use
on the oversize. A 400% circulating load will allow more tonnes per hour of on-specification
product that does 250%, and even higher re-circulation is better. The trade-off becomes the
cost of the pumps and the classifying equipment.
Cyclones are not efficient classifying devices but they are cheap and low maintenance
compared to the spiral and rake classifiers that preceeded them, and require less water. An
alternative to them is wet screening which can be done down to around 100 microns if the
solids volume exceeds 50%. The solids returning to the ball mill contain lower amounts of
fines, zero being ideal. This can add another 10 percent or more capacity while reducing the

amount of undersize that might not concentrate. There are a couple of hundred circuits on
the planet that use screens. Derrick Screens are specialists at this.
KC Armstrong
Sr, Mineral Processor, Allnorth Consultants.
June 14, 2014

B P Ravi
The limited tests in lab work index on some iron ores indicated that varying test sieve and
circulating load [CL]indicated that the work index value increased with increase in finesse of
MOG [ increase in sieve number] and decrease in circulating load. The increase in work index
value may be due to finer product [ P 80] and decrease in net gms produced per mill
revolution [GBP]. The decrease in GBP is a result of requirement of more number of
revolutions required for producing more finished material as weight of finished material is
inversely proportional to [1+CL]. How ever in practice the use of 2 stage classification and
use of Derrick stack sizer is believed to increase mill throughput and reduce the grinding
cost maintaining the MOG. Probably, the increase in mill throughput is due to prevention of
over grinding finished material. How ever detailed test data sharing by lab test people, mill
designers and classifiers designers is solicited to under stand the phenomenon.
June 14, 2014

Enzo Artone
I am not sure I agree with everything Ken is saying. I believe that as circulating load in a ball
mill increases beyond a critical point the mill power draw begins to fall so there is an
adverse effect on grinding efficiency (apart from the obvious physical problems it causes like
high scats rates, balls discharged from mill, sumps overflowing, cyclones clogging up etc.).
But getting back to the basic question, if circulating load is too high, then it really is saying
the mill (or calculated power) is too smal, therefore beyond a critical CL an allowance should
be made in sizing a mill, question is what is the critical CL??
June 16, 2014

Kenneth Armstrong

Enzo:
The energy draw in a ball mill is friction plus the work to lift the load of balls and slurry,
mostly balls, up the wall so that it can free fall and create grinding. It has absolutely nothing
to do with rate at which the slurry is being replasced by new or recirculating feed. How in the
world can a ball mill motor know the rate at which the slurry is passing through body of the
mill? Your list of negative effects is hard to comprehend. Higher scat rates are good for the
operation. good balls can be sorted easily and recycled, and no good engineer would try to
operate an mill at a CL that is not compatible with the available classification equipment,
both being chosen at the same time.
The really good paper that I have describes test results from 100 to 500% CL on several
minerals including coal. Above that the incremental gains were very diminished. 500% would
require about twice the pumping and classification capacity vs. the reference 250% and the
laws of CAPEX and OPEX apply. It may not make economic sent to use anything higher than
250%. It should, though, when overgrinding causes significant recovery reduction.
Sizing a mill is straightforeward. If the rock needs 10 kwh/t which is based on a CL of 250%
and the plant requires 150 tph, then the mill must deliver 1,500 kw at steady state. That will
not be the size of the attached motor which must be capable of starting the mill, up to twice
as much nameplate power. Power draw is basically related to volume after all the efficiency
factors are put in.
The reference CL is 250% and as far as I know there is no physical upper limit until the feed
chute plugs. The premise of this thread, that power draw and CL are related, is wrong to
begin with. And for what it's worth, I only do these calculations for a small operation. For
large operations I bring in a world-scale consultant in grinding and accept the
recommendations returned by someone who does not rely on linkedin.
KC Armstrong
June 16, 2014

ARABINDA BANDYOPADHYAY ( Bandyo)

I agree with Mr. Enzo that higher circulating load is not necessarily healthy. In closed circuit
operation of any mill, the mill discharge has a higher % of intermediate particles than the
finished size range. The hydrocyclones separate the desired size and circulates back the
coarse. Due inefficiency ( cyclone efficiency is never more than 60-70% at 200 mesh
separation) of the hydrocyclones a good amount of liberated fines also circulate back to the
mill. In a normal operation the cyclone underflow contains anywhere between 25-35% of the
liberated fines. And that is considered a good operation. Higher circulation would essentially
mean, for a particular mill, more of such fines circulating in the system. Even if the feed
chute does not get choked, which is an extreme situation, there will be more slurry in the
system than the pumps or cyclones can handle and thus the new feed will have to be
reduced to bring back the flows to normalcy. This situation is very often faced when the
spigots/apex of the cyclones wear out and are not replaced in time. Double stage
classification increases classification efficiency and reduces recirculation of fines and thus

enables increased new feed from the same mill than designed. Same is the case with Derrick
screens which are very efficient. Ease of installation or cost is another matter. A simple mass
balance calculation considering different circulating loads can explain this.
I would also like to emphasise that a particular mill-cyclone combination cannot be used to
achieve a wide range of grind requirements. It can be done only within a limit that too at the
cost of new tonnage unless care is taken to maintain the classification efficiency. Agreed
250% circulation is only a base but that does not mean that that the mil could be run with
400% circulating load without affecting new feed tonnage or out put quality both terms of
size & pulp density. Similarly mills cannot be operated at too low a circulating load either, it
will grind too coarse and the mass balance will go awry.
Circulating load has to be brought back to around 200-300% by increasing new feed to
stabilise the circuit. To me it is a mystery how Mr. Bond had hit upon 250% circulating load
which seems to be optimum for most of the normal grinding requirements.
June 17, 2014

Tadimety Rao
Dr.Bando brought the subject into a well focussed point; thank you, Dr.Bando.
While reading these comments on this very important operation,I am sure all of you would
join me In saluting Bond, a Great man , with no tools of mathematics and well documented
data ,could suggest some process on which all of us are dependent even today
For me, we Mineral Engineers ,have to keep on saluting such "Great Pioneers and Thinkers"
Dr.T.C.Rao
June 17, 2014

Itumeleng Kohitlhetse
this is a great exposure to us the still crowling metallurgists keep up the good work
colleques.

Why do ball mills have such high recirculating loads?

The ball mill grinds. The cyclones separate. But the pump neither grinds nor separates.
So what is the purpose of having such a big pump to maintain high circulating loads in
our grinding circuit?
Metcoms recent grinding bulletin addresses this question from the perspective of

Classification System Efficiency (CSE). Simply put, CSE is an emerging efficiency metric
that is equal to the percentage of 'coarse' material in the ball mill, and thus also equal to
the percentage of useful ball mill power.
Click the link below read this bulletin and learn more about Classification System
Efficiency (CSE).

Expertise in Mineral Grinding Systems...

metcomtech.comWHY DO WE HAVE SUCH A HIGH RECIRCULATING LOAD ON OUR BALL MILL? The ball
mill grinds. The cyclones separate. But the pump neither grinds nor separates. So what purpose is
served by having such a big pump, which is expensive to...

See previous comments

Osvaldo Bascur
You need the right blend of fines and coaser particles for proper reology in the mill. See
Dynamill in app store.
February 23, 2013

Osvaldo Bascur
You need the right blend of fines and coaser particles for proper reology in the mill. See
Dynamill in app store.
February 23, 2013


Justin Spalding
is Dynamill available for android?
February 23, 2013

Joe van Niekerk

The most significant factor causing high recirculating loads in grinding circuits is classifier
efficiency. Hydraulic classifiers such as hydrocyclones conventionally find their way into
grinding circuits but they are very inefficient. For example: in a mill circuit grinding to 80%
passing 75 micron the cyclone underflow will typically contain 12% to 14% minus 75 micron
material i.e. mill feed rate x circulating load % x 12% to14% returning to the mill. The
cyclone overflow will also exhibit a wide particle size distribution with top size of circa 300
micron.
Enter the Derrick StackSizer screen, a physical classifier that gives a clean cut size and a mill
product stream exhibiting a narrow particle size distribution (very beneficial for downstream
processes). Derrick Corporation claims that replacing a hydrocyclone with a StackSizer
screen in a mill circuit results in up to 40% reduction in mill circuit recirculating load. This
equates to a massive reduction in mill power consumption per ton of ore milled.
However, I can imagine that retrofitting a StackSizer screen in a mill circuit will pose certain
challenges e.g. the mill will all of a sudden be too large for the application, the mill discharge
pump will be too large for the application, etc.
I would like to hear from anybody who has executed such project.
February 24, 2013


Romke Kuyvenhoven
High circulating loads are because of two reasons, (1) to avoid overgrinding, that is, if you
would grind finer and thus recirculate less, then your product would be too fine (using a
typical ball mill) and your process would become even less energy-efficient and (2) as Joe
indicates, cyclone inefficiency, because cyclone separate on the basis of specific density and
not particle size, which is even worse considering that that ore particles typically are heavier
and smaller and gangue particles lighter and larger. My understanding is that circulating
load can reduce from 250% to 100% when using screens instead of cyclones, but I wonder if
that will work with large mining operations of say over 100.000 tpd as is typical in Chile.
February 24, 2013

Osvaldo Bascur
I understand that Dynamill is only available for IOS. You could suggest them to see if it could
be made available for android. The effect of the Sump Pump of the cyclone performance are
critically demostrated. Most of the Comminution Design Applications are static, The proper
time constants and inertia of the belt, pump, sump, SaG, Ball Mill, Hydrocyclone banks and
hydrostatic pulp pressure are never considered in Static Design Applications.
It is a lot of fun to play with Dynamill to fine tune the operation to get the maximum
throught while getting the right particle size distribution in the cyclone overflow while having
your type of ore, sump size, mill sizes, limited amount of water and number of cyclones with
vortex finder and spigot dimensions. You can also try to find the proper control strategy
depending on your type of mill disturbances ( size distribution, ore hardness, specific energy
consumption.)
February 24, 2013


Ninoslav Pavlovic
Joe van Niekerk, I agree with you. However, it is necessary to analyze the process from the
beginning before taking any actions. Also ore characteristics are very important for further
consideration.
Application of StackSizer screen is good solution in processing of hard, abrasive and dens
material which has a big commintuion resistance. In this case, mechanical classification can
replace successfully hydraulic classification.
However, I think that efficient grinding media and suitable ball mill will additionally improve
size reduction and decrease contamination of coarse particles. For this purpose, intensive
lab and pilot investigation has to be carried out.
Regards
February 24, 2013

Kenneth Armstrong
The higher the circulating load the more efficient the grinding action. The trade-off is the
size of the pump(s) and clasifying device(s). Considering the wasted energy and losses due
to overgrinding, we should really be planning for 5-600% circulating loads. It's also a fact
that screening is more efficient if it can be used. Considering that grinding takes so much of
the energy in a plant, tyhere differencers cannot be overlooked as they have been. Think
green.
KC
February 24, 2013


Winifred Amoah
circulating load is the amount of material returning to a comminution equipment (in this
case ball mill) in a closed circuit system. for every material entering into a system, the
products to be obtained are dependent on the nature of the material as of the time of entry
into the system and the conditions offered the material a it is in the system. from my point
of view, i believe a very coarse material will yield a higher circulating load. since milling is
the first stage of comminution and as a matter of fact a part of disintegration, the size of
feed to the mill will be greatly influenced by the prior disintegration processes i.e. blasting
and crushing. if the efficiency of blasting and crushing is low, it is most likely to have very
coarse material as mill feed and therefore depending on the mill design parameters, a lot of
coarse material relative to the fines will be produced at the classification stage and thus a
lot of circulating load.
on the other hand, if the nature of the mill feed is as expected and grinding efficiency is
faulty, then u should be looking at the mill's design, operational parameters and factors. u
should be looking at factors such as the mill type relative to the ore; the speed of the mill
which is inversely dependent on the mill diameter; the energy required to grind which
depends on the work index of the material, the feed size and the expected product size; the
residence time of the feed which will depend on the throughput; the ball sizes and quantity;
the mill liners and lifters and the forces at play in the mill.
a deviation in the parameters used to run the mill will cause a deviation in the expected
products and thus may increase the amount of material that will circulate in the system in a
closed circuit.
February 28, 2013

Jordi Muiz
My experience is based in dry ball mill milling and in vertical stirred wet milling for ultrafine
slurries of non metallic minerals.
As has been said in this discussion, high recirculating loads results in overgrinding and gives
wider particle size distributions to the finished products. This can be an advantage or an
inconvenient depending on the desired fineshed product performance at the final
application, therefore, this is a particular tool for designing your product characteristics.

On the other hand, dry ball mill milling has to be completed with ultrafine air dynamic
classifiers, playing similar role than hydrocyclons. For such air classifiers, the yield for
classification highly depends on the fineness concentration at feed, beign desireable at least
a 70%. Therefore, high recirculation also has a good effect on this classifying performance.
Further classifying after a first classifying stage can be done, then, the products could be
splited in two for having both an even finer product and another fine but very vertical
product. The purpose for such a different classifying and grinding configurations is obtaining
real special top performing products that should be improving the final application to pay
back such an energy investment in all those stages.
Please considere that dry ball mill milling is a very unefficient energy process (more that
95% of energy is lost by means friction heat, therefore you would not consider the high
overload as a way to grind coarser feeds, this being a common mistake. In the milling
process design, ball mill load and feed particle size should play the most important role for a
proper energeticaly susteinable performance.