Mechanism of size reduction

Mechanism of Size Reduction

Size Enlargement

Very fine powders give rise to hazardous dust clouds

Granulation for preparation of fertilizersCompaction using compressive forces to form

the pharmaceutical tablets.

Size Reduction

Materials are rarely found in the size range required, and it is often necessary either to decrease or to increase the particle size.

E.g. when the starting material is too coarse, and possibly in the form of large rocks, and the final product needs to be a fine powder, the particle size will have to be progressively reduced in stages.

The most appropriate type of machine at each stage depends, not only on the size of the feed and of the product, but also on such properties as compressive strength, brittleness and stickiness.

For example, the first stage in the process may require the use of a jaw crusher and the final stage a sand grinder, two machines of very different characteristics.

Size Reduction or Comminution

Carried out to increase the surface area To speed up reaction rate

Rate of combustion also increased Area presented to the gas

Leaching: Rate of extraction increased Increased area of contact between solvent and solid Distance the solvent has to penetrate into the particles to

gain access to remove pockets of solute is reduced

Drying of porous solids Increase in surface area helps drying of solid Distance the moisture must travel within the particles in

order to reach the surface

Other reasons for Size Reduction

Break a material into very small particles to separate two constituents

Chemical reactivity of fine particles is greater than that of coarse particles

Color and covering power of a pigment is affected considerably by the size of the particles

Mixing: Intimate mixing of solids can be achieved if the particle

size is small.

Mechanism of Size Reduction

ComplexDepends upon a number of factors, such as

Internal structure of the material Process by which size reduction is effected

• Opening up any small fissures which are already present• Forming new surface

Fine grinding or coarse grinding• Fine requires a lot of power• Fine grinding can be impeded by relatively soft materials

to form aggregates (e.g. gypsum & limestones; held by cohesive and van der Waals forces)

• Formation of agglomerates (Adhesion force and very strong bond formation e.g. Quartz, Clinker)

Mechanism of Size Reduction – Grinding of Coal

Description

With increased crushing, the particle becomes finer in size

First mode (at start) is the transitory mode, which disappears with more crushing.

2nd mode is the characteristic of the materials and stays.. That’s why its called Persistent mode

Description

There is a Grind Limit for a particular material and machine

After some time there seems to be little change in particle size if grinding is continued,

though the particles may show some irreversible plastic deformation which results in a change in shape rather than in size.

Description

Coal contains a no. of small cracks and it breaks first along these

Large cracks are broken readily than smaller ones

Fine grinding requires very much more power Very much greater increase in surface results from

crushing of fines as opposed to coarse material.

Soft materials form aggregates, hence fine grinding is impeded

Some materials form agglomerates due to adhesion and bonds are very much stronger

Energy for size reduction

Very inefficient processOnly 0.1 and 2 % of energy supplied to machine

appears as increased surface energy in the solid Surface energy quantifies the disruption of intermolecular

bonds that occur when a surface is created. Measured using a contact angle goniometer and a number of

different methods.

Efficiency of the process depends on the ‘manner in which load is applied and its magnitude’

Nature of force exerted is also important Compressive, impact or shearing

Force applied on particle(s)

If the applied force is insufficient for the elastic limit to be exceeded, and the material is compressed, energy is stored in the particle.

When the load is removed, the particle expands again to its original condition without doing useful work.

The energy appears as heat and no size reduction is effected.

A somewhat greater force will cause the particle to fracture,

In order to obtain the most effective utilisation of energy the force should be only slightly in excess of the crushing strength of the material.

Mechanism of Size Reduction

The surface of the particles will generally be of a very irregular nature so that the force is initially taken on the high spots, with the result that very high stresses and temperatures may be set up locally in the material.

As soon as a small amount of breakdown of material takes place, the point of application of the force alters.

BEMROSE and BRIDGEWATER and HESS and SCHO¨ NERT have studied the breakage of single particles.

All large lumps of material contain cracks and size reduction occurs as a result of crack propagation that occurs above a critical parameter, such that

F = τ2a/Y

Mechanism of Size Reduction

At lower values of F, elastic deformation occurs without fracture and the energy input is completely ineffective in achieving size reduction.

Because of plastic deformation near the tip of the crack, however, the energy requirement is at least ten times greater and,

in addition kinetic energy is associated with the sudden acceleration of material as the crack passes through it.

Mechanism of Size Reduction

Orders of magnitude of the surface fracture energy per unit volume are:

glass 1–10 J/m2

plastics 10–103 J/m2

metals 103–105 J/m2

All of these values are several orders of magnitude higher than the thermodynamic surface energy which is about 10−1 J/m2.

Mechanism of Size Reduction

Where a crack is initially present in a material, the stresses near the tip of the crack are considerably greater than those in the bulk of the material.

Calculation of the actual value is well near impossible as the crack surfaces are usually steeply curved and rough.

The presence of a crack modifies the stress field in its immediate location, with the increase in energy being approximately proportional to (a/l) where a is the crack length and l is the distance from the crack tip.

Mechanism of Size Reduction

During the course of the size reduction processes, much energy is expended in causing plastic deformation and this energy may be regarded as a waste as it does not result in fracture.

Only part of it is retained in the system as a result of elastic recovery.

It is not possible, however, to achieve the stress levels necessary for fracture to occur without first passing through the condition of plastic deformation and,

in this sense, this must be regarded as a necessary state which must be achieved before fracture can possibly occur.

Mechanism of Size Reduction

The nature of the flaws in the particles changes with their size.

Fine particles are produced by crushing large particles, the weakest flaws will be progressively eliminated as the size is reduced, and

thus small particles tend to be stronger and to require more energy for fracture to occur.

In addition, as the capacity of the particle for storing energy is proportional to its

volume (∝ d3) and the energy requirement for propagating geometrically similar

cracks is proportional to the surface area (∝ d2), the energy available per unit crack area increases linearly with

particle size (d).

Thus, breakage will occur at lower levels of stress in large particles.

Example

Fracture in the material

Exact method by which fracture occurs is not known

Although it is suggested that the compressive force produces small flaws in the material.

If the energy concentration exceeds a certain critical value, these flaws will grow rapidly and will generally branch, and the particles will break up.

The probability of fracture of a particle in an assembly of particles increases with the number of contact points, up to a number of around ten, although the probability then decreases for further increase in number.

Fracture in Material

The rate of application of the force is imp-- coz, there is generally a time lag between attainment of maximum load and fracture.

Thus, a rather smaller force will cause fracture provided it is maintained for a sufficient time.

The greater the rate at which the load is applied, the less effectively is the energy utilised and the higher is the proportion of fines produced.

If viscoelastic behaviour; a high rate of application of force is needed for fracture to occur.

Size reduction mechanism as a chemical reaction

The efficiency of utilisation of energy as supplied by a falling mass has been compared with that of energy applied slowly by means of hydraulic pressure.

Up to three or four times more surface can be produced per unit of energy if it is applied by the latter method.

Like there is a close similarity between the crushing operation and a chemical reaction.

In both cases a critical energy level must be exceeded before the process will start, and in both cases time is an important variable.

Method of application of Force

The method of application of the force to the particles may affect the breakage pattern.

PRASHER suggests that four basic patterns may be identified, though it is sometimes difficult to identify the dominant mode in any given machine.

They 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.

Energy for size reduction

Energy requirements

Although it is impossible to estimate accurately the amount of energy required in order to effect a size reduction of a given material, a number of empirical laws have been proposed.

The two earliest laws are due to KICK and VON RITTINGER, and a third law due to BOND has also been proposed.

These three laws may all be derived from the basic differential equation:

Rittinger’s Law

Kick’s Law

Application of Rittinger’s law and Kick’s Law

Not an accurate calculation for the energy requirements.

Rittinger’s law is applicable mainly to that part of the process where new surface is being created and holds most accurately for fine grinding where the increase in surface per unit mass of material is large.

Kick’s law, more closely relates to the energy required to effect elastic deformation before fracture occurs,

More accurate than Rittinger’s law for coarse crushing where the amount of surface produced is considerably less.

Bond’s law

Bond’s law

Bond terms Ei the work index, and expresses it as the amount of energy required to reduce unit mass of material from an infinite particle size to a size L2 of 100 μm, that is q =∞.

The size of material is taken as the size of the square hole through which 80 per cent of the material will pass.

Example

Example 2.1 (Kick’s and Rittinger’s Law)

Energy utilisation

Owen concluded that energy was utilised as follows:1. In producing elastic deformation of the particles

before fracture occurs.2. In producing inelastic deformation which results in

size reduction.3. In causing elastic distortion of the equipment.4. In friction between particles, and between particles

and the machine.5. In noise, heat and vibration in the plant, and6. In friction losses in the plant itself. Owen estimated that only 10% of total power was

usefully employed

Energy utilisation

Increase in surface is directly proportional to input of energy and

Rate of application of load is an important factor

Similar effects: When a material is crushed in a steel mortar using steel plunger and steel ball at a measured height

New surface produced was directly proportional to energy input

Energy utilisation

For a given energy input the new surface produced was independent of:

The velocity of impact The mass and arrangement of the sample The initial particle size The moisture content of the sample.

About 30-50% of energy of the ball was absorbed by the material

Some equipments have more efficiency than others

Ball mill has lower efficiency due to ineffective collisions b/n balls

Method of operating crushers

2 methodsFree Crushing:

Feed at low rate Product can readily escape Residence time is short Less production of undersize material

Choke Feeding: Full of material Discharge of product is impeded Stays in crusher for longer period Higher degree of crushing Capacity of machine is reduced Energy consumption is high due to cushioning action by accumulated

product Complete whole size reduction in one step

Method of Operating Crushers

Choke feeding Open circuit grinding Material is passed only once through equipment

Closed circuit grinding Passing the material again and again to effect sufficient

size reduction (through an equipment) Separation and return of material by screens or stream

of fluid (which takes the fines)

Classification of Size reduction equipment

Not economical to effect size reduction in a single equipment/machine

A number of equipments are used to effect better size reduction (ratio).

Nature of Material to be crushed

Choice of machine depends upon nature of material

Quantity and size of material to be crushedHardness of material

Affects Power consumption and wear on machine Better to use a low-speed machine and protect bearings

from abrasive dust produced Lubrication is recommended

Structure Granular materials crushed by compression and impact Tearing action fro fibrous materials.

Nature of Material to be crushed

Moisture Content Materials containing 5-50% moisture tend to form cake

and hinder grinding Grinding is done outside these limits.

Crushing strength Directly related to power required

Friability Easily crushed Crystalline material will break along well-defined planes

Stickiness Tends to clog the grinding equipment Equipment should be cleaned easily

Nature of Material to be crushed

Soapiness Measure of coefficient of friction of the surface of

material Friction low; crushing more difficult

Explosives Must be ground wet or in presence of an iert atmosphere

Materials yielding dusts that are harmful to health

Ground where dust is not allowed to escape

Types of Crushing Equipment

Summary