Ball Mill

Group Members (A-2)

1.Aqeel

Abbas (M08-PG01)
2.Ayaz Mazari (M08-PG04)
3.Sajjad Rasul Chaudhry
(M08-PG12)
4.Qaiser Abbas (M08-CE29)

Outline
Introduction
Structure
Grinding

media
Grinding mechanism
Industrial applications
Experimentation
Discussion on results
Conclusion
Recommendations
Question & answers Session

Introduction
A

ball mill is a type of grinder

used to grind materials into
extremely fine powder.
It is an ultrafine grinder and
accepts feed size of almost
6mm and the product size is
typically 1-5mm.

Structure
Ball mill
is

a cylindrical or conical shell

rotating about a horizontal axis,
Partially filled with a grinding medium
such as natural flint pebbles,
ceramic pellets or metallic balls.

Grinding media
High

density alumina (9095%

alumina) or steel media is widely
used in grinding operations.
Non-sparking grinding media
(lead, antimony, brass, or
bronze) for black powder and
other flammable materials.
Non-contaminating and corrosion
resistant media (ceramic & flint)
is used for contaminationsensitive and corrosive
materials.

Grinding mechanism
The

material to be ground is added

so that it is slightly more than fills
the voids between the pellets.
The shell is rotated at a suitable
speed (0.5-.75 of critical speed)
which will cause the pellets to
cascade, thus reducing particle sizes
by impact.

Grinding mechanism
(cont.)

Industrial applications
Ball mill is suitable for wet as well
as dry grinding and is used widely
in:
Cement industry
Silicate products
Ore processing
Fertilizer industry
Paint manufacturing
Food industry

Experimentation
Objectives
1.To calculate the energy required only
for grinding and also total energy.
2.To report the results of screen analysis
in the form of distribution plots.
3.To analyze the effect of time of
grinding on energy required and
product size.

Experimentation (cont.)
Procedure
1.Feed preparation
Rock salt of mesh size (-6 +8) and
average size 2870 microns
2.Grinding process
For 30 minutes
For 45 minutes
For 60 minutes
3.Sieve analysis
4.Bulk properties determination
Determination of the voidage
Determination of the bulk density

Discussion on results
For 30 minutes grinding:
Energy

kWh

Total

consumed for grinding = 5.75

energy required = 95.07 kWh

Fractional
Bulk

voidage = 0.6

density = 1.23 g/cm3

Bonds

diameter =

Discussion on results
Fractional Distribution Plot
Cumulative Distribution Plot
(cont.)

Discussion on results
(cont.)
For 45 minutes grinding:
Energy

kWh

Total

consumed for grinding = 9.26

energy required = 141.97 kWh

Fractional
Bulk

voidage = 0.6

density = 1.25 g/cm3

Bonds

diameter =

Discussion on results
(cont.)
Fractional Distribution Plot
Cumulative Distribution Plot

Discussion on results
(cont.)
For 60 minutes grinding:
Energy

kWh

Total

consumed for grinding = 13.35

energy required = 188.29 kWh

Fractional
Bulk

voidage = 0.6

density = 1.23 g/cm3

Bonds

diameter =

Discussion on results
Fractional Distribution Plot
Cumulative Distribution Plot
(cont.)

Discussion on results
(cont.) Energy comparison

Discussion on results
(cont.)
Comparison Between Bonds Diameter

Conclusion
1.Laboratory ball mills grinding

efficiency is extremely low as:

A large fraction of product is of the
same size as that of feed in each
case.
Bonds dia. of the product in each
case is approximately same.
2.More energy consumption for larger
time period but still no increase in
grinding efficiency.

Conclusion (cont.)
Possible causes:
Mill

is not rotating at suitable

speed i.e
(0.5-0.75) of critical speed.

Density

low.

of the grinding media is

Recommendations
1.

2.

3.

Metallic balls (of High density

material) should be used as no
explosive material is ground in lab.
A combination of different sized
balls should be used as grinding
media.
A gear box or electrical speed
regulator should be installed.

Thanks You For Your

Patience.