Grinding with Ball Mill Systems

EDM
Ball Mill

Ball Mill

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 What is a End Discharge Mill (EDM)?
Air outlet
2st Compartment

Intermediate diaphragm (Fine Grinding)

1st Compartment
(Coarse Grinding)

Mill feed arrangement

Mill discharge

Drive

Gearbox with pinions

Air inlet

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EDM

EDM =
End Discharge Mill

Product discharge
at mill end

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Elements of Ball Mill - Overview

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Mill Drive Concepts
Drive Concepts for
Ball mills

Girth gear Drives Girth gear units Central drives

Single pinion concept Single drive with Two-way power splitting

(< 2'500 kW) two pinions reducer
(< 5'000 kW) (< 6'000 kW)

Double-pinion concept Double drive with Planetary gear reducer

(< 5'000 kW) four pinions (< 12'000 kW)
(< 10'000 kW)

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 Example Planetary Gear Drive
Planetary gear reducer concept MAAG
Two gear stages with three planets
All shafts with friction bearings
Annulus
Pinions, planets surface-hardened
Annulus through-hardened Planets

Gear coupling

Drive arrangement Sun pinions

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Gear Box Internals
Parallel shaft gear reducer (two way power branch)

All gears surface-hardened and

ground

All shafts with roller bearings

Key point::
Face load distribution of the
LS-gear stage

Low speed gear

stage

Bearings with excentric sleeves

to optimise the face load distribution

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Potential Technical Problems Drive

Girth gear drives - Fundamental 1. Axial/radial runout

Problems
2. Alignment of the drive trains
5 2 3 3. Uneven power splitting
4. Centre distances variable
5. Face load distribution

1 6. Sealing of the girth gear

7. Girth gear is through hardened
only, fatigue strength is limited

4 Dynamic behaviour
A lot of individual rotating masses
risk of resonance vicinities
5 6 7
Torsional/structural vibrations
Pinion shaft bending vibrations
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Gearboxes

Gear reducer
Polysius Combiflex

Planetary Gear
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Potential Damages Drives
Breakage damage (pinions)
Cause: Inadequate transverse
load distribution, brittle material
Fatigue breakage

Initial damage:
Pitting on the pitch line

Secondary damage:
Tooth breakage

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Potential Problems Drive
Single pinion drive (2300 kW)
Breakage failure of the pinion in the
gear reducer
Heavy (active) pitting on the drive
pinion
Possible Cause: 1
- Inadequate load distribution (1)
- Overload of the tooth flanks (2)

2 1

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Mill Bearing
Advantages slide shoe bearings:
No size and capacity limitation of the
mill
Simple design of wear plates

Far higher limit of gas temperature at

mill inlet (e.g. for drying with heat
generator)

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Feed Arrangements for Ball Mills

(Slurry mill)

Preferred design today

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Feed Arrangement (Example Step Feeder)
Material feed

Ventilation air

Advantages
Good mill ventilation
Easy to maintain
Simple design

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Elements of Ball Mill Overview (Internals)

External
elements
Mill feed Mill Mill discharge Mill
arrangement Mill head Mill shell bearing arrangement drive

Head Grinding Shell Intermediate Retention Discharge

liners media liners diaphragm ring diaphragm
Internal
elements

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Overview Internal Elements

A Coarse grinding
compartment
B Intermediate
diaphragm
C Fine grinding
compartment
D Discharge
diaphragm
E Grinding media
F Retention ring

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Liners for Coarse Grinding

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Lifting Height Requirements (1st Chamber)
This criteria has to be
confirmed case by case h0
through evaluation of the
coarse grinding.
Rule of thumb: h must be
greater than 50 [mm]

1st chamber lining at end of lifetime

h > 0.5 ho
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Classifying Liner for Fine Grinding (2nd Chamber)

Rotation sense

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Head Liners

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Open Diaphragm (Drying Chamber Diaphragm)

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Intermediate Diaphragm
2nd Compartment
Fine Grinding
Intermediate diaphragm

1st Compartment
Coarse Grinding

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Function of Intermediate Diaphragm

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Intermediate diaphragm

Slot opening in 1st chamber

Material flow control system
Centre screen
Grates in the second chamber
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Discharge diaphragm

Discharge diaphragm

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Discharge Diaphragm

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 Material Quality and Application of Shell Liners

Material Chemical Hardness Remarks

Composition (HRC)
Manganese Recommended for small mills.
Steel 12 14% Mn 40 Deformation of liners for large
mills (initial surface hardness
20 25 HRC)

Low chromium Less deformation than

alloy cast 2 3% Cr 40 - 42 manganese liners. Suitable
for large and small mills
liners

High chromium Most used material. Suitable

alloy cast 12 15% Cr 50 - 55 for big and small mills (Notch
impact strength 4 10 J/cm2)
liners

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 Life Time of Shell Liners

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Grinding Media
Coarse grinding 90 50 [mm]

Fine grinding 50 12 [mm]

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Grinding in Ball Mill

Fine grinding (2nd chamber)

Cascading of grinding media

A
A

Coarse grinding (1st chamber)

Cataracting of grinding media

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 Ball filling degree (f)

98
93
Power [%]

85

Typical range
75

20 25 30 35 40 - 45 f [%]
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Steps of Grinding

Coarse Medium Fine

Grinding Grinding Grinding

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Coarse Grinding: Parameters for Optimising

Power parameters Efficiency parameters

Filling degree Ball charge (filling degree &
Chamber length composition)
Mill diameter Liner design
Liner design and condition Intermediate diaphragm settings
Mill speed Mill ventilation

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Grinding Media

4,4 [t/m3] 4,6 [t/m3] 4,7 [t/m3]

Bulk weight of a grinding media charge in a two chamber mill with

classifiying liner
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Grinding Media (1st Compartment)

1.Compartment
Ball [mm] Weight [ t ] Percent [%]

90 25.0 25.0
80 35.0 35.0
70 25.0 25.0
60 15.0 15.0

Total 100.0 100

Average ball weight [g] 1667

Spec. media surface [m2 / t ] 10.2

Holcim Standard for 1st Compartment

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Grinding Media (2nd Compartment)
Holcim Standard for OPC > 3200 [cm2/g], closed circuit
system

2.Compartment
Ball [mm] Weight [ t ] Percent [%]

50 20.0 10.0
40 20.0 10.0
30 32.0 16.0
25 32.0 16.0
20 42.0 21.0
17 54.0 27.0
15

Total 200.0 100

Average ball weight [g] 41
Spec. media surface [m2 / t] 32.8

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Material Quality of Grinding Media

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Specific Wear Rates of Grinding Media

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Mill Efficiency

[%R] [cm2/g]
acc. Chamber 1 Blaine
(coarse grinding) Blaine Value
Chamber 2
(fine grinding)

Sieve Residues

mill length [m] [m]

longitudinal sieving graph

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Lifting Liners Effects

Liner-Lifting : low high

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Optimum Material Level 1st Chamber

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Optimum Material level 2nd chamber

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Mill Ventilation

Main Tasks Mill Ventilation:

Material transport
Cooling
Removal of fines
Fluidisation of material
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Cooling and Heating Possibilities
Product
Air
Dust ladden air
H2O
Moist additive Hot gases

Hot clinker Cooling air

H 2O

Cooling air Product

Hot gases
H2 O H 2O

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Fine Grinding and Mill Cooling
PROBLEM SOLUTION
Insufficient mill cooling Adapted mill cooling,
lead to material playing with:
agglomeration on balls Clinker temperature
and liners Mill ventilation

The grinding is not any Water injection

more done by balls Use of grinding aid

against material but by (temporary solution
material against material because expensive)

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 Water Injection Systems

counter current no water

Product injection
1st 2nd Comp. temp. [C]

130
counter
120
current
110
Air from
Air from co-current
blower 100
H2O blower H2O
co-current 90
(Double)
Rotary union 80
1st 2nd Comp.
Mill length

H2O 2nd Comp.

H2O 1st Comp.

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